Liquid Tension Experiment 3
2021 studio album by Liquid Tension Experiment
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Liquid Tension Experiment 3 is the third studio album by the American instrumental progressive metal super group Liquid Tension Experiment. Released on April 16, 2021,[1] it is their first studio effort since 1999's Liquid Tension Experiment 2.[7]
| Liquid Tension Experiment 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 16, 2021 | |||
| Recorded | July–August 2020 | |||
| Studio | DTHQ (Long Island) | |||
| Genre | Instrumental rock, progressive metal[1] | |||
| Length | 117:31 | |||
| Label | Inside Out Music | |||
| Producer | Liquid Tension Experiment | |||
| Liquid Tension Experiment chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Liquid Tension Experiment 3 | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Blabbermouth.net | 8/10[3] |
| Metal Hammer | [4] |
| Metal Injection | 8/10[5] |
| Record Collector | [6] |
The regular edition of the album contains eight tracks, including two duets, one "on-the-fly jam" and one "meticulously arranged cover"; the bonus disc comes with almost one hour of improvisations. It was released in digital, CD, LP and Blu-ray formats, including a limited 2CD+Blu-ray artbook edition and a limited deluxe hot pink box set.[7]
A video for the song "The Passage of Time", their first composition in 22 years, was released on January 22, 2021.[7][8] This was followed up by a video for "Beating the Odds" on February 26, 2021,[9][10] and then by a video for "Hypersonic" on March 24, 2021.[11]
Background and writing
On December 14, 2020, band members Tony Levin (bass), John Petrucci (guitars), Jordan Rudess (keyboards) and Mike Portnoy (drums) released a series of posts on social media (pictures of themselves wearing surgical masks spelling out "LTE 3") teasing a third Liquid Tension Experiment album; a picture of the four of them together with the same masks was posted the following day.[12] On December 17, 2020, it was formally announced that Liquid Tension Experiment 3 would be released by Inside Out Music in the second quarter of 2021.[13] The date, later announced to be March 26, has since been delayed to April 16, 2021, due to printing errors by the manufacturer.[1]
The album had been recorded secretly in August 2020,[14] at the Dream Theater studio named DTHQ.[15] Portnoy had previously recorded drums for Petrucci's solo album Terminal Velocity at the studio, their first release together since 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings (with Dream Theater);[16] the band would re-use the studio for the LTE sessions. Portnoy and Rudess also had performed together during a Cruise to the Edge a few years before.[17] The drummer said that the "insanity of 2020" allowed them some time to reunite.[17]
Also according to Portnoy, all members plus two studio professionals quarantined and took COVID-19 tests before the album's sessions.[17]
Like Liquid Tension Experiment 2, each song is described by the band in detail within the liner notes.
The track "Chris & Kevin's Amazing Odyssey" is a follow-up to "Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure" (from Liquid Tension Experiment) and "Chris & Kevin's Bogus Journey" (from Spontaneous Combustion); Chris and Kevin is how a photographer mistakenly called Mike and Tony during photo sessions for the first album, and that has since remained a recurring internal joke and is used to title duets between the drummer and the bassist.[17] It is a drum-and-bass duet featuring Levin on the electric upright bass.[18]
"Rhapsody in Blue", composed by George Gershwin, was arranged and performed by the band during their 2008 tour; the band would record a studio version of the arrangement for the album.[18] The middle section of the band's 2008 arrangement was inspiration for the middle section of "The Count of Tuscany" off Black Clouds & Silver Linings; also, the standard clarinet introduction was played by Levin on the Chapman Stick.[19]
Track listing
All music is written and arranged by Liquid Tension Experiment (Tony Levin, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, and Jordan Rudess); except for "Rhapsody in Blue" written by George Gershwin, arrangement by Liquid Tension Experiment.[20]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hypersonic" | 8:22 |
| 2. | "Beating the Odds" | 6:09 |
| 3. | "Liquid Evolution" | 3:23 |
| 4. | "The Passage of Time" | 7:32 |
| 5. | "Chris & Kevin's Amazing Odyssey" | 5:04 |
| 6. | "Rhapsody in Blue" (music: George Gershwin) | 13:16 |
| 7. | "Shades of Hope" | 4:42 |
| 8. | "Key to the Imagination" | 13:14 |
| Total length: | 61:42[7][16] | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blink of an Eye" | 10:28 |
| 2. | "Solid Resolution Theory" | 10:02 |
| 3. | "View from the Mountaintop" | 5:24 |
| 4. | "Your Beard is Good" | 14:31 |
| 5. | "Ya Mon" | 15:24 |
| Total length: | 55:49 | |
Personnel
All credits sourced from liner notes.[20]
Band
- John Petrucci – guitars, production
- Tony Levin – Chapman Stick, bass guitar, electric upright bass, production, photography
- Jordan Rudess – keyboards, production
- Mike Portnoy – drums, percussion, production
Additional personnel
Charts
| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] | 10 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] | 82 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] | 53 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[24] | 15 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[25] | 5 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[26] | 82 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] | 7 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[28] | 21 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[29] | 9 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)[30] | 30 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[31] | 7 |
| Spanish Albums (Promusicae)[32] | 25 |
| Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] | 3 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] | 8 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[35] | 88 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[36] | 5 |
| US Billboard 200[37] | 109 |