New Transatlantic in 2021

[Nos]

The band put up a teaser pointing to their new album coming out in February next year. An official announcement should be coming sometime soon.

Since they're my favorite prog band (and "Bridge Across Forever" is my favorite prog album), you'd think I would be excited for another record. I'm not sure I am, though. Neal's last couple of albums have been lackluster to me, and these recent Flower Kings albums have bored me to death, so I'm worried both guys are running out of ideas. Or at least they're in slumps right now.

So my expectations are tempered, for now.

[Nos]

The album was just announced: "The Absolute Universe"

The kicker is this album will come in 60 and 90 minute versions, with different takes (instruments, lyrics, and singers) for several songs on each record.

I don't want to be negative, but I can't help it on this. It's beyond ridiculous to ask us to listen to the same album twice (and maybe have to buy it twice), investing that much time, and then likely leaving us with our favorite combination of takes being a mix of the two, so we have to make our own compilation, and the discs they provide will rarely get played. I just don't get it. Were they unable to decide how they wanted to record their own songs, or do they think fans will buy anything they put out?

No matter how good the album is, I don't see why I would ever want to buy a physical copy of it. Looks like they're saving me money!

[Sir Exar Kun]

This is a weird format for sure, but I'm intrigued to hear it. Sounds like they had two very different approaches to how to compose the album, so decided to throw both of them out there. I'd rather see one format with both CDs included, but oh well.....

[Mardoch]

This is a weird format for sure, but I'm intrigued to hear it. Sounds like they had two very different approaches to how to compose the album, so decided to throw both of them out there. I'd rather see one format with both CDs included, but oh well.....

I'm torn between "this is a gimmick to sell more crap" and "oh neat, no compromised vision, they just did it all." I suppose both things can be true.

[Nos]

I'd rather see one format with both CDs included, but oh well.....

There will be a set with both, but it'll cost more than either of them on their own. I'm going to watch my tongue and not say what this feels like to me, but it reminds me of when Serious Black put out two versions of "Mirrorworld", and said the expanded one was the 'real' album.

[Nos]

I'm torn between "this is a gimmick to sell more crap" and "oh neat, no compromised vision, they just did it all." I suppose both things can be true.

Yes, but I'm looking at it slightly differently; I don't see a vision. I read this as the band saying they couldn't decide who should sing what, which instrumental flourishes to use, or even what the final lyrics should be. This is all stuff that strikes me as nonsense a producer would force them to decide.

It's all so non-committal.

[Sir Exar Kun]

I see it as more akin to getting the director's cut of a movie and the theatrical version all in one shot. Is it weird? Hell yes. But this is prog..... I appreciate them trying it out.

[Digital Man]

I guess I'll just have to wait and hear it to decide what I think about this. If they include it all in the same version of the album, I don't mind the extras. But expecting us to buy different versions of the songs is a bit much.

With that said, I've always wished a band would release an album that included two versions. The music would be identical, but there would be one with death vocals and one with clean melodic vocals. I'm sure someone must have done it, but I am not aware of it that I can remember.

[Nos]

Here's the first song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP5HwWbCQvg

I like it, but the annoyance factor of the release is still present. This is the first single, but depending on which version of the album you get, it won't be the same song you hear. This whole thing makes no sense at all to me, and it's really diminishing how much I should be enjoying the song. It's perfectly Transatlantic, but I almost don't want to get invested in it.

[Nos]

Second song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xULvfo6rpvE

I'm trending optimistic on the album. These two songs sound more inspired to me than what Neal and Roine have done on their last couple of albums on their own. Plus, it looks like there's no thirty minute epic where I have to pretend four separate songs glued together is really one 'composition'.

[Nos]

I've now listened to both versions of the album, and I have a lot of thoughts, but few conclusions yet. It's certainly a whole lot of something to piece together.

[Nos]

Here's where my thinking is: I both love and hate this album.

I love it because there is a lot of great melodic prog between the two records. It didn't sound as epic at first, but a lot of it has really grown on me. For as much as Neal and Roine's recent albums have bored me, this is pretty darn great again.

I hate it because neither version of the album works. The short version is missing some great songs, and the long version is too f'n long, and several songs have better versions on the shorter album. I would probably be happy with either one, if I didn't know the other existed.

So I made my own compilation, which it fantastic. Now, the question arises whether that counts as an album or not, since the version I love only exists in my own head.

It's a lovely, frustrating mess.