Liquid Tension Experiment

Liquid Tension Experiment (Magna Carta)

Rating: 4 out of 5

From the opening of lead-off track ‘Paradigm Shift’, where Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci unleash a unison line of 16th notes in groups of threes, played as fast as humanly possible, you get the feeling that these gentlemen have been anxiously waiting to express themselves in a more open forum than Dream Theater has recently allowed. This project is similar to the Black Light Syndrome album, which featured Terry Bozzio, in that the same record label (Magna Carta) approached Portnoy to create a “wish list” of players that he would like to experiment with musically. (King Crimson bassist Tony Levin, a contributor to Black Light Syndrome, appears here as well, as does keyboardist Jordan Rudess, fresh off his collaboration with Rod Morgenstein.)

Although this is not simply a thrash session, Portnoy is relentless throughout. ‘Freedom Of Speech’ allows Mike to stretch a bit, while ‘Chris And Kevin’s Excellent Adventure’ gives us an opportunity to hear him play real out and funky, displaying some serious over-bar-line chops. The impressive set ends with ‘Three Minute Warning’, an insane twenty-eight-minute, totally improvised jam that shows just how creative “educated rockers” can get. Portnoy has safely secured his place in progressive rock drumming history with this recording.

—Mike Haid