The Whirlwind

Transatlantic | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 2009)
• Original Release Date: October 26, 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Metal Blade
• ASIN: B002OB9KPE
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,232 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Overture/Whirlwind

2. The Wind Blew Them All Away

3. On the Prowl

4. A Man Can Feel

5. Out of the Night

6. Rose Colored Glasses

7. Evermore

8. Set Us Free

9. Lay Down Your Life

10. Pieces of Heaven

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Spinning [*]

2. Lenny Johnson [*]

3. For Such a Time [*]

4. Lending a Hand [*]

5. The Return of the Giant Hogweed [Cover][*]

6. A Salty Dog [Cover][*]

7. I Need You, Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 [Cover][*]

8. Soul Sacrifice [Cover][*]

Editorial Reviews

2009 two CD release from the Prog Rockers. With The Whirlwind, Transatlantic has pulled out all the stops! Their first two albums expanded the boundaries of Progressive Rock with songs like 'Stranger In Your Soul' that span some 30 minutes. Then, nine years later the band comes back with a walloping triumphant record that is one piece of music sprawling over 78 minutes in length! This is unprecedented, and the sheer brilliance of it is that it flows like a Progressive Rock symphony, taking the listener from shadow to glory and back again. What a tremendous whirlwind of music this is!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Soaring, October 27, 2009

By 

S. Miller "ksarrow" (Wichita, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Whirlwind (Audio CD)

I purchased the super deluxe version with the extra CD and the Making of DVD.
First of all, Bridge Across Forever is one of my fave CD's and Stranger in Your Soul is one of my favorite prog songs.
The Whirlwind CD is very good, and, compared to the other two Transatlantic CD's, is more consistent throughout. Bridge and SMTPe had some weak areas (Temple of the Gods).
One of the things that really stands out on the Whirlwind is the bass and guitar. The fairly well known rumors of grumbling by Roine and Pete over Bridge (and Roine's re-release of his own mix as proof) are not necessary here. The bass is strong with excellent tone! (I actually envy this bass tone). Roine's guitar parts are well executed with good tone, unlike the spacey wah-fest filler from Bridge.
The lyrics are overall very good. Some of Neal's vocals as usual are borderline too high; will be difficult to do live.
My favorite songs are The Wind Blew Them All Away, Rose Colored Glasses, EverMore, and the Finale. Although this is one big song it fits together nicely and some stand up on their own well.
This would be 5 stars.

The bonus CD (CD2) is hit and miss. The first four songs are new, but I really don't like any of them. Lenny Johnson has an interesting feel but it really doesn't go anywhere. For Such a Time is basically like I Can Only Imagine and would play well on Contemporary Christian (CCM) charts. Since I don't like candy-coated CCM, this is not necessarily a good thing.
These songs wouldn't be all that bad, but the Giant Hogweed song is SO GOOD that it makes these look like less than filler. The Giant Hogweed song has interesting parts, dynamics, funny vocals, and a great, fun feel. This song is 5 stars. The CD, however, is about 3 stars.
The Making of DVD is the usual. Not bad but about 15-20 minutes of interesting content in 90 minute DVD.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another outstanding effort by Transatlantic, November 9, 2009

By 

Kevin M. Reinwald (St. Louis, MO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Whirlwind (Audio CD)

In short, this record was well worth the wait. It is tremendous in every way. Great melodies everywhere, tons of hooks, lots of great instrumental work, and both a great beginning and finish. Really, while the first disc is technically a 77-minute song, it is really like 12 songs that all run together. Think of it almost like a concept album, where there are recurring melodies and themes, but most of the songs do stand on their own as great stand-alone songs. The bonus disc has four new songs, as well; "Spinning," in particular, is just dynamite; clearly written by Roine Stolt, it has Yes written all over it. It also has four covers, several of which are nice, and several of which are kind of meh. Their cover of Santana's "Soul Sacrifice" is pretty sick; it was laid down in one take, with all four guys doing percussion following the take. It is pretty rad.

I have seen accusations of this sounding like a Neal Morse solo record but with different musicians all over the place, and honestly, that doesn't make any sense at all. I mean, shouldn't it go without saying that the writing style of the primary songwriters, of which Morse is obviously one, are gonna come out in a project like this, regardless of how collaborative the effort is? I mean, songs like "Spinning, "Out of the Night" and "Evermore" would have all fitted right at home on a Flower Kings record, so can we say that too much of the record sounds a Flower Kings record? Roine Stolt and Pete Trewavas quite obviously contributed far more on this record than they did on the first TA records. In fact, Roine Stolt has stated that this record was much more of a collaborative effort than the first two TA records. Plus, the prog rock styles of Morse and Stolt are both so distinctive, that it would pretty difficult for either of them to write a lot of material and have much of it NOT sound like their respective styles.

As for Neal's lyrics, I gotta agree with Matt "5150" completely; Neal's christian lyrics are only heard in a few songs, and even then, they are not as obvious as most of the ones on his solo records. Besides, if the three other guys in Transatlantic, none of whom write religious lyrics on a regular basis, had a problem with his lyrics, simply put, they wouldn't have made it on to the record. Unless I am mistaken, neither God nor Jesus are mentioned on this entire record.

As a believer, I can even admit that Neal does lay it on a bit too thick at times, and there are times where I wish he would tone it down a bit, but I don't see the problem AT ALL with the lyrics on this new TA record. They are not even close to being as overtly religious as the ones on the studio albums he has done since '03. I think if no one knew anything about Neal's beliefs or if he had never written anything before this, no one would have a problem with them, but because we have his past work as a reference, it is causing some people to overreact, thinking that he is going all crazy with the religious lyrics again, when that really isn't the case at all. I think most of the ones that he obviously wrote are broad enough to where you could use your own interpretation, even if Neal had something more narrow in mind when he wrote them.

But I get that some are always gonna be offended by any lyric Neal writes that has anything to do with religion, so my only advice there is this: If you are buying a Neal Morse CD or one that features him nowadays, you are probably gonna get some religious and/or spiritual lyrics. If you can't handle them, don't buy or listen to the damn CD.

As for me, I have already listened to this a ton and don't see me stopping any time soon.

In short, if you are a fan at all of the first two Transatlantic CDs, odds are that you will dig this one like crazy, too.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as you remember them, October 27, 2009

By 

Mark A. Merritt "Livingstill" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Whirlwind (Audio CD)

Radiant Records came through and I received my copy in the mail on 10/26/09 as advertised.

This is unmistakably Transatlantic. The musicianship is superb, as one would expect given the players involved with the project. Interestingly after the fourth listen, I really think that Pete (Bass) shined on this one. All of the players have their brilliant moments, and their collective talents come together to form a very creative and cohesive effort, one which will take many listens in order to fully digest - Just like all good prog.