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Planet X > Universe > Reviews
Planet X - Universe

Indulgence - 92%

jontayl, May 7th, 2017
Written based on this version: 2000, CD, InsideOut Music

After Dream Theater kindly showed Derek Sherinian the door, putting the Falling Into Infinity era out of its misery, he made a solo album: Planet X. Then, as a sequel, he and Virgil Donati founded a band of the same name, along with shred guitarist Tony MacAlpine and bassist Tom Kennedy.

The result is a more than satisfactory debut effort. The music itself is incredibly complex–at more than one point in the album, all four instruments are playing different meters in different tempos, relying on meticulously planned polyrhythmic harmonics to produce a sound worth hearing–but oddly inviting, appealing, and interesting. To put it simply, the music doesn’t sink under the sheer weight of its own technicality.

An additional facet of the music–whether it’s a detraction or a selling point varies from listener to listener–is the unbelievable self-indulgence of the record. “King of the Universe,” for example, is a track that highlights every conceivable component of Tony MacAlpine’s virtuosic skill and a stupidly long sci-fi voiceover, and 2116 is a play on Rush’s 2112 (already one of the greatest songs ever written) that adds Derek Sherinian’s incomprehensible chord progressions in at the most bewildering times.

For the avid listener of highly progressive metal music, these are all aspects of music that differentiate the great artists from the adequate. The great musicians are the ones that throw caution to the wind, forsake any hope of mainstream success (though, oddly enough, all four members of the band have made mainstream names for themselves), and make the most grotesquely overdone, overindulgent, and incomprehensible songs possible. And, most importantly, the music has to be listenable, intricate, and not too standoffish. Planet X has accomplished all of these things with Universe. It’s worth a listen–just make sure to have a defibrillator nearby. 92/100.