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Review

I love this album so very much. These guys are true virtuosos of their instruments. I love every track, particularly the huge opening track "Paradigm Shift", the wild "Kindred Spirits", and the over-active and heartlessly indulgent "Universal Mind". This group has no notion of humility whatsoever, but they can pump out one heck of an album. My reviews of each track: 1."Paradigm Shift"-A chop-heavy speedplay of lighthearted madness. Delicious. 2."Osmosis"-EXTREMELY groovy, relaxing track. The name suits it well. A real treat to listen to. 3."Kindred Spirits"-A rocker's delight, pretty heavy stuff, but very beautiful and melodic. A grand exposition of eveyone's talents. 4."The Stretch"-Another groovy, swinging track. Not nearly as soothing and relaxing as "Osmosis", but very cool and fun to listen to. 5."Freedom of Speech"-Nine minute anthem with some beautiful keyboard work, and some impressive guitar solos, but nothing mindblowing. Not bad, just not as spectacular as the rest of the album. 6."Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure"-Cool, short, groovy, yet still edgy. The overdubbed whistling was a nice touch. 7."State of Grace"-Another slow anthem. Worst track here. Once again, Rudess's keyboards shine, but the track seems a bit cold and boring. 8."Universal Mind"-My personal favorite track. It's fast, indulgent, heavy, and active. Not for the faint of heart. 9-13."Three Minute Warning"-A HUGE twenty eight minute long jam session. The warning on the back of the CD should provide sufficient information on the tracks. You're guaranteed to like at least part of it. It's awesome, but a bit rough. That's it. Anyone looking for an awesome instrumental album will love this. It's just...EXCELLENT! A real masterpiece of prog-metal virtuosity. --Amazon customer

This is the second of Magna Carta's one-time-only groupings and the second to feature bassist Tony Levin. There is one such impromptu excursion here, the concluding 28-minute "Three Minute Warning," but even it holds up favorably by comparison. But it's the rest of the tunes here that showcase the versatility of Dream Theater members John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy and Dregs keyboardist Jordan Rudess. They fit the fusion/prog rock tag, with plenty of chopsmanship on display, but also with some allegiance to melody and restraint. Not likely to get any radio play, but then that wasn't the point of the session. --AllMusic

LTE is entirely instrumental, meaning that if you don t like instrumental music, you can pretty much stop reading here. Considering that Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci consist of about 90% of Dream Theater s songwriting force, there s an unavoidable DT coloring to the album s sound (mostly in the tracks Universal Mind and Kindred Spirits, both of which are excellent), further instilled by future DT member Jordan Rudess keyboard playing. But this has as much in common with the progressive rock of yesteryear as it does with the modern scene, as well as ties to instrumental rock/metal virtuosos like Vinnie Moore and some passages that are just off the wall. Technical intensity is coupled with appropriate mood and atmosphere to create textural, moving soundscapes. This dynamic is all the more impressive when it is taken into account that much of the playing on the album is improvised (which explains the length of many of the tracks that feel just like extended jam sessions). --metal-archives.com