Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[Nachtmerrie]

Why would anyone feel the need to defend their husband's imput into a music album so strongly?

I think Bill's and Eric's influences on the last two albums are audible, but I'm personally not buying that all members contributed EQUALLY. I don't hear it when I contrast it to earlier Neal's albums. Even with Flying Colors I wouldn't argue there are equal contributions.

I really believe the intentions of Eric's wife are good but if I'm him I would tell her to shut up.
These comments are so childish without any reason. The album from you're husband band is getting fantastic reviews and you're focusing on some minor things that take away all the attention this album apparently deserves.

I would love to hear Neal's opinion..

[RoeDent]

I wouldn't hold any of this against Eric Gillette; he didn't say a word or do a thing.

Her surname's still Gillette though, right?

[Hourglass Prison]

I wouldn't hold any of this against Eric Gillette; he didn't say a word or do a thing.

Her surname's still Gillette though, right?

That’s what I was assuming you meant.
This whole situation is just...odd.

Looking forward to this album and tour!

[OpenYourEyes311]

I think it's odd that people take comments from other media and post them here out of context. That's what I think is childish. It's not like Mike or Eric's wife came here to post their thoughts, so I shouldn't be seeing them here. I've been off Facebook for about a month now and it's shit like this that I don't miss one bit.

[bosk1]

What exactly is "childish" about posting comments here that are in response to a review that was posted by someone here?  I'm not sure how else to have legitimate discussion about that.  Since the comments were directly relevant to discussion being had here, it makes perfect sense to post them here. 

[The Letter M]

I think it's odd that people take comments from other media and post them here out of context. That's what I think is childish. It's not like Mike or Eric's wife came here to post their thoughts, so I shouldn't be seeing them here. I've been off Facebook for about a month now and it's shit like this that I don't miss one bit.

Except we DO have context - they are both referring to a review that was made by a forum member HERE, so it's not out of place to share their responses to said review here as well. And regardless of where it's post online,  once something is out on the net for all to see, it'll get seen by whoever wants to share it.

-Marc

[OpenYourEyes311]

I guess drama is something I need less of in my life. You guys enjoy it, and I will look forward to listening to the album when it comes out in a few weeks without it.

[bosk1]

I guess drama is something I need less of in my life. You guys enjoy it, and I will look forward to listening to the album when it comes out in a few weeks without it.

I think we all would prefer less drama.  I know I would.  But sometimes we don't have a choice what other people say or do.  I don't think anyone here is "enjoying" it.  Kinda silly and in poor taste for you to come in here and call us  "childish" and then accuse us of "enjoying" drama when all we were trying to do was discuss the very POSITIVE reviews of the album, and then how odd it is for me to be attacked for writing a POSITIVE review in the first place.

[bosk1]

Rod, did you by any chance ask him about that one lyric that mentioned in my review as being odd?

[bosk1]

And sorry to triple post, but I finally had a moment to go back and read through the interview that was posted on the previous page, and found this to be pretty relevant to the recent discussion:

Neal Morse: Our 2016 album The Similitude of a Dream was inspired by the book; Pilgrim’s Progress from the 1600s. While on tour for that album I thought about doing a follow-up but realized I didn’t have very much. I had a few extra songs from that album that were never used like “Talking” which was based on one of the characters and “A Love That Never Dies.” I wasn’t sure what we wanted to say or how it could be different then Similitude. I started to read further in Pilgrim’s Progress, and in the second part, the wife of the main character has a change of heart and packs up her kids to go after her husband; taking the same route he did. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much inspiration in it, so I just let it go. Last January the band and I wrote a version of this album that was not a concept album; it was a progressive rock album. It had many of the same themes from the currently completed album just in different pieces. I was rolling with it, just letting it happen, and the band was sounding great. When the smoke cleared after those sessions, Mike wanted to finish it, but I felt it wasn’t what it supposed to be. He ended up having to leave without doing his final drums. I think he regretted it as he wanted to finish it as is. He and I were on the opposite end of the spectrum for the next step; the band was scattered somewhere in between. Mike was booked most of the year, so it was a tough decision to let it go unfinished. I said let’s pray on it; if it’s supposed to be something else, Gods will make a way for it to happen. In between my dates on the Life and Time tour I was coming home to work on it; seeing if I could make it a two-disc album. Using ProTools, I was hacking old stuff out as well as writing new sections. It was a crazy process. I ended up with a two and a half hour version of The Great Adventure. Everybody liked it, and Mike was totally on board, which I thought was a miracle of God [laughing]. The next question was, “When do we have the time to record it?” This was in July, and I thought it would be great if we could have it completed in January 2019 to debut on Cruise to the Edge. Mike’s first available was in August, and we would have to get all our parts done before Morsefest in September plus rehearse the Jesus Musical. We barely pulled it off in time.

When we got together in August, we made more changes as the band had a lot of other great ideas as well. It’s amazing this album got done!

https://myglobalmind.com/2019/01/06/neal-morse-on-the-bands-newest-cd-the-great-adventure-its-amazing-this-album-got-done/

[Samsara]

He should just get back in the rank and file where drummers belong.

Say what?



 

[The Letter M]

And sorry to triple post, but I finally had a moment to go back and read through the interview that was posted on the previous page, and found this to be pretty relevant to the recent discussion:

Neal Morse: Our 2016 album The Similitude of a Dream was inspired by the book; Pilgrim’s Progress from the 1600s. While on tour for that album I thought about doing a follow-up but realized I didn’t have very much. I had a few extra songs from that album that were never used like “Talking” which was based on one of the characters and “A Love That Never Dies.” I wasn’t sure what we wanted to say or how it could be different then Similitude. I started to read further in Pilgrim’s Progress, and in the second part, the wife of the main character has a change of heart and packs up her kids to go after her husband; taking the same route he did. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much inspiration in it, so I just let it go. Last January the band and I wrote a version of this album that was not a concept album; it was a progressive rock album. It had many of the same themes from the currently completed album just in different pieces. I was rolling with it, just letting it happen, and the band was sounding great. When the smoke cleared after those sessions, Mike wanted to finish it, but I felt it wasn’t what it supposed to be. He ended up having to leave without doing his final drums. I think he regretted it as he wanted to finish it as is. He and I were on the opposite end of the spectrum for the next step; the band was scattered somewhere in between. Mike was booked most of the year, so it was a tough decision to let it go unfinished. I said let’s pray on it; if it’s supposed to be something else, Gods will make a way for it to happen. In between my dates on the Life and Time tour I was coming home to work on it; seeing if I could make it a two-disc album. Using ProTools, I was hacking old stuff out as well as writing new sections. It was a crazy process. I ended up with a two and a half hour version of The Great Adventure. Everybody liked it, and Mike was totally on board, which I thought was a miracle of God [laughing]. The next question was, “When do we have the time to record it?” This was in July, and I thought it would be great if we could have it completed in January 2019 to debut on Cruise to the Edge. Mike’s first available was in August, and we would have to get all our parts done before Morsefest in September plus rehearse the Jesus Musical. We barely pulled it off in time.

When we got together in August, we made more changes as the band had a lot of other great ideas as well. It’s amazing this album got done!

https://myglobalmind.com/2019/01/06/neal-morse-on-the-bands-newest-cd-the-great-adventure-its-amazing-this-album-got-done/

This was the part of the interview that really struck me as the most interesting because, as I said above, we knew a BIT of what was going on through Neal's IC Newsletters, and that those January sessions almost made a complete album, but it's intriguing to hear that Mike wanted THAT to be the final album but Neal wanted more. I guess Mike (and the others) had heard the revised 2.5 Hour album that Neal had ProTool'ed and hacked together and were happy enough with it to record THAT version of the album instead, which makes me wonder how much of the original January-album was a full-band-effort and how much of that carried over into the completed album in August when they tracked drums and other parts?

I guess we'll know more once the album comes out and we get a glimpse of the process through the Making Of DVD!

-Marc.

[axeman90210]

I wouldn't hold any of this against Eric Gillette; he didn't say a word or do a thing.

Who else here is planning to go to Morsefest this year?

I'm a maybe depending on what night 2 is. Hard to justify a flight to Nashville and a couple nights' stay somewhere if I'm not excited about the whole weekend.

[bosk1]

I made a playlist of Similitude and TGA.  I have to say that they flow into each other quite well.

[The Letter M]

I made a playlist of Similitude and TGA.  I have to say that they flow into each other quite well.

Nice! I bet that's quite a hefty 3.5 hour playlist to listen to. Do you reccomend listening to TSOAD right before the first listen of TGA?

-Marc.

[bosk1]

I didn't, but that would be a cool experience.  But if you don't have enough time or are too anxious to get right into it, maybe just listen to Broken Sky/Long Day just before TGA to set up the neat transition. 

[KevShmev]

I really believe the intentions of Eric's wife are good but if I'm him I would tell her to shut up.
These comments are so childish without any reason. The album from you're husband band is getting fantastic reviews and you're focusing on some minor things that take away all the attention this album apparently deserves.

I would love to hear Neal's opinion..

I am pretty sure there is nicer way to accomplish that without telling your significant other to "shut up."

I wouldn't hold any of this against Eric Gillette; he didn't say a word or do a thing.

Who else here is planning to go to Morsefest this year?

I'm a maybe depending on what night 2 is. Hard to justify a flight to Nashville and a couple nights' stay somewhere if I'm not excited about the whole weekend.

While I understand that, to me, if you are a big fan, it doesn't matter what he plays; the experience of the entire weekend is pretty amazing.  Plus, who knows how many more years he will do this?  My brother and I are committed to going every single year now for as long as he does it.

[Fritzinger]

Man, I was hoping this type of drama would stay within MP's Big-Balls-BBQ-Sauce Band. Of course, MP's comment, while a little childish, is nothing against this whining Jacy did.
Having heard the album, I agree that this is more of a band effort than probably anything else Neal has done before and I LOVE THAT. But as someone already correctly said, they shouldn't complain that the main focus is on Neal and people think the main contribution is coming from Neal (considering it has ALWAYS been that way in ALL OF Neals bands) when the band's name is Neal Morse band. OR they should have been more clear about the contributions.
Anyway, the album is one of Neal's - sorry: Neal's, Mike's, Bill's, Randy's and Eric's best efforts and you shouldn't be distracted by this pathetic drama around it. I remember a lot of people already being turned off Psychotic Symphony before it was even released (including me) - I hope this drama doesn't go on to have a similar effect on The Great Adventure.
Plus, I love that Eric apparently has simply nothing to say about this and I hope he keeps it this way  Just the classiest, coolest thing to do right now (also very JP-ish ).

[kaos2900]

And sorry to triple post, but I finally had a moment to go back and read through the interview that was posted on the previous page, and found this to be pretty relevant to the recent discussion:

Neal Morse: Our 2016 album The Similitude of a Dream was inspired by the book; Pilgrim’s Progress from the 1600s. While on tour for that album I thought about doing a follow-up but realized I didn’t have very much. I had a few extra songs from that album that were never used like “Talking” which was based on one of the characters and “A Love That Never Dies.” I wasn’t sure what we wanted to say or how it could be different then Similitude. I started to read further in Pilgrim’s Progress, and in the second part, the wife of the main character has a change of heart and packs up her kids to go after her husband; taking the same route he did. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much inspiration in it, so I just let it go. Last January the band and I wrote a version of this album that was not a concept album; it was a progressive rock album. It had many of the same themes from the currently completed album just in different pieces. I was rolling with it, just letting it happen, and the band was sounding great. When the smoke cleared after those sessions, Mike wanted to finish it, but I felt it wasn’t what it supposed to be. He ended up having to leave without doing his final drums. I think he regretted it as he wanted to finish it as is. He and I were on the opposite end of the spectrum for the next step; the band was scattered somewhere in between. Mike was booked most of the year, so it was a tough decision to let it go unfinished. I said let’s pray on it; if it’s supposed to be something else, Gods will make a way for it to happen. In between my dates on the Life and Time tour I was coming home to work on it; seeing if I could make it a two-disc album. Using ProTools, I was hacking old stuff out as well as writing new sections. It was a crazy process. I ended up with a two and a half hour version of The Great Adventure. Everybody liked it, and Mike was totally on board, which I thought was a miracle of God [laughing]. The next question was, “When do we have the time to record it?” This was in July, and I thought it would be great if we could have it completed in January 2019 to debut on Cruise to the Edge. Mike’s first available was in August, and we would have to get all our parts done before Morsefest in September plus rehearse the Jesus Musical. We barely pulled it off in time.

When we got together in August, we made more changes as the band had a lot of other great ideas as well. It’s amazing this album got done!

https://myglobalmind.com/2019/01/06/neal-morse-on-the-bands-newest-cd-the-great-adventure-its-amazing-this-album-got-done/

And this is why even if it is a more equal effort, Neal is the driving force. Nothing against the other dudes. Again silly and I'll leave it that. I don't view this drama as having an impact because I still feel this is Neal's band and I love his work and will continue to support it. The drama around Son's of Apollo was a different story and has permanently turned me off from anything that band does going forward.

[bluefox4000]

Yea i still Call NMB jstuff just Neal Morse....oops?

cause honestly i hear his influence most.....aside from Eric's guitar and trading vocals.  there is really not much difference.

don't ban me just an observation, lol

[Nachtmerrie]

I really believe the intentions of Eric's wife are good but if I'm him I would tell her to shut up.
These comments are so childish without any reason. The album from you're husband band is getting fantastic reviews and you're focusing on some minor things that take away all the attention this album apparently deserves.

I would love to hear Neal's opinion..

I am pretty sure there is nicer way to accomplish that without telling your significant other to "shut up."

Sometimes I prefer to be clear instead of being nice...
I really like Eric as a musician having seen him with NMB en MP's Shattered Fortress. I bought his solo-album and really enjoyed it but I don't think many other people know about 'The Great Unknown'.
Despite all his talents he is primarily known as a member of the Neal Morse Band and I don't think his wife comments do him any good.

As stated in other posts and as the interview with Neal about the writing and recording of TGA make clear Neal is still the driving force behind the band.
It looks like it's gonna be another excellent album and I don't think many fans really care who made which contribution.
The focus of anyone who supports the band (including MP and Eric's wife) should be to sell as many album and tickets. Reviews like bosk1 can only be helpful so why start a discussion like they did.

[gzarruk]

Yea i still Call NMB jstuff just Neal Morse....oops?

cause honestly i hear his influence most.....aside from Eric's guitar and trading vocals.  there is really not much difference.

don't ban me just an observation, lol

Same here. I have The Grand Experiment and TSOAD filed under “Neal Morse” on my music library and devices. The great Adventure will be no exception.

[The Letter M]

Yea i still Call NMB jstuff just Neal Morse....oops?

cause honestly i hear his influence most.....aside from Eric's guitar and trading vocals.  there is really not much difference.

don't ban me just an observation, lol

Same here. I have The Grand Experiment and TSOAD filed under “Neal Morse” on my music library and devices. The great Adventure will be no exception.

Same as well - NMB albums are filed under my folder "Morse, Neal" but the Album Artist is credited as "(The) Neal Morse Band" under the tags.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Sometimes I prefer to be clear instead of being nice...
I really like Eric as a musician having seen him with NMB en MP's Shattered Fortress. I bought his solo-album and really enjoyed it but I don't think many other people know about 'The Great Unknown'.
Despite all his talents he is primarily known as a member of the Neal Morse Band and I don't think his wife comments do him any good.

As stated in other posts and as the interview with Neal about the writing and recording of TGA make clear Neal is still the driving force behind the band.
It looks like it's gonna be another excellent album and I don't think many fans really care who made which contribution.
The focus of anyone who supports the band (including MP and Eric's wife) should be to sell as many album and tickets. Reviews like bosk1 can only be helpful so why start a discussion like they did.

First off, you misquoted me (quoting it the way you did makes it look like I said what you said, if someone didn't read the rest of the thread.

Secondly, even though I might agree with a lot of what you said here, I still think suggesting that someone tell his wife to "shut up" is poor form. 

[Mebert78]

I had a vision this morning that Neal will be turning the Similitude of a Dream/Great Adventure story into a trilogy.  I'm expecting another epic 2CD concept album in 2022. 

[Fritzinger]

New song & video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Y8DXcjOQY&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1Z_0FbD2RAbgHyKrCPeTiD_ouKwAYxRtRA8pQZ2wAuIHdLPtytE1HkBeI

[bosk1]

Interesting that they posted that.  I was just coming in here to post that the "welcome to the world" them basically serves the same role as the "city of destruction" theme in Similitude, but that I think the "welcome to the world" theme is better.  But it is SO weird to hear Welcome To the World 2 out of context of the album.  It makes so much sense where they have it inserted in the album as the first track in chapter 5.  But it feels odd as a standalone.

[Fritzinger]

Interesting that they posted that.  I was just coming in here to post that the "welcome to the world" them basically serves the same role as the "city of destruction" theme in Similitude, but that I think the "welcome to the world" theme is better.  But it is SO weird to hear Welcome To the World 2 out of context of the album.  It makes so much sense where they have it inserted in the album as the first track in chapter 5.  But it feels odd as a standalone.

Agreed. I probably wouldn't even like it as a standalone track. But it works very well in the context of the album. So this is an odd choice for a single in my opinion.

[Nachtmerrie]

Sometimes I prefer to be clear instead of being nice...
I really like Eric as a musician having seen him with NMB en MP's Shattered Fortress. I bought his solo-album and really enjoyed it but I don't think many other people know about 'The Great Unknown'.
Despite all his talents he is primarily known as a member of the Neal Morse Band and I don't think his wife comments do him any good.

As stated in other posts and as the interview with Neal about the writing and recording of TGA make clear Neal is still the driving force behind the band.
It looks like it's gonna be another excellent album and I don't think many fans really care who made which contribution.
The focus of anyone who supports the band (including MP and Eric's wife) should be to sell as many album and tickets. Reviews like bosk1 can only be helpful so why start a discussion like they did.

First off, you misquoted me (quoting it the way you did makes it look like I said what you said, if someone didn't read the rest of the thread.

Secondly, even though I might agree with a lot of what you said here, I still think suggesting that someone tell his wife to "shut up" is poor form.

Sorry for the misquote (wasn't intented, just poor computer skills).

I guess us Dutch are a little too 'straightforward' at times.

[KevShmev]

To each their own.

New song & video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Y8DXcjOQY&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1Z_0FbD2RAbgHyKrCPeTiD_ouKwAYxRtRA8pQZ2wAuIHdLPtytE1HkBeI

That seems like an odd choice to release as the third "single," for obvious reasons.  I am sure it will be fine within the context of the record, but on its own, it was just okay.

[Mebert78]

For others who haven't seen it, I just stumbled across an old video of Neal performing in an '80s cover band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FZJK67RXp8

[Thoughtspart3]

One thing I am really excited about so far is the production.  The wave forms are not hyper compressed.  You almost never see this kind of dynamic range preserved in today's music.  Both early downloads we this way.

[Mladen]

For others who haven't seen it, I just stumbled across an old video of Neal performing in an '80s cover band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FZJK67RXp8

Whoa! That's something I never thought I'd see.

[As I Am]

For others who haven't seen it, I just stumbled across an old video of Neal performing in an '80s cover band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FZJK67RXp8

Whoa! That's something I never thought I'd see.

Unfortunately won't be able to "unsee or unhear" that!

[KevShmev]

For others who haven't seen it, I just stumbled across an old video of Neal performing in an '80s cover band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FZJK67RXp8

Haha, that was hilarious to watch.  Neal randomly banging his arms away at the keys to the rhythm of She Drives Me Crazy made me LOL for real.