Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[Kwyjibo]

At least this time there are also a few download bargains for us non-americans, because the shipping costs negate the savings if you only buy a few records.

[faizoff]

I think I have pretty much all that went on sale today.

[Fritzinger]

Did the word "hypocrite" come to anyone else's mind when they read the mail that Radiant sent regarding this sale?

We at Radiant aren’t crazy about the idea of black Friday ... harkening back to many great disasters. We like to think of a sale at Radiant as more like a wonderful experience of light! At least we hope so!

Just a heads up that we’re gonna be having one of those crazy sales and a lot of your favorite titles will be really, really cheap. We're calling it our "Not Really Black Friday Sale" (you see what we did there?). In fact, you may want to get them for stocking stuffers for your favorite Prog fan, or someone you would like to introduce to Neal‘s music. Also, Neal‘s original Christmas album as well as Proggy Christmas will be on sale so be sure to stop by and check out the Black Friday Bin on Friday.

Of course it's a very harsh thing to say about someone as humble and nice as Neal, and I'm not saying Neal is one. It just came to my mind.
The mail starts off with "we're not crazy about the idea of black Friday" - and basically continues with "but ah well, here's our black Friday sale", going on to totally making money off the idea of Black Friday.

[Stadler]

Well, I took them literally; that they were objecting to the phrase "Black Friday", because of the negative connotation with disasters and calamities.  But it IS a term of art now, and in fact, in the commercial sense, "Black Friday" doesn't have a negative implication, but rather a positive one (the metaphorical turning of retailers profits from "in the red" to "in the black"). 

Rather than "hypocrite" thought "opportunist", in that it was a way of taking the opportunity to spread the word.

[KevShmev]

I would agree with that take, Stadler.  And I doubt Neal has anything to do with the promotion and wording of stuff like that anyway; that is what the others are hired to do.  I know he said a while back that merch is one thing on tour that he always has no clue about, and I suspect Radiant Records is something he wants little to do with as far as the day-to-day operations go. 

[Kwyjibo]

At least this time there are also a few download bargains for us non-americans, because the shipping costs negate the savings if you only buy a few records.

Okay, for a moment there they got me. But then it turned out, that they probably don't want to sell anything. When placing my order, I got the error that the "state" is required. But when chosing Germany there is no option to chose a state. 

[MinistroRaven]

I would agree with that take, Stadler.  And I doubt Neal has anything to do with the promotion and wording of stuff like that anyway; that is what the others are hired to do.  I know he said a while back that merch is one thing on tour that he always has no clue about, and I suspect Radiant Records is something he wants little to do with as far as the day-to-day operations go.

Talking about Merch and NM. I am friend of the guy that got Transatlantic to Mexico, and this guy told me that the day after the concert he meets with NM (who is also his friend) and gave him an envelope with the sales of the merch, and NM was hugely surprised by the turnout as the envelope had more than 10K USD for the merch sales ONLY, that day NM returns to his room put the envelope below the pilows went out to Starbucks, the time to go to the airport comes and the band goes to catch their flight which they did, and 30 minutes in the air NM suddenly remembers the envelope below the pillows...

[KevShmev]

Talking about Merch and NM. I am friend of the guy that got Transatlantic to Mexico, and this guy told me that the day after the concert he meets with NM (who is also his friend) and gave him an envelope with the sales of the merch, and NM was hugely surprised by the turnout as the envelope had more than 10K USD for the merch sales ONLY, that day NM returns to his room put the envelope below the pilows went out to Starbucks, the time to go to the airport comes and the band goes to catch their flight which they did, and 30 minutes in the air NM suddenly remembers the envelope below the pillows...

 

What is the rest of the story?  Did he get the envelope back?

[MinistroRaven]

Talking about Merch and NM. I am friend of the guy that got Transatlantic to Mexico, and this guy told me that the day after the concert he meets with NM (who is also his friend) and gave him an envelope with the sales of the merch, and NM was hugely surprised by the turnout as the envelope had more than 10K USD for the merch sales ONLY, that day NM returns to his room put the envelope below the pilows went out to Starbucks, the time to go to the airport comes and the band goes to catch their flight which they did, and 30 minutes in the air NM suddenly remembers the envelope below the pillows...

 

What is the rest of the story?  Did he get the envelope back?

I asked my friend about it and he replied. See image attached.

Ok, I got part of the story wrong.
After the show in Mexico he got the money from my friend and he went to other shows with TA including Progessive Nation At Sea where he left the money under his pillow.



He left the money at the ship and never got it back.

[faizoff]

That's unfortunate he never got the envelope back.

[KevShmev]

Ouch, I am guessing that is not a mistake Neal will not make again. Bummer it turned out that way.

[ProfessorPeart]

Interesting email from Radiant today. I can't believe they didn't transfer our library to the new site. I know there is some stuff that I added to my account via the Inner Circle but never downloaded.

If you had previously purchased digital downloads from our previous site, you may access your content by clicking the button below. All new downloads made on the new site will be stored on the new site, but your previous downloads that you made on the old site must be downloaded before December 31, as we will be shutting that server down for good. Since you purchased the product originally, you most likely already have it on your computer/devices, but some customers expressed a desire to access some of that material again. We will send out reminders in the next few weeks as well.

[KevShmev]

I am going to go out on a limb and guess that Radiant doesn't have anyone tech-savvy enough to figure out how to move that many downloads from one site to another.  Hell, I would have no clue, but then again I am not getting paid to run their site.

[ytserush]

Interesting email from Radiant today. I can't believe they didn't transfer our library to the new site. I know there is some stuff that I added to my account via the Inner Circle but never downloaded.

If you had previously purchased digital downloads from our previous site, you may access your content by clicking the button below. All new downloads made on the new site will be stored on the new site, but your previous downloads that you made on the old site must be downloaded before December 31, as we will be shutting that server down for good. Since you purchased the product originally, you most likely already have it on your computer/devices, but some customers expressed a desire to access some of that material again. We will send out reminders in the next few weeks as well.

I'm in the same boat although I was told November 30. Site wouldn't load for me in the days before that.  I'm sure there was some stuff that was download only before I quit Inner Circle but I really don't know how much I doubt is was more than 5 or 6 releases.

A friend of mine actually wanted to order his new Christmas album today, but couldn't get it to add to his cart because the button was missing.  He doesn't seem to want to pay someone professional enough to do this because he may want to invest what is needed for that aspect of it.

Clearly he wants nothing to do with the business end, but he needs to properly invest in someone trustworthy enough to run it.

[KevShmev]

Looks like some NMB news is coming tomorrow, per Mike Portnoy.  I am guessing it is the announcement of the live album/video from this year's tour.

[DTA]

Looks like some NMB news is coming tomorrow, per Mike Portnoy.  I am guessing it is the announcement of the live album/video from this year's tour.

Damn a live album didn't even occur to me. I was hoping it would be news of a new album in the works, but it's probably way too soon for that. Live album hype isn't nearly as exciting considering the studio/live versions differ so little.

[MinistroRaven]

It's about the live release of Jesus Christ The Exorcist at Morsefest.

[KevShmev]

Hmmm, the message from Portnoy said:

Make sure to follow the newly launched Neal Morse Band Official Facebook Page and stay tuned for some exciting news coming this Monday! 😎
www.facebook.com/thenealmorsebandofficial

That sounds more like a Neal Morse Band thing than a Neal Morse thing (the Exorcist concert was not a Neal Morse Band thing even though 4 of the 5 were there).

[gzarruk]

Live album for TGA, maybe? Unless they already released that, I haven't been following them too closely.

Speaking about that, I was thinking the other day about how I haven't even cared for TGA since a few weeks past its release. With Similitude, I kept revisiting it periodically for at least 1 or 2 years after it was out, but TGA? Nope. I obviously liked Similitude more, but there's more to it. I think that TSOAD was great as this massive thing they tried to accomplish and it was hyped a lot by them, but TGA always felt like the obligatory sequel they had to make because why not? Couple that with The Exorcist album and you have 3 similar albums (in structure) released one after the other, which makes it a much more "common" thing, as opposed to "wow, look at this great double concept album they are releasing!".

[KevShmev]

While I agree that the album structures are similar, I don't think The Great Adventure and The Exorcist are that similar musically.  The Great Adventure is unique in the context of Neal's entire catalogue in that I don't think he's ever had a record that was so dark tonally before; it's very much a night album, meaning it sounds like it was meant to be listened to when driving on the highway at night.  There are not many Neal Morse records you can say that about.  And while it is the sequel to Similitude, I really like the fact that they made a very different record from that one, musically speaking.

[gzarruk]

While I agree that the album structures are similar, I don't think The Great Adventure and The Exorcist are that similar musically.  The Great Adventure is unique in the context of Neal's entire catalogue in that I don't think he's ever had a record that was so dark tonally before; it's very much a night album, meaning it sounds like it was meant to be listened to when driving on the highway at night.  There are not many Neal Morse records you can say that about.  And while it is the sequel to Similitude, I really like the fact that they made a very different record from that one, musically speaking.

Oh, totally. I didn't mean the music was similar, but that he released two long albums with a similar format (double concept albums) this year + Similitude, which makes a 3 double concept album streak. To me, it becomes more of a "ok, here's another one" scenario, and that takes something away from it, IMO. I think Neal's so prolific and full of great musical ideas that he can't help it, tho

[KevShmev]

Life + Times was released in between Similitude and The Great Adventure, so he didn't technically release 3 double concept albums in a row. 

[gzarruk]

Totally forgot about that one.

[faizoff]

Wasn't there a show in Europe that was also recorded for a live release for the NMB during the Great Adventure tour?

I wonder if the news will be about that release, I don't know if Morsefest will be ready so soon for live release going by previous release schedules.

[KevShmev]

Yes, I am sure the show recorded in Europe will be out long before the performance from Morsefest (which I don't expect till later next year).

[Mladen]

It was recorded in Prague. I could have attended that show, but stupidly decided to save that money.   

[MinistroRaven]

The Neal Morse Band – sign with InsideOutMusic; ‘The Great Adventour – Live in BRNO 2019’ out 2020
 
The Neal Morse Band have returned to the InsideOutMusic family, re-signing with the label in 2019 and announcing the release of a forthcoming new live album – ‘The Great Adventour – Live in BRNO 2019’ for the 6th March 2020.
 
InsideOutMusic label-head Thomas Waber adds: "There is obviously a lot of history between Neal and InsideOutMusic and we are ready to make more history with one of the most important prog artists of our generation!"
 
Led by Neal Morse, and featuring the talents of Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Bill Hubauer & Eric Gillette, the band released their latest album ‘The Great Adventure’ at the beginning of 2019. This was the follow-up to their acclaimed 2016 concept album ‘The Similitude Of A Dream’, and shortly after the band embarked on a European headline tour. ‘The Great Adventour – Live in BRNO 2019’ documents these shows, which saw them performing the album in full, and closing with the renowned ‘The Great Medley’ – featuring tracks from across Neal’s solo career and each Neal Morse Band album.
 
Available as a 2CD + 2Blu-Ray Digipak, the set also features two tour documentaries from both the US & European runs, as well as the official music videos for the singles taken from ‘The Great Adventure’.
 
The full track-listing is below:
1. Intro (Live in BRNO 2019)
2. Overture (Live in BRNO 2019)
3. The Dream Isn’t Over (Live in BRNO 2019)
4. Welcome To The World (Live in BRNO 2019)
5. A Momentary Change (Live in BRNO 2019)
6. Dark Melody (Live in BRNO 2019)
7. I Got  To Run (Live in BRNO 2019)
8. To The River (Live in BRNO 2019)
9. The Great Adventure (Live in BRNO 2019)
10. Venture In Black (Live in BRNO 2019)
11. Hey Ho Let’s Go (Live in BRNO 2019)
12. Beyond The Borders (Live in BRNO 2019)
13. Overture 2 (Live in BRNO 2019)
14. Long Ago (Live in BRNO 2019)
15. Child Of Wonder (Live in BRNO 2019)
16. The Dream Continues (Live in BRNO 2019)
17. Fighting With Destiny (Live in BRNO 2019)
18. Vanity Fair (Live in BRNO 2019)
19. Welcome To The World 2 (Live in BRNO 2019)
20. The Element Of Fear (Live in BRNO 2019)
21. The Great Despair (Live in BRNO 2019)
22. Freedom Calling (Live in BRNO 2019)
23. A Love That Never Dies (Live in BRNO 2019)
24. The Great Medley [Encore] (Live in BRNO 2019)
 
As Randy George explains: “After the Similitude tour, expectations were really high, and we had more people coming to these shows than ever before. People were really excited to see it, so we had to make sure that we delivered.”
 
And delivered they did: performing The Great Adventure flawlessly and in its entirety, Neal Morse (vocals, keyboards and guitars), Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals and audience cheerleading), Randy George (bass), Bill Hubauer (keyboards and vocals) and Eric Gillette (guitars and vocals) brought audiences to their feet in 13 countries night after exhilarating night: “The tour delivered every night. We never got tired of playing it, and it always paid off”, says George.
 
One of those countries was the Czech Republic, and it was there in Brno that the band chose to film THE GREAT ADVENTOUR 2019 - LIVE IN BRNO, the definitive record of the tour, as George explains: “This was our first time playing in the Czech Republic and this venue had a different look and vibe: the audience also turned out to be very energetic. They loved it!”
 
THE GREAT ADVENTOUR 2019 - LIVE IN BRNO shows The Neal Morse Band at the very height of their powers: extraordinary, passionate, intense and intricate rock music played to perfection by five masters of their craft, backed by dramatic video illustrations by Christian Rios.
 
Look out for your first taste of the live album very soon.

[faizoff]

Very cool. For some reason I was expecting an earlier release date like Jan or Feb.

[MinistroRaven]

Very cool. For some reason I was expecting an earlier release date like Jan or Feb.

And I was told it was the JCTE live release and that's what I was expecting.

[kaos2900]

I'm going to pass on this and wait for the Morsefest version.

[KevShmev]

I'm going to pass on this and wait for the Morsefest version.

That is what I did with the Similitude double dip, and will with this one as well, especially since I rarely watch concert DVD's anymore, even my favorites, so I only need one performance of it.

[bosk1]

Do we know there will be a Morsefest release?

[Juular]

Very much looking forward to this. I saw the show after this one (2 days later) in Munich and it was fantastic.

[KevShmev]

Do we know there will be a Morsefest release?

I don't know if it has been said for sure, but I can't imagine Neal will suddenly stop releasing videos of the Morsefest performances, especially when it the performance is by either he as a solo artist (with friends) or the Neal Morse Band.  I don't think he is going to release video of Night 1 from 2018 when it was the Voices of the Beard (because that was a Spock's Beard thing), and I could see him not releasing the video from Night 1 from this year either when it was Flying Colors.

[OpenYourEyes311]

Do we know there will be a Morsefest release?

I don't know if it has been said for sure, but I can't imagine Neal will suddenly stop releasing videos of the Morsefest performances, especially when it the performance is by either he as a solo artist (with friends) or the Neal Morse Band.  I don't think he is going to release video of Night 1 from 2018 when it was the Voices of the Beard (because that was a Spock's Beard thing), and I could see him not releasing the video from Night 1 from this year either when it was Flying Colors.

https://nealmorse.com/product/neal-morse-and-friends-voices-of-the-beard-storytellers-2-dvd/