Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[Nihil-Morari]

Colin? You mean Collin Leijenaar, Neal old Dutch band? They're not touring with Neal, and IIRC, haven't since the Lifeline Tour. Neal's current drummer, besides Mike, is Paul Simmons.

-Marc.

Oh really? I know he's busy with Affector, and now some other project with Kristoffer Gildenlow and the guitarist of Frost, but I always thought he did Neal's tours too.
Well apart from that, my point remains. TA with just Neal and Roine, is not really TA.

[The Letter M]

Colin? You mean Collin Leijenaar, Neal old Dutch band? They're not touring with Neal, and IIRC, haven't since the Lifeline Tour. Neal's current drummer, besides Mike, is Paul Simmons.

-Marc.

Oh really? I know he's busy with Affector, and now some other project with Kristoffer Gildenlow and the guitarist of Frost, but I always thought he did Neal's tours too.
Well apart from that, my point remains. TA with just Neal and Roine, is not really TA.

Well I think I saw someone say that Mike *IS* going to tour with Neal on this tour, so what about 3/4ths of TA? I say it counts!

-Marc.

[Nihil-Morari]

3/4 counts totally. And like Bosk said, maybe Pete (and Daniel) could be in Tilburg for a DVD, that'd be awesome.

[The Letter M]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=34956.0

Just an update, I'll be starting my Neal Morse Survivor next week, so everyone get your listens in ASAP! As I've said before, I'll be starting with his self-titled debut, so if you haven't heard it in awhile, give it a spin!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

NEAL MORSE BAND:
Neal Morse - Lead vocal, Keys & Guitar
Randy George - Bass & Vocal
Adson Sodre - Lead Guitar & Vocal
Bill Hubauer - Keyboards & Violin & Vocal
Eric Gillette - Keyboards & Guitar & Vocal
Jason Gianni - Drums & Vocal

THE FLOWER KINGS:
Roine Stolt - Guitar & Vocal
Tomas Bodin - Keyboards
Hasse Froberg - Vocal & Guitar
Jonas Reingold - Bass &Vocal
Felix Lehrmann - Drums

Just posted by Roine on Facebook, looks like no Portnoy. Now the question remains - during the TA set, will Jonas or Randy handle the bass, and will Felix or Jason handle the drums? To be honest, I'd be happy with either, but I know that Randy has played Transatlantic tunes before with Neal's band, but I'm not sure if Jonas has (I think maybe he did with Agents Of Mercy?). More knowledgeable fans here will be able to answer this question.

-Marc.

[Nihil-Morari]

I believe Agents did do a couple of (Roines) TA tunes. Off the top of my head My New World and a big epic...
I found it, Duel with the Devil.
But still my guess would be Randy, and I'm hoping for MP on the Tilburg gig. Because there will be a Tilburg gig. And that's where the DVD will be recorded.

[The Letter M]

As an FYI, here is the set list they played at NYC Highline back on October 11th:
1. Momentum
2. Weathering Sky
3. Author Of Confusion
4. The Distance To The Sun
5. Testimony Suite
6. Thoughts Part 5
7. The Conflict
8. ? Suite
9. Fly High
10. World Without End
11. Crazy Horses
12. Sing It High
13. King Jesus

Tracks 1-7 form the first set, 8-10 the 2nd set, and 11-13 the encore. If the last live release is any indication, the first DVD will include the first set, and the 2nd DVD will include the 2nd set and encore, and I predict the 3 Discs will be as follows:
Disc 1 - Momentum-Testimony Suite
Disc 2 - Thoughts Part 5-Fly High
Disc 3 - World Without End-King Jesus
Each disc would be about an hour or so long!!

Cannot wait to pre-order this set!

-Marc.

As I predicted, the DVDs will be split between the intermission, according to Neal's recent IC Newsletter!

Also, he mentions penciling in Transatlantic in the Spring, and hopefully getting Flying Colors back together sometime next year, so we may be looking at new albums from both bands in 2013!

Also, Neal mentions the upcoming NM/TFK tour, but nothing about recording a show, but considering their penchant for recording and releasing tours on a semi-regular basis, and how epic this tour is sure to be, there's no way this show will go undocumented for posterity! Besides, these two guys just released two huge albums this year, TFK's comeback album after 5 years off, and definitely one of Neal's best! A live album from this tour would be tremendous and top a lot of fan's lists for 2013 or 2014 I'm sure!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I'd probably be more excited about this if it were coming to America, but it's not, so I am like, eh, whatever.

[The Letter M]

I'd probably be more excited about this if it were coming to America, but it's not, so I am like, eh, whatever.

Actually, I've heard that Neal and Roine are working on taking this tour to the US/NA sometime in the summer, so keep an eye/ear out for more info on it!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Sweet.  The advantage of them touring together, too, is they could possibly get a jump start on writing material for the next TA album. 

[The Letter M]

Sweet.  The advantage of them touring together, too, is they could possibly get a jump start on writing material for the next TA album.

Definitely, especially if the TA4 sessions land between the EU and NA legs of this tour, which would mean Roine and Neal could pool together ideas, then write/record, then go back out on the road while the album gets mixed and mastered! Then by the time the tour for TA4 comes around, they'll be super tight live!

-Marc.

[changing_seasons]

Bumping to confirm that Mike Portnoy is definitely playing on this tour. Which made my decision to travel down to Stockholm to see them so much easier.

[The Letter M]

Bumping to confirm that Mike Portnoy is definitely playing on this tour. Which made my decision to travel down to Stockholm to see them so much easier.

Nice

Yes, now that Mike is a part of this tour, I *REALLY* hope it gets recorded for video and/or audio release! A show this epic deserves that kind of treatment, especially if it's sponsored by InsideOut!

I keep reading that all the musicians will share the stage and that there may even be some inter-band playing! I wonder what they'll be doing, in terms of inter-band play in their own sets, and if all the musicians will share the stage for the Transatlantic tunes? That's a LOT of guitarists...

-Marc.

[ytserush]

Bumping to confirm that Mike Portnoy is definitely playing on this tour. Which made my decision to travel down to Stockholm to see them so much easier.

Nice

Yes, now that Mike is a part of this tour, I *REALLY* hope it gets recorded for video and/or audio release! A show this epic deserves that kind of treatment, especially if it's sponsored by InsideOut!

I keep reading that all the musicians will share the stage and that there may even be some inter-band playing! I wonder what they'll be doing, in terms of inter-band play in their own sets, and if all the musicians will share the stage for the Transatlantic tunes? That's a LOT of guitarists...

-Marc.

It's Neal Morse. How would it not get recorded?

Besides, it keeps the revenue stream flowing...

[The Letter M]

Bumping to confirm that Mike Portnoy is definitely playing on this tour. Which made my decision to travel down to Stockholm to see them so much easier.

Nice

Yes, now that Mike is a part of this tour, I *REALLY* hope it gets recorded for video and/or audio release! A show this epic deserves that kind of treatment, especially if it's sponsored by InsideOut!

I keep reading that all the musicians will share the stage and that there may even be some inter-band playing! I wonder what they'll be doing, in terms of inter-band play in their own sets, and if all the musicians will share the stage for the Transatlantic tunes? That's a LOT of guitarists...

-Marc.

It's Neal Morse. How would it not get recorded?

Besides, it keeps the revenue stream flowing...

True! My only concern is that there will be song over-lap between his Live In NYC show from this past tour-leg. I hope he brings out "Smokes And Mirrors" and "Freak" in place of "Weathering Sky", just to give us ALL 6 Momentum songs on a live release. If Neal lets Mike do the set list again, I'm sure Mike will take a look and change the sets accordingly, just to make sure the sets are at least half-way different than what Neal played a few months ago.

Also - the best selling point for a live release - TRANSATLANTIC!!! Well, at least 3/4ths of the band, but I hope they break out "My New World" and/or "Mystery Train", and perhaps "Suite Charlotte Pike", the three tunes of theirs that they didn't play on the Whirld Tour! I'd even be happy if they broke out "Spinning" and "Lenny Johnson"!

-Marc.

[wasteland]

I would love to see a performance of "For Such A Time". It shares the main melody with the Whirlwind, sure, but I have been fascinated with that song since day one! 

[The Letter M]

Just so everyone knows, I've started Testimony on my Neal Morse Survivor, so if this is where you like your Neal Morse Discography to start, hop on over to the Polls/Survivors forum and join in!!!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I had one of those awesome music moments when driving in the car the other day.  It was snowing, and when the Mercy Street reprise kicked in near the end of the final song on Track 1 of Testimony Two, it was like, wow.  A very neat moment.

[ronnibran]

I had one of those awesome music moments when driving in the car the other day.  It was snowing, and when the Mercy Street reprise kicked in near the end of the final song on Track 1 of Testimony Two, it was like, wow.  A very neat moment.

   I hear ya, that's a great album.

[Ħ]

I had one of those awesome music moments when driving in the car the other day.  It was snowing, and when the Mercy Street reprise kicked in near the end of the final song on Track 1 of Testimony Two, it was like, wow.  A very neat moment.

You've raved about that part before. It is indeed awesome. A wee bit predictable, since he had reprises done in pretty much identical fashion in his other solo works and Transatlantic, but it's still awesome nonetheless. Just a little bit sad that it's a fadeout, cause that's an awesome solo.

[KevShmev]

I know I have said this before, but the fact that he ended that song with a fadeout, instead of his usual big ending with the major crescendo, actually works to its benefit.  I love how that main melody keeps going round and round, with cool and interesting variations to the main theme, especially in regards to the instrumentation, and then the long fadeout gives the impression that it will go on forever, even though our time of listening to it is coming to an end.  The way it explodes back into the main melody shortly after the fadeout begins, and then Neal hits that big note on the guitar (a note that definitely shows the influence Roine Stolt has had on him as an electric guitar player)...it doesn't get any better than that. 

[Nihil-Morari]

I thought I'd just check out that one note.

And listening to the fade out of the entire album only gives me maximum goosebumps.
I mean, 20 seconds of music, and that amount of power. Incredible.

[KevShmev]

Absolutely.

In other news, anyone else completely ambivalent towards Weathering Sky?  It's not a bad song by any means, but just comes across to me as another run of the mill Neal rocker.  It has by far the least amount of plays by me as far as the Momentum songs go, in iTunes and I always skip over it in the car.

[ronnibran]

I like it quite a bit.  I rank the songs on Momentum (best to least best): World Without End, Thoughts 5, Weathering Sky, Momentum, Freak, Smoke & Mirrors.  The top four I like quite a bit, the bottom two I don't dislike, but don't like as much as the others.

[The Letter M]

"Weathering Sky" is alright - I put it next to tunes like "All On A Sunday" and the such, just an okay rock tune from Neal. It seems he always has to have some of that on his albums, and I'm okay with that. I've come to expect it by now.

By the by, as a plug, my Neal Morse Survivor is just over half-way through Testimony, so if you guys want to help, we're nearing the final rounds for that album, then we'll be getting into the REALLY fun stuff with One and ?!!!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Preview from the upcoming live DVD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO1jRw_Nerg

[Nihil-Morari]

The audience is sitting at tables? Looks like a dining show.

Apart from that, the two guitar players are awesome.

[bosk1]

Wow.  Visually, this looks MUCH better than T2 Live, and his band is the tightest I think I have ever heard them.  Looking forward to this.

[KevShmev]

Visually, this looks MUCH better than T2 Live

That was definitely a good thing to see.  No weird lighting or bad angles (or doofuses wearing loud green shirts on stage ).

[Nihil-Morari]

Visually, this looks MUCH better than T2 Live

That was definitely a good thing to see.  No weird lighting or bad angles (or doofuses wearing loud green shirts on stage ).

Haha! Now it's just Randy in a robe, but that was to be expected 

[The Letter M]

Fans of ONE should head over to the Polls/Survivors forum on here and vote in my Neal Morse Survivor for that album! It is the restored/reunited track list that includes 3 songs from the Special Edition Bonus Disc that were originally in the story for the album, making a total of 11 songs! I'd like to think there are more fans of this album than there are of Testimony so I hope to see more than 3-5 voters for this album!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

And speaking of One, who else here ranks it pretty high on their list of Neal Morse albums? I'd say it's in my Top 3. For the longest time it was number one, but then I would listen to ? and love it more, and then Testimony 2 came out and that was incredible!

The album's bookending tracks are just fantastic, top-notch Neal Morse, while songs like "Author Of Confusion" really rock out in a way that hadn't quite been done by Neal. Since then, though, he always manages to throw in something heavy or, in the case of Sola Scriptura, nearly an album full!

-Marc.

[bosk1]

My #1 album of all time by anybody.

[KevShmev]

It's probably my 3rd favorite by Neal, behind T2 and ?.  I get the flow considering the story he told, but having the long songs as two of the first four songs makes getting through the rest of the album in one sitting somewhat exhausting, even if I am a big fan of every song on the album, except for The Spirit and the Flesh, which feels tacked on to Help Me, hence me editing that song and eliminating it (fading the song out during the piano bit that segues into the Spirit and the Flesh section).

[The Letter M]

It's probably my 3rd favorite by Neal, behind T2 and ?.  I get the flow considering the story he told, but having the long songs as two of the first four songs makes getting through the rest of the album in one sitting somewhat exhausting, even if I am a big fan of every song on the album, except for The Spirit and the Flesh, which feels tacked on to Help Me, hence me editing that song and eliminating it (fading the song out during the piano bit that segues into the Spirit and the Flesh section).

I did find having "The Separated Man" so soon after "The Creation" to be a bit tough, which is why I enjoy the longer version of the album with the shorter 2nd disc tracks between them. It spreads them apart a bit more, and on my CD-r copy of the track list, "The Separated Man" begins Disc 2, while "Author Of Confusion" closes Disc 1 (and what a closer that makes!).

-Marc.