Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[The Letter M]

Finally made it through

Did you get the $10 discount on the  bundle or is that already priced that way?

Yeah, I got the 2CD bundle which was listed at $65, but it was $10 cheaper when I checked out.

$65 *is* the discounted price. The 2CD/DVD version of I&D is normally $29.99, adding the $44.99 Morsefest 2019 set puts it at about $75, so the bundle is listed at ten bucks less.

Finally got my order in, 44 minutes of trying later. What a chore that way. I don't normally care if I get it signed, but for all that trouble, I hope mine is cuz DAMN that was a lot of effort. Ugh...

-Marc.

[faizoff]

Finally made it through

Did you get the $10 discount on the  bundle or is that already priced that way?

Yeah, I got the 2CD bundle which was listed at $65, but it was $10 cheaper when I checked out.

$65 *is* the discounted price. The 2CD/DVD version of I&D is normally $29.99, adding the $44.99 Morsefest 2019 set puts it at about $75, so the bundle is listed at ten bucks less.

Finally got my order in, 44 minutes of trying later. What a chore that way. I don't normally care if I get it signed, but for all that trouble, I hope mine is cuz DAMN that was a lot of effort. Ugh...

-Marc.

Ah ok that makes sense. Should've figured that.




Edit: wow this site is just something else. After almost completing checkout, it times out and now have to start all over again.

[countoftuscany42]

had the page with all the order options opened, now the page is broken and there aren't any options to add to cart 

[Learning2Live]

Had the I&D / MorseFest 19 bundle added to the cart and by the time the site responded with me to check out, my cart was empty so I must have missed out on that first 1,000 pre-orders. That was 10 minutes ago or so ago. Now I can't even get to the page that had the individual options to pre-order just I&D or just MF 19. So now I can't pre-order any flavor of the options.....damn it......

[OpenYourEyes311]

STILL STRUGGLING.

An hour into the pre-order. Says the bundle that was added to my cart a half hour ago has been removed because it can no longer be purchased. I'm now thinking I'll just get the Morsefest package and not anything else, and take my business elsewhere. (Morsefest being only available at Radiant is really annoying)

[425]

Generally a good policy only to order from Radiant when they have a sale or you're buying an exclusive. If it helps anyone, LaserCD has I&D for preorder much cheaper than Radiant: $15 for the 2CD, $23 for 2CD/DVD.

[Mladen]

I like the song, and there will be many more listens to come, but, damn, the aging in Neal's voice, which I have noted before, is becoming more obvious. I will leave it at that for now. 

Whoa, really?   

I've always thought that Neal's voice doesn't age at all. To me, he sounds on Sola gratia pretty much exactly the same as he does on The Light. However, I'm suprised to hear that there is a change this time around.

I will skip the single and wait for the full album, though.

[425]

The first time I really noticed it was The Absolute Universe, and then a little more clearly on Do It All Again. It's not as dramatic a difference as you can expect from singers with a more operatic style, but to me it's noticeable.

[countoftuscany42]

Finally an update from Neal, they're working on it and nothing has sold out yet, plus he's now signing the first 200 bundles instead of just 100.  now if it actually works ill be happy 

[Fritzinger]

Radiant not working does not surprise me in the slightest 

Now, what interests me way more: what do you guys all say about the new single?

[bosk1]

That's the problem with Radiant.  They are always "working on it" and rarely "working properly."  Screw them.  This is exactly why I never buy from them.  If I can't get my product and get through checkout in a few minutes, there is something wrong with your service, and I don't need whatever your product is.  I guess I'm not getting Morsefest, because I can't be bothered to spent my entire morning just trying to get my login to work and get a product through checkout.

[KevShmev]

Regarding Neal's voice, he still sounds good, but his voice sounds older and more weary.  It feels like he doesn't have the power to belt it out like used to.  Not that he was ever a crooner, but he had some power back in the day.  The deep heartiness in his voice is mostly gone.

Re: Radiant, can't say I am surprised, and even though it is easy to rag on the lady who runs it (Amy), I think she is the only regular employee.  I get that to make money from it, Neal has to run the seemingly bare bones operation with it that he does, but way too much goes wrong with it.  It comes off as cheap and poorly run, and their customer service has never been good.

[HOF]

I like the song, and there will be many more listens to come, but, damn, the aging in Neal's voice, which I have noted before, is becoming more obvious. I will leave it at that for now. 

Definitely noticed this as well. Eric is now clearly the strongest voice in the band. It could just be the way it’s mixed, but on the chorus where they all seem to be singing, I pretty much only hear Eric.

I expect he’ll probably take more and more vocal parts as time goes on. As you corrected me earlier, he does the final epic part on both of the last two albums, and the switch is even earlier on TGA (the switch on TSOAD is earlier in the song than I remembered, which is why I didn’t include it in my previous post).

Listening to this now, and I am digging it way more than I expected to. The opening section is great. To me Bill is the weak link vocally here. I kind of like the character in Neal's aging voice. Doesn't sound all that different than on TAU, but he's definitely not what he was back in the day. As long as he knows his limitations and doesn't try to sing something out of his range I think he sounds pretty good.

[King Postwhore]

Regarding Neal's voice, he still sounds good, but his voice sounds older and more weary.  It feels like he doesn't have the power to belt it out like used to.  Not that he was ever a crooner, but he had some power back in the day.  The deep heartiness in his voice is mostly gone. /quote]


Kev, is that really a surprise though?  Isn't he 60?  No one at 60 has the same voice from the 20's & 30's.

[faizoff]

Finally was able to order. Autograph or not I'll be happy with delivery on release day. 

[countoftuscany42]

my payment went through, but no order confirmation from Radiant.  Emailed them to get confirmation rather than try again and end up paying twice, but Im not expecting to hear back too quickly 

[faizoff]

I may have missed it or not paid attention but I'm assuming the Morsefest 4 CD/2 BR preorder drops the same day as the album release on Aug 27th?

[KevShmev]

Kev, is that really a surprise though?  Isn't he 60?  No one at 60 has the same voice from the 20's & 30's.

Oh, I know.  And I do not mean it as a criticism.  It is more of a "damn, it sucks to hear our favorites get old" sentiment.

[The Letter M]

I may have missed it or not paid attention but I'm assuming the Morsefest 4 CD/2 BR preorder drops the same day as the album release on Aug 27th?

Looking at the order page, it says the 4CD/2BD Morsefest 2019 set will be released on August 27th, so the same day as Innocence & Danger!

my payment went through, but no order confirmation from Radiant.  Emailed them to get confirmation rather than try again and end up paying twice, but Im not expecting to hear back too quickly 

Looks like a lot of folks have been having that same issue too. I ordered with PayPal and got my PayPal confirmation emails, as did a few others replying to Neal's last update post on FB, but no one has received any confirmation emails from Radiant, so it's not just you. Hopefully everyone's orders do go through!

I like the song, and there will be many more listens to come, but, damn, the aging in Neal's voice, which I have noted before, is becoming more obvious. I will leave it at that for now. 

Whoa, really?   

I've always thought that Neal's voice doesn't age at all. To me, he sounds on Sola gratia pretty much exactly the same as he does on The Light. However, I'm suprised to hear that there is a change this time around.

I will skip the single and wait for the full album, though.

I've noticed over the last decade or so that Neal's voice has gradually changed in range and performance style. He's always pushed himself in the studio to give the best vocal performances he can for the studio albums, but when it comes to live, he's always had to downtune things just to keep his voice going. If you never noticed, The Whirlwind was downtuned a half-step or two when it was played live over a decade ago, so even then, his voice was starting to age. I think he even downtuned songs when he was in Spock's Beard as well. He just has a habit of pushing his voice a lot, and when doing tours with a lot of back-to-back shows, downtuning was probably the best way he knew he could conserve his voice for the tour, just so he's not constantly hitting the highest notes in his range.

Regardless, his voice still sounds fine to me, and it's still got his signature vocal stamp on it that only he has, but I think giving Eric a lot of the higher parts in these songs' vocal melodies was a calculated move, especially when he formally created The Neal Morse Band. I bet if Neal never left Spock's Beard, by the 2010s, you can bet Nick would have been singing just as much lead as Neal due to his aging voice. I would not be surprised with Neal only gets half of the major vocal leads on the new album, because if they're going to be playing a lot of the music live, he might not want to strain his voice too much each night.

-Marc.

[King Postwhore]

Kev, is that really a surprise though?  Isn't he 60?  No one at 60 has the same voice from the 20's & 30's.

Oh, I know.  And I do not mean it as a criticism.  It is more of a "damn, it sucks to hear our favorites get old" sentiment.

It's not as prominent as Geddy's though. 

[faizoff]

my payment went through, but no order confirmation from Radiant.  Emailed them to get confirmation rather than try again and end up paying twice, but Im not expecting to hear back too quickly 

I used PayPal and got a confirmation email from both PayPal and Radiant Records pretty much right away.

[gmillerdrake]

my payment went through, but no order confirmation from Radiant.  Emailed them to get confirmation rather than try again and end up paying twice, but Im not expecting to hear back too quickly 

I used PayPal and got a confirmation email from both PayPal and Radiant Records pretty much right away.

Same here. Although....prior to finally getting connected to PayPal......navigating Radiant is brutal. SO slow. Once I was finally connected to Pay Pal I paid and everything was near instant. Confirmation email and all that.

[KevShmev]

Kev, is that really a surprise though?  Isn't he 60?  No one at 60 has the same voice from the 20's & 30's.

Oh, I know.  And I do not mean it as a criticism.  It is more of a "damn, it sucks to hear our favorites get old" sentiment.

It's not as prominent as Geddy's though.

No, but Neal never screamed like a banshee like Geddy did.

[OpenYourEyes311]

my payment went through, but no order confirmation from Radiant.  Emailed them to get confirmation rather than try again and end up paying twice, but Im not expecting to hear back too quickly 

I used PayPal and got a confirmation email from both PayPal and Radiant Records pretty much right away.

Same here. Although....prior to finally getting connected to PayPal......navigating Radiant is brutal. SO slow. Once I was finally connected to Pay Pal I paid and everything was near instant. Confirmation email and all that.

Same. It took three hours to get it ordered. Absolutely brutal. But I did and got confirmation, so I'm looking forward to August.

[darkshade]

Regarding Neal's voice, he still sounds good, but his voice sounds older and more weary.  It feels like he doesn't have the power to belt it out like used to.  Not that he was ever a crooner, but he had some power back in the day.  The deep heartiness in his voice is mostly gone.

Agreed.

If you don't hear it, binge on recent Neal/TA recordings, then go ahead and listen to Spock's Beard's V or something, and tell me you don't hear a difference.

[gmillerdrake]

As far as the new song....I mean, I'll reserve total judgment until I hear the whole album but being that this isn't a concept album and these are all stand alone songs.....this one was pretty 'boring' for my taste. It's a song I've heard Neal & Co. write dozens of times. Sounds fine and all but I can't imagine it'll grow that much more on me. There wasn't anything 'special' about it. That could have been any one of a hundred drummers....guitarists, bass and keyboard players behind Neal and you'd never have known. Very 'simple' stuff for musicians of their caliber.

[gzarruk]

As far as the new song....I mean, I'll reserve total judgment until I hear the whole album but being that this isn't a concept album and these are all stand alone songs.....this one was pretty 'boring' for my taste. It's a song I've heard Neal & Co. write dozens of times. Sounds fine and all but I can't imagine it'll grow that much more on me. There wasn't anything 'special' about it. That could have been any one of a hundred drummers....guitarists, bass and keyboard players behind Neal and you'd never have known. Very 'simple' stuff for musicians of their caliber.

And I just came here to say that I already listened to it a lot of times and I'm loving it more with each listen. Tastes, I guess

Still not a fan of Bill's vocal sections though.

[425]

Oh, I know.  And I do not mean it as a criticism.  It is more of a "damn, it sucks to hear our favorites get old" sentiment.

It's not as prominent as Geddy's though.

No, but Neal never screamed like a banshee like Geddy did.

I think it's pretty clear that aging is easier in general on male singers who don't spend a lot of time in a higher register. Or at least that that higher register is the first thing to go, so the effects of aging are more noticeable when they try to aim for that register anyway. For example, Bruce Dickinson still has an excellent voice, but he can't do a lot of the "air-raid siren" stuff he was doing in the 80s.

[gmillerdrake]

As far as the new song....I mean, I'll reserve total judgment until I hear the whole album but being that this isn't a concept album and these are all stand alone songs.....this one was pretty 'boring' for my taste. It's a song I've heard Neal & Co. write dozens of times. Sounds fine and all but I can't imagine it'll grow that much more on me. There wasn't anything 'special' about it. That could have been any one of a hundred drummers....guitarists, bass and keyboard players behind Neal and you'd never have known. Very 'simple' stuff for musicians of their caliber.

And I just came here to say that I already listened to it a lot of times and I'm loving it more with each listen. Tastes, I guess

To be fair I've only listened to it once. BUT....I can usually tell with that first listen if it's a song I know that has multiple layers that will take multiple listens to fully appreciate.....this one didn't come off to me like that. Seemed very rudimentary for that type of talent. Nothing wrong with some 'simple' songs and maybe it fits in the album. Just seems like a pretty tame single to release if they're trying to drum up interest.

[SwedishGoose]

June 18th 2022 I will be at Lilla Cirkus in Stockholm on row 1, probably very close to Neal..... can't wait

Last time was magical, and I had about the same seats.

[KevShmev]

No STL date. Bummer. 

[Peter Mc]

As far as the new song....I mean, I'll reserve total judgment until I hear the whole album but being that this isn't a concept album and these are all stand alone songs.....this one was pretty 'boring' for my taste. It's a song I've heard Neal & Co. write dozens of times. Sounds fine and all but I can't imagine it'll grow that much more on me. There wasn't anything 'special' about it. That could have been any one of a hundred drummers....guitarists, bass and keyboard players behind Neal and you'd never have known. Very 'simple' stuff for musicians of their caliber.

And I just came here to say that I already listened to it a lot of times and I'm loving it more with each listen. Tastes, I guess

Still not a fan of Bill's vocal sections though.

Yeah, as NMB singles go, this was decent.  It sounds like every other song he’s ever done but, at this point, that’s what we’ve come to expect.  Don’t understand why Bill is singing though, he’s clearly a significantly inferior vocalist than Neal and Eric so why is he singing lead vocals on those parts?  I know the answer is because that’s what they wanted to do but it’s a weird thing for me.  The over use of non-singers on lead vocals severely hampered the last Transatlantic album for me and I hope they don’t do the same here.  Bill is no Pete Trewavas, don’t get me wrong, he can occasionally shine when a vocal part is specifically tailored to him like ‘The Ways Of a Fool’ but that was a very unusual song that fits his unusual voice.  He’s not a rock vocalist.

[gmillerdrake]

No STL date. Bummer. 

Yeah. I was hopeful there’d be one being they’ve come through the last two tours. Maybe there will be a second US leg?

[Willthescout7]

No STL date. Bummer. 

Yeah. I was hopeful there’d be one being they’ve come through the last two tours. Maybe there will be a second US leg?

I doubt it since Neal will likely be promoting his 6th album that quarter

[ronnibran]

Oh man, I love the new song.  Have listened 4 or 5 times.  Pretty sure I like it better than anything off of TGA or TSOAD.  About on par with The Call.  Really looking forward to this release.