July 29, 2002 - MoonBabies

Twelve days after my last release and two years since their debut "Universe", Planet X released their second album "MoonBabies" on July 29, 2002. Planet X have almost the same line-up as their debut: Derek Sherinian and Virgil Donati are still the main songwriters and Tony MacAlpine remains on guitar, but bassist Tom Kennedy plays on only half the songs on the album. New bassist Jimmy Johnson does four of the other five songs and he helped out Derek on his last solo album as well. It's still the same instrumental, progressive metal we expect though, let's listen to the latest from Planet X!

The album kicks off with the title track "MoonBabies" and it's got very space-y and trippy intro that is pretty cool with some epic and super fast keyboards by Sherinian. He then drives a high and upbeat main riff and MacAlpine backs him with some nice heavy guitar. Once they really get going there's all kinds of cool guitars and keyboards and things sound very epic and solid indeed! Sherinian gets a chance to solo and he delivers a pretty cool keyboard solo before they dive right back into the heavy and cool main riff. Then it's MacAlpine's turn to solo and in my opinion he plays an even better solo on guitar! After a little more jamming we even get a bass solo as Kennedy delivers some absolutely phenomenal bass! All three solos were pretty cool and this is a pretty sweet way to kick off the album! Up next is "The Noble Savage" and it's the only song on the album with Billy Sheehan playing bass. He starts things off with a decent little bass riff that keeps the pace. Donati adds some epic drums to the mix and MacAlpine plays some pretty cool lead guitar overtop. Eventually things shift nicely to a much louder new riff and Sherinian and MacAlpine do a great job of alternating between syncing up, and playing off of each other and everything sounds pretty epic and cool. There's a solid guitar solo midway through, then it's nicely back to more cool guitar and piano taking turns. MacAlpine closes out the song with an even better guitar solo and these guys still seem to have all kinds of good prog exploding out of them! Track 3 is the first song with Johnson on bass and it's called "Ataraxia". Johnson and Donati play a solid rhythm section in the background, Sherinian plays some dreamy and epic keyboards, then MacAlpine takes the reins with some epic guitar that matches the mood perfectly. Sherinian plays some thundering keyboards that sound really sweet at times and then they return to the lighter main riff. After a couple rounds MacAlpine gets a long opportunity to solo and he does all kinds of awesome shredding! Then everyone else takes a turn with some cool bass, some pretty epic and cool drums by Donati and a new cool keyboard part by Sherinian. Somehow they smoothly return to the main riff to nicely finish things off, the prog was on full display on this one; lots of cool parts! The next track is "70 VIR" and it's got a nice heavy rhythm section and Sherinian leading the way with a catchy keyboard riff. MacAlpine adds some epic guitar to the mix and things have a nice bouncing rhythm to them. Once it's solo time Sherinian and MacAlpine alternate short solos, and all of them sound pretty cool! Words don't do justice to the plethora of speedy and sweet guitar and piano. Track 5 is "Micronesia" and Sherinian starts us off with some space-y keyboards, then switches to piano, then thile main riff really takes off with a cool and heavy rhythm section once again and Sherinian playing some pretty cool keyboards overtop. He plays several different keyboard styles: piano, synths, organ and the variety sounds pretty cool. MacAlpine spices things up with a pretty sweet guitar solo as well before they hit reset and nicely start it all up again. Once they reach solo time this time round, it's a keyboard solo and Sherinian closes out the song with a pretfy crazy solo that goes right to the death. Up next is "Interlude In Milan" and Sherinian keeps the pace with a fast and cool keyboard riff while MacAlpine plays some slower, epic lead guitar overtop. Kennedy plays some solid bass to set the stage for solo time and MacAlpine delivers another pretty sweet shredding solo. Aside from the solo this song is pretty chill compared to most of the album, but it's still solid mo doubt. Track 7 is "Digital Vertigo" and they dive right into a fast-paced riff with Sherinian playing some cool piano overtop some heavy guitar. Sherinian and MacAlpine harmonize for parts of this song, and they are super fast parts at times, it's really well done! They slow things down at one point to a simple, almost made-for-radio riff (very unusual for these guys), but then take off on a nice solo with Johnson playing some nice groovy bass while Sherinian goes off on a pretty wild keyboard solo! MacAlpine follows with a sweet guitar solo and they end things on a nice crazy note as well, a pretty awesome song! The next track is "Ground Zero" and Donati plays some catchy drums, Johnson adds some groovy bass, Sherinian keeps the pace with a catchy piano riff, then MacAlpine plays some cool guitar to complete this solid main riff. Sherinian plays some coop keyboards throughout this song, including a cool part after the second round, and MacAlpine delivers another pretty cool guitar solo as well. A "standard" song for these guys, but their standards are pretty high! Track 9 is "Midnight Bell" and Johnson gets us started with a fast bass riff to keep the pace and Sherinian syncs up with him nicely for a bit before switching to some dreamy synths as MacAlpine takes the lead with some epic guitar. Johnson's bass is quite good in the background and I like the chugging chorus that sounds pretty heavy! This is followed by alternating guitar and keyboard solos, all of which sound pretty sweet, then things quiet right down and Donati delivers a few awesome drum fills. Johnson follows with some more really cool bass and everything sounds epic and pretty awesome on this song, including another speedy guitar solo that takes us right to the end of the song! The final song on the album is the nine and a half minute "Ignotus Per Ignotium" and they dive right into another "standard" riff filled with some pretty fast and cool guitar and keyboards and backed by a more than adequate rhythm section. The first four minutes are pretty much non-stop heavy and progressive metal and it's all pretty damn good! After four minutes the mood shifts as Sherinian plays a new lighter keyboard riff and MacAlpine proceeds to nicely solo overtop. Donati gets a chance for a little drum solo as well and it sounds pretty sweet! They end things with a fantastic flourish ending with some crazy keyboards and the song really ends around the 6:45 mark. After two minutes of silence we get a short bonus song with Sherinian playing some more epic backing synths while MacAlpine plays some Spanish guitar and it's a pretty sweet little bonus tune! A nice way to finish things off!

That is the end of "MoonBabies" and I thought it was another pretty awesome album by Planet X. There are really no weak points on this whole album, and there are all kinds of peaks with several awesome songs and a very high bar overall. Their debut album "Universe" was also really sweet, but I think this new one is even better! Where will Planet X go from here? It'll be a few years before we find out!