Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[The Letter M]

But I don't know to what extent P-SA intends to play live. Maybe a couple of shows. I think Boegehold isn't much of touring.

You're right about that last part. I believe another keyboard player is going to play with them live next year, and not Boegehold, but I forgot who they said they would be getting to play with them.

I think SB deserves a better ending than that. In a perfect world I'd love to see them do one more album with the current lineup(with whatever drummer they choose) and then another, final, album "XV" bringing back Neal, Nick, and even Jimmy if he wants.

Then they do one last farewell gig, probably at Morsefest, featuring songs from every era of SB.

But if that's just not feasible for whatever reasons, I get it.

Well, I don't mind Noise Floor being their final album if it comes to that, but then again, I really enjoyed Noise Floor, so it doesn't bother me that much if we don't get anything else from the band ever again. I love what Spock's Beard has done and given us over the years and through three major line-ups. If Ted and Dave are done with SB and move forward with P-SA, I don't mind that either because I've really enjoyed their first two albums!

I always thought that continuing SB was kind of in Al's court since he's been the one current member of SB that hasn't been musically active since SB's last album/tour cycle, at least as far as I know. Other than P-SA, Ted does his cover band gigs, and Ryo has his solo stuff that's been keeping him busy. It seems like all the other Beard members had stuff going on in the interim, but I haven't heard what Al has been up to, whether it's music-related or not. Either way, at this rate, if they release another album, it'll have been at least four years since Noise Floor, which is tied for the longest gap between albums (from 2006's self-titled to 2010's X).

With regards to Neal ever recording with SB again, I wouldn't put it outside of the realm of possibility, but given how busy he's been with NMB and TA, and if Flying Colors reconvenes for a fourth album, I don't think he'd even have time. I think doing the Snow Live show in 2016 was his swan song with SB, and in fact I don't think he's ever played with them since then (though given how little SB tour, I don't think Neal would have had many chances to join them on stage). It would be wild to get Nick and Neal again on a Spock's Beard album, but I won't hold my breath.

Eh, most bands do not have a "perfect" or proper ending.  When it's over, it's over.  And almost none of them announce it when it is (R.E.M. was a rare exception).  Spock's had a great run with Neal, but it's over.  And if Spock's in general is over, then that is okay, too. 

Long story short: some fans need to get over the past and look to the future.

I think we're at the point now that, given how long it's been since Noise Floor, and with no news from the band proper, we should accept that the band is most likely thrown the towel in. I'd rather accept it now than try to convince myself they may still come back, like many fans did with Porcupine Tree after The Incident/Octane Twisted over a decade ago. The individual band members have all moved on to other things, for the most part, and for SB, it seems like this was inevitable given how much of a side-gig the band had become for them, as in, SB wasn't their main money-maker. The band hasn't felt that way since Neal left, so I don't blame them for wanting to move on.

-Marc.

[HOF]

I loved Noise Floor, easily my favorite of the Ted albums and up there with any of the Nick fronted albums. So if that’s the end of the line SB went out on a really high note in my opinion. I’m more sad because it felt like the band hit on a strong direction that was a bit more cohesive to me than the first two with Ted, and with Nick back on drums I hoped they could have carried some of that momentum forward for a few more albums.

I still think Nick would be willing to do more with the band whenever (even if it’s just recording, that’s literally his day job). And it sounds like everyone sans Ted is working together on Ryo’s solo album, so I’m not sure the band is necessarily done. Maybe Al doesn’t want to put the time and money into another album, Ted is in New York state now, so maybe that puts a damper on the chances for future albums. But with everything happening remotely these days, I’m not sure why they couldn’t put something together again in the future still.

I do think maybe the best chance for new Spock’s music might be if Neal has some ideas and either rejoins or at least works them up with Al. Like if all the other guys have to do is show up and record it as opposed to having writing sessions and all that.

[Metro]

Eh, most bands do not have a "perfect" or proper ending.  When it's over, it's over.  And almost none of them announce it when it is (R.E.M. was a rare exception).  Spock's had a great run with Neal, but it's over.  And if Spock's in general is over, then that is okay, too. 

Long story short: some fans need to get over the past and look to the future.

I could do without the snarkiness, but I agree with what you’re saying. 

All I’m saying is that everyone in the band seems to be on good terms, so even if another album/tour isn’t in the cards, why not have one last hurrah and celebrate the legacy of the band?

[Kram]

I just read that major news are going to be dropped Sept. 7th.
What could it be?

New Spock's Beard album with Neal?

I doubt it. The way Ted Leonard has been talking lately it sounds like SB may be done. He also made it sound like Pattern Seeking Animals hasn't taken off, either. He said that this next Transatlantic tour may be the "last big cool thing I get to do" at least in part because taking time off from his day job has gotten more difficult.

How about a new project with Neal and NDV?  Where they play all the instruments and split the vocals!!

[HOF]

I just read that major news are going to be dropped Sept. 7th.
What could it be?

New Spock's Beard album with Neal?

I doubt it. The way Ted Leonard has been talking lately it sounds like SB may be done. He also made it sound like Pattern Seeking Animals hasn't taken off, either. He said that this next Transatlantic tour may be the "last big cool thing I get to do" at least in part because taking time off from his day job has gotten more difficult.

How about a new project with Neal and NDV?  Where they play all the instruments and split the vocals!!

I would love for Nick and Neal to do something like this. Just the two of them with two part harmonies, maybe semi-acoustic with some drum and bass jams like they did on It's Not Too Late.

[Peter Mc]

Well, technically he took himself out.

Personally, I don't get trolling or going directly at musicians or celebs on FB or Twitter, but that's me.

Yeah I made the mistake once of commenting on a poster for the Shattered Fortress shows.  It said something like “Playing Mike Portnoy’s 12 Steps Suite in full”.  I made a slightly sarcastic comment basically raising my eyebrow at the description of the songs as Mike Portnoy’s rather than Dream Theater’s.  Don’t know why I got involved and I didn’t say anything insulting but I got a long angry direct message from him justifying them as being his songs.  I responded that I didn’t mean any offence, I just thought the poster was a bit misleading as they were songs written and performed by DT not Mike Portnoy.  He didn’t block me though and most of my tweets towards him are pretty positive anyway.  I very rarely go after celebs on Twitter, especially someone I have been a fan of for my entire adult life.  He would have been perfectly entitled to block me though, who wants to see negative stuff on their Twitter timeline, life’s hard enough without willingly reading negative stuff about yourself.

[Kram]

I just read that major news are going to be dropped Sept. 7th.
What could it be?

New Spock's Beard album with Neal?

I doubt it. The way Ted Leonard has been talking lately it sounds like SB may be done. He also made it sound like Pattern Seeking Animals hasn't taken off, either. He said that this next Transatlantic tour may be the "last big cool thing I get to do" at least in part because taking time off from his day job has gotten more difficult.

How about a new project with Neal and NDV?  Where they play all the instruments and split the vocals!!

I would love for Nick and Neal to do something like this. Just the two of them with two part harmonies, maybe semi-acoustic with some drum and bass jams like they did on It's Not Too Late.

It would be awesome!  Two of my favorites and two amazing musicians - I bet the results would be great!

[Peter Mc]

As for Spock’s Beard, that ended when Neal left for me unfortunately.  I did try their first album after he left to support them but it just wasn’t on the same level as what came before.  It wasn’t bad as such, I just could never see myself playing it over any of the Neal SB albums.

[gzarruk]

Well, technically he took himself out.

Personally, I don't get trolling or going directly at musicians or celebs on FB or Twitter, but that's me.

Yeah I made the mistake once of commenting on a poster for the Shattered Fortress shows.  It said something like “Playing Mike Portnoy’s 12 Steps Suite in full”.  I made a slightly sarcastic comment basically raising my eyebrow at the description of the songs as Mike Portnoy’s rather than Dream Theater’s.  Don’t know why I got involved and I didn’t say anything insulting but I got a long angry direct message from him justifying them as being his songs.  I responded that I didn’t mean any offence, I just thought the poster was a bit misleading as they were songs written and performed by DT not Mike Portnoy.  He didn’t block me though and most of my tweets towards him are pretty positive anyway.  I very rarely go after celebs on Twitter, especially someone I have been a fan of for my entire adult life.  He would have been perfectly entitled to block me though, who wants to see negative stuff on their Twitter timeline, life’s hard enough without willingly reading negative stuff about yourself.

He was still wrong though

[Cocopjojo]

I think we're at the point now that, given how long it's been since Noise Floor, and with no news from the band proper, we should accept that the band is most likely thrown the towel in. I'd rather accept it now than try to convince myself they may still come back, like many fans did with Porcupine Tree after The Incident/Octane Twisted over a decade ago. The individual band members have all moved on to other things, for the most part, and for SB, it seems like this was inevitable given how much of a side-gig the band had become for them, as in, SB wasn't their main money-maker. The band hasn't felt that way since Neal left, so I don't blame them for wanting to move on.

-Marc.

Agreed.

Like Kev said, it's very rare that a band comes right out and says "we're done." Probably because they themselves don't really know whether they're done. They could always get inspired 5, 10 years down the road to make another album happen.

It's nice to get closure, and I'd like that here as well, but I suspect the SB guys are just doing their individual things, and whether SB does another album is sort of out of their mental space for the most part until it comes up again. Which may or may not ever happen.

[Cocopjojo]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what Alan and Ted do for a living? I heard at some point that Al runs a company that makes music equipment, like pedals or something? And I also recall hearing that Ted does roofing. Can't remember if either of those are true, though.

[HOF]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what Alan and Ted do for a living? I heard at some point that Al runs a company that makes music equipment, like pedals or something? And I also recall hearing that Ted does roofing. Can't remember if either of those are true, though.

Alan is the CEO of some sort of telephone recording company. Here's his linked in:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-morse-0ab5b220/

And the DynaMetric website:

https://www.dynametric.com/

 

[KevShmev]

Eh, most bands do not have a "perfect" or proper ending.  When it's over, it's over.  And almost none of them announce it when it is (R.E.M. was a rare exception).  Spock's had a great run with Neal, but it's over.  And if Spock's in general is over, then that is okay, too. 

Long story short: some fans need to get over the past and look to the future.

I could do without the snarkiness, but I agree with what you’re saying. 

All I’m saying is that everyone in the band seems to be on good terms, so even if another album/tour isn’t in the cards, why not have one last hurrah and celebrate the legacy of the band?

No snarkiness intende, hence the emoticons in my earliest post.

As for your question, they did that with Falling for Forever on the 20th anniversary double album, which was the only song to feature everyone who has been an official member of the band, and then they all did Snow at Morsefest in 2016, so there is nada left to do.  Seems like pretty much all of the members have moved on, so fans ought to as well (again, no snarkiness intended).

[KevShmev]

Well, technically he took himself out.

Personally, I don't get trolling or going directly at musicians or celebs on FB or Twitter, but that's me.

Yeah I made the mistake once of commenting on a poster for the Shattered Fortress shows.  It said something like “Playing Mike Portnoy’s 12 Steps Suite in full”.  I made a slightly sarcastic comment basically raising my eyebrow at the description of the songs as Mike Portnoy’s rather than Dream Theater’s.  Don’t know why I got involved and I didn’t say anything insulting but I got a long angry direct message from him justifying them as being his songs.  I responded that I didn’t mean any offence, I just thought the poster was a bit misleading as they were songs written and performed by DT not Mike Portnoy.  He didn’t block me though and most of my tweets towards him are pretty positive anyway.  I very rarely go after celebs on Twitter, especially someone I have been a fan of for my entire adult life.  He would have been perfectly entitled to block me though, who wants to see negative stuff on their Twitter timeline, life’s hard enough without willingly reading negative stuff about yourself.

Well, regarding the 12 step songs, I get why he would view those as his songs, given that they are about his personal journey, so I get being a bit defensive about that.  Feels like a matter of semantics, and throwing that in his face when he is promoting the little mini-tour, even sarcastically, feels a bit unnecessary, IMO.

[gzarruk]

With SB mostly inactive and now that NMB has cimented as an independent band (vs just NM solo with other guys), I'd like to see Neal release a solo album without Mike and Randy and get Al, Ryo, Dave and Nick as his backing band instead.  Just imagine that

[RoeDent]

Nah, that'd be Spock's Beard

[KevShmev]

Beyond the Years has really grown on me (shocking, right? ), but I am really having trouble with the instrumental section around the 21 minute mark or so.  It takes me right out of the song every time.  Feels like their Dream Theater moment where they just randomly threw in an instrumental section that had nothing to do with the rest of the song for the hell of it.  Yeah, the playing there is great, but it just feels like unncessary wankery in a song that is otherwise a melodic wonderland.  Anyone else struggling with that section?

[Metro]

I’m still struggling with the whole song  but yes that instrumental section is out of place.

After TSOAD and TGA and the first disc of I&D, I think the strength of this band is in the shorter, more concise songs. The 2 epics at some points just feel long for the sake of being long. Maybe just to fill the arbitrary obligation of including a longer song.
I’ve previously praised Not Afraid 2, but the more I listen to it, the more I dislike the middle section(Mystery Man). The first and last parts are brilliant but that middle section feels out of place. Maybe it could have been reworked into its own separate song.

Nothing about BTY has clicked with me yet and I’ve listened to it maybe 10 times.

[Peter Mc]

Well, technically he took himself out.

Personally, I don't get trolling or going directly at musicians or celebs on FB or Twitter, but that's me.

Yeah I made the mistake once of commenting on a poster for the Shattered Fortress shows.  It said something like “Playing Mike Portnoy’s 12 Steps Suite in full”.  I made a slightly sarcastic comment basically raising my eyebrow at the description of the songs as Mike Portnoy’s rather than Dream Theater’s.  Don’t know why I got involved and I didn’t say anything insulting but I got a long angry direct message from him justifying them as being his songs.  I responded that I didn’t mean any offence, I just thought the poster was a bit misleading as they were songs written and performed by DT not Mike Portnoy.  He didn’t block me though and most of my tweets towards him are pretty positive anyway.  I very rarely go after celebs on Twitter, especially someone I have been a fan of for my entire adult life.  He would have been perfectly entitled to block me though, who wants to see negative stuff on their Twitter timeline, life’s hard enough without willingly reading negative stuff about yourself.

Well, regarding the 12 step songs, I get why he would view those as his songs, given that they are about his personal journey, so I get being a bit defensive about that.  Feels like a matter of semantics, and throwing that in his face when he is promoting the little mini-tour, even sarcastically, feels a bit unnecessary, IMO.

Oh I agree, like I said, I don’t know why I got involved in it.  I was just demonstrating that he doesn’t always block people who have a moment of being an asshole.

I agree about the instrumental section in Beyond The Years too, it’s unnecessary to me and undermines the song a bit if I ever thought about playing it for someone else.  These guys are all fans of all the big prog bands, they must know you can still be prog without having to put some crazy instrumental section into a song that doesn’t require it.  It’s only a couple of minutes out of a 30 min song so doesn’t really affect my enjoyment of the song overall.  Not a fan of the abrupt ending either.

[ronnibran]

I'm opposite many people here it seems.  The entirety of Beyond The Years clicks with me, even the "out of place" instrumental section.  Oddly enough, it's "Not Afraid pt 2" that doesn't really click with me.  It's not a bad song by any means, it just doesn't really do anything for me like most NM related 20 minute long songs would.

[Mladen]

The aggressive instrumental section makes me appreciate the return to the melodic themes even more. The themes wouldn't have had the same effect had not the instrumental been insane. It's similar to World without end in that regard.

[KevShmev]

I agree about the instrumental section in Beyond The Years too, it’s unnecessary to me and undermines the song a bit if I ever thought about playing it for someone else.  These guys are all fans of all the big prog bands, they must know you can still be prog without having to put some crazy instrumental section into a song that doesn’t require it.  It’s only a couple of minutes out of a 30 min song so doesn’t really affect my enjoyment of the song overall.  Not a fan of the abrupt ending either.

The abrupt ending was unnecessary, but at least it happens during the epilogue. Had they done it during the full band ending a few minutes earlier, that would have sucked major swamp water.  And it is easy to go in and just fade out the last 30 seconds of the ending in Audacity, so problem solved. 

[The Letter M]

Posted by Inside Out Music on Facebook:

We have been made aware of a small amount of copies of NMB – Innocence & Danger (Limited 2CD+DVD Digipak - 19439875562) arriving with 2DVD’s instead of the second CD.

We are extremely sorry that this has happened, and have been assured by the manufacturer that very few have been affected.

If you have been affected by this, please e-mail nmbreplacement@insideoutmusic.com with proof of your faulty product and your full postal address, and we will send a replacement disc to you. This e-mail address will be open till 31st October 2021.

We apologise again, and thanks as always for your support.

Anyone here get this by mistake? Thankfully mine came with all the correct discs!

-Marc.

[axeman90210]

I'd have to have actually gotten my order to know if I've been affected

[Willthescout7]

My order finally shipped! Finally!

[425]

I had to go on a very hectic business trip during precisely the period of time covering the release of both this and the new Iron Maiden, so I have some catching up to do.

First listen to Innocence & Danger tonight, and I'm very impressed. I agree with those who say there's a lot here that's different from their first three albums, which I wouldn't have guessed from the singles—those turned out to be the three most center-page NM songs here. Like others, I would highlight Another Story to Tell from the first disc, and I think Not Afraid Pt. 1, also.

It always takes me a little while to fully take in epics, and here we have two back-to-back, one of which is pretty massive. But I'm initially impressed with both of these. Neither is a NM epic by-the-numbers, neither feels long just out of obligation, they both are really melodically and instrumentally interesting and fresh.

Really looking forward to spending the coming weeks with this album, which to me is already an obvious AOTY candidate (really was from the moment it was announced, given that TGA is my 2019 AOTY, but especially now that I've heard it). If I had to guess, I think it's going to beat Transatlantic for me, which is a bit surprising given my love for the first four TA albums, but somewhat less surprising when I think of the magnitude of the TGE-TGA run.

[Stadler]

Not a complaint just an observation, but for some reason, my copy of the CDs doesn't register the track names on my various car stereos.  So it will be playing "Bird On A Wire" and just say "Track 2" instead of, well, "Bird On A Wire".   Annoying. Same for when I ripped it to my network drive.  Apparently it wasn't connecting with Gracenote; I haven't tried it again so I don't know if that was a momentary thing or not.

[hefdaddy42]

Not a complaint just an observation, but for some reason, my copy of the CDs doesn't register the track names on my various car stereos.  So it will be playing "Bird On A Wire" and just say "Track 2" instead of, well, "Bird On A Wire".   Annoying. Same for when I ripped it to my network drive.  Apparently it wasn't connecting with Gracenote; I haven't tried it again so I don't know if that was a momentary thing or not.

That happened with my copy of the new Transatlantic album - the long cut, anyway, both discs.  The shorter version worked fine.


At any rate, had my first listen to the Innocence & Danger this morning (on Spotify, since I still haven't received my copy from Radiant).  First impression is that this is very, very good.

[Max Kuehnau]

Not a complaint just an observation, but for some reason, my copy of the CDs doesn't register the track names on my various car stereos.  So it will be playing "Bird On A Wire" and just say "Track 2" instead of, well, "Bird On A Wire".   Annoying. Same for when I ripped it to my network drive.  Apparently it wasn't connecting with Gracenote; I haven't tried it again so I don't know if that was a momentary thing or not.

That happened with my copy of the new Transatlantic album - the long cut, anyway, both discs.  The shorter version worked fine.


At any rate, had my first listen to the Innocence & Danger this morning (on Spotify, since I still haven't received my copy from Radiant).  First impression is that this is very, very good.

I always thought (rather jokingly of course) that, in some alternate reality, Paul Simon would have wanted this exact arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water. (no disrespect to Simon And Garfunkel though, love their version lots too)

[Lowdz]

I’ve been enjoying I8D. I do wish they would leave the vocals to Neal and Eric though.

I’d rather listen to NMB than Transatlantic tbh. I prefer Eric’s guitar playing (and his singing) to Roine’s.

[KevShmev]

I’ve been enjoying I8D. I do wish they would leave the vocals to Neal and Eric though.

I’d rather listen to NMB than Transatlantic tbh. I prefer Eric’s guitar playing (and his singing) to Roine’s.

I can't cross that bridge (over troubled water), but I am a big fan of Eric's playing and singing.  Even though the new NMB certainly has a few moments that come across as "same old, same old Neal" material, there is enough fresh stuff on here to keep it mostly interesting.  Songs like Your Place in the Sun and Another Story to Tell sound like they would have fit it nicely on a Flying Colors record.

[Kram]

I’ve been enjoying I8D. I do wish they would leave the vocals to Neal and Eric though.

I’d rather listen to NMB than Transatlantic tbh. I prefer Eric’s guitar playing (and his singing) to Roine’s.

I can't cross that bridge (over troubled water), but I am a big fan of Eric's playing and singing.  Even though the new NMB certainly has a few moments that come across as "same old, same old Neal" material, there is enough fresh stuff on here to keep it mostly interesting.  Songs like Your Place in the Sun and Another Story to Tell sound like they would have fit it nicely on a Flying Colors record.

Two totally different styles and approaches to both the guitar and singing, so tough for me to compare.  I would say both great in their own way.

[gzarruk]

I’ve been enjoying I8D. I do wish they would leave the vocals to Neal and Eric though.

I’d rather listen to NMB than Transatlantic tbh. I prefer Eric’s guitar playing (and his singing) to Roine’s.

I can't cross that bridge (over troubled water), but I am a big fan of Eric's playing and singing.  Even though the new NMB certainly has a few moments that come across as "same old, same old Neal" material, there is enough fresh stuff on here to keep it mostly interesting.  Songs like Your Place in the Sun and Another Story to Tell sound like they would have fit it nicely on a Flying Colors record.

Two totally different styles and approaches to both the guitar and singing, so tough for me to compare.  I would say both great in their own way.

This, though I'd take Roine over Eric. Why? Eric is much better technically and I'd even say more versatile, but he sounds so much like JP that I can't really take him seriously as his own player vs Roine who I haven't heard anyone else with the same approach.

Also, listening to I&D I've had a lot of moments where Eric takes the lead (on guitar) and I think "I've heard this solo in all the previous NMB albums", like the same exact "let's shred this wild solo" approach.

[Dedalus]

I find Eric's voice dull and kind of annoying.
He's a very skilled guitarist, but I don't think he has a lot of personality.

Roine, easily.

[DTwwbwMP]

My order finally shipped! Finally!

Just got my shipped email.