Transatlantic

Foundation

Neil Morse and Mike Portnoy wanted to initially invite Jim Matthews (guitarist of Fates Warning ) to the project, but his place was taken by Roine Stolt (from The Flower Kings ), and bassist Pete Trevavas ( Marillion ) added the line-up ^[1] . The project bore the working name Second Nature ( rus. Second Nature ), but at the suggestion of the cover designer for the first disc, Per Nordin, was changed to Transatlantic .

The project was launched with the aim of developing the ideas of some Neil Morse compositions, which demo tapes were later compiled in the compilation of Transatlantic Demos , released on behalf of Morse. Although the general idea of ​​the songs is preserved, you can hear a significant difference between the demo versions and the versions of the group.

SMPT: e (2000–2001)

The first album, SMPT: e (whose name consists of the initials of the band members), released on Metal Blade in 2000, contains a 30-minute track All of the Above , which Robert Taylor in his review of Allmusic called the best progressive rock of all time . ^[2]

Following the release of the album, the US tour was recorded and released as a DVD and a live album, “ Live in America ”, including live recordings of cover versions of songs from The Beatles , Genesis , and a potpourri from compositions by Spock's Beard , The Flower Kings , Marillion , Dream Theater (which included Neal Morse, Roine Stolt, Pete Trevavas and Mike Portnoy respectively) and The Beatles .

Bridge Across Forever (2001–2003)

In the same year, after the release of the DVD and the live album “Live in America”, at the end of the tour, the team began working on a new studio album, which was later called “ Bridge Across Forever ”, where the group continued to improve the remaining Neil Morse developments. Despite the relatively long duration (about 80 minutes), the tracklist of the album consists of four tracks. The CD also contains a completely new song “Charlotte Pike Suite”, as well as the title track, written entirely by Morse. A year later, the documentary DVD “Building The Bridge” was recorded on the creation and recording of an album.

In 2003, the second DVD and the live album of the band “ Live in Europe ” was released, where along with the band’s songs, cover versions of The Beatles songs from the Abbey Road album were included between the parts of the Charlotte Pike Suite. Also on the tour in support of the album was invited multi-instrumentalist and member of the group of Pain of Salvation Daniel Gildenlev .

The Whirlwind (2009-2011)

A few years later, the team announced the revival of the project and the beginning of work on a new studio album, which, unlike the previous ones, was written almost from scratch and was named “ The Whirlwind ” ^{[3] [4]} . The album essentially consists of one title track, which lasts about 78 minutes and is divided into 12 parts ^{[5] [6]} .

Daniel Gildenlev was also invited to tour in support of the album. One of the concerts was recorded and later released as a DVD and live album called Whirld Tour 2010: Live in London . It began with the full composition “The Whirlwind”, to which Mike Portnoy said at one of the concerts: “Yes! It was an 80-minute composition opening the concert! ”Also at one of the concerts, the composition“ The Return of the Giant Hogweed ”by Genesis with the participation of guitarist Steve Hackett was performed at an encore.

In 2011, the next release of the group was the album More Never Is Enough: Live In Manchester & Tilburg 2010 , which includes three CDs of the concert in Manchester and two DVD concerts in Tilburg . The recording of both concerts took place in 2010 ^[7] .

Our Time (2013)

In February 2013, the Neal Morse Band and The Flower Kings bands, with the participation of Neil Morse, Mike Portnoy and Roine Stolt, respectively, went on a joint tour, where each group performed their own compositions, and the medley of Transatlantic “The Transatlantic Medley” project performed for the encore , which includes parts of "All of the Above", "The Whirlwind" and "Stranger in Your Soul", with 11 musicians on stage. ^{[8] [9] [10]} .

On March 10, 2013, Pete Trevavas announced that he was coming to Nashville in the summer to record a new studio album from the Transatlantic project. And on March 26, Neil Morse officially confirmed that work on the new album will begin in May 2013. The release date of the album is scheduled for January 27, 2014 ^{[11] [12]} .

Studio Albums

• 2000 - SMPT: e
• 2001 - Bridge Across Forever
• 2009 - The Whirlwind
• 2014 - Kaleidoscope

Concert albums

• 2001 - Live in America
• 2003 - Live in Europe
• 2010 - Whirld Tour 2010: Live in London
• 2011 - More Never Is Enough: Live In Manchester & Tilburg 2010

DVD

• 2001 - Live in America
• 2003 - Live in Europe
• 2010 - Whirld Tour 2010: Live in London
• 2011 - More Never Is Enough: Live In Manchester & Tilburg 2010

Other

• 2003 - Transatlantic Demos (Neil Morse)
• 2003 - SMPTe: The Roine Stolt Mixes

Composition of the group

• Neil Morse - vocals , keyboards , guitar
• Mike Portnoy - drums
• Roine Stolt - Guitar
• Pete Trevavas - bass guitar

Invited musicians

• Daniel Gildenlev ( Pain of salvation ) - vocals , keyboards , guitar
• Ted Leonard ( Enchant , Spock's Beard ) - vocals , keyboards , guitar

• transatlanticweb.com - the official site of Transatlantic
• The official Transatlantic page on Facebook
• An interview with Pete Trewavas on the Whirlwind (November 2009)