Transatlantic is a Progressive Rock Supergroup, featuring Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt and Pete Trewavas, originally formed in 1999 as a side project from members' main bands. They broke up in 2002 so Neal Morse could focus on his solo career, but reunited in 2009 and have worked sporadically since.
Members:
- Neal Morse - keyboards, acoustic guitar
- Mike Portnoy - drums
- Roine Stolt - guitar
- Pete Trewavas - bass
Studio and live discography:
- SMPT:e (2000)
- Live in America (2001, live)
- Bridge Across Forever (2001)
- SMPT:e - The Roine Stolt Mixes (2003)*
- Live in Europe (2003, live)
- The Whirlwind (2009)
- Whirld Tour 2010: Live in London (2010, live)
- More Never Is Enough: Live in Manchester & Tilburg 2010 (2011, live)
- Kaleidoscope (2014)
- KaLIVEoscope (2014, live)
- The Absolute Universe (2021)*
- The Absolute Universe: Forevermore (Extended Version)*
- The Absolute Universe: The Breath of Life (Abridged Version)*
- The Absolute Universe: The Ultimate Version*
Transatlantic provides examples of:
- Alternate Album Cover: Original American CD copies of SMPT:e have a different
◊ cover to the European cover◊, showing a single airship flying under cloudy skies rather than three ships during sunset. - Audience Participation Song: "We All Need Some Light" was this on the Whirlwind and Kaleidoscope tours.
- Cool Airship: The airship on the covers of SMPT:e, Bridge Across Forever and The Whirlwind. The Absolute Universe upgrades it to a Cool Starship.
- Concept Album: The Whirlwind is a concept album themed around the struggles faced in life and society (the so-called "whirlwind"), in the form of a large suite. The Absolute Universe, with a similar theme and format, serves as a
Spiritual Successor to The Whirlwind. - Concert Film: Each of their live albums includes a concert video, though not necessarily of the same show.
- Cover Version: Lots. SMPT:e includes a cover of "In Held ('Twas) In I". Besides the studio jams on the SMPT:e and Bridge Across Forever special edition bonus discs, the bonus disc of Bridge includes a cover of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", the Whirlwind bonus disc includes four covers, and the special edition of Kaleidoscope includes a full disc of covers.
- Epic Instrumental Opener: If a song tops twenty minutes it usually starts with a lengthy intro or overture, the longest examples being the overtures to "Into the Blue" (about 6:30), "The Whirlwind" (about seven minutes in the studio version discounting the "of no tomorrow" chant, but a bit shorter on most live versions) and The Absolute Universe (about six minutes on "The Breath of Life"; the overture to "Forevermore" is just over eight but drops the refrain of "Belong" several times throughout.
- Live versions of "We All Need Some Light" often incorporate a Stolt/Morse guitar duet, which extends the song's intro to as long as five minutes.
- Epic Rocking: More never is enough. "The Whirlwind" and the multiple versions of The Absolute Universe (which each are effectively single long-form compositions) are the standout examples, but SMPT:e, Bridge Across Forever and Kaleidoscope each include at least one 20-30 minute suite ("All of the Above", "Duel With the Devil", "Stranger In Your Soul", "Into the Blue", "Kaleidoscope").
- Fading into the Next Song: The Whirlwind and The Absolute Universe are gapless, though Forevermore has a gap between the two discs and the live versions of The Whirlwind are a single track.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Daniel Gildenlöw, while not a full band member, appeared on the tours for their first three albums as an extra instrumentalist, even having a guest vocal on "Into the Blue" on Kaleidoscope. The Kaleidoscope and Absolute Universe tours featured Ted Leonard as a support member instead.
- Hidden Track: Bridge Across Forever has one; after the closing track "Stranger In Your Soul" fades out, a continuation of "Suite Charlotte Pike" fades back in, followed by the sound of bells.
- The Whirlwind bonus disc closes with a short untitled track after the "Soul Sacrifice" cover. This short track is also included at the end of the Whirld Tour 2010 live album/concert film and the end credits of the KaLIVEoscope concert film.
- Longest Song Goes First:
- SMPT:e opens with "All of the Above" at an even 31 minutes.
- Longest Song Goes Last:
- Bridge Across Forever closes with "Stranger In Your Soul", which clocks in at an even half hour including the Hidden Track (Though even without the hidden track it clocks in at around 27 minutes).
- The Whirlwind, while effectively a single composition, still has the longest movement go last with "Dancing With Eternal Glory/Whirlwind Reprise" at 12:03.
- Kaleidoscope closes with the title track at 31:53.
- The "Breath of Life" edition of The Absolute Universe ends with "Love Made A Way" at 9:16. Downplayed with "Forevermore", which has the longest track "The World We Used To Know" at 9:22 close the first disc.
- Multinational Team: Morse and Portnoy are American, Stolt is Swedish and Trewavas is British.
- Non-Appearing Title: "All of the Above", "Suite Charlotte Pike", "Kaleidoscope".
- One Album For The Price Of Two: The Absolute Universe is an unusual example, in that three different versions of the album are available:
- A 90-minute version double-CD/triple-LP called "Forevermore"; this version is the one that was originally conceived.
- A 65-minute single-CD/double-LP edition called "The Breath of Life"; this version is not merely an abridged version as some tracks between the two are not shared, while the shared tracks between the two sometimes may share melodies but some have alternate titles (for instance, "Reaching For the Sky" from The Breath of Life and "Heart Like A Whirlwind" from Forevermore; both titles appear in the refrain), alternate arrangements, alternate lyrics and different members singing lead.
- Additionally, a third "Ultimate Version" Blu-ray mix is available; this version combines elements of both into one continuous 96-minute piece of music, along with a music video and a making-of documentary.
- Power Ballad: Usually at least one per album, including "We All Need Some Light", "Bridge Across Forever", "Rose Colored Glasses", "Beyond the Sun" and "Shine".
- Pastiche: "Suite Charlotte Pike" is one of The Beatles; the Live in Europe recording of the song is even performed as a mashup with the Abbey Road medley as the "Suite Charlotte Pike Medley".
- Progressive Rock
- Pun-Based Title: "Suite Charlotte Pike" and the Whirld Tour 2010 live album.
- Recurring Riff:
- The opening string melody of "Duel With the Devil" is reprised multiple times through "Stranger In Your Soul".
- The Whirlwind and The Absolute Universe, both being long form concept albums, have many recurring riffs, many of which are heard in their respective overtures.
- Shout-Out: Their live songs occasionally include nods to other songs:
- The Manchester and Tilburg recordings of "The Whirlwind" reference the opening of "And You And I" into the "Evermore" section.
- "All of the Above" during the Whirlwind tour includes the McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" jingle as well as a sample of "Soul Sacrifice" (which they covered in full on The Whirlwind bonus disc).
- "Duel With the Devil" during the Whirlwind tour has a brief reference to "Highway Star".
- The live versions of "Kaleidoscope" include the riff from "Ride the Lightning" during the "Ride the Lightning" section of the song.
- In the music video for "Looking For The Light", Mike Portnoy wears a shirt saying "Diamond & Horowitz & Yauch" while playing the drums.
- Siamese Twin Songs:
- The three suites on Bridge Across Forever have Siamese Twin sections, even if the other sections of each song is different; "Motherless Children" from "Duel With the Devil" is reprised in "Suite Charlotte Pike", and "Lost and Found" from "Suite Charlotte Pike" is reprised in "Stranger In Your Soul" as "Lost and Found Part 2". The opening string melody of "Duel With the Devil" is also reprised at several points in "Stranger In Your Soul".
- Silly Love Songs: "Spinning" from The Whirlwind bonus disc.
- Special Guest: Steve Hackett played with the band during their 2010 High Voltage Festival appearance, for a performance of "The Return of the Giant Hogweed".
- Supergroup
- Vocal Tag Team: All four members provide vocals; most commonly, Neal Morse and Roine Stolt will take turns singing, while Pete Trewavas and Mike Portnoy get the occasional lead, with a few songs featuring three or all the members singing.
- Walking the Earth: The narrator of the "Walking the Road" section of "Kaleidoscope".
