What is the more proper description for
\nPlanet X<\/i>? Is it the first solo album from Derek Sherinian,
\nthe former keyboardist for (among other bands) Dream Theater? Or is
\nit the first album from a new group led by Sherinian?<\/p>\n
If it’s the latter, there’s no doubt that the keyboard virtuoso
\nhas logged enough time as a sideman (counting among his credits
\nAlice Cooper and – for a short stint – Kiss) to qualify for leading
\nhis own group. And judging the way he allows other instruments to
\ntake the lead, instead of hogging the limelight as he would have
\nevery right to do, this feels like more of a new band’s birth cries
\nthan the first confident step alone in the musical world.<\/p>\n
But for all this, there is something that
\nPlanet X<\/i> is missing: one voice leading the way. Without
\nthis, the journey hits a few bumps along a mostly enjoyable
\nroad.<\/p>\n
For this project (which, if memory serves me correctly,
\nSherinian was working on while still officially a member of Dream
\nTheater), guitarist Brett Garsed, bassist Tony Franklin and drummer
\nVirgil Donati augment the group, and each member brings along more
\ntalent than one could imagine. The interplay between Garsed and
\nSherinian is incredible; there are times I honestly couldn’t tell
\nwhich one of them was handling the lead. Donati’s trap work is
\nsimply magnificent, while Franklin’s bass lines (which occasionally
\nget the chance to step out into the spotlight) act as an anchor
\ndrawing all the music together.<\/p>\n
The songs on
\nPlanet X<\/i> all draw heavily on a progressive rock background a
\nla Dream Theater, with more than a pinch of metal’s punch thrown in
\nfor good measure. Tracks like “Day In The Sun” and “Space Martini”
\nall show the mastery each man has with his instrument, and how well
\nthey all can sound together.<\/p>\n
But two things strike me about
\nPlanet X<\/i> as being a bit odd. First, while Sherinian and crew
\ndo keep things short, there are times where I wonder if some
\nmusical ideas are being cut off in their prime. Tracks like “Crab
\nNebula” and “Brunei Babylon” all seem like they could have been
\nstretched out a little more – a strange thing for me to be saying,
\nseeing that often I am complaining that some prog-rock seems to
\nstretch far too long.<\/p>\n
Second, there seems to be one focal point missing in
\nPlanet X<\/i>, something that draws all the musical contributions
\ntogether into something that transcends just a simple band
\nperformance. I referred to this as a voice; that doesn’t
\nnecessarily mean adding a singer. When Sherinian contributed to the
\nside project Platypus, all the music seemed to gel together thanks
\nto some unseen, often unheard force. It’s very hard to explain, but
\nyou know when it’s there – and when it’s not. If the hair on the
\nback of your neck is standing up with joy, that force is there.
\nSadly, that magic isn’t with this band… yet. (Maybe time will
\nimprove things.)<\/p>\n
There is enough on
\nPlanet X<\/i> to celebrate, and it is an enjoyable album overall.
\nAnd if things click just right for Sherinian and crew, they might
\neven have the power to dwarf another band that Sherinian once was
\nin. They’re just not there yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6681],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-39182","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-derek-sherinian","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39182"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}