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Transatlantic
Transatlantic in 2010: Roine Stolt, Daniel Gildenlöw, Pete Trewavas, Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy
Background information
Origin	United States, United Kingdom, Sweden
Genres	Progressive rock
Years active	1999–2002, 2009–present
Labels	InsideOut, Metal Blade/Radiant
Members	Neal Morse Mike Portnoy Roine Stolt Pete Trewavas
Website	transatlanticweb.com

Transatlantic is a multinational progressive rock supergroup consisting of Neal Morse (ex–Spock's Beard), Roine Stolt (Kaipa, the Flower Kings), Pete Trewavas (Marillion, Edison's Children) and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater). They formed in 1999 as a side project to their full-time bands, but disbanded in 2002. They then reunited in 2009.

Despite not being an official member and only appearing on one studio album, Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation) has often joined the band during live shows. However, due to illness, Ted Leonard stood in for him during the 2014 tour. Leonard also joined the band during the 2022 tour.

Biography

Formation

Originally intending to include Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos, Morse and Portnoy tapped Flower Kings guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt when Matheos was unable to participate. The band completed their lineup by adding bassist and progressive rock veteran Pete Trewavas from the group Marillion and Edison's Children. Before Transatlantic, the first moniker the band came up with was "Second Nature".

SMPT:e and Bridge Across Forever (2000–2002)

Their first album, 2000's SMPT:e (a play on words, as both a combination of the members' last initials, as well as a common machine time protocol used in high end recording studios) received strong critical reviews, including "some of the best progressive rock music ever written" (Robert Taylor in AllMusic).

A subsequent tour of the United States led to a double live CD, Transatlantic Live in America, and a video of the same name. The band showed their musical heritage on the live CD, presenting covers of the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever", as well as a medley of Genesis' epic "Watcher of the Skies" and "Firth of Fifth". The band also released another double live CD/DVD called Live in Europe in 2003; one standout is the version of "Suite Charlotte Pike" that includes covers of tracks from The Beatles Abbey Road album.

Though SMPT:e contained the 31-minute opus "All of the Above", the band's second studio album, 2001's Bridge Across Forever, found the band flexing their muscles further in the long form for which progressive rock is known. The CD contained just four tracks, the 26-minute "Duel With the Devil", the 14-minute "Suite Charlotte Pike", and the 26-minute "Stranger in Your Soul" making up the bulk of the disc, with the title track coming in at a relatively scant five minutes. The limited edition also contains a cover of Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond". In November 2001, the band toured Europe. As an added bonus for progressive metal fans, Daniel Gildenlöw of the band Pain of Salvation sat in throughout the tour, playing keyboards, guitars, percussion, and vocals.

Years of hiatus (2002–2009)

Morse left his regular band Spock's Beard in October 2002, stating "God wants me to do something else," which meant leaving the mainstream prog scene to launch a new career as a Christian musician. This move also included ending his activities for Transatlantic. Portnoy reacted: "This spells the end of Transatlantic as I wouldn't possibly consider continuing it without him." A live DVD of the tour was released in late 2003.

In the years to follow Morse continued to collaborate with Portnoy both in the studio and on stage. Morse' concerts frequently included one or more Transatlantic songs. A three-quarter reunion took place on 23 August 2008, when Stolt and Portnoy joined Morse at the Three Rivers Prog Fest in Pittsburgh for "We All Need Some Light" and "Stranger in Your Soul".

Reunion and The Whirlwind (2009–2013)

On 16 April 2009, it was officially announced that the band had reunited and begun work on a third studio album. The album was released in October 2009 and consisted of a single 77-minute title-track The Whirlwind. A special edition of the album was also released, including a second disc with four additional original tracks and four cover tracks. Additionally, a deluxe edition was released, which included a DVD documenting the making of the album. The album reached No. 21 on the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers chart.

The band toured North America and Europe in April–May 2010 in support of The Whirlwind. Dubbed the Whirld Tour, the band was again joined by Daniel Gildenlöw on stage.

In February 2013, the new Neal Morse band (with Mike Portnoy) and the Flower Kings started a European tour together which was followed by a gig in Los Angeles in May. Each band performed a set with their own songs and the encore set featured Transatlantic songs performed by Morse, Portnoy and Stolt supported by members of the two bands with special guests Jonas Reingold and Randy George alternating on bass. The encore ends with eleven musicians on the stage.

On 10 March 2013, Pete Trewavas announced at the Marillion Weekend Convention in Port Zélande, the Netherlands, that he would be going to Nashville in the Summer to record new material with Transatlantic. Neal Morse confirmed this to DPRP.

Kaleidoscope (2014)

On 30 May 2013, Mike Portnoy announced that they had finished writing a new Transatlantic album. It featured five songs (two epics and three 'normal length' ones) plus eight covers for the bonus disc. The album was released in January 2014. A world tour of the United States and Europe followed, including a performance on the "Progressive Nation at Sea" cruise created by Mike Portnoy. The band played two shows, with the first featuring the entire Kaleidoscope album and the second including guest performances by famous progressive rock artists such as Jon Anderson of Yes. On 11 September 2014, Kaleidoscope won Album of the Year at the third annual Progressive Music Awards.

The Absolute Universe (2019–2022)

Transatlantic recorded its fifth album, The Absolute Universe, and released it on 5 February 2021.

On 5 June 2021, Mike Portnoy announced on his Twitter feed that Transatlantic would be playing at Morsefest 2022 outside of Nashville, TN on 29–30 April 2022 as a warmup gig for Cruise To The Edge. It was subsequently announced that both The Absolute Universe and The Whirlwind would be played in their entirety at these shows.

Members

• Neal Morse – keyboard, vocals, guitar
• Mike Portnoy – drums, vocals
• Roine Stolt – guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Pete Trewavas – bass, vocals

Touring and guest members

• Daniel Gildenlöw – guitar, vocals, keyboards (2001 & 2010 tours, 2014 show, 2017 show)
• Ted Leonard – guitar, vocals, keyboards (2014 tour, 2017 show, 2022 tour)
• Bill Hubauer – guitar, vocals, keyboards (2017 show)

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Other albums

Video albums

References

1. ^ "Neal Morse Interview". Guitarhoo.com. 24 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
2. ^ "Transatlantic - The Official Site". Transatlanticweb.com. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
3. "Transatlantic - The Official Site". Transatlanticweb.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
4. "Transatlantic Flies Again!!!". The Flower Kings official website. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
5. "TRANSATLANTIC'S THE WHIRLWIND - Coming in October!". Transatlantic - The Official Site. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
6. Charts, AllMusic
7. "Neal Morse Band and Flower Kings Tour Was 'Eureka Moment' | Prog Mag". Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
8. "Mike Portnoy Joins Neal Morse for Flower Kings Tour | Prog Magazine". Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
9. "And Neal Morse says…". dprp.net.
10. "Mike Portnoy - The TA4 Sessions went splendidly fantastic!... - Facebook". Facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022.
11. Mike Portnoy - interview @Linea Rock. YouTube. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
12. "Instagram". Instagram.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
13. "Transatlantic - The Absolute Universe (Album Trailer)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
14. "Mike Portnoy Twitter". Twitter. 5 June 2021.
15. "Transatlantic Setlist at Cruise to the Edge 2017". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
16. ^ "Discographie von Transatlantic". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
17. ^ "lescharts.com - Les charts français". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
18. "Top Albums (Week 6, 2021)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
19. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
20. "Swedish Charts Portal". Swedishcharts.co. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
21. "Veckolista Album, vecka 6". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
22. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
23. "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
24. "Finnishcharts.com - Finnish charts portal". Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
25. "Albumit 6/2021". Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
26. "トランスアトランティックのアルバム売上ランキング". ORICON STYLE.
27. Peaks in the UK:
    • All except noted: "Transatlantic | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
    • The Whirlwind: "Chart statistics" (TXT). Zobbel.de. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
28. "SMPT:e". iTunes. 21 March 2000.
29. "Bridge Across Forever". iTunes. 5 May 2001.
30. "The Whirlwind". iTunes. 27 October 2009.
31. "Kaleidoscope (Kaleidoscope)". iTunes. 28 January 2014.
32. "Live In America". iTunes. 11 June 2002.
33. "Sverigetopplistan - Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan.se.
34. Hung, Steffen. "Schweizer Hitparade - Musik-DVD Top 10 21.11.2010 - hitparade.ch". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 19 April 2018.

External links

• Transatlantic official site
• Encyclopaedia Metallum page
• An interview with Pete Trewavas on the Whirlwind (November 2009) Archived 5 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine

• American progressive rock groups
• American symphonic rock groups
• Inside Out Music artists
• Metal Blade Records artists
• Musical groups established in 1999
• American rock music supergroups