Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[ronnibran]

I thought I read that JCTE was purposely mixed different than other Neal albums, which may explain them as being so different. They definitely aren’t as bombastic as his other albums, but may be just a mix thing. I don’t have a problem with the drums on the album.

[KevShmev]

I can't tell if I love or hate Bill's vocals. I love the uniqueness of it and the way it contrasts with Neal/Eric but other times it sounds like he's really straining to hit the right notes.

Bill is what I would call a really good "occasional lead vocalist."  I don't think I'd like a band where he sings lead all of the time, but I really like his usage in the NMB.

I thought I read that JCTE was purposely mixed different than other Neal albums, which may explain them as being so different. They definitely aren’t as bombastic as his other albums, but may be just a mix thing. I don’t have a problem with the drums on the album.

Yep, the drums are fine.  They aren't as in your face as Portnoy's usually are in the mix, but the playing itself is just fine.

[Dedalus]

I like Bill's vocal, but I really dislike Eric's. He is a competent vocalist, but I don't like his tone at all.

A friend of mine says that he would be a great Backstreet Boys singer. 

I guess my main problem with TNMB is his prominent role.

[KevShmev]

I like Bill's vocal, but I really dislike Eric's. He is a competent vocalist, but I don't like his tone at all.

A friend of mine says that he would be a great Backstreet Boys singer. 

I guess my main problem with TNMB is his prominent role.

Sounds like your friend has a weird hang-up about male singers.

[MinistroRaven]

I love Eric's vocals, his passages often move me to tears

[Dedalus]

I like Bill's vocal, but I really dislike Eric's. He is a competent vocalist, but I don't like his tone at all.

A friend of mine says that he would be a great Backstreet Boys singer. 

I guess my main problem with TNMB is his prominent role.

Sounds like your friend has a weird hang-up about male singers.

He was mocking. But I find it funny 

And I guess that Eric would be a very successful member of the Backstreet Boys 

[KevShmev]

And why is that, exactly?

[RoeDent]

I think it's a sign of the trust Neal has that he handed Eric the climactic lead vocal on The Great Adventure. Neal sings the first verse, then hands the entire rest of A Love That Never Dies to Eric to steer the ship home. It works wonderfully imo.

[Dedalus]

And why is that, exactly?

I'm just kidding. I still find my friend's odd comment funny.
But I got it.

I think it's a sign of the trust Neal has that he handed Eric the climactic lead vocal on The Great Adventure. Neal sings the first verse, then hands the entire rest of A Love That Never Dies to Eric to steer the ship home. It works wonderfully imo.

Indeed. And it's a wise decision, considering that practically everyone loves Eric.

[Fritzinger]

As much as I love Neal, on Jesus Christ The Exorcist the whole gospel-ish God & Jesus thing is just a little too much for me.

But my biggest problem with this album is Eric Gillette. He is a fantastic guitarist and singer. And he certainly can drum, but he's not the kind of drummer that can keep the suspension up for a whole double album. It's impressive when he sits behind MP's kit for a couple of minutes, like during that one Morsefest (I can't remember which one though). But not for a 2 hour progressive rock opera.

I just don't get why Neal went with this decision. Especially when you have someone like Nick friggin D'Virgilio on the album.

I do not agree at all.

IMO when a guitarist is brought to join NM he is brought to fill "the guitarist" role, however, Eric Gillette came in and took the whole band with him to a higher level, he is and still a great addition, especially with his singing. I recommend you to watch TSOAD Live In Tilburg DVD and reconsider your judgment. For me Gillette was the MVP of that live performance.

And you're right, but he's talking about his drumming in that particular album, and I agree about that and even posted something similar when the album was released. Eric might be able to play the drums well, but that didn't translate so well into the album and I think it is a detriment to the music.

Exactly. I think Eric is an amazing musician. Fantastic guitarist and singer. As you said, he (and Bill!) took the band to another level and they are the reason why Neal's current band is by far the best of all his solo bands (imo).

But I think you misunderstood, and Gzarruk cleared things up already. My problem is Eric's drumming on this massive double album. I believe he would've done a good job on, say, Life & Times or during 1-2 songs, but his drumming is just not versatile enough to provide suspense for an album of these proportions.

[Fritzinger]

I think it's a sign of the trust Neal has that he handed Eric the climactic lead vocal on The Great Adventure. Neal sings the first verse, then hands the entire rest of A Love That Never Dies to Eric to steer the ship home. It works wonderfully imo.

Are you implying that Neal called all the shots during The Great Adventure?  Did you forget that this was a group effort???1ß1ß??? You should watch out, Jaci could be reading all this...

[KevShmev]

Don't forget that Eric also sang the climax of the last song on Similitude as well (before Neal sings the epilogue at the end).  And while he didn't sing much lead by himself on The Grand Experiment, he did sing the final lines of that album as well.

[Kwyjibo]

I've got no problem with Eric's drumming on JCTE. As others have said, I find it refreshing to hear a more laid back approach on a Neal Morse record and I think it fits nicely.

Could have NDV it done better? Probably, but that question can be asked about every musician and singer that is involved. But the final product is how Neal wanted it and I think it came out great.

[RoeDent]

I think it's a sign of the trust Neal has that he handed Eric the climactic lead vocal on The Great Adventure. Neal sings the first verse, then hands the entire rest of A Love That Never Dies to Eric to steer the ship home. It works wonderfully imo.

Are you implying that Neal called all the shots during The Great Adventure?  Did you forget that this was a group effort???1ß1ß??? You should watch out, Jaci could be reading all this...

I have zero idea if this is sarcasm or not. If it's not, then I apologise. I was merely making an observation.

[gzarruk]

I think it's a sign of the trust Neal has that he handed Eric the climactic lead vocal on The Great Adventure. Neal sings the first verse, then hands the entire rest of A Love That Never Dies to Eric to steer the ship home. It works wonderfully imo.

Are you implying that Neal called all the shots during The Great Adventure?  Did you forget that this was a group effort???1ß1ß??? You should watch out, Jaci could be reading all this...

I have zero idea if this is sarcasm or not. If it's not, then I apologise. I was merely making an observation.

It's a joke. Eric's wife Jaci was really angry when Bosk's review of the album was published and he implied Neal is calling all the shots (who would've thought that Neal Morse isn't in charge of the Neal Morse Band)

[KevShmev]

I am pretty sure bosk1 cannot wait for the next NMB album so he can talk about it being another great Neal album with contributions from those other guys.

[bosk1]

  Well, I don't think it's a coincidence that my review of TGA live did not get published anywhere.  (as far as I know)

[KevShmev]

Looks like you'd been shunned.

Probably a good example, too, of why certain prog bands and artists almost always get good reviews.  If you write bad reviews about them, given what a niche genre it is, and by extension a niche industry being a writer for prog music, your career could be over in a hurry.

[The Letter M]

From a Radisnt Records email this morning:

Neal Morse is pleased to announce the release of Sola Gratia, his new solo progressive rock concept album, on September 11, 2020. Originating from a seed planted in his mind about writing a record based on the apostle Paul, Sola Gratia quickly came together at the beginning of 2020. The album sees Neal working with long-time collaborators Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer, and Gideon Klein.



The title Sola Gratia of course has echoes of Morse’s 2007 epic Sola Scriptura, about the life of Martin Luther, but was in fact originally the result of a simple marital misunderstanding: “I was talking to my wife Cherie about debuting this new piece at Morsefest 2020 and she said she thought it would be good for me to do a solo album. However, I thought she said ‘Sola album’ and – because some of the new ideas involved Paul’s aggressive pursuit of the early Christians, I could see a link to some of the themes of persecution in ‘Sola Scriptura.’”

The music was recorded ‘virtually’ in April 2020 at the height of the Coronavirus lockdown with long term collaborators Mike Portnoy and Randy George: “It’s the first album we have ever made remotely: I sent them the basic tracks and asked if they wanted to rearrange things, but they just said ‘No, it’s great!’, so they just played to it and sent their parts back over. It wasn’t an easy way to make an album, but creating always has its challenges, no matter how you do it.”

As Morse explains, it was this process that decided that Sola Gratia was to be a Neal Morse album, rather than being credited to The Neal Morse Band: “With the Neal Morse Band, the whole band works together on the writing, and while Eric Gillette plays some guitar and Bill Hubauer has added some keyboards on this one, neither of them wrote – or is singing – on this album.

Sola Gratia will be released as a limited CD/DVD digipak (featuring a ‘Making-Of’ documentary), gatefold 2LP + CD, standard CD jewel case, and as a digital album. The cover art was created by another longtime collaborator, Thomas Ewerhard.

RADIANT RECORDS EXCLUSIVE: Only available at Radiant, pre-orders will come with an exclusive Sola Gratia download booklet containing Neal's handwritten lyrics, plus his comments on the writing/recording of the album!

Look out for the first track release and pre-order opportunities starting on Friday, July 17th!

Track Listing:
1. Preface
2. Overture
3. In The Name Of The Lord
4. Ballyhoo (The Chosen Ones)
5. March Of The Pharisees
6. Building A Wall
7. Sola Intermezzo
8. Overflow
9. Warmer Than The Sunshine
10. Never Change
11. Seemingly Sincere
12. The Light On The Road To Damascus
13. The Glory Of The Lord
14. Now I Can See/The Great Commission

-Marc.

[bosk1]

Looks like you'd been shunned.

Probably a good example, too, of why certain prog bands and artists almost always get good reviews.  If you write bad reviews about them, given what a niche genre it is, and by extension a niche industry being a writer for prog music, your career could be over in a hurry.

  But the thing is, that review was positively glowing as it is.  I don't think I could have possibly been anymore positive.

[DTA]

Yet another song titled "Overture" and a 2nd song called "The Glory Of The Lord"...

[KevShmev]

I am kind of surprised to see no 20-minute plus song (unless there is one there, with a lot of those songs being super short, which I kinda doubt).  Neal hasn't done a 20-minute plus song since 2015 (Alive Again), which is a lifetime considering his history. I am sure the 5th TA album will have one or two like that, that said.

[matt1722]

I am kind of surprised to see no 20-minute plus song (unless there is one there, with a lot of those songs being super short, which I kinda doubt).  Neal hasn't done a 20-minute plus song since 2015 (Alive Again), which is a lifetime considering his history. I am sure the 5th TA album will have one or two like that, that said.

Weren't Mike and Neal teasing early on that this was one big song? Could these be the different movements, or maybe the idea was scrapped?

[Dedalus]

Yet another song titled "Overture" and a 2nd song called "The Glory Of The Lord"...

 

He should record an "Overture Live", with all Overtures played in sequence. 

[Dedalus]

I am kind of surprised to see no 20-minute plus song (unless there is one there, with a lot of those songs being super short, which I kinda doubt).  Neal hasn't done a 20-minute plus song since 2015 (Alive Again), which is a lifetime considering his history. I am sure the 5th TA album will have one or two like that, that said.

Quite likely

[KevShmev]

I am kind of surprised to see no 20-minute plus song (unless there is one there, with a lot of those songs being super short, which I kinda doubt).  Neal hasn't done a 20-minute plus song since 2015 (Alive Again), which is a lifetime considering his history. I am sure the 5th TA album will have one or two like that, that said.

Weren't Mike and Neal teasing early on that this was one big song? Could these be the different movements, or maybe the idea was scrapped?

I don't think so.  Pretty much all public chatter about it has come from Neal, not Portnoy or anyone else, unless I missed something.  We didn't even know this album was coming until Neal out of nowhere was all like, "Hey, I wrote a new album and it's coming out soon!"

Also, I looked it up: unless I overlooked one, this will be the 9th song Neal is releasing (as a solo artist or with one of his bands) with the word 'overture' in the title (not counting any single track epic that might have a part subtitled as an overture).

[matt1722]

I am kind of surprised to see no 20-minute plus song (unless there is one there, with a lot of those songs being super short, which I kinda doubt).  Neal hasn't done a 20-minute plus song since 2015 (Alive Again), which is a lifetime considering his history. I am sure the 5th TA album will have one or two like that, that said.

Weren't Mike and Neal teasing early on that this was one big song? Could these be the different movements, or maybe the idea was scrapped?

I don't think so.  Pretty much all public chatter about it has come from Neal, not Portnoy or anyone else, unless I missed something.  We didn't even know this album was coming until Neal out of nowhere was all like, "Hey, I wrote a new album and it's coming out soon!"

Ok I  found what I was referring to. It's from Neal's Facebook.

"Thrilled to have finished a rough mix of my new Prog epic album and delivered to Mike and Randy today. Mikes planning on recording drums at his house Thursday and Friday. Over an hour long! One piece! I’m excited.."

https://www.facebook.com/nealmorse/photos/a.421834371415/10158551480586416/

The whole "One Piece" thing is what I was referring to, on the other hand I would think that the sections might be well sectioned off I, II, III, etc but depending on what version of say "The Whirlwind" you're looking at, some are labeled like that and some aren't.

so to summarize who knows 

[KevShmev]

Ok I  found what I was referring to. It's from Neal's Facebook.

"Thrilled to have finished a rough mix of my new Prog epic album and delivered to Mike and Randy today. Mikes planning on recording drums at his house Thursday and Friday. Over an hour long! One piece! I’m excited.."

https://www.facebook.com/nealmorse/photos/a.421834371415/10158551480586416/

The whole "One Piece" thing is what I was referring to, on the other hand I would think that the sections might be well sectioned off I, II, III, etc but depending on what version of say "The Whirlwind" you're looking at, some are labeled like that and some aren't.

so to summarize who knows 

Yeah, I am taking that like the album will be similar to The Whirlwind, ? or T2 Disc 1 in that the whole piece will be comprised of a bunch of songs that all run together with almost no stops anywhere.

[bosk1]

I have Morsefest 2015 on right now while working, and I am just realizing that I somehow NEVER watched disk 1.  I have watched the Sola disk a couple of times.  But never watched disk 1.  There are few songs on that that I have never heard in my life.  Really cool show so far (I'm right at the beginning of ? now).

[Evermind]

Looks like you'd been shunned.

Probably a good example, too, of why certain prog bands and artists almost always get good reviews.  If you write bad reviews about them, given what a niche genre it is, and by extension a niche industry being a writer for prog music, your career could be over in a hurry.

Yeah. When I was reviewing stuff for Lady Obscure, if I didn't like the album after a few listens, I just didn't pick it up for a review. Once I did really like an album from a very small band (All Seeing Eyes) but I thought there were glaring flaws so I couldn't give it more than 3.5 stars, and I pointed the flaws out. The band still retweeted the review and thanked me on FB. Meanwhile bosk's review was very positive and he got that from Jaci.

Ok I  found what I was referring to. It's from Neal's Facebook.

"Thrilled to have finished a rough mix of my new Prog epic album and delivered to Mike and Randy today. Mikes planning on recording drums at his house Thursday and Friday. Over an hour long! One piece! I’m excited.."

Maybe he's excited for a new episode of One Piece manga while waiting for Mike to record drums.

[matt1722]

Maybe he's excited for a new episode of One Piece manga while waiting for Mike to record drums.

  This is Undeniably the correct answer.

[KevShmev]

I have Morsefest 2015 on right now while working, and I am just realizing that I somehow NEVER watched disk 1.  I have watched the Sola disk a couple of times.  But never watched disk 1.  There are few songs on that that I have never heard in my life.  Really cool show so far (I'm right at the beginning of ? now).

I need to go back and re-watch that Morsefest.

[ytserush]

Yet another song titled "Overture" and a 2nd song called "The Glory Of The Lord"...

 

He should record an "Overture Live", with all Overtures played in sequence. 

Wouldn't mind hearing that concert of Overtures......

[Nel]

If he ever does a Jewish-themed album it can start with "Passoverture".

[gzarruk]

Speaking of Neal Morse tracks titled Overture, I was listening to TGA the other day after a loooong while and I had to skip that track. I had forgotten they did a 10 minute opening track titled Overture and to me it's way too long and tiring to listen to (and I usually LOVE them on Neal's albums).

If he ever does a Jewish-themed album it can start with "Passoverture".