March 10, 1998 - Liquid Tension Experiment and Liquid Tension Experiment

A week after my last release a new band joins my library when Liquid Tension Experiment released their self-titled debut album on March 10, 1998. But who is Liquid Tension Experiment? They are a four-piece instrumental progressive metal band formed by Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. He wanted to start a side project separate from Dream Theater and so he recruited Jordan Rudess (from the band Dixie Dregs) and legendary prog bassist Tony Levin (from King Crimson)! Portnoy originally wanted Dimebag Darrell to be the band's guitarist, but it didn't work out and so his Dream Theater bandmate John Petrucci became the guitarist. Liquid Tension play a similar style of metal as Dream Theater, but Levin and Rudess definitely add some unique flare and there's also no vocals at all. Let's see what Liquid Tension Experiment is all about!

The album opens with the nine minute "Paradigm Shift" and they launch right into it with some pretty freaking fast guitar by Petrucci right out the gate. Portnoy's drums are also very fast and pretty sweet and Rudess can definitely keep up with the boys as we hear some really fast keyboards as well. Everything sounds pretty awesome, but especially Petrucci's guitar sounds amazing, leading the way for most of the song. Portnoy does lots of great drum fills throughout and when Rudess goes off for his first keyboard solo, he fuxking nails it with some great stuff that is super fast, but also fits the mood perfectly. Around halfway through things slow down and Levin takes over the lead for a bit with some pretty cool bass. He sets the stage perfectly for the guitar solo and Petrucci proceeds to shred very nicely overtop. They return to the original reef briefly before closing things out very nicely with some more cool drums and Petrucci delivering a final shred that ends the song as frantically as it began. What an awesome song, and an amazing way to kick off an album, and a band! Up next is "Osmosis" and Portnoy drives this song with some really interesting percussion that sounds pretty cool and Levin plays some nice slow bass to match it. They build it up nicelyneith Petrucci playing some light guitar in the background and Rudess eventually joining in with some keyboards that match the mood perfectly. It's almost jungle-y in it's sound and even though this is really light compared to the last song, they did a nice job with it and there's some cool percussion and keyboards. Track 3 is "Kindred Spirits" and Petrucci leads the way with a catchy main guitar riff that everyone else builds around nicely, including some fast drums by Portnoy, and some pretty sweet organ by Rudess that is definitely the highlight. There's a piano solo, a short guitar solo, both pretty cool. Then they set up for a long and epic guitar solo, which leads right into a pretty wicked keyboard solo by Rudess. The guitar and keyboards sync up during an epic finale and this was another pretty sweet song. The next short track is "The Stretch" and Levin plays some cool Chapman Stick that sounds interesting and it's a pretty funky little beat. Rudess proceeds to solo overtop and his keyboards are pretty epic and sound pretty good overtop this funky riff. Track 5 is "Freedom Of Speech" and Rudess starts things off with some slow and fairly sappy piano. They build around this to form a pretty light main riff and Petrucci plays some slow but epic and fitting guitar overtop that does speed up at times. When Portnoy's drums start to pick up they shift slowly and smoothly into a faster riff and Rudess begins to solo overtop. He plays some pretty sweet stuff and aside from some short guitar solos invetween, there are like three different keyboard solos in this part. They all sound different, and they all sound pretty cool as Rudess shows off his versatility, playing some cool piano and synthesizers. They return to the slow riff to finish things off and for a slower and sappier side of LTE, this was still way above average. Up next is another shorter song called "Chris And Kevin's Excellent Adventure" and Portnoy plays a pretty sweet drum beat to carry things along while Levin plays some cool bass overtop. Aside from some whistling that is repeated overtop, this track is all rhythm section with just Levin and Portnoy playing, and it sounds pretty cool! It's unexpected and a bit out of place, and we hear some talking throughout as well that makes this a pretty weird, and pretty interesting little tune. We even hear the guys laughing at the end of this very not serious song. Track 7 is "State Of Grace"and it's a showcase for the other two members as it's just guitar and piano on this one. Rudess plays some more light piano that sounds decent, but Petrucci's very light and sappy guitar is definitely not his better stuff. It sounds alright, but think it's easily the weakest song on the album. The next track is "Universal Mind" and it's pretty much the exact opposite of the last song as they fire right into a sweet main riff with cool contributions from everyone at points, starting with some great guitar by Peteucci right out the gate. Rudess plays some cool keyboards as well and this more upbeat and metal track is definitely more my style. Petrucci and Rudess start to alternate solos Slayer-style and it results in some pretty fantastic music. After all the great solos Rudess takes things in a new direction with a beautiful piano solo and then Levin plays a sweet new bass riff to form the backbone of a new riff. Everyone builds nicely around this with some epic guitar and some pretty cool piano. They return to the epic opening riff and then Rudess plays some more great piano in an almost reggae vibe before they finish the song with an absolutely crazy circus-like part with some cool guitar. A quirky but pretty sweet way to end what was another really excellent song. The final track is "Three Minute Warning" and there's a story behind that title. Tony Levin loves to just jam, but the rest of the guys were into writing these complex, long, progressive songs. One day in the studio Levin told the rest of the band if they didn't start just jamming in the next three minutes he was leaving. So the guys just improvised and started to jam and the result is this near 30-minute song to close out the album! They start off quiet and slowly build things up until Portnoy is playing a pretty cool drum beat. Petrucci's guitar is all over the place and pretty psychedelic and finally Rudess joins in with some cool keyboards that fit the mood very nicely. The rhythm section is more than solid in the background and Petrucci and Rudess take turns taking the lead and they're so good at reading each other and playing off each other. Rudess delivers a pretty awesome keyboard solo, but what's really impressive is the smooth transition into the guitar solo and Rudess immediately shifts to some cool backing keys while Petrucci does his usual pretty awesome shredding. Once again the end of the solo transitions perfectly into some more cool keyboards and then Petrucci's new guitar riff starts quiet, but ends up taking over everything in another great transition. The segues are so smooth and there's no breaks, just cool music. Things get quiet, but out of the quiet comes a cool drum beat by Portnoy and then Petrucci delivers a guitar solo that just descends into absolute chaos as he plays some pretty incredible stuff. Portnoy very smoothly switches to a brand new and possibly better drum beat and this is the backbone of our next section as Levin and Petrucci build nicely around this and Rudess plays some new keyboards that sound pretty cool. This sets the stage for another guitar solo and Petrucci continues to astonish and amaze as he makes up all this incredible guitar right off the spot! The fact that all of this was improvised eight then and there is just absolute insanity. Like so fucking crazy! Everyone continues to play some fantastic music as things speed up and get really awesome with the guitar and piano both going off together! After all that awesomeness they shift nicely into a slow and nice and heavy new riff and Rudess just starts to go off with some insane keyboards that melt what's left of your face. Again, this was all improvised right then! So insane! The guitars and keyboards continue to be downright genius and words do not do justice to the great minds of these four musicians, especially John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess. Things eventually do slow down a bit but Rudess plays some cool piano and Portnoy's drums continue to be great as you don't even notice we're already over 20 minutes in. This section is lighter,  but lighter for LTE is still some pretty good stuff. Things finly start to break down in the final minute as everyone let's loose one last time and they finally end the song. We hear Levin say "I think that will suffice for a record. Send it to Barney, as is". What an incredible song and a dynamite way to end an album!

That is the end of "Liquid Tension Experiment" and I thought it was a phenomenal album! Mike Portnoy, as we knew already, is an excellent drummer and he shows it on almost every song. Tony Levin is still playing some cool and funky basslines. John Petrucci, as we knew already, is an amazing guitarist and he gets a chance to really unleash himself on some of these tracks. And Jordan Rudess is quite the fucking keyboardist isn't he? He gels with the rest of them really nicely and he plays a ton of great stuff on lots of different keyboards. Even the shorter songs were solid, and the longer ones were mostly pretty awesome. It's an amazing debut for LTE and I can't wait to see how they try and top that!