Sometimes great things are born from disastrous circumstances, and “When the Keyboard Breaks” is a perfect example of this. In the middle of “Universal Mind” during a show on the 2008 Liquid Tension Experiment tour, Jordan Rudess’s keyboard broke. For those of you who don’t know, LTE is a four piece instrumental progressive metal group, and the keyboard is a vital part of the sound. Instead of calling it a night or half-assing the rest of the show, the remaining members of the band begin an impressive hour long jam that’s captured here on CD.
After Mike Portnoy (drums) explains the situation to the audience, the group starts off with some basic blues riffing that quickly morphs into instrumental craziness that only this group could create. The sound throughout the jam is quite varied, very often drifting from their progressive rock/metal sound. Jazz and blues influences can be easily found, as well as funk. These three virtuosos tear up their instruments for most of the CD, and the result is a fun and interesting experience.
Things get extra crazy in track 7. Once Rudess realizes that his keyboard is out for the night, he picks up a guitar and joins in with the trio. In “Liquid Anthrax”, everything switches up as Portnoy grabs the bass, Levin hops onto the chapman stick, Petrucci shreds on the guitar, and the drummer from the band Anthrax (where the hell did he come from?) takes up the drums. This unexpected switch-up ends the jam on a high note.
It would be false to say that the jam is completely engaging the entire time. Occasionally the trio will drift off into uninteresting noodling, but they impressively regain focus very quickly and these moments make up a very small part of the performance. Any musician will certainly agree that playing off the top of your head can be difficult, especially for an hour straight. This fact makes the few dull moments quite forgivable.
The production of the album isn’t perfect, or anywhere close, but this can be forgiven. The band had no plans of recording this concert, so the equipment this was captured with is less than ideal. That being said, the production never draws from the performance and it’s miles ahead of any bootleg you’ll come across.
Any Dream Theater or Liquid Tension Experiment fan has no excuse not to check out this impressive live album. It has its flaws, but it’s still a fun ride. This is a unique album quite unlike anything you’ve ever heard. If you want some good instrumental rock/metal, you owe yourself a listen to this.
Rating: 4/5
- Universal Mind (When the Keyboard Broke) [2:21]
- The Chicago Blues & Noodle Factory [7:02]
- Fade Away or Keep Going? [5:02]
- The Haunted Keyboard [9:33]
- Close Encounters of the Liquid Kind [15:13]
- Ten Minute Warning [5:54]
- That ‘Ol Broken Down Keyboard Blues [6:34]
- Liquid Anthrax [4:54]
- That’s All Folks! [2:12]
February 22, 2009 at 12:01 am |
I was there that night, and have bought and listened to this album, this was one amazing night, and just as you said, it has it’s slow spots, but improvising for an hour really is a very tough thing to do! great review!