Author Topic: Where to start with Neal Morse?  (Read 8207 times)

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Offline bosk1

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #35 on: April 29, 2010, 08:49:21 AM »
I'm deeply conflicted about whether or not to hope you are disappointed.
"The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #36 on: April 29, 2010, 08:52:06 AM »
Oh, and I have had One going in my car the last two days, and man oh man, I had forgotten how good that CD is.  I mean, sure, I listen to it at home sometimes, but that is usually in the background, so I don't necessarily "listen" to it, as opposed to just "hearing" it.  But I had forgotten how great "Reunion" is, in particular, and I hadn't listened to "Help Me" in so long, I couldn't remember how the melodies went.  But that CD is damn good, so throw that one into the recommendations I made earlier in this thread.  "Cradle to the Grave" is still utterly gorgeous. :coolio

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #37 on: April 29, 2010, 09:50:54 AM »
Oh, and I have had One going in my car the last two days, and man oh man, I had forgotten how good that CD is.  I mean, sure, I listen to it at home sometimes, but that is usually in the background, so I don't necessarily "listen" to it, as opposed to just "hearing" it.  But I had forgotten how great "Reunion" is, in particular, and I hadn't listened to "Help Me" in so long, I couldn't remember how the melodies went.  But that CD is damn good, so throw that one into the recommendations I made earlier in this thread.  "Cradle to the Grave" is still utterly gorgeous. :coolio
To me, One has always sounded like a Transatlantic album, while Testimony sounded like a Spock's Beard album. 
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #38 on: April 29, 2010, 10:21:50 AM »
And to me, Star Trek TNG always sounded like Commander Riker is Spock wishing he had a beard.
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Offline The Letter M

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #39 on: April 29, 2010, 10:36:53 AM »
 The Sola Scriptura and Beyond DVD is awesome.

I never gave consideration to buying that, simply because I have never been overly wild about Sola Scriptura, but looking over the set list of it just now, wow, it looks pretty awesome.  I might have to get it just for all of that ?, Testimony and One material.  Plus, it has a few SB tunes, as well.  

You won't be disappointed. If you are, I should be permabanned.

Hmmmmm....I may have to make a purchase here very soon. :)


Do it. I did and I don't regret it. I thoroughly enjoy the DVD! I don't watch it as much as Testimony Live, but it's still pretty damn good. I'm sad that I waited SOOO long after it's release to get it!

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #40 on: April 29, 2010, 11:04:31 AM »

To me, One has always sounded like a Transatlantic album, while Testimony sounded like a Spock's Beard album.  

Regarding One, that is how the CD was hyped up when it was first released, but I don't really see it (at least relative to Neal's other work, most of which all sounds a little like TA, for obvious reasons).  I think it was just hyped that way a) because it has two pretty long epics, and b) to sell more records to Neal fans who might have been scared off a bit by the overly religious nature of Neal's first post-SB release.

Regarding Testimony, it has a somewhat similar format to Snow, which was Neal's most recent release (with SB of course) prior to Testimony, so I can understand that line of thinking.

Do it. I did and I don't regret it. I thoroughly enjoy the DVD! I don't watch it as much as Testimony Live, but it's still pretty damn good. I'm sad that I waited SOOO long after it's release to get it!

Better late than never! :biggrin:
« Last Edit: April 29, 2010, 11:14:13 AM by KevShmev »

Offline bosk1

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #41 on: April 29, 2010, 11:11:17 AM »
Testimony was the first NM album I bought and while I love it now, it was not a good choice for a first album.  I was just browsing around in the prog section and that was the only album of his that was in there.  At the time, I didn't have Transatlantic and had only heard of Neal on these boards (dt.net).  Picked it up based solely on that and listened a few times, but it was just too long and dense to take in, so it sat on the shelf for literally about a year before I picked it up again and began to really listen in earnest.  It eventually clicked big time and led me to pick up his other stuff, but it's just too long to get into if you're not already familiar with his work, IMO.
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Offline The Letter M

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #42 on: April 29, 2010, 11:35:29 AM »
With regards to One, it has rotated around from being my TOP favorite NM solo album to third... however, keep in mind that I ONLY ever listen to it with it's restored track listing:
1.   "The Creation"
2.   "Back to the Garden"
3.   "The Man's Gone"
4.   "Nothing to Believe"
5.   "Author of Confusion"
6.   "The Separated Man"
7.   "Cradle to the Grave"
8.   "Help Me / The Spirit and the Flesh"
9.   "King Jesus"
10.   "Father of Forgiveness"
11.   "Reunion"

This is according to Randy George himself, as posted on Neal's message boards, and includes songs from the Bonus Disc. I even went so far as to make a 2-Disc version of the album, with the first 5 tracks on disc 1, and the last 6 on disc 2 (making each disc open with an 18 minute epic, and closing with a 9 minute epic... ironic!)

The music in One is so varied, as far as Neal can go, but still very his style of prog... sure, there's no southern violin stylings as with "Sing It High", but you get some lovely ballads, some heavy rockers, and some awesome thematic epics. It's a mix of TA and SB, with some of what Neal was slowly venturing into as far as themes go in his future albums (? and Sola Scriptura).

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Offline Jamesman42

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #43 on: May 01, 2010, 01:50:09 AM »
I'm deeply conflicted about whether or not to hope you are disappointed.
:lol :lol :lol Touche, good sir.

Offline Quadrochosis

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #44 on: May 01, 2010, 12:56:38 PM »
Yea Kev that DVD is epic I highly recommend it, other than the actual show it also has tons of bonus features including a solo performance of "Bridge Across Forever" and a hour plus length tour documentary.

Edit: Plus videos of all the ? songs that weren't in the actual medley, so you essentially get all of  ?.
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Offline Tick

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #45 on: May 03, 2010, 06:18:12 PM »
I love all his albums but I would agree that "?" is a good starting point.
"One" is also great!
"Testimony" is killer!
"Sola Scriptura" is awesome
"Lifeline" is tremendous!
There all great imo!!!
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Offline ytserush

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #46 on: May 04, 2010, 10:18:24 PM »
I think his most recent live album So Many Roads is as good a compilation as one can hope for to date and pretty much covers most of the best of everything.

I would suggest that one as definitive Neal Morse primer.

Offline Jamesman42

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #47 on: May 04, 2010, 11:13:41 PM »
I'm deeply conflicted about whether or not to hope you are disappointed.
:lol :lol :lol Touche, good sir.

Bosk, your lack of response to this perturbs me. Do you still love me? :sadpanda:

Offline bosk1

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #48 on: May 04, 2010, 11:42:27 PM »
I'm deeply conflicted about whether or not to hope you are disappointed.
:lol :lol :lol Touche, good sir.

Bosk, your lack of response to this perturbs me. Do you still love me? :sadpanda:

Of course I do.  Even though you seem determined to annoy me.  Yes, I still do.  :happypanda:
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Offline Perpetual Change

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #49 on: July 01, 2010, 06:13:24 PM »
Well... better late than never. Earlier this week, I downloaded "?" off of iTunes. It's everything I expected and more. Really, I for some reason thought that Neal Morse's solo stuff would be a more upfront, less proggy version of Transatlantic. But, actually, I think I like "?" a fair bit better than I like any of the Transatlantic records. That's not me taking shots at TA, as I do love them... but ? is just so much more compact, and the melodies are so much stronger than those on the Whirlwind.

I now feel compelled to spend way more on music this month than I should, and purchase the rest of Morse's solo stuff. Though I won't, because I'm really having a good time digesting what "?" is all about, since the lyrics seem rather mysterious and less "forward" than what I expected.

Funny aside: One of the nurses at the daycare I work at during summer (she's about 60) is very religious and always talking about biblical things to people who will listen. We got on the topic of worship music and she made a comment that she was disappointed with most of it since, in her words, "the spirit is capable of inspiring much more creativity than that stuff."

So, I burnt her a copy of "?" and told her that, while she might not like the music, I'm sure it'd be something out of the box. After listening to it, she returned to work the next day and told me that she hadn't left the house all night because she was listening to it over and over again. She practically had tears in her eyes, and was asking me a bunch of questions about who Neal Morse was, and a bunch of other questions I didn't know the answer to. Then, she went ahead and told me what the album was about  ;D

Anyway, thanks for the rec's, guys!

Offline bosk1

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #50 on: July 01, 2010, 06:35:56 PM »
If she wants to know more about who Neal is as a person, Testimony is a great place for her to go next.  It's long and dense, but basically tells his story from him being a young rocker and his life gradually becoming a mess and how he was found by God, moved to Tennessee, and started life over.
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Offline Dr. SeaWolf

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #51 on: July 01, 2010, 06:47:51 PM »
I'm only recently getting into Transatlantic, but already being reasonably familiar with the other bands represented by the group, I'm guessing that upbeat, pop-prog sound comes mainly from Morse's influence?  I'm really liking that.

Offline bosk1

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #52 on: July 01, 2010, 06:49:00 PM »
Yeah, definitely him.
"The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #53 on: July 01, 2010, 06:52:32 PM »
Good to hear you are getting into ?, PC; it really is a terrific record, and while Neal has plenty of other good ones, I think that is by far his best, so prepare yourself. ;) 

Also, Roine's style is pretty upbeat, and he writes fantasticly catchy melodies, too, so I wouldn't give Neal all of the credit for that element being heard in TA. :)

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #54 on: July 01, 2010, 07:52:53 PM »
Also, Roine's style is pretty upbeat, and he writes fantasticly catchy melodies, too, so I wouldn't give Neal all of the credit for that element being heard in TA. :)
This.
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Offline Perpetual Change

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #55 on: July 01, 2010, 08:08:33 PM »
Actually, I've never really listened to Flower Kings, aside from the stuff I've heard on Nick's show. But, if Neal Morse's "?" is any indication of what contributions he's made to the Transatlantic albums, it's his influence that I really enjoy about Transatlantic and Roine's that I'm just a little bit less excited about. That's not saying I wouldn't enjoy Flower Kings; I just think the stuff I like most about TA comes from Neal's direction.

BTW, the person I was talking about was asking me what church Neal Morse belongs to. She seemed to think that he was a messianic jew because of ?'s heavy emphasis on a lot of Old Testament scripture. I wasn't sure, so I didn't say anything, but I don't think that's the case. Does anyone know?

Offline Dr. SeaWolf

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #56 on: July 01, 2010, 09:12:56 PM »
Yeah, definitely him.

I really need to check his stuff out (and probably also early Spock's Beard for that matter.  I love his singing style too.

Offline Jamesman42

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #57 on: July 01, 2010, 10:01:17 PM »
PC, I'd get One next. It's an album that you may not see mentioned much, but it is glorious and awesome.

By the way, Lifeline is top-notch in my book. No, not because I'm a fanboy. :biggrin:

Offline The Letter M

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #58 on: July 01, 2010, 10:09:00 PM »
PC, I'd get One next. It's an album that you may not see mentioned much, but it is glorious and awesome.

By the way, Lifeline is top-notch in my book. No, not because I'm a fanboy. :biggrin:

If you get One and/or Lifeline, please seek out the special/limited editions of both albums! I only ever listen to the 90-some minute complete version of One and really, that's the best way to listen to it, especially for the rocking "King Jesus", and the other tunes are pretty good as well, not to mention the great covers on each album's bonus disc!

-Marc.
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Offline Jamesman42

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #59 on: July 01, 2010, 10:24:30 PM »
Dangit, I *think* I only have the SE of One. I am really bad about keeping up with what I have and don't have.

Offline yeshaberto

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #60 on: July 01, 2010, 10:51:58 PM »
Actually, I've never really listened to Flower Kings, aside from the stuff I've heard on Nick's show. But, if Neal Morse's "?" is any indication of what contributions he's made to the Transatlantic albums, it's his influence that I really enjoy about Transatlantic and Roine's that I'm just a little bit less excited about. That's not saying I wouldn't enjoy Flower Kings; I just think the stuff I like most about TA comes from Neal's direction.

BTW, the person I was talking about was asking me what church Neal Morse belongs to. She seemed to think that he was a messianic jew because of ?'s heavy emphasis on a lot of Old Testament scripture. I wasn't sure, so I didn't say anything, but I don't think that's the case. Does anyone know?

never heard that before, but also don't know what church he is a part of.  I love the messianic jews because of their understanding of the OT and love their worship (dancing, etc).

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #61 on: July 03, 2010, 05:30:25 AM »
He's not a Messianic Jew (not that there's anything wrong with that).
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Offline yeshaberto

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #62 on: July 03, 2010, 10:19:43 AM »
 :lol

Offline j

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #63 on: July 07, 2010, 03:22:29 PM »
I've had ?, One, Testimony, Sola Scriptura, and Lifeline for awhile now, but have never gotten around to listening to any of them until this week.  ? is my favorite so far, probably followed by One; great stuff there.  Lifeline had two or three standout tracks and I was pleasantly surprised by it overall considering it seems to be considered his worst solo effort.  Sola Scriptura has some incredible music, but damn the lyrics are awful.  I think the idea behind the album is kinda cool, but they just reek of blatant fundamentalism and a poor understanding of the subject matter.  I have yet to listen to Testimony disc 2, but disc 1 was pretty good.

I love Morse's work with Transatlantic as well as a fair amount of Spock's Beard stuff, and a lot of this is just as good. :tup  Anybody heard his self-titled debut?

-J

Offline Jamesman42

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #64 on: July 07, 2010, 03:42:21 PM »
Disc 2 of Testimony is so much better than Disc 1, IMHO. Part 4 of the album is teh best them.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #65 on: July 08, 2010, 09:12:17 AM »
j, I could not agree more about Sola Scriptura.  The music is good overall (the last song being really good), but the lyrics are not good.  

I have been pimping Neal's debut on here for forever; it is really good, and should be owned by any fan of his.

It is hard to say which disc of Testimony is better, as I think Part II (which is at the end of Disc 1) is the best of the five parts, but Part I, which meanders a bit too much, is definitely the worst.  

Offline Perpetual Change

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #66 on: July 08, 2010, 04:00:12 PM »
I think the idea behind the album is kinda cool, but they just reek of blatant fundamentalism and a poor understanding of the subject matter. 

How so?

Offline faemir

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #67 on: July 10, 2010, 06:57:48 AM »
Lifeline is awesome, screw the haters.

And get it Kev, damnit.

Offline The Letter M

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Re: Where to start with Neal Morse?
« Reply #68 on: July 10, 2010, 07:19:57 AM »
Lifeline is awesome, screw the haters.

And get it Kev, damnit.

I think Lifeline is good, but not great as a whole. There are some great tracks on it ("Lifeline", "Leviathan", and "So Many Roads"), but the rest range from good to meh, so the overall feel is diminished somewhat. As I said in a previous post, it's worth getting the Special Edition with the Bonus Disc - the covers are interesting choices (perhaps the oddest chosen by MP and NM yet!) but they do them well and are a great addition to their prior compiled release of covers titled Cover To Cover. The hidden track is also quite hilarious!

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