From Magna Carta's
Prime Cuts series comes a compilation showcasing Mike Portnoy's drumming chops outside of
Dream Theater & OSI. Although there is noting new here,
Prime Cuts does compile some of the strongest material that Portnoy has played on in regards to his various appearances on records for Magna Carta, including appearances from Liquid Tension Experiment, Andy West with Rama, the Vapourspace Remix album, and two tributes, both the
Working Man Rush Tribute and the ELP tribute titled
Encores, Legends, and Paradox.
Entailing the jazzed out jamming of "
Acid Rain" and "
Three Minute Warning Edit" from LTE, the straightforward progressive metal of "
Mad March" from Andy West, or the harder driving versions of "
Working Man" and "
By-Tor.," the stance for heaviness is pretty much self explanatory on this record. But with "
Endless Enigma" from
Encores. and another LTE cut called "
Freedom of Speech," the music takes turn for more of an emphasis on high melodic structuring rather than blistering technicalities that we all know and love so much.
This is a perfect compilation for those of you who don't already own any of this material; there is quite an appealing array of songs on this CD, slightly the cream of the crop of his Magna Carta sessions material, in a perfect world, this would be a "hit singles" compilation. It makes you wonder when he will come up with a project of his own.
Written by
Hashman Monday, August 1, 2005
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