Author Topic: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread  (Read 539631 times)

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Offline Nick

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #875 on: May 28, 2012, 09:20:13 PM »
I have his phone number. :D

But regarding the press release, yeah, typical. I get tons of them in for my radio show and it's hard not to just ignore them after awhile. Every single release is the best the band's ever done, and the most innovative thing anyone has ever seen, while still showing off the core of the band as they continue to grow...
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Offline SystematicThought

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #876 on: May 28, 2012, 09:26:44 PM »
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Offline crazyaga

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #877 on: May 29, 2012, 03:23:33 AM »
does he support gays? or one of the "homosexuality is soo wrong zomg" kind of christians?
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Offline Pols Voice

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #878 on: May 29, 2012, 03:54:59 AM »
I haven't been keeping up with Neal's last few solo releases, but I'll be getting this one.

I see that Neal changed his Thoughts Part 3 into Part 5, mostly because he and Al had written Part 3 for the new Spock's Beard album... so where is Part 4? :lol


Yeah, where is Part 4, anyway? *cue twilight zone theme*
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Offline The Letter M

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #879 on: May 29, 2012, 08:20:52 AM »
I haven't been keeping up with Neal's last few solo releases, but I'll be getting this one.

I see that Neal changed his Thoughts Part 3 into Part 5, mostly because he and Al had written Part 3 for the new Spock's Beard album... so where is Part 4? :lol


Yeah, where is Part 4, anyway? *cue twilight zone theme*

My girlfriend and I surmised that it was probably so Neal could let SB do a Part 4 sometime in the future, if they wanted to, which is nice. So we get "Thoughts Part 3" AND "Thoughts Part 5" this fall between Spock's Beard and Neal Morse! Fantastic! :tup

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #880 on: May 29, 2012, 08:50:39 AM »
Well, while I like the first two Thoughts songs, they both go over board a bit with the multi-part harmonies, almost to the point of them sounding uber corny, so I can't say I am overly excited to see another song along those lines, but we'll see. 

Offline Ħ

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #881 on: May 29, 2012, 08:47:01 PM »
does he support gays? or one of the "homosexuality is soo wrong zomg" kind of christians?
He's never commented on that.
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #882 on: May 30, 2012, 09:03:35 AM »
does he support gays? or one of the "homosexuality is soo wrong zomg" kind of christians?
He's never commented on that.
Not to mention that it's off-topic and rude to even ask that question, especially the way it was phrased.  Best to continue ignoring it.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #883 on: May 30, 2012, 09:06:27 AM »
Yep, and that is why I was hoping everyone else would ignore that question like I was.

Anyway, back on topic: post your top 5 songs from Testimony Two time!

1. Crossing Over/Mercy Street Reprise
2. Seeds of Gold
3. Mercy Street
4. The Truth Will Set You Free
5. Time Has Come Today
« Last Edit: May 30, 2012, 09:15:34 AM by KevShmev »

Offline bosk1

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #884 on: May 30, 2012, 09:14:01 AM »
2. Streets of Gold

???

:lol

Anyway, for whatever reason, I'm still not really connecting with T2 the way I did with some of the earlier albums.  I'd still rank it at #4 behind T1, One, and Sola Scriptura.  But I think my top 5 songs from it would be, in no particular order:

Mercy Street
Time Changer
Nighttime Collectors
Road Dog Blues
Supernatural
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #885 on: May 30, 2012, 09:16:12 AM »
Ouch, damn spelling errors.  As an official grammar and spelling nazi, I am ashamed. :facepalm: :lol

Offline crazyaga

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #886 on: May 30, 2012, 09:19:04 AM »
sorry for being rude and all....
its just that so many religious institutions are soo anti-gay and since im gay, that made me to really hate religion.
sorry.
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #887 on: May 30, 2012, 09:19:47 AM »
official grammar and spelling nazi

Which is the only reason I took a moment out of my day to give you crap about it.  :lol
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #888 on: May 30, 2012, 10:00:03 AM »
Anyway, for whatever reason, I'm still not really connecting with T2 the way I did with some of the earlier albums.
Same here.  I like it a lot, but I don't relate to it the way I did his earlier stuff.  But there is some definite gold on there.
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #889 on: May 30, 2012, 10:02:29 AM »
But there is some definite gold on there.

Some seeds, at the very least.
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Offline Nick

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #890 on: May 30, 2012, 10:13:38 AM »
And some streets too.
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Offline The Letter M

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #891 on: May 30, 2012, 10:43:46 AM »
Yep, and that is why I was hoping everyone else would ignore that question like I was.

Anyway, back on topic: post your top 5 songs from Testimony Two time!

1. Crossing Over/Mercy Street Reprise
2. Seeds of Gold
3. Mercy Street
4. The Truth Will Set You Free
5. Time Has Come Today

Nice top 5! Mine is similar...and in no particular order...

Seeds Of Gold
Crossing Over/Mercy Street Revisited
Time Changer
The Truth Will Set You Free
It's For You

So really, the last 17:28 of the album is just golden for me. "Truth" is just epic, and I love all the parts of "Time Changer", especially the "Spock's Beard" vocal reunion! And "Seeds Of Gold" is just as epic as Neal has ever gotten, probably one of his best epics ever, and that Steve Morse solo!!!  :hefdaddy

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #892 on: May 30, 2012, 12:16:02 PM »
It was tough leaving It's for You out of my top 5 (I barely give Time Has Come Today the edge over it).

Offline DarkLord_Lalinc

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #893 on: May 30, 2012, 12:20:40 PM »
JESUS IS MY LIFELINEEEEEE

I just realized, that the only way I could love Neal Morse more, is to have him use more keyboard patches/instruments, outside his piano/organ/80s synth lead/strings pattern.

Even though the compositions are amazing, I can't help but notice them kind of...dated. I mean, there are thousands and thousands of amazing new VSTs, sounds, and things that can add lots of color to music, and I'm sure Neal Morse can go deep into that terrain if he wanted to.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #894 on: May 30, 2012, 12:27:39 PM »
That's an excellent point, D_L!

I'd love to see him explore with some new keyboard sounds.  I am not sure what sound it is, but there is a particular one he used to overuse that I am not always fond of.  It is used around 1:36 of Overture Number 1 from Testimony. He seems to like to feature that particular keyboard sound by itself, like he did for a very brief interlude right there, but I think that is a very dated sound.  I think it is also the loan keyboard being played during the first verse of Bomb That Can't Explode (the first part of the Whole Nother Trip suite from his first solo album).

On the bright side, I thought his lead synth sound was beginning to sound a bit stale, but he must have gotten a new one or something, because his lead synth tone sounded mostly fantastic  on both The Whirlwind and Testimony Two.  Or maybe it was just a matter of him writing and playing more interesting keyboard lines.  Either way, I agree with your point. :)

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #895 on: May 30, 2012, 08:13:33 PM »
 :D

I guess that's kind of his sound approach, for all his work is very Spock's Beard/Classic prog influenced. But nevertheless, I'd love to hear him trying new sounds, atmospheres and cool stuff and see what he can come up with. Neal Morse is a fantastic musician, and I'm glad that he's apparently starting to use VSTs (In The Whirlwind DVD, he plays with a MIDI controller operated by a laptop, if I recall correctly...)

Stack him up with Omnisphere, Reaktor and other cool instruments, and I'm gonna be a happy camper.
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Offline bobs23

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #896 on: May 31, 2012, 08:05:10 AM »
Yesterday, I went back and listened to the studio version of "Seeds" after listening to the live version since it came out. To me, after re-listening the studio version sounds like a demo and live has so much more emotion and feel to it.

Offline crazyaga

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #897 on: May 31, 2012, 04:55:39 PM »
similar album covers are similar.

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Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #898 on: May 31, 2012, 04:59:43 PM »
I recently addressed my lack of ownership of "Lifeline" and I have now listened to it once.  I'm not terribly disappointed that I skipped it, but I'll probably only listen to the longer tracks.



Offline The Letter M

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #899 on: May 31, 2012, 05:10:08 PM »
I recently addressed my lack of ownership of "Lifeline" and I have now listened to it once.  I'm not terribly disappointed that I skipped it, but I'll probably only listen to the longer tracks.

I've recently gone back to Lifeline and have new-found appreciation for the whole album, where as I only used to enjoy the title track and "So Many Roads". The last track is still a bit "eh" as Neal has better ballads (Heck, I'd take "Heaven In My Heart" over "Fly High").

Have you listened to the bonus tracks, "Sometimes He Waits" and "Set The Kingdom"? I'd take those two over the 3 shortest tracks on the main album! For me, the top 3 tracks are still "Lifeline", "So Many Roads" and "Leviathan", with honorable mention to "Set The Kingdom".

If I made the album, this would be the track list:

"Lifeline"             - 13:28
"Sometimes He Waits"          -  5:23
"Children Of The Chosen"       -  4:55
"Set The Kingdom"          - 11:00
"Leviathan"             -  6:04
"So Many Roads"          - 28:43
"Fly High"             -  6:31

Nothing against the shorter tracks, "The Way Home", "God's Love" and "Children Of The Chosen", and in fact I like the latter, but I feel like the album might have done better the much stronger "Set The Kingdom" had been on the album instead.

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Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #900 on: May 31, 2012, 05:17:14 PM »
I completely agree with you, Marc. 

I will probably be skipping everything except "Lifeline," "Leviathan" and "So Many Roads"   But those are great, especially "Lifeline"



Haven't spun the bonus disc yet.

Offline darkshade

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #901 on: May 31, 2012, 05:21:48 PM »
Lifeline is good, though admittedly was the last solo Neal prog album I checked out. I also admit to not listening to it enough, aside from the title track. There's just so many other good albums Ive gotten that overshadow it. I'll have to make my way around to it again soon.

Offline The Letter M

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #902 on: May 31, 2012, 05:32:45 PM »
Lifeline is good, though admittedly was the last solo Neal prog album I checked out. I also admit to not listening to it enough, aside from the title track. There's just so many other good albums Ive gotten that overshadow it. I'll have to make my way around to it again soon.

Definitely get Testimony 2, "Seeds Of Gold" is worth the price alone, but the main album itself is just as good, if not better than Testimony, so if you loved that album (and One), then definitely get T2.

Or, if you want more bang for your buck, get the 3CD/2DVD Live In LA album he just released of Testimony 2 Live. It's got the whole album live, "Seeds Of Gold", a couple tunes from Lifeline and One each, as well as a chunk of Sola Scriptura in medley form and "Part 5" of Testimony. Arguably one of Neal's best live albums to date, and it blows ? Live and So Many Roads out of the water.

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Offline bosk1

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #903 on: May 31, 2012, 05:37:12 PM »
"Seeds Of Gold" is incredibly overrated, but the album is worth the price for the stuff on disk 1 anyway. 

I agree.
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Offline The Letter M

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #904 on: May 31, 2012, 05:39:26 PM »
"Seeds Of Gold" is incredibly overrated, but the album is worth the price for the stuff on disk 1 anyway. 

I agree.

Hey now...

"Seeds Of Gold" is at least better than "So Many Roads", and is his most secular(-sounding) epic since 2001, so to me, it's definitely one of his best works.

I will agree, though, most of the songs on the main album are also worth the price of the album, especially the last 18 minutes.

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Offline bosk1

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #905 on: May 31, 2012, 05:44:53 PM »
:biggrin:

I'll take So Many Roads over Seeds, actually.  Personally, I've never really understood what people see in Seeds of Gold.  I love a lot of Neal's longer songs, but that one just isn't interesting to me at all.
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Offline Ħ

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #906 on: May 31, 2012, 05:45:38 PM »
Yeah, me neither. The "but there's a home coming beyond the danger zone" section is very touching, but everything else is kinda meh.
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Offline darkshade

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #907 on: May 31, 2012, 05:53:40 PM »
Lifeline is good, though admittedly was the last solo Neal prog album I checked out. I also admit to not listening to it enough, aside from the title track. There's just so many other good albums Ive gotten that overshadow it. I'll have to make my way around to it again soon.

Definitely get Testimony 2, "Seeds Of Gold" is worth the price alone, but the main album itself is just as good, if not better than Testimony, so if you loved that album (and One), then definitely get T2.

Or, if you want more bang for your buck, get the 3CD/2DVD Live In LA album he just released of Testimony 2 Live. It's got the whole album live, "Seeds Of Gold", a couple tunes from Lifeline and One each, as well as a chunk of Sola Scriptura in medley form and "Part 5" of Testimony. Arguably one of Neal's best live albums to date, and it blows ? Live and So Many Roads out of the water.

-Marc.

Oh I have T2, top 3 Neal album for me. I meant it was the last one that I checked out after getting the other 5 Neal solo albums. Seeds of Gold is one of Neal's best epics, up there with the TA ones, and The Door, The Creation, and ?.

Never checked out the T2 live album, maybe one day I will.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #908 on: May 31, 2012, 06:25:04 PM »
Seeds of Gold and So Many Roads are definitely two of Neal's three best 15-minute plus solo songs, the other being The Separated Man.  I don't consider ? to be a single song.

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #909 on: May 31, 2012, 06:28:57 PM »
Seeds of Gold and So Many Roads are definitely two of Neal's three best 15-minute plus solo songs, the other being The Separated Man.  I don't consider ? to be a single song.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I only consider multi-tracked grand epics as one song if that's how the artist himself views it. So The Whirlwind, ?, Garden of Dreams, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, In The Presence of Enemies, etc are all single songs to me (just very very large ones).

Ive seen people say that AoM's The Black Forest (the album) is one song, but I believe Roine Stolt refers to it as a concept album, so that is what I view it as, as well.