It’s been nine years since Transatlantic’s first release and the track Stranger in Your Soul still gives me goosebumps. Maybe it’s nostaglia, the fact that progressive music helped me get out of high school without feeling like a total loser. Or maybe I’m a sucker for cheesy lyrics. In either case, I can’t help but smile when Neal Morse encourages me to “Stand up `cause this is your time.”

*sigh*

There is nothing in this world quite like good music. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of all media, but good music inspires me in a way that television, comic books, and even movies just don’t. I haven’t studied sociology or anthropology or any such shit, but I’m thoroughly convinced that music taps into some sort of primordial, tribal pleasure center of human beings. As though, in a sense, it might be one of the few comment elements that every member of Team Human can enjoy.

Whoa. Looks like I’ve tossed aside the cynic cap and fastened on my hippie helmet.

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