July 13, 1999 - Derek Sherinian and Planet X

A week after my last release a (kind of) new artist joins my library when Derek Sherinian released his first solo album "Planet X" on July 13, 1999. Derek Sherinian, as we know, is a pretty talented keyboardist (from Laguna Beach, California) who was on Dream Theater's last album and EP, but he ended up leaving Dream Theater and this is his first solo album. Joining Derek Sherinian on this album is drummer and co-song writer Virgil Donati, guitarist Brett Garsed and bassist Tony Franklin. With no vocalist Sherinian leads an instrumental version of the same style of progressive metal that Dream Theater plays. Let's see what solo Sherinian is all about!

The album begins with a trilogy that totals nearly seventeen minutes, starting with the seven minute "Atlantis: Part 1. Apocalypse 1470 B.C." and they dive right into the first riff with Derek playing some very loud and interesting synths while the rest of the band provides a solid backing riff. Throughout this song Derek switches between several different kinds of keyboards, but he's always center stage and everything sounds pretty good. The faster parts sound particularly great but the slower parts help to break up some of the sweet shredding. Garsed even gets a little guitar solo of his own and it sounds pretty sweet as well before Derek takes over again with some more pretty crazy and space-y synths. I don't mind that there's no vocals one bit and I wasn't sure how a solo keyboardist would sound at first, but Sherinian plays plenty of cool stuff that is definitely just as good as a solo guitarist. As a good prog trilogy should, the end of part 1 leads right into "Atlantis: Part 2. Sea Of Antiquity" and Derek plays some droning synths, some trippy other keyboards and then eventually comes in with some piano on top of all that. The piano sounds solid and it mixes surprisingly well with the space-y other keyboards. After a minute and a half the rest of the band finally joins in and provides a slow backdrop for Derek to play some epic lead stuff overtop that could easily be mistaken for a guitar, it sounds almost Pink Floyd-esque. That's definitely a good place to be and this is nice slower interlude that also leads very smoothly into track 3 "Atlantis: Part 3. Lost Island". Derek plays a cool keyboard riff that carries right over and the band fills in nicely behind and this seems like a solid main riff. Until Defek starts playing some sweet, faster keyboards overtop and now we're really talkin'! They segue nicely between a few different parts with Derek always leading the way with some solid stuff. There's a cool part where Sherinian and Garsed play off of each other and that is probably the highlight. The end is strangely a little unexciting but it was mostly a good way to finish off this opening trilogy. The next track is "Crab Nebulae" and it has a space-y opening where the keyboards stay in the background at first and the bass and drums take the lead with Franklin playing some solid bass and Donati playing a nice drum beat. Garsed syncs up with Franklin to make things sound louder and then Sherinian takes the lead eith some pretty sweet shredding keyboards. He uses a few different kinds of keyboards as he psychedelically dances overtook this cool backing riff and it makes for a pretty sweet song overall! Donati even turns it up at the end with a lot of great drum fills! Track 5 is just called "Box" and Sherinian immediately comes out with one groovy keyboard riff and then some crazy sounding Mellotron that totally reminds me of King Crimson, another good comparison for sure. The backing riff is pretty catchy and solid but Sherinian plays all kinds of insane keyboards on this one, words can't properly describe them! But there's a lot of cool stuff for sure and I think this is probably my favourite so far. Up next is "Money Shot" and Derek is shredding his keyboards right from the get-go with some really fast and cool stuff! He continues to play some great keyboards throughout this whole track and it's a non-stop ride with a nice heavy "chorus" as well. The solo is of course particularly sweet as Sherinian puts on a good show with some epic stuff. The last three tracks were all pretty good! Track 7 is "Day In The Sun" and it's got a pretty groovy main riff with Franklin and Garsed playing some catchy stuff before Sherinian comes in with some cool lead keyboards overtop. Derek plays another solid keyboard solo and it crashes nicely into a space-y new part where Derek plays some slower but still epic stuff. He closes the song with another solo and that one sounds even better than the first one! Keep 'em comin' Derek! The next track is "State Of Delirium" and it's easily the slowest song on the album with Sherinian playing lots of droning keyboards in this super slow riff. Garsed provides some nice heavy backing guitar and Sherinian plays some pretty crazy keyboards overtop that sound great mixed with the slow music. This is also the shortest song on the album at under three minutes so that pretty much sums it up. Track 9 is "Space Martini" and Donati starts us off with a pretty wicked drum beat and his great drumming continues for the whole track. Sherinian alternates between a cool faster riff and some spacier, slower parts and the faster parts sound great. After a typically cool keyboard solo Garsed gets a chance to show off and he does not disappoint with a pretty wicked guitar solo! Derek takes over again to jam out the ending and the solid tunes just keep on rolling! The album wraps up with "Brunei Babylon" and they kick right into a nice heavy main riff with Derek playing a few different keyboards, including some spectacular lead stuff. Everything sounds pretty awesome until Derek falls out entirely for a bit and then it's a little dull, but he comes roaring back of course with some more crazy sounding keyboard shredding that continues all the way to the end of the song with not basically no let-up! What a way to finish things off!

That is the end of "Planet X" and I thought it was a pretty cool solo debut by Derek Sherinian. The other three members get their moments in the spotlight to show that they too are pretty solid, but of course it's Derek's keyboards that make the album as he plays all kinds of cool riffs and great solos. I look forward to hearing (a lot) more from Derek Sherinian!

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