ALBUM REVIEW: The Final Flight: Live At L’Olympia – Transatlantic
Less is more? That’s coward’s talk – more is more! If this is your mantra for music, then progressive rock is your genre, and there are few that deliver in the quantities that TRANSATLANTIC do. The prog rock supergroup are renowned for their fondness of elaborate studio albums, and extremely competitive pound-per-minute ratios of their gigs which regularly push three hours. Their latest release The Final Flight: Live At L’Olympia is a culmination of all that they stand for. Recorded live in Paris at the closing date of their 2022 tour, it puts an (almost) definitive full-stop on a career which spans over two decades, five studio albums, and many hours of great music in the finest traditions of the genre.
The bulk of the show is a performance of TRANSATLANTIC’s fifth album The Absolute Universe in full – or, more accurately, in fullest, as what they play is an extended version of the previously-released extended version. Clocking in at the length of a football match plus stoppage time, The Final Flight delivers 96 minutes of Champions League-level prog, and its participants would be worthy of the Ballon D’Prog.
Featuring a star-studded lineup of Neal Morse (SPOCK’S BEARD), Mike Portnoy (ex-DREAM THEATER, ADRENALINE MOB), Pete Trewavas (MARILLION), Roine Stolt (THE FLOWER KINGS) and longstanding touring keyboardist Ted Leonard (SPOCK’S BEARD), it won’t be a surprise that the performances are absolutely world-class. A cursory look at the main bands of the supergroup’s members will give you an accurate idea of what to expect – odd-time signatures galore, extended instrumental sections and an eclectic mixture of moods and genres performed by people who are beyond proficient at their instruments.
The songs from The Absolute Universe flow smoothly into one another like a symphony, with ideas and motifs being frequently reprised, repurposed and reshaped. Their sound, while rarely surprising, is a fresh and catchy spin on the classical tropes of the genre. Reaching For The Sky could be a lost cut from 70s GENESIS, Owl Howl’s otherworldly bass and keys will put you in a KING CRIMSON mindset, while Looking For The Light showcases that this lot can also whip up a mean heavy groove. Altogether it results in a rich feast of prog which will satisfy anyone with an interest in the genre. The epic album performance is closed by the jubilant Love Made A Way, and Morse’s triumphant cry of “All that will remain is love” – perhaps a nod to the (almost) last line with which THE BEATLES called time on their own career.
But if you thought that would be that, then you must be new around here. Whereas Paul McCartney snuck a humorous 30-second ditty as a hidden track after that poignant line, TRANSATLANTIC append another 60+ minutes of prog. In other words, that Champions League game is going to extra time, and penalties, and a lengthy post-match analysis in the studio. In fairness, time is of some consideration – The Whirlwind Suite boils down the acclaimed one-song-album of the same name to a bite-size 35-minute medley. A stirring moment follows, when the crowd erupts into a singalong to the chorus of the ballad We All Need Some Light from the band’s debut album. A band of less robust constitution would have left things there, but TRANSATLANTIC find a more fitting finale. The Final Medley presents one last half-an-hour flight across favourite moments from their extensive discography, before they take a well-earned ovation from the Parisian audience.
While it isn’t immune to accusations of excess or self-indulgence, for fans of the band, The Final Flight is that rarest of beasts – a live album which offers enough to justify its existence as a full-blooded piece in a band’s discography. If it remains the final document that TRANSATLANTIC leave behind, it’s a bloody good swansong.
Rating: 8/10
The Final Flight: Live At L’Olympia is out now via InsideOut Music.
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