Transatlantic 'The Final Flight: Live at L'Olympia' - 17 February 2023

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by ponkine, Dec 2, 2022.

  1. SpinIt

    SpinIt Musicphile

    Location:
    Paris, France
    Bill Bruford retired at 60. And then theres everything in between.
     
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  2. alakulju

    alakulju Music is the best! - FZ

    Location:
    Finland
    IMHO, I don't see how building this "final" drama would boost the sales when/if the next cycle comes around. I believe that Transatlantic fans would be just as happy to jump on board again, regardless of what were the last words of this cycle.
     
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  3. SpinIt

    SpinIt Musicphile

    Location:
    Paris, France
    Just wanted to report back about my findings concerning this release. Let’s put it this way. They did an amazing job. It was actually quite an emotional experience to see and hear it all back again,. The magic of that night indeed rubbed off on this release. And it’s obvious: this was a stellar performance! The camera footage and the cuts between the footage are very well done and well timed. It really shows a band on fire. I’m not a fan of the video overlays, but since it’s not in high doses and usually not overpowering, they can get away with it. Now to the sound of it. I have the impression that they didn’t remix the audience, it seems to be the audience responding as it happend, just with the level of the concerned tracks adjusted at appropriate places. Talking about remixing, it seems they also left the (very few and very small) warts in the perfomance untouched. I have the impression they just remixed the live-recorded tracks and that’s it. Impressive. The result, although not audiophile, sounds amazing. It’s has a pretty big front-row kind of sound, and the separation between instruments can be heard very well. And at times, during the epic parts, it sounds huge!
    The artwork of the packaging: meh. Interesting liner notes though.

    On a side note. Very positively surprised by the 4LP set. Well mastered, and perfectly flat and silent pressings.
    But again..the packaging? A gatefold for a 4LP set? Two disks are in the gate fold sleeves, and two don’t fit in the sleeves themselves, and are loosely inserted between the two halves. Er, what?

    Anyway. A worthy registration and souvenir of a very special (dare I say legendary?) evening with Transatlantic. Gonna watch and listen to this many times to come.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2023
  4. Rufus rag

    Rufus rag Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Just finnished watching the Bluray....Wow!!! I too dont find the video overlays jarring. They are very few and dont distract at all. It's nice to see what the audience was seeing on the video screens and only enhances the visual aspect of the Bluray. No complaints here!
     
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  5. MechanicalAnimal6

    MechanicalAnimal6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    well Radiant finally shipped out my copy....so i'll finally have it in about 7-10 days.
    everytime i get an email from them about my order shipping, it takes longer than it
    should for it to reach me.

    i almost think they just make the label and then wait another couple of days to actually
    drop it off in the mail.

    last time ordering from Radiant for sure !
    better have my signed backstage pass as promised too since that was the only reason i ordered from there this time.
     
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  6. AlphabetMan

    AlphabetMan Senior Member

    Maybe I'm mistaken but they haven't stated the band has quit or gone on hiatus.
    But they did put on a very special tour last year.
     
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  7. AlphabetMan

    AlphabetMan Senior Member

    Final Flight is a fantastic live album, I've been listening to it a lot lately.
    However they really cemented "Whirlwind Tour 2010: Live in London" as their best live album.
     
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  8. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    I still love a ton of prog rock, but I am less likely to want to check out a newer band just because they are prog simply because it often feels like a band trying to sound like this or that older band and not being as good. A friend introduced me to a band called Airbag a while back, who are okay, but it ultimately sounds like a band doing progressive rock 101 and not really bringing anything new or exciting to the table. Good background music, but just not something I want to hear on its own.

    I think this final flight is a way of driving up sales, like, "hey, it was probably our last show, so you'll want to buy this!" But, since they never actually said it, they can come back in a few years and act like it is no big deal since they never explicitly said they were over. It's a bit bait and switch, which feels a little slimy, but I get that obscure bands have to find a way to make money these days.
     
  9. AlphabetMan

    AlphabetMan Senior Member

    Sure you can hear influence because it's a tradition, but it'd also be a lie to say that Transatlantic (and the related bands like Spocks Beard and Flower Kings) actually sound anything like the classic prog rock bands (Yes, Genesis etc).
    The influence is there but they're not repeating what has been already written, they very clearly have their own unique musical voices.
     
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  10. SpinIt

    SpinIt Musicphile

    Location:
    Paris, France
    Absolutely, and they didn’t borrow from their other projects. Although there’s a whiff of Spock’s Beard and Flower Kings it’s all quite unique. And barely no trace of Marillion or any of Mikes projects. IMHO Transatlantic really is a band that’s better than the sum of its parts. But that’s what super groups are for I guess.
    Agreed. There are way too many bands out there who try to sound like « insert a big prog name here ». And then there are bands that started off good, but now they keep releasing the same album over and over again. I have ventured away from most, simply because I got bored. There’s so much good and new music out there!
     
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  11. Adam Pajda

    Adam Pajda Forum Resident

    Location:
    Poland
    I'd rather listen to John Zorn
     
  12. Cledwyn

    Cledwyn Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Wales
    Good on Bob - or anyone else for that matter - for still performing at that age. Like most prog, however, Transatlantic's music is much more physically and mentally demanding to perform than Bob's. Sadly, even Mike Portnoy will have to slow down at some point. :cry:
     
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  13. Rufus rag

    Rufus rag Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    It applies more to the 'big stars' who have repetitively announced 'final tours' over the years but keep reappearing and regurtigating their hits and releasing a live album to milk the cow. That's what I call slimey. At least TA only tour when they have new music and product to promote.
     
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  14. jay.dee

    jay.dee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    I am looking forward to this one, because from the samples I can hear the early jammy feel that was present on Live in America, and which I missed on their subsequent live releases. I suppose the pressure to render all those colossal epics "properly" was off and they got back to play more freely again.

    I will listen to the entire set and report back!
     
  15. ca1ore

    ca1ore Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stamford, CT, USA
    I have not played the BR, but the CD sounds pretty good. Vocals low in the mix and the soundstage is a bit compressed, but otherwise thoroughly enjoyable.
     
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  16. ytserush

    ytserush Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast US
    The liner notes go into a number of reasons why that could have been the last show....very valid reasons. Whatever happened could have been a "heat of the moment" (sorry!) situation.
     
  17. ytserush

    ytserush Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast US

    Absolutely! I think this is their best live document ever. I thought it used to be the Whirlwind Tour given the set which arguably could still edge this one out. Who knows , the Morsefest performance could top it, but based on what I've seen and heard, I doubt it. I liked that they left out my least favorite album in Kaleidoscope, but represented the other albums.
     
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  18. ytserush

    ytserush Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast US

    This is really a special show. It seems obvious now that the possibility of it being the last time they share a stage together was previously brought up and it seems to seep into the performance.
     
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  19. ytserush

    ytserush Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast US

    It's close. I'm going to watch them back to back when I have the time to find out for myself which I like better. The London show may have the better set (still not convinced of that.) but I think the Paris performance is just that much better. They left everything on the stage this time. That's not to say they didn't in London. This just feels like a whole other gear and the final gig of a tour can be special one and I think that's what we have here. (Though I think London was the second to last gig that year and Manchester ended up being the final gig that year.)
     
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  20. AlphabetMan

    AlphabetMan Senior Member

    This is completely true.

    Something I was doing the other day was looking at the chronology of the stuff on SMPTe (after going through the CD of Neal's demos for it and the liner notes) and comparing it to what Morse was doing with Spocks Beard at the time, and also what Roine was doing with the Flower Kings at the time, and the stuff that Neal and Roine brought to the table sounds completely different to their main bands.
    You can clearly here the Neal in All Of The Above but it clearly doesn't resemble the style of Spocks Beard at all, and even prefigures songwriting techniques that Neal would continue to develop later in his career.

    SMPTe was a very new thing for all the members of Transatlantic and a very unique thing in the history of Prog Rock (even though there's been other prog supergroups).
    The subsequent albums, Bridge Across Forever and the single-songed album of The Whirlwind, likewise are completely unique creations both in the history and music of the members of the band and in the history of Prog Rock.

    Kaleidescope and Absolute Universe both lean into an established sound developed from touring all the epics of the prior three albums so much live, but at that point there are merely reifying their status as a band with an identity (rather than the blank slate which the first three albums all started with).

    None of Neals solo stuff and Roines solo stuff, none of it sounds like Transatlantic either. Even when Neal leans into some of his religious themes on The Whirlwind and Absolute Universe, the context and effect of it doesn't feel like his solo work, it's more of an incidental aspect rather than a resemblance.

    Transatlantic and all of the bands of the members all have very different styles from each other.
    Out of the bands of the members, Marillion is the one that I'd say has more of a pastiche style but that was really mainly just in the Fish era (which is also the era most people consider their best). Marillion still are a band I haven't really warmed up to, even though Transatlantic gives the incentive to keep trying lol
     
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  21. AlphabetMan

    AlphabetMan Senior Member

    [​IMG]


    I'm a massive fan of both, as any regulars around here can attest to, lol
     
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  22. AlphabetMan

    AlphabetMan Senior Member

    Manchester? that was the same set as the Whirltour 2010 release. (both also feature a cover in the DVD versions of that Genesis cover)
     
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  23. ytserush

    ytserush Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast US
    I don't think that's the case here. The liner notes explain it. Also, I don't know many (any really) casual fans of this band. Either you love them are indifferent or never heard of the band. Pulling the "farewell show" for a band such as this one might have a minimal impact financially at best. Only speaking for myself here but I've already bought the live album for this band before I hear a note of the studio album. They are one of those bands for me. Strangely, in this case I didn't know there would be a tour or live album upon release because of COVID. But the larger point is many people who like this band are all in and were probably going to buy the live album anyway. I don't see what could be gained at that point by saying that "this is it" for a band at this level.
     
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  24. ytserush

    ytserush Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast US
    I can enjoy both very much. John Zorn and his satellite universe is very difficult to keep up with. I've nearly given up trying. He should start an album of the month club for his releases and it still wouldn't be enough to contain it.
     
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  25. ytserush

    ytserush Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast US
    Mike may have concluded that for himself.
     
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