Planet X (band)

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Planet X
Origin United States
Genres Instrumental rock, progressive metal, jazz fusion
Years active 2000–present
Labels InsideOut
Website Official website
Members
Derek Sherinian
Tony MacAlpine
Virgil Donati
Doug Shreeve[1]
Past members
Brett Garsed
T. J. Helmerich
Allan Holdsworth
Tom Kennedy
Dave LaRue
Jimmy Johnson
Billy Sheehan
Alex Machacek
Ric Fierabracci
Philip Bynoe
Rufus Philpot

Planet X is an instrumental rock/progressive metal supergroup, founded by keyboardist Derek Sherinian and drummer Virgil Donati. Throughout a decade of activity, they have released three studio albums and one live album, each with a variety of guest musicians and oft-changing lineups.

Contents

[edit] Background

After his four-year tenure with progressive metal band Dream Theater, Sherinian released his first solo album entitled Planet X in 1999. This concept was later expanded, in collaboration with drummer Virgil Donati, to form a group of the same name. Universe subsequently became Planet X's first studio album upon its release on June 6, 2000. For this recording, renowned guitarist Tony MacAlpine was brought in to replace Brett Garsed, who had played on Sherinian's original Planet X album.

Live from Oz, a live album recorded during their 2002 Australian tour, was released on April 3 of that year. Their second studio album, MoonBabies, was released shortly after on July 29. Five years later, Quantum, their third album, was released on May 18, 2007. This lineup featured two guest appearances from acclaimed jazz fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth, with Garsed returning for overall guitar duties.

On April 18, 2009, an announcement was made on Tony MacAlpine's MySpace profile that he had rejoined the group, with a new album set to be recorded later in the year.[2]

[edit] Compositions and style

Sherinian has said that his intention upon founding Planet X was "to find musicians that played their instruments so fiercely, it would strike fear in the hearts of other musicians when they played".[3] The band's sound is predominantly instrumental, save for the one-time spoken word by Dick Smothers, Jr. on the fifth track of Universe. Each composition typically comprises numerous and frenetic changes in time signature, with very heavy guitar work (including the use of seven-string guitars)[4] and dense layering of all instruments.

The synergy between each musician and their instrument provides a very distinct and unique blend of musical styles. Keyboards usually serve as an introduction and to establish some form of background melody (often using dissonant intervals and chord progressions to create an ominous, space-like atmosphere), although Sherinian's signature keyboard solos are always a prominent feature. Rhythm and lead guitars tend to build up and progress independently (usually involving shredding and other advanced soloing techniques), whilst other times they work together with the keyboards in counterpoint and trade-offs, in addition to bass solos. All the while, Donati's drum work is dynamic and makes frequent use of polyrhythms, metric modulation and shifting tempos which fuse the styles of heavy metal, jazz and progressive rock.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Band lineup

[edit] Current members

[edit] Former members and guests

[edit] References

  1. ^ PLANET X To Kick Off European Tour In September. Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  2. ^ "Tony MacAlpine Re-Joins Planet X". MySpace. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  3. ^ "The Band". xplanetx.xom. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  4. ^ Sherinian, Derek. (2002-09-21). "Virgil & Derek AOL Chat". xplanetx.com. Retrieved 2011-12-19.

[edit] External links

Planet X
Guests
Discography
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