Customer Reviews

Live From Oz

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

as a guitar player I have always[since I was 13]liked joe satriani and other instrumental artists. after reading some reviews I purchased this album I was amazed at what I heard. I stayed up until about 12:00 at night trying to figure out "inside
black" on guitar. I recomend this album to anyone who has a taste for fusion and instrumental types of music. Live at the Oz is the best live album I own. if there was no cheering in the backround you would think this was a studio album

do yourself a favor and buy this cd every track is flawless and stands out from one another.

"Awesome", "explosive", "amazing' are superlatives that come to mind when first hearing this intense, live hard rock instrumental music. Why Planet X's as a group is not more popular is bewildering. Anyone who likes rock instrumentals from the likes of Vai, Satriani or G3 extravaganzas should pick this up immediately.

In many ways this album is of a supergroup - everyone of these musicians are at the top of their craft, seasoned and admired and (employed!) by other musicians who know how brilliant they are! Clearly Vai knew who he needed to back his DVD 'Live at the Astoria' as both Tony MacAlpine and Virgil Donati were his number 1 support musicians.

John Petrucci, Steve Morse, Mike Portnoy and now Derek Sherinian all knew who would best fill the bass role for their respective solo efforts, so although not part of the Planet X band as such, Dave Larue is the special guest bassist for this tour and his note for note runs that follow Tony and Derek are more complicated than your average rock lead guitarist can play!

Okay - so the word "complicated" is used. Yes, this music is complicated and intense. You won't be humming it as you go for an Sunday afternoon stroll. But that's what's so compelling about listening to this album - it's an andrenalin rush of power rock fusion. Admittedly the compositions sound quite dark and live in the world of minor keys but the powerful interplay and angular time signatures that chop and change keep you riveted.

Another reviewer said that the poor drummer had to count throughout this album and couldn't just groove in a straight 4/4 . From what I've heard Virgil thrives on odd time signatures - it seems to come naturally and his bass double pedal seems to be in sprint mode rather than marathon groove. From an interview I've read, the mighty Simon Phillips, who mixed this album and who is still one of the world's greatest drummers, said he was blown away by Virgil's playing and sometimes couldn't even contemplate playing what Virgil did effortlessly. Sometimes I listen to this album and think that Virgil is what stops this from being an overblown, bombastic shredfest. The drumming is marvelous and gives the ordinary compositions edge.

I've listened to Tony since his first solo album and his "Maximum Security" album is still listed by many as a guitar landmark album. "Live in Oz" shows all Tony's chops but especially his Holdworthian whammy bar nudges and legato playing. This is what gives this album a more fusion feel than straight-out rock instrumental. I far prefer Tony's guitaring here to what I've heard on the CAB album; here some of the solos are quite organic and have space and in places beautiful rather than speedy. Don't worry there is sufficient shred as well on this to make most other so called great guitarists hop for cover!

Derek is remarkably supportive on this live outing - yes, he has the chance to exchange blistering lead lines with Tony on "Pods of Chance" that sound more like duelling guitars than keyboards - but overall I was relieved to note that the main solo instrument was Tony's guitar. Yes, Derek plays all the time but filling the canvas with waves of sound over which Tony wails rather than trying to outdo the guitar with keyboard antics.

Perhaps the one word that captures this album is "exciting". It's no musical masterpiece but rather a showcase of skills that make one laugh at their audacity! The rest of us mere mortals on planet earth can merely applaud!

While i'm very familiar w/Planet X owning ALL their cd's, even a 3 cd Raw Pack that Derek made available on an extremely limited basis because it was autographed & dated by DS, I have to now rate this "Live from Oz" my favorite "live" recording, surpassing what used to hold that position, UK's "Night After Night"! This cd's was mixed by drum-god Simon Phillips and contains both older incredible Planet X songs(Dog Boots-Atlantis
ect)it also features enough "new" material that whether you're new to the Planet X experience or not, you'll simply LOVE this cd

This disc also contains solo's from each member, but they are of
the short variety(Tony's at 4:14 is the longest)so those that can
not keep their attention span for longer solo's(I personally love
to hear virtuosos do extended solo's, being a drummer especially Donati's)So "Live from Oz" should be in your cd collection, whether or not you know of Planet X, & just admire the higest form of "Progressive" music; or people who can play their respective instrument at the possible highest level. A must purchase!!
Steven Munari
PS: This cd contains a 15th "bonus" track, Clonus

There are few CDs that usurp my listening time the way this CD has. "Live from Oz" delivers brilliance and the most beautiful imaginative musical complexity and energy to your ear (just watch yourself keep turning it up), these guys are GODS! One amazing performance after another, and the solos are beyond - just way the heck beyond generous and *inspired*.

This is, bar none, the most impressive live album I have ever heard to date. In fact, while Planet X's studio albums are fine and all, this destroys them mercilessly. Actually, this walks all over any progressive metal/fusion album that I can think of off the top of my head - studio or live. A bold declaration? Yeah, maybe.

The guys are no strangers in the music world. Derek Sherinian is probably best known for his brief time with Dream Theater, Tony MacAlpine is the whitest black guitar player in existence who has played everything from fusion-jazz with Cab to neoclassical metal with Vitalij Kuprij, Virgil Donati has artists from all around the world willing to pay him obscene amounts of money just to play session drums for them, and temporary live bassist Dave LaRue has been employed by the likes of John Petrucci and Steve Morse. Naturally, this might mean ego, and ego might mean a supergroup doomed to fail. However, Planet X do not fail. If I didn't know better, I'd say that there was an invisible bio-cable on stage connecting all four of them and transferring brain matter back and forth in order to create a giant synergy dome, bringing out the absolute best in all four players and channeling it into a central pool of instrumental perfection from which the players may pull at will. Hmm.

Meanwhile, back in reality...

Live From Oz features seven tracks from Universe, one track from Moonbabies, three solo spots, and the Atlantis trilogy from Derek Sherinian's Planet X album (which I have not heard, so I'm not sure what these three tracks sound like in the studio). I can't speak for Atlantis, but otherwise each song is performed more or less faithfully to the original - that is, all the metal-fusion shredding, alien drumming, and "damn I wish I was a guitar player!"-keyboarding is nailed to perfection and comes through crystal clear, and the transitions inbetween are smooth and natural. Tony manages to take Steve Vai's squealing, Yngwie Malmsteen's neoclassical wankery, and Allan Holdsworth's legato mastery and twist them all into something oddly compelling. It isn't all shred, though... there are plenty of slow, soaring, and beautiful solos and leads that feel like they would be more at home on a Weather Report record. Derek actually does a lot of atmospheric support work throughout the set as opposed to simply trying to stroke his ego by competing with Tony all the time, which is good, because I've always been of the mind that Derek is better when he focuses on ambience than when he's pretending to be a second lead guitar. Not to worry, though, Tony and Derek still have enough crazy unisons and duels to keep the die-hard proghead drooling. Virgil is pure insanity, as usual... I don't think there's a single straightforward groove to be found anywhere in the 70+ minutes of this show that lasts for more than a few seconds. He sits back there, doing absurd stuff like rolls that use both ends of his sticks (the heads doing the snare, and the butts doing the toms, or vice-versa), playing with each of his four limbs in different meters, employing syncopation techniques from hell, performing one-footed double-bass runs that are faster than or as fast as most players can do with two feet, doing one-handed treks across his obscene kit at lightning speeds while keeping a steady hi-hat rhythm with his other hand, and other things that would make us mere mortals gape in awe.

Song-wise, the Atlantis trilogy is what really took my breath away here. "Apocalypse 1470 BC" starts off in typical Planet X fashion - Tony wailing away, Derek providing futuristic soundscapes, and Virgil working on a brain aneurism. However, that ends abruptly about one minute in as Virgil apparently grows another pair of arms and, while maintaining a straightforward hi-hat/snare backbeat, embarks on a speedy cross-kit hike (with Tony and Derek along for the ride) that can only be described as sounding like somebody had just hit the fast-forward button right in the middle of a dense instrumental jam. Jaw, meet floor. This general idea of multiple rhythms being played simultaneously at multiple speeds is repeated in several variations until the song comes to an end. A smooth bass solo from Dave LaRue marks the start of "Sea of Antiquity", backed by Derek's piano. Tony takes over about a minute in with a solo of his own that runs the gamut from soaring, emotional vibrato work to wild shredding and sweeping... and he takes the song to its end. "Lost Island" indulges in some upbeat, dreamy melodies from the getgo that really do make you feel like you're peacefully relaxing on some lost island in the middle of nowhere. A third of the way in, the guys briefly lapse into the craziness that we heard on "Apocalypse 1470 BC", with Virgil keeping a slow beat on the hi-hat while going into fast-forward mode on the remainder of his kit to meet up with Tony and Derek. From there, ideas clash from all directions until everything climaxes into a sprawling, expansive, epic-sounding closing sequence that isn't unlike the end of Dream Theater's "Hell's Kitchen". Very beautiful.

The solo spots are mostly typical. Especially Virgil's and Tony's... except for the thing where Virgil's is sandwhiched right in the middle of "Warfinger", which I suppose works out well. Derek's solo, or at least the second half of it, sort of reminds me of the background music to Master of Orion 2, only drenched in a futuristic synth sound (probably not the best point of reference, as the game isn't exactly popular, but oh well). That's a good thing, in case you were wondering.

I can't really think of anything negative to say, so I'll just say that this is absolutely mandatory for any fan of progressive metal and/or metal-fusion. Even those people who are allergic to bands like Dream Theater, Andromeda, and Dreamscape should check this out, because it's on a completely different level.

If you like progressive rock, or fusion, or even if you dont...

In a nutshell, if you like talented musicians, this is the cd you've been looking for. Never, and I mean NEVER before have I ever heard a more technically/musically advanced musicians IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. Tony MacAlpine is hands down the most technically advanced guitarist on this planet. Nobody can match up to him, and nobody ever will. Ever. No one. John Petrucci? Forget it. Allan Holdsworth? Nice try.

Nobody.

I mean Virgil Donati is also very advanced. But Tony MacAlpine....he actually scares me now. This album brings out the best of Tony and Virgil AND Sherinian. Its one of the best live albums I own, although it can get a little overwhelming at times.

If you choose to buy this CD, please understand first that Planet X is not intended for humans to listen to. It is so musically advanced that it may seem like music that you would hear in a club on Mars.

Once you get past that, however, you will never be more amazed (or should i say Frightened) by Tony MacAlpine. He literally scares me now.

...which I still agree with, by the way. But even as I was criticizing that cd for its jazz metal tendencies, I was lavishing praise on the musical talents and great potential for all the members of Planet X. I was hoping that I would eventually find one of their other albums that didn't turn me away with its metal predisposition, and instead turn me on to the band's greatness.

I found that album in "Live From Oz".

Whoa... Not only is this impressive stuff, but it's performed live at breakneck speed. I love the song selections for this set; they showcase Sherinian's compositional skill, and still manage to allow the band members to strut their talents. This is high energy, complex and thought-provoking. You'll spend a lot of time nodding your head to keep up with the odd meters... and shaking your head at the virtuosity of the players. Every one of them.

This is the album I've always hoped this group would produce. Other-worldly...

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:

Music quality = 8.7/10; Performance = 9.6/10; Production = 9/10; CD length = 10/10.

Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 9.1 ("4-1/2 stars")

one reviewer wondered why this band isn't more popular, well, maybe because the record labels that have these bands do very little if anything to promote them. Maybe they figure the average joe on the street won't 'get' this type of music, which sadly, is probably correct. I see very little if any promotion for fusion type bands which is damn shame considering a lot of them have some incredible musicians in them, like this band. These are cream-of-the-crop musicians here and the playing on this disc is fantastic.

I guess the suits at the labels figure that the built-in fans for this type of music will buy the CDs and maybe that's enough for them, who knows. Too many mediocre bands out there who can barely tune their instruments get over-hyped while bands like this get overlooked except for the hardcore fans. This is music for music's sake. Not the standard verse-chorus-verse-bridge or whatever. These tunes give the musicians the chance to flex their considerable chops. Nothing wrong with that. This won't be everyone's cup of tea but you can always go get the drum machine-filled 'music' that's all too popular these days. You know what I mean, the stuff that replaces the snare drum sound with the sound of handclaps. That should go down like the baby food that it is. This here is meat and potatoes!!

Anyway...if you like progressive fusion-esque music by some great musicians then get this disc. The fact that you're on this page is a good start, so I'll do what the record labels won't or aren't doing, and that's telling you to GET THIS CD!!!

[...]

Being my all times favorites Live Albums: Exit, Stage ...Left (Rush) ,Live Scenes from a Memory (Dream Theater)and World Tour 90 (Uzeb), this Mamooth looks from above this three little "rabbits" (it's just a metaphore, I really like a lot this three "rabbits"), well , this guys may have some kind of invisible cable interconnected between them, y never heard such technical, brutal and melodic Sound all in one. Tony is The man, he is like an universal player he can play anything flawlessly. Virgil has sobrepassed my expectations and I think i like him more than Portnoy ( and that's a serious declaration),Derek is the sonic K-man from Inner Space..... the whole experience can't be described by words, please listen to this modern music Gods, they'll make you apreciate more the word "music".

The musicianship, as well as the songs and the sound, are superb. The sound that these aliens produce is huge, the rhythms mighty, and the unison lines and solos amazing. And this is just an appetizer for the Moonbabies cd. Highly reccomended.