Liquid Tension Experiment is our first purely instrumental band on the top 100. We've heard from a couple of instrumentalists, including one who recorded an excellent instrumental album, and we've heard from one or two bands with a vocalist who have put out some great instrumental songs. LTE started as a 1997 side project for prolific New-York-based drummer Mike Portnoy, who has had more than his share of side projects over the years. He recruited keyboardist Jordan Rudess, who at that time was playing with the Dixie Dregs, and in-demand session bassist Tony Levin, whose regular gig was with King Crimson. Portnoy also attempted to get guitarists Dimebag Darrell of Pantera, Steve Morse, then playing with Deep Purple, and Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, but none of them were available. He eventually settled for his virtuosic bandmate in Dream Theater, John Petrucci.
LTE, as with many instrumental rock bands, is loaded with chops. In terms of metal subgenres, they're firmly in the realm of progressive, instrumental metal, heavy on keyboards and insanely fast and technical playing. They're maybe a little less all over the place in terms of composition than a lot of progressive bands, and maybe a little more upbeat sounding than most metal bands, but there's still plenty to chew on (and rock out to) in their music. Paradigm Shift is the uptempo opener to their debut, eponymous album. It certainly comes charging out of the gate and doesn't relent until a half-time improvisatory section beginning at 2:06. It's pretty feel oriented throughout, with the show-off-y playing generally subservient to the groove. At 4:40, the band takes it down another notch to a relaxed funk beat that features Levin on bass, and then layers a guitar solo by Petrucci that builds back up to the first half-time feel at 6:56. At 7:24, the tune shifts into a more proggy 7-feel bridge back to the opening up-tempo feel, with a blistering outro that recaps the intro from eight minutes earlier.
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