Inside Out Music (Sony Music Digital Delivery) releases The Final Flight: Live at L'Olympia, by multinational Progressive Rock supergroup, Transatlantic. The band consists of Neal Morse (ex-Spock’s Beard) on guitar, keyboards and vocals; Roine Stolt (Flower Kings) on guitar; Mike Portnoy (Dream Theatre) on drums; and Pete Trewavas on bass guitar. This gig was filmed in France in July 2022, on the promotional tour for their fifth album The Absolute Universe. The band formed in 1999, disbanded in 2002, and then reunited in 2009. This is thought to be their last release and tour, although there is a positive ‘Never Say Never’ attitude to the project...

Tracklist:

CD1: 'The Absolute Universe Intro'; 'Overture'; 'Reaching for the Sky'; 'Higher Than the Morning'; 'The Darkness in The Light'; 'Take Now My Soul'; 'Bully'; 'Rainbow Sky'; 'Looking for The Light'; and 'The World We Used to Know'.

CD2: 'MP Intro'; 'The Sun Comes Up Today'; 'Love Made a Way (Prelude)'; 'Owl Howl'; 'Solitude'; 'Belong'; 'Lonesome Rebel'; 'Can You Feel It'; 'Looking for The Light (Reprise)'; 'The Greatest Story Never Ends'; and 'Love Made a Way'.

CD3: 'The Whirlwind Suite'; 'NM and RS Intro'; 'We All Need some Light'; and 'The FINAL Medley'.

It will come as no surprise to frequenters of my music reviews that I am not a fan of Progressive Rock and all of its inherent meandering and twiddling. As this is a major release for Transatlantic, and there is the inference it may well be the last material we will see/hear from them, I am in all probability not the most relevant person to be appraising this set. According – although I have given it a fair hearing – these songs come across as unexciting to the point they all sound very similar to my ears. It is as though they are hanging onto the shirttails of several bands, undecided exactly who they should be emanating. There are elements of Pink Floyd, Dream Theatre, Yes, Foreigner and Toto.

Of course, long-time fans will berate my words as blasphemy, but I can only say – whilst there is nothing wrong with the musicianship – the style lacks energy and emotion. However, for those who enjoy this genre, there is plenty of live material presumably from across the Transatlantic back catalogue. The FINAL Medley runs just short of half-an-hour by itself, and the full version of this release incorporates a Blu-ray version of the gig.

5

Ty Power