Liquid Tension Experiment

Liquid Tension Experiment (Magna Carta)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (between “Gaping Wound” and “Radical Amputation”)

LTE is a one-time instrumental project between drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci (both from Dream Theater), bassist Tony Levin (King Crimson/Bozzio-Levin-Stevens), and keyboardist Jordan Rudess (who recently worked with Rod Morgenstein). The project came together at the request of the record label and under the guidance of Portnoy. The band wrote, recorded, and produced the album in about one week! From the high quality of the music and the production you’d think they spent a year on this. The first track, ‘Paradigm Shift,’ possibly has the best introduction of any heavy album this year; it’s fast, heavy and intense. A lot of the music on this CD is like this, but there’s also a lot of slower, mellower sections, usually within the same song. The four musicians spare no musical expense to prove that they’re highly skilled, even though we knew this already! A few of the tunes are a bit longwinded, and the last track, ‘Three Minute Warning,’ (which is split up into three sections on the CD) is a half hour of improvised jamming recorded in one take without any prior planning. Quite a feat since it sounds cohesive throughout, but I don’t know how well it will stand up to repeated listens, even by the most stalwart fan. So what’s the final verdict? LTE is a great album, with plenty of heavy parts, but often veers off into self-indulgent progressive territory. If this is your thing, jack the rating up to 5 axes. Fans of verse/chorus/verse hard rock may have trouble getting into this one though. It takes a patient ear to absorb the myriad of sounds and textures going on here.

—Steve Gottlieb