Liquid Tension Experiment 2
| Liquid Tension Experiment 2 | ||||
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| Studio album by Liquid Tension Experiment | ||||
| Released | June 15, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | October 13 - November 28, 1998 at Millbrook Sound Studios | |||
| Genre | Progressive metal Instrumental rock Jazz fusion |
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| Length | 73:55 | |||
| Label | Magna Carta | |||
| Producer | Liquid Tension Experiment | |||
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| Liquid Tension Experiment chronology | ||||
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Liquid Tension Experiment 2 is the second album by the band Liquid Tension Experiment. The tracks were largely improvised with little rehearsal, and there are no vocals.
[edit] Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Acid Rain" | 6:36 |
| 2. | "Biaxident" | 7:40 |
| 3. | "914" | 4:01 |
| 4. | "Another Dimension" | 9:50 |
| 5. | "When the Water Breaks" | 16:58 |
| 6. | "Chewbacca" | 13:35 |
| 7. | "Liquid Dreams" | 10:48 |
| 8. | "Hourglass" | 4:25 |
[edit] Personnel
- John Petrucci - guitars
- Tony Levin - bass, Chapman stick
- Mike Portnoy - drums and percussion
- Jordan Rudess - keyboards
[edit] Recording and Composition
Tony Levin almost exclusively used a Chapman Stick to record the album's bass parts. The only 'real' bass guitar appears on the 'accordion/reggae section" of the track "Another Dimension"; Levin also used a fretless bass for the intro to "Biaxident".
In the middle of the recording sessions, John Petrucci had to leave the studio when he got word that his pregnant wife had gone into labour. This left the other three members to carry on recording by themselves. This is how the song "When the Water Breaks" got its name - it was the song the band were working on when Petrucci got the news. The song contains a "baby soundscape" to mark the particular section the band had been writing upon Petrucci's departure.
In Petrucci's absence, Portnoy, Levin and Rudess recorded dozens of completely improvised jams, many of which would eventually be released on the album Spontaneous Combustion under the name Liquid Trio Experiment. When Petrucci returned to the studio in November, he wrote and recorded guitar parts for two of these improvisations: "Chewbacca" and "Liquid Dreams". For "Chewbacca" in particular, Petrucci took time to learn several of Rudess's improvised melodies and doubled them on guitar, which in Portnoy's words '(gave) the illusion of written composition'.
"Hourglass" is a duet between Petrucci and Rudess in the style of "State of Grace" from LTE's first album. According to Petrucci it was written and recorded "in the wee hours with old strings".
The song "Biaxident" takes its name from Biaxin, a medicine that Petrucci was taking during the recording sessions to combat severe headaches and is a play on "by accident".
"Acid Rain", the album's opening track, was in fact the last song to be written and recorded by the whole band. For this song Petrucci used a seven-string guitar. A riff heard at 4:15 is very similar to the song Race With Devil On Spanish Highway by Al Di Meola, of whom Petrucci is a fan. A live version of "Acid Rain" later appeared on the Dream Theater album Live Scenes from New York. In this version the bass part is played by John Myung of Dream Theater on a six-string bass.
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