LINK TO SONG SAMPLES My two favourite musicians played a 2-man show in front of a small crowd in New York in 2000. It was a fuse of Jazz, Classical, Rock, Progressive, and even some Spanish guitar and piano thrown in. They played 10 songs (the last song they played but refined it in the studio), only one song was completely written beforehand while the rest where either partially or completely improvised on the spot. Now we get to hear the magic of these two musicians playing together now that Steve Vai released it on his Favour for Nations label. 1. Furia Taurina (10:10): This opening song starts slowly and (through some wonderful improvisation sections) builds this piece up into a fast-paced song based on Spanish-music fused with a jazz flair. Definately a cool song. While John Petrucci's acoustic guitar is one fire in this song, Jordan's licks are just irresistable on this track, especially the jazz solo near the end! 2. Truth (9:48) - Some stunning melodic piano gives way to a great melody with Petrucci in the back seat with nice acoustic work, reminds me a bit of the opening of Finally Free on Dream Theater's Scenes From A Memory album. About 3 and 1/2 minutes in, Petrucci rips a beautiful electric guitar solo. At about 6 minutes in the main theme comes back with again Jordan ruling the world with his piano. John Petrucci climaxes/finishes the song with a really emotional lead! 3. Fife & Drum (9:30) - A song that starts of sounding like an English Jig or at least definately with some Baroque/Renaissance period influences. At about 3 minutes in, Jordan slows it down with a piano solo (then guitar solo) and it proves to be one of the most intimate and touching portions of the show. This song features the perfect amount of restraint to keep the song interesting(something they should of thought of a bit more on the new DT album!). 4. State of Grace (5:45) - Definately the standout of the album. It was originally written by the two of them in 1997 for the first Liquid Tension Experiment album. It features John Petrucci wailing out on his electric guitar for over 5 minutes. His delicate picking, soaring notes, beautiful tone, and careful articulations of his notes leave no doubt in your mind that this guy is one of the best! Rudess also did a commendable job at accompanying him, as the underlying chord progression is classic! 5. Hang 11 (11:38) - Starts out with a Petrucci acoustic riff with Jordan fooling around on his piano and improvising like mad for the first couple of minutes. The main melody is classic in this song, a really bouncy melody courtesy of JR, while JP is jamming on the acoustic, then turns to electric a couple of minutes later. After an incredible 4 minute jam, JR takes the spotlight with some funkay playing. Its definately a song to chill-out to. 6. From Within (5:21) - Jordan's solo (by himself solo!) written by himself. Some great improv on harpsichord before he launches into the main theme of the piece. There's also a great synth accompaniment to this song. A very personal, intimate moment with JR. 7. The Rena Song (7:03) - JP's song he wrote that was inspired by his wife, Rena. The main riff is a melancholic but upbeat melody with a distorted jazz guitar-like tone. Another very personal song that makes you think your floating on a cloud or something 8. In the Moment (6:27) - This song was definately fully improvised. It starts out with some mad electric guitar work by JP and some synth sounds. Really inspiring stuff! He displays virtually every technique and sound, with the right amount of virtuousity and pure emotion. JR takes the accompaniment role for this song as JP shines! 9. Black Ice (10:54) - Probably my second favourite song on the album. The opening few minutes are the only distorted parts on the entire CD! And while the solos are stunning the background chord progressions in this song is equally amazing! At about 3 minutes in, JR uses some really low dissonant sounds to grab your attention before he launches off into another beautiful piano line. The piano lines at around 4:30-5:15 are probably in the top 3 best parts of the album and JP comes with a solo on top. He uses some lazy articulations that create an amazing atmosphere...this is definately his best solo of the night! JP definately schools every other mainstream metal/rock guitarist today (excluding the likes of Vai, Satriani and Malmsteen) with this song! 10. Bite of The Mosquito (1:53) - Of course, a while back on tour JP was doing the electric guitar version of the Flight of the Bumblebee. Now he has his own version, a song inspired by that song. Its another fast, furious song with piano accompaniment that would be sweet to see live. Overall: Steve Vai liked this album so much that he put it on his label and I agree with him that it is a wonderful album. The duos dynamics, range, virtuousity, emotion, soul, and love for playing and experimenting makes them shine on this masterpiece! BEST ALBUM OF 2004!