Origin:	USA
Genres:	Progressive Metal, Instrumental

Planet X

The concept of Planet X was formulated by then-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian in 1999. The first album, titled Planet X, was released as a Sherinian solo effort, but he and drummer Virgil Donati decided to expand to a trio, recruiting well-known guitar hero Tony MacAlpine, and thus Planet X the band was formally under way. It is a source of confusion about whether Planet X (the album) is actually a Planet X album or not (the official web site implies that it's not, so we'll go with that). So, the official first Planet X album was Universe, released in 2000 and the album reviewed here. Sherinian's goal was "to start the sickest instrumental band in the world", and he's done a fine job of that. Universe is an impressive progressive rock/metal album, drawing on familiar influences (Yes comes to mind in a few places) but adventurous and diverse enough to satisfy even the most discriminating prog fan. Predictably the focus here is on progressive workouts rather than conventional metal, but there is enough metal influence to attract the metal crowd (particularly, of course, fans of Dream Theater and the like).