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Attempting to define the supergroup has occurred several times throughout rock and roll history. Since the seventies, successful musicians from different corners of the spectrum would converge to create some of the most memorable and influential tunes ever captured on tape. Transatlantic is no exception. Four musicians from progressive rock’s elite have created a debut masterpiece; “SMPTe”.
“It all started in 1998, when I got a call from Mike Portnoy from DREAM THEATER about the possibility of doing a project together”, explains Spock’s Beard front-man Neal Morse. Initially, the project was to include guitarist Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, but due to schedule conflicts, it didn’t work out. Neal then suggested Roine Stolt of Sweden’s Flower Kings. Neal: “The Flower Kings is one of my favorite new prog bands”. Roine, without hesitation, came into the fold. At Mike’s invitation, Pete Trewavas, bassist for UK cult legends Marillion too agreed to join.
Neal had a fan in the Dream Theater drummer, “I’ve wanted to work with Neal for a while,” comments Mike, “I was big fan and wanted to collaborated with Neal, who I knew was someone who could write great songs.” Great songs indeed.
The newly formed quartet entered New York’s Millbrook Studios (the same location chosen for Mike’s Liquid Tension Experiment) in June of ’99 and Transatlantic was born
The session was completed in a little over a week with both Mike and Roine finishing their parts at their respective homes. Remembers Mike, “I think it's one of the most amazing albums I've ever been involved with. All the players are interesting and distinct. We were re-working and writing new sections and recording them right then, which I'd never done before.
The end result is five distinctive tracks including the epic “All Of The Above” featuring the Morse penned "Full Moon Rising", "Mystery Train", Roine Stolte track "My New World" and Procol Harum’s “In Held (Twas) In I” and 'We all Need Some Light'.
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