Post Description

OSI is a "super-group" project consisting of Jim Matheos (Fates Warning) on guitar, Kevin Moore (Chroma Key, ex-Dream Theater) on vocals and keyboard, and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) on drums. It also features Sean Malone (Gordian Knot) on bass and Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree) as a guest vocalist on one song. 
If you are expecting to hear anything even closely resembling Dream Theater, Fates Warning, or any form of progressive metal, you will not find it here. What you will find, however, is some of the most artistically produced, beautifully layered, melodic, and textured music that is currently available. In a word, it is fantastic.
This CD, in my opinion, is mostly Kevin Moore. Anyone who is a fan of Moore's music will be sucked into this CD from beginning to end. The music is very reminiscent of Chroma Key, but with the added "chunk" that Matheos and Portnoy bring to the project. In this respect, I might compare some of the songs to Dream Theater's "Space-Dye Vest" - but with the more subdued vocals of Moore. (As Dream Theater fans know, "Space-Dye Vest" was the stand-out track on their Awake album which was written by Moore and represented a big departure from the Dream Theater norm.) 

Whatever the comparison, this is great music from the core. Fans of Chroma Key - you'll love this CD. Fans of Fates Warning and Dream Theater - keep an open mind and appreciate the future of progressive rock. 

This post contains a bonus cd: The first two tracks on this bonus CD are cool cover versions of Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (performed by Moore and Portnoy) and Neil Young's "New Mama" (performed by Moore). The third track is a 17-minute instrumental demo by Matheos and Portnoy ("The Thing That Never Was"), parts of which ended up forming the basis for five of the ten OSI songs. 


Poster: Americ@nprog

Tracklisting:
1. The New Math (what he said)  
2. OSI  
3. When You're Ready  
4. Horseshoes and B-52's  
5. Head  
6. Hello, Helicopter!
7. shutDOWN 
8. Dirt From a Holy Place  
9. Memory Daydreams Lapses  
10. Standby (looks like rain)