Portnoy, Mike
	Rating: 40/100 Reviewed by: Kenn Jensen, June '05 Label: Magna Carta Style: Progressive Metal
Prime Cuts

"Prime Cuts" with the subtitle: "From Mike Portnoy's Magna Carta Sessions", is a collection of tracks from various releases from Magna Carta on which Mike has proven his talent. Nothing new on this CD - everything has been released before, but here's a run-down of the tracks:

1. "Mad March" from "Rama 1" - artist: Andy West with Rama.
2. "Freedom Of Speech" from "Liquid Tension Experiment".
3. "Acid Rain" from "Liquid Tension Experiment 2".
4. "Endless Enigma" from "Encores, Legends and Paradox (Tribute To ELP)".
5. "Chris & Kevin's Excellent Adventure" from "Liquid Tension Experiment"
6. "Working Man" from "Working Man (Tribute To Rush)".
7. "By-Tor And The Snow Dog" from "Working Man (Tribute To Rush)".
8. "Another Dimension" from "Sonic Residue From Vapourspace", remix of Liquid Tension Experiment by Vapourspace.
9. "Three Minute Warning" from "Liquid Tension Experiment".

If you are a hard-core Dream Theater fan - like me - a big fan of Mike Portnoy, a collector of Magna Carta albums, a drummer geek, or just a progressive metal fan, then I am pretty sure you already own all the songs, or at least most of them ...
So one might ask why this album has been released. I am not so sure, if it's not just a spin-off to cash in on the popularity of Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy, because to be honest I can't see the point of this release ... sorry!

For the songs I'd give this album 70, for the release I'd say nothing more than 10. So 70 plus 10 divided by 2 equals 40!