Leave it to ace keyboard wiz Erik Norlander to give some of his older instrumental songs new life on his latest release The Galactic Collective. As if these stellar prog & fusion styled tunes weren't 'stellar' enough the first time around, Erik has assembled a hot line-up for this release to help give these tracks more of an edge; bassist Mark Matthews, drummer Nick LePar, and guitarist Freddy DeMarco, plus help on some tracks by Mitch Perry, John Payne, Ron Redfield, Mark McCrite, and Norlander's wife, vocal legend Lana Lane. Most of the tunes here will be very familiar to Norlander fans, but you'll instantly notice some extra aggression here thank to the addition of powerhouse drums, guitar, and bass, to go along with Norlander's wide array of keyboards textures and sounds. "Nurosaur" is still a prog rock monster, but here it's heavier and meaner, while "Fanfare for Absent Friends" is now more symphonic and has morphed into a grandiose progressive metal masterpiece, complete with brilliant solo trade-offs between Erik and DeMarco. This then segues into the gorgeous "Sky Full of Stars", an emotional prog lovers dream, with Norlander's yearning synth lines leading the charge. His fluttering synths lead in the crushing "Astrology Prelude", one of the best 'anthems' you'll ever hear in the instrumental rock genre, which is followed by the daring fusion of "Trantor Station". Lana Lane lends her choral vocals to the lengthy "After Revolution", an epic prog number filled with lush piano, synths, and Dave Gilmour styled guitar solos, and the ELP influenced "Garden of the Moon" is given a tremendous treatment here, chock full of bombast an energy thanks to Norlander's prowess on his instruments and some extra guitar muscle. Of course, Erik saves the monster cut for last, the 20-minute Rocket Scientists' classic "The Dark Water". If there wasn't enough Moog for you throughout the rest of this album, you'll certainly get plenty on this one to satisfy your cravings, as well as some mammoth guitar riffage. Yes, Moog, Hammond organ, Mellotron, Steinway grand piano, Alesis, ARP, Oberheim, Fender Rhodes, you name it, and Norlander throws it into the fray here on The Gallacic Collective. Kudos to this brilliant musician for taking some classic tunes and breathing new life into them, not just for those who perhaps didn't hear them the first time around, but for all the loyal fans as well who always wanted to have them gift wrapped in one nice set. --Sea of TranquilityTrack by Track Review Arrival As the title suggests, this is an introductory piece. It starts with a sound that makes me think of the theme song to Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it grows out from there. It s a multi-layered keyboard solo that s pretty, dramatic and majestic. It leads us straight into the next cut. Neurosaur With non-lyrical vocals and a very opera meets dramatic rock sound, the intro brings a majesty and power to the table. From there this launches out into an almost metallic jam that combines elements of Emerson, Lake and Palmer with Deep Purple and Dream Theater. Some of the keyboard work makes me think of Rick Wakeman. It s a killer instrumental track and drops back to a mellower motif mid-song and gets quite jazz-like in the process. There is some tasty piano work on display. We re taken through a number of changes and alterations as this continues. It s quite a dynamic and tasty piece of music. Yet, everything is packed into a concise five minute span.  Fanfare This is another interesting instrumental. The first portion is similar to Arrival in that it s a keyboard dominated movement. It powers out into a real rocker that makes me think of ELP (but not Emerson Lake and Palmer, but rather Emerson Lake and Powell). This works through several changes and alterations and is quite intriguing. There is a bit of an old TV theme song in this cut. A crescendo takes it into the next piece. Sky Full of Stars Keyboards lead us out here, coming up from the textural music that ended the last number. The music here rocks out quite well and seems to combine Pink Floyd elements with the same type of sound we heard in the last number. Keyboards take over again at the end. It s another instrumental.  Astrology Prelude As you might guess by the title, this is an introductory type of instrumental piece. It starts as a keyboard solo, but then pounds out into harder rock territory after a while. The comparisons to Emerson Lake and Powell are again valid. There are some great musical moments. I particularly like the staccato section. We get some sections that make me think of Yes, but this also takes us into some nearly metallic territory, too.  Trantor Station A pounding sort of industrial type of keyboard element opens this and other elements join tentatively. The cut builds out into another triumphant sounding prog rocker from there. A number of changes and alterations take us on an intriguing ride.  After The Revolution Piano starts this off in a pretty and poignant way and the cut builds from there. It works through a number of different sections and I can swear at points it makes me think of a progressive rock take on The Eagles Hotel California. This is one of the longer and more dynamic pieces on show. It also has some vocals, even if they are non-lyrical ones. An extremely powerful piece of music, this might be my favorite here. It runs the gamut from mellow to hard rocking and we even get some sounds that call to mind Pink Floyd at times.  Garden of the Moon Parts of this call to mind ELP and others make me think of Dream Theater. It s another killer instrumental piece and the staccato section reminds me of ELO s Fire on High. They drop it way down to an extremely mellow interlude. It fires back out from there in one of the hardest rocking sections of the cut.  Dreamcurrents A classical piano solo opens this and it modulates out from there. It maintains a keyboard solo approach, but works through several flavors and styles. It reminds me a lot of some of the music from the first part of Rick Wakeman s solo career. That s not to say it s the only thing I hear, but it s a big part of it. Other instruments do join around the 3 and a half minute mark and moves us into a more ELP or at least more rock music direction. The Dark Water This is a massive piece, --Gary Hill, Music Street JournalErik Norlander has a new album out called The Galactic Collective which is a reworking of instrumental Erik created for Lana Lane, Rocket Scientists and his own solo releases. The reworking breathe some new air into the songs present on this album. I would go as far as saying theses are the definitive versions and are the way they were meant to sound especially on the epic of the album , The Dark Water . Up until now it has been presented in pieces on several Rocket Scientists albums. Erik assembled a bran new band to back him on this ambitious album. Joining Erik are John Payne, Mitch Perry, Mark McCrite, Ron Redfield and Freddy DeMarco (guitars) Mark Matthews (bass) & Nick LePar (drums) and choral vocal sections by Lana Lane and John Payne. These musicians help Erik recreate some beautiful magic on the entire The Galactic Collective. The entire album is amazing from start to finish with some songs that stood out to me like Fanfare For Absent Friends , Neurosaur , Trantor Station and the afore mentioned epic 20 minute , The Dark Water . All of this was inspired by the 2007 sessions featured on disc 4 on the Rocket Scientists box set Looking Backward (highly recommended!), which was absolutely brilliant. Just like Looking Backward, there s supposed to be a DVD of The Galactic Collective. I read it ll be released late in 2010, hopefully. In closing if you re a fan of Erik s solo albums and the Rocket Scientists and Lana Lane s then this album is a must have for your collection. Newbies to Erik s music will also need to have this album as a perfect introduction. I d also recommend fans of keyboard driven progressive music to look into this album ASAP. Highly recommended release of 2010. --Ron Fuchs, Prognaut