Who's heard 'em....Transatlantic?

Well, I just got an album by these guys just the other week ("Bridge Across Forever"), based on some recommendations I got, and since I am constantly looking for new, good underground prog rock. I was very suprised! Quite a mature album! Despite the album having only 4 songs on it, there is quite a range of material presented (the first song is 70s prog-esqe, "Suite Charlotte Pike" is almost a funk rock song, and then "Stranger In the Soul" sounds almost prog metalish at moments).

So who else digs these guys? What other albums would you recommend?

Oh and another thought I had on these guys: is it just me, or do they seem to exert a bit of a Gabriel-era Genesis influence (especially in the keyboards) in their music?

It is a band made up of members from Spocks Beard (Morse), Dream Theatre (Portnoy), Marillon (Trewavas) and The Flower Kings (Stolt). If you like Transatlantic you should check out all of these bands. It seems that a lot of the "neo-prog" bands are involved in more than one band, like Transatlantic or the Liquid Tension Experiment.
Now that you mention them, i'm listening to In Held (Twas) In I--from the first album-- a remake of the Procol Harum song--Tranatlantic's version is about 10 times better, simply because they are much better musicians than the members of Procol Harum.
If you like the "neo-prog" bands, you would love Transatlantic, if you don't like "neo-prog" I don't reccomend buying an album. It's great to listen to them just because they are extemely talented musicians.

Incidentally my favorite "neo-prog" band is The Flower Kings. I don't consider Porcupine Tree (There is nothing progressive about "Stupid Dream" or "In Absentia," maybe thier earlier albums, but not thier latest ones) or Radiohead progressive rock bands, though they have often been labled as such. I don't think they want to be "progressive rock" bands. And there is nothing wrong with that, "Progressive Rock" can get exhausting.

Cool, I'll definatly check those bands out. I'm already quite familiar with Dream Theater...but The Flower Kings, you say? What album would you have me check out first?

(Oh, and about Radiohead and PT...I'd have to disagree. Yes, PT was much more progressive earlier on, but they still maintain a healthy prog edge. Radiohead, if anything, has become even more prog through the years. Just listen to "The Bends" compared with "Kid A." Oh, and I also don't think prog rock really has a set sound like most genres do.)

Check out "Stardust We Are" by The Flower Kings, it's a two-disc set. Good Stuff.

(I disagree with your disagreement....)

Progressive Rock follows it's name: Anything in the Rock field that displays an advancement in style or sound. Something new and unique comes out, some people will like it, some will hate it. That's Prog for ya!

I checked out Transatlantic several times, and I got the new Live DVD, but I can't really get into it that much. They're close in emulating the 70's prog, but it's a little too poppish for me still. And the keyboardist just gets on my nerves. If I had to pick a best song though, I'd say I enjoyed Stranger In Your Soul the most.

If you understand that as the definition, then yes PT and Radiohead are progressive. But many people would offer a more complex definition.

Yes! That's how I see prog rock. If you really think about it, "progressive" is a fairly vague term.

And David...I'll be sure to check that album out here soon!

their album bridge across forever is pretty moving i think

Yeah, that's the only one I have by them, at the moment. Any recommendations as to where to go from here (Transatlantic-wise)?

Oh, and don't worry David...I'll be getting that Flower Kings album as soon as I get a few dollars!

Thier first album is even better, in my opinon.

I was going to ask for a recomendation for a transatlantic album as well, seeing as how i've recently gotten every studio album and dreamtheater dvd thats currently out, and i've had OSI for quite awhile.

Also, I agree with one_of_my_turns about radiohead and PT. It seems to me like Radiohead has gotten more experimental over the years. They were practically just any other alternative band early on, but they have really evolved now. And I think porcupine tree is less ambient, but still progressive these days. Steven Wilson goes through different phases and the musical style of PT can be very different from album to album, and i think that makes them pretty proggy. Their newest album that will be out in January is supposedly going to be much more "rock" than "metal" as SW himself said on the site awhile ago. So I'm guessing it won't be as heavy overall as In Absentia was.

Yeah, word has it that it is going to be sort of following a movie script, making it pretty much a concept album. But I read somewhere that in an inverview with Wilson, that it isn't intended to be a coherent concept/story line based album. Guess we'll just have to see!

Oh, and on a very related note, does anyone know what company the album will be released on? I'm hoping that maybe I'll be able to pick it up at a store (instead of ordering online).

You might want to check out "blackfield," it is a band that just came out with an album that Steve Wilson is a part of.

Yeah I've read some about his collaboration with that Iraeli guy (don't recall his name). That just came out, didn't it?

the israeli guy is aviv geffen, and it comes out tuesday. i pre-ordered it at barnes and noble, i can't wait to get it. barnes and noble is actually a really good place to order cd's. things come in waaaay quicker there than at sam goody.

the new pt album will be a worldwide release by lava/warners in january. you should be able to find it in stores. I see in absentia everywhere now. apparently wilson is writing it as an album and as some sort of movie that will be released onto a dvd at some point.

also the blackfield site has 1 minute clips of every song on the album that can give you a good idea of what they're like. its lighter and i guess less busy than porcupine tree stuff, but you can definitely hear wilsons signature stuff in it
www.blackfield.org