Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[HOF]

I bought Similitude based on the rave reaction and Ways of a Fool. I never made it all the way through both discs.

[425]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

My contrarian take that's not actually all that contrarian, since I still have a high opinion of the album: Similitude is probably my least favorite NMB album.

[KevShmev]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

I'm onboard with that. For sure.

I am loving this album though. Get rid of that cover song and it's pretty much a perfect album. It's out of place and frankly not all that good.

While I was indifferent on the releases of the singles....just listened to them a couple times.....they are perfect in context of the full album and sound almost like different songs.

  to the bolded.

As for the new album, I didn't care for the cover at first, but I've come around on it; I love Eric's lead vocals in the final chorus (amongst the big harmonies).  I think the album has a weird flow, with all of the shorter songs and then a cover and then two really long songs back to back.  It doesn't make for an easy listen.  I know, I know, Innocence on Side 1 and Danger on Side 2, but that seems like a gimmick used to explain away the odd album structure, which quite frankly is one of the least impressive yet on a major Neal Morse studio album release (part of the greatness of Neal's albums are usually how effortlessly they flow).  Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot, largely because the songs are there, but the flow of the album just doesn't work very well, IMO. 

I bought Similitude based on the rave reaction and Ways of a Fool. I never made it all the way through both discs.

You should fix that immediately. 

Unlike many double concept albums, which seemingly start fast and feature a lot of the best stuff early on, Similitude does the opposite.  It's really good early on, but the album doesn't really hit its stride until the 4th song (after two kind of mellow build-ups tunes sandwiched around the token Overture).

[KevShmev]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

My contrarian take that's not actually all that contrarian, since I still have a high opinion of the album: Similitude is probably my least favorite NMB album.

Well, that's like being the least attractive supermodel, no?

[Trav86]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

After getting the Waterfall app at the beginning of this year, I’ve gone back and discovered Neal’s solo material more. I can say that The Similitude of a Dream is probably an all-time top 5 album for me.

[bosk1]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

no

[Dedalus]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

no

no²

[ErHaO]

For me all tNMB albums are at or near the top of all the NM-related works. 

It is not just music, I overall prefer the lyrical content/storytellling of the tNMB albums over a lot of the other NM-related works.

Not sure which NM-related album I'd overall call the best though. Depends on my mood.

[Zydar]

? will always be special to be, since it was my introduction to his stuff other than The Whirlwind.

[me7]

I heard ? later into my Neal discovery process and it still became my favourite. Nothing to do with nostalgia.

[Zydar]

True, it is a great one regardless.

[goo-goo]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

I jumped off the Neil ship with Similitude 

I would say Transatlantic's Bridge Across Forever would be the best Neal-related album.

[darkshade]

I think TSoaD is good, but I'd put ?, One, The Whirlwind, BAF, and even Testimony 2 and Sola Scriptura over the first 3 NMB albums, but the NMB is quite good and their first 3 are just shy of eclipsing those other albums for me. I understand why some put those albums up as the best. The band's new album might be that album for me.

[HOF]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

I jumped off the Neil ship with Similitude 

I would say Transatlantic's Bridge Across Forever would be the best Neal-related album.

I think I'd still have to go with BAF too.

[The Letter M]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

I jumped off the Neil ship with Similitude 

I would say Transatlantic's Bridge Across Forever would be the best Neal-related album.

I think I'd still have to go with BAF too.

Gonna have to agree here, too. Bridge Across Forever is infinitely re-listenable for me, one of my all-time favorite albums by any artist, and probably my favorite album by every member involved. The Whirlwind has come VERY close behind it, though, and might probably be a sort of 1a & 1b situation. Honestly, I'd take most of the Transatlantic material over Neal's solo prog stuff or even the NMB albums. I liked TSOAD and TGA, but I don't think I've fallen in love with them like others have, and while it's still a bit early, I might like Innocence & Danger more than TSOAD and TGA. I think I just got a bit too tired of Neal's long narrative concept albums to really take the time to dive into TSOAD and TGA when they came out, but musically speaking, they're really engaging at times and even very fun, but there's just something about the combination of Morse/Portnoy/Stolt/Trewavas that is just magical to me, and I like them together more than any of their separate bands/projects. Transatlantic is truly a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts IMO.

-Marc.

[ProfessorPeart]

I was so disappointed with Similitude that I ordered the cheaper version of TGA when it came out. Then I loved the crap out of TGA. Never understood the hype for Similitude. TGA is a far better album.

EDIT: Fixed my completely incorrect abbreviations. 

[The Letter M]

I was so disappointed with Similitude that I ordered the cheaper version of TGE when it came out. Then I loved the crap out of TGE. Never understood the hype for Similitude. TGE is a far better album.

But TGE (The Grand Experiment) came out *before* TSOAD... Did you mean TGA (The Great Adventure)?

I know, naming two albums with very similar abbreviations is VERY confusing, but I think Neal wrote himself into that corner when ending TSOAD with the lyrics "The Great Adventure now begins". 

-Marc.

[bosk1]

Honestly, it's really hard to tell someone where to start in checking out Neal's discography because if you ask any 10 people what their favorite album is, you are likely to get close to 10 different answers.  There is just so much, and very little if any of it would make most fans say, "Eh, that's a bad one."  It's all pretty high quality, and just a matter of personal taste in terms of what appeals more to one person vs. another.

[Metro]

How would you guys rank his albums?


Solo/NMB
1. Sola Scriptura
2. The Similitude of a Dream
3. ?
4. Testimony 2
5. Innocence and Danger
6. The Great Adventure
7. The Grand Experiment
8. One
9. Momentum
10. Testimony 1
11. Sola Gratia
12. Jesus Christ the Exorcist
13. Lifeline


I’ll even do TA and FC just because


Transatlantic
1. The Whirlwind
2. Bridge Across Forever
3. The Absolute Universe
4. SMPT:e
5. Kaleidoscope

Flying Colors
1. Flying Colors
2. Third Degree
3. Second Nature


I’ll do SB later, that’s a bit harder for me.

[ProfessorPeart]

I was so disappointed with Similitude that I ordered the cheaper version of TGE when it came out. Then I loved the crap out of TGE. Never understood the hype for Similitude. TGE is a far better album.

But TGE (The Grand Experiment) came out *before* TSOAD... Did you mean TGA (The Great Adventure)?

I know, naming two albums with very similar abbreviations is VERY confusing, but I think Neal wrote himself into that corner when ending TSOAD with the lyrics "The Great Adventure now begins". 

-Marc.

 

This is why I rarely use abbreviations. You are absolutely right. Should have been TGA and not TGE.

[HOF]

How would you guys rank his albums?


Solo/NMB
1. Sola Scriptura
2. The Similitude of a Dream
3. ?
4. Testimony 2
5. Innocence and Danger
6. The Great Adventure
7. The Grand Experiment
8. One
9. Momentum
10. Testimony 1
11. Sola Gratia
12. Jesus Christ the Exorcist
13. Lifeline


I’ll even do TA and FC just because


Transatlantic
1. The Whirlwind
2. Bridge Across Forever
3. The Absolute Universe
4. SMPT:e
5. Kaleidoscope

Flying Colors
1. Flying Colors
2. Third Degree
3. Second Nature


I’ll do SB later, that’s a bit harder for me.

I can't rank all of them (haven't heard all the solo stuff or NMB stuff). My top 5 would look something like this probably:

1. Bridge Across Forever (TA)
2. The Kindness of Strangers (SB)
3. SMPTe (TA)
4. V (SB)
5. Snow (SB)

[The Letter M]

Honestly, it's really hard to tell someone where to start in checking out Neal's discography because if you ask any 10 people what their favorite album is, you are likely to get close to 10 different answers.  There is just so much, and very little if any of it would make most fans say, "Eh, that's a bad one."  It's all pretty high quality, and just a matter of personal taste in terms of what appeals more to one person vs. another.

It also probably depends on when someone discovered Neal, and through which band or album. For me, it was with Transatlantic and their first two albums, after making my prog discovery journey from Rush to Dream Theater, I sought out all the different projects from various DT band members, and after albums from OSI and LTE, TA was probably my favorite, so that's where I discovered Neal (back in 2004/2005). One was Neal's latest album and ? was just on the horizon after I became a fan, so for me, ? is pretty high up there for me being his first new album after I became a fan, and even then, Neal had a growing solo career, six albums with SB, and two with TA, and I thought that was a lot back then! Now he has NMB, Flying Colors, more solo stuff, and even more TA albums since Bridge Across Forever.

I can only imagine how daunting it would be to discover Neal in recent years, trying to figure out "where to start". I would just suggest, if they're really wanting to dive deep, to start chronologically and go with The Light by Spock's Beard, and just go through his six albums with the Beard, and then Transatlantic and his early solo albums. I think understanding his journey through SB and his eventual departure from the band to do solo stuff helps give those early 2000s albums a bit more context. You can really feel some of Neal's pain and struggle in Snow, and how he was able to turn that around and release his more vulnerable album yet in Testimony. After that, I'd say he released two of his best albums ever in One and ?, but after that, it s a bit of YMMV for albums like Sola Scriptura, Lifeline, Testimony 2, and Momentum. Then came along the Neal Morse Band, which feels like an extension of his solo stuff AND his SB days now that he's leading a five-man band again, with multiple vocalists and varying styles and feels strewn throughout each album (and I'd say Innocence & Danger is his most Spock's Beard-sounding album since maybe Momentum).

But even if you just follow Neal through SB/Solo/NMB stuff, there's still all the Transatlantic and Flying Colors stuff as well! It's a *lot* to take in, and I'm kind of glad I've been able to follow Neal's work since 2005 and been keeping up with it all, but I'm also happy to know that folks are still discovering his music and various bands/albums.

But you're definitely right bosk, every fan will likely have different answers to their favorite albums and/or where to start with Neal's massive discography.

I was so disappointed with Similitude that I ordered the cheaper version of TGE when it came out. Then I loved the crap out of TGE. Never understood the hype for Similitude. TGE is a far better album.

But TGE (The Grand Experiment) came out *before* TSOAD... Did you mean TGA (The Great Adventure)?

I know, naming two albums with very similar abbreviations is VERY confusing, but I think Neal wrote himself into that corner when ending TSOAD with the lyrics "The Great Adventure now begins". 

-Marc.

 

This is why I rarely use abbreviations. You are absolutely right. Should have been TGA and not TGE.

No worries dude, abbreviations can be confusing, especially for a man whose discography is so big, but I understood you through context. I just wanted to make sure you meant what you meant! 

How would you guys rank his albums?


Solo/NMB
1. Sola Scriptura
2. The Similitude of a Dream
3. ?
4. Testimony 2
5. Innocence and Danger
6. The Great Adventure
7. The Grand Experiment
8. One
9. Momentum
10. Testimony 1
11. Sola Gratia
12. Jesus Christ the Exorcist
13. Lifeline


I’ll even do TA and FC just because


Transatlantic
1. The Whirlwind
2. Bridge Across Forever
3. The Absolute Universe
4. SMPT:e
5. Kaleidoscope

Flying Colors
1. Flying Colors
2. Third Degree
3. Second Nature


I’ll do SB later, that’s a bit harder for me.

Hmm, just off the top of my head and based on how I am feeling today:

Spock's Beard:
Snow
Beware Of Darkness
V
The Kindness Of Strangers
The Light / Day For Night (Tied)

Solo:
One
?
Testimony 2
Sola Scriptura
Momentum
Sola Gratia
Testimony
Lifeline
Neal Morse
It's Not Too Late

Neal Morse Band:
Innoence & Danger
The Grand Experiment
The Similitude Of A Dream
The Great Adventure

Flying Colors:
Flying Colors
Third Degree
Second Nature

Transatlantic:
Bridge Across Forever
The Whirlwind
The Absolute Universe (specifically the Ultimate Mix)
SMPT:e / Kaleidoscope (tied)

-Marc.

[bosk1]

How would you guys rank his albums?

Solo/NMB
1.  One:  My absolute favorite album of all time.
2.  Sola Scriptura:  Love this album, although Randy's Jam is completely out of place on here, given the concept/story.
3.  The Great Adventure:  This album truly exceeded expectations in just about every way.
4.  Testimony 1:  This was my Neal gateway, and it took me SO long to get into, but really rewarded my perseverence.
5.  The Similitude of a Dream:  Really strong album.  I can understand why Kev and others rate it higher.
6.  Jesus Christ the Exorcist:  Hard to rank among Neal's other albums because it is such a different animal, and with all the guest singers.  But really good effort, and I am simultaneously thrilled that it "fixes" some of the problems with JCSS's fictional narrative of Jesus, while also extremely annoyed that it adopts some without really fixing them.  Over time, it will probably fall a few spots.
7.  The Grand Experiment:  Just straight up "fun" album.  At the time, I felt it was really a step up from recent output.
8.  Sola Gratia:  I feel like this should be ranked higher, but it is a bit of a mess narratively.  While I am sure this isn't likely the case, it feels like Neal had a great idea for setting the story of Paul's life to music, but then wasn't really sure where to go in the final act once he was in the middle of writing it.
9.  Momentum:  Felt like a step in the right direction after being on a bit of a down trajectory.
10.  Testimony 2:  I like this album just fine, but it just isn't as good as most of his output.  And the bonus disk doesn't do much to elevate it since I can't remember what any of those songs even sound like.
11.  ?:  Some great moments, but has never been an album that grabbed me.
12.  Lifeline:  Not bad, but I never would have become a Neal fan if this were the only NM album to exist.

Unranked (haven't heard yet):  Innocence and Danger



Transatlantic
1. The Whirlwind:  A top 4 all time album, up there with One, Six Degrees, and SFAM.  Truly a testament to Neal as a writer and musician that, given that I strongly prefer metal to any other music, he has two albums in my top 4 all time.
2. SMPT:e:  This was my first studio album after I got Live in Europe.  I hate the cover, and just "like" Mystery Train.  But All of the Above, We All Need Some Light, and My New World are outstanding.
3.  Bridge Across Forever:  Bridge and Stranger are outstanding.  Duel is good, and Suite Charlotte Pike is okay.
4. The Absolute Universe:  Still new enough that I have trouble ranking it.  It feels like it should be a spot or two higher.  But maybe not.  I dunno.  2, 3, and 4 are SO close, and could flip-flop at any given moment depending on my mood.
5. Kaleidoscope:  Not bad, but clearly my #5.  This feels more along the lines of, "five guys with ongoing, active bands, just getting together casually to do an album for the side project."  There is some good stuff, but very little that feels truly memorable.


Flying Colors
1. Flying Colors:  Not a bad effort.  A couple of standout songs.  Blue Ocean is probably still my favorite.  But ultimately, this is a band I'm not that interested in, and this album would probably rank lower than anything on a combined Neal/TA list.
2. Second Nature:  I remember thinking "not bad" at the time I got it.  But I hardly listened, and don't really even remember the songs.

Unranked (haven't heard it and lost interest in the band):  Third Degree

[KevShmev]

Feels like the list could be ever-changing, but I will go with this for today off the top of my head:

Solo/NMB:
1 The Similitude of a Dream
2 Testimony 2
3 The Grand Experiment
4 One
5 ?
6 Sola Scriptura
7 The Great Adventure
8 Neal Morse (self-titled)
9 Testimony
10 Momentum
11 Sola Gratia
12 Lifeline
13 The Exorcist
14 Life & Times
15 Songs from November
16 It's Not Too Late

It is too early to accurately rate Innocence and Danger, but my early feeling is that it will slot into that 6-8 range.  I don't see it breaking the top 5.

[HOF]

I can't rank all of them (haven't heard all the solo stuff or NMB stuff). My top 5 would look something like this probably:

1. Bridge Across Forever (TA)
2. The Kindness of Strangers (SB)
3. SMPTe (TA)
4. V (SB)
5. Snow (SB)

If I were to rank just based on the project, I'd do something like:

Spock's Beard

1. The Kindness of Strangers
2. V
3. Snow
4. Day for Night
5. Beware of Darkness
6. The Light

Transatlantic

1. Bridge Across Forever
2. SMPTe
3. The Absolute Universe (either/both versions)
4. The Whirlwind
5. Kaleidoscope

Solo:

1. Neal Morse
2. It's Not Too Late
3. Songs from November
4. Testimony
5. Momentum
(I could rank the others I've heard* but there wasn't anything from them that really stuck with me enough to rank)

Flying Colors

1. Flying Colors
2. Second Nature
3. Third Degree

*The others I have are Similitude of a Dream, Lifeline, and One. Just couldn't get into any of them.

[bosk1]

@Kev:  Wow, I didn't realize you rated The Grand Experiment so high.  The rest of your top 5 doesn't surprise me (although I might possibly have gotten the order wrong).

[KevShmev]

@Kev:  Wow, I didn't realize you rated The Grand Experiment so high.  The rest of your top 5 doesn't surprise me (although I might possibly have gotten the order wrong).

If I had to rank, say, the best 20-25 Neal Morse songs ever (from any of his bands/projects), three would be from The Grand Experiment (The Call, Waterfall, Alive Again), so that is a big reason why. 

[425]

So many of these are so close that they move around some, but here's what I'd say right now.

Solo/NMB:
1. The Great Adventure
2. ?
3. The Grand Experiment
4. The Similitude of a Dream
5. Sola Scriptura
6. Testimony
7. Testimony 2
8. Momentum
9. Lifeline
10. One

Haven't heard Sola Gratia and Innocence & Danger enough to place them. I think I&D has very strong top-five, and potentially top-three, potential, while SG is probably more in the range of the Testimonies and Momentum.

Haven't heard the two pre-Testimony albums or JCTE at all.


Spock's Beard:
1. Day for Night
2. The Light
3. The Kindness of Strangers
4. Beware of Darkness

I've been making my way forward chronologically at a very slow rate, and I like solo Neal/NMB a lot better than SB, so I haven't gotten to V or Snow yet.


Transatlantic:
1. The Whirlwind
2. Bridge Across Forever
3. Kaleidoscope
4. SMPTe
5. The Absolute Universe

Don't really enjoy Flying Colors.

@Kev:  Wow, I didn't realize you rated The Grand Experiment so high.  The rest of your top 5 doesn't surprise me (although I might possibly have gotten the order wrong).

If I had to rank, say, the best 20-25 Neal Morse songs ever (from any of his bands/projects), three would be from The Grand Experiment (The Call, Waterfall, Alive Again), so that is a big reason why. 

Yeah, this is my reason for having it so high, too. You can say Agenda's kinda weird and The Grand Experiment is middling, and I won't disagree with you, but The Call and Alive Again are at such an extremely high level that it almost doesn't matter what else is on the album (it's an excellent bonus that "what else is on the album" includes Waterfall, a song that's, yeah, probably about top 25).

[HOF]

I've been making my way forward chronologically at a very slow rate, and I like solo Neal/NMB a lot better than SB, so I haven't gotten to V or Snow yet.

FWIW, you will probably like V and Snow better than the other SB albums, as the production took a step forward and those albums are closer to the Transatlantic/solo Neal Morse style probably.

[DTwwbwMP]

Solo (prog)/NMB
1. The Similitude of a Dream
2. Sola Scriptura
3. Testimony 1
4. Testimony 2
5. ?
6. The Grand Experiment
7. Innocence and Danger
8. The Great Adventure
9. Momentum
10. One
11. Sola Gratia
13. Lifeline


Transatlantic
1. The Whirlwind
2. SMPT:e
3. Bridge Across Forever
4. Kaleidoscope 
5. The Absolute Universe


Flying Colors
1. Flying Colors
2. Second Nature
3. Third Degree

[darkshade]

The Similitude of a Dream is the best album Neal has ever done from any of his bands or projects.

*drops mic*

I jumped off the Neil ship with Similitude 

I would say Transatlantic's Bridge Across Forever would be the best Neal-related album.

I think I'd still have to go with BAF too.

Gonna have to agree here, too. Bridge Across Forever is infinitely re-listenable for me, one of my all-time favorite albums by any artist, and probably my favorite album by every member involved. The Whirlwind has come VERY close behind it, though, and might probably be a sort of 1a & 1b situation. Honestly, I'd take most of the Transatlantic material over Neal's solo prog stuff or even the NMB albums. I liked TSOAD and TGA, but I don't think I've fallen in love with them like others have, and while it's still a bit early, I might like Innocence & Danger more than TSOAD and TGA. I think I just got a bit too tired of Neal's long narrative concept albums to really take the time to dive into TSOAD and TGA when they came out, but musically speaking, they're really engaging at times and even very fun, but there's just something about the combination of Morse/Portnoy/Stolt/Trewavas that is just magical to me, and I like them together more than any of their separate bands/projects. Transatlantic is truly a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts IMO.

-Marc.

I also think I&D might be the band's best album, so far, and possibly up there as one of the best NM-related albums, including Transatlantic.

[darkshade]

The Whirlwind
Bridge Across Forever
?
Sola Scriptura
SMPT:e
V
Testimony 2
Innocence & Danger
One
The Light
The Similitude of a Dream
The Kindness of Strangers
The Great Adventure
Momentum
The Grand Experiment
The Absolute Universe: Forevermore
Beware of Darkness
Testimony
Neal Morse
Snow
Sola Gratia
Kaleidoscope
Second Nature
Lifeline
The Absolute Universe: The Breath Of Life
Day By Night
It's Not Too Late
Flying Colors
Third Degree

[Mladen]

I tried ranking them just the other day and thought it was very difficult.

Testimony 2
Neal Morse
Sola Scriptura
Momentum
?
Life & Times
The Great adventure
The Similitude of a dream
One
Sola gratia
Innocence & danger
Lifeline
Songs from november
The Grand Experiment
Testimony
It's not too late

[KevShmev]

@Kev:  Wow, I didn't realize you rated The Grand Experiment so high.  The rest of your top 5 doesn't surprise me (although I might possibly have gotten the order wrong).

If I had to rank, say, the best 20-25 Neal Morse songs ever (from any of his bands/projects), three would be from The Grand Experiment (The Call, Waterfall, Alive Again), so that is a big reason why. 

Yeah, this is my reason for having it so high, too. You can say Agenda's kinda weird and The Grand Experiment is middling, and I won't disagree with you, but The Call and Alive Again are at such an extremely high level that it almost doesn't matter what else is on the album (it's an excellent bonus that "what else is on the album" includes Waterfall, a song that's, yeah, probably about top 25).

Honestly, if I had to do a top 25 Neal songs list, The Grand Experiment might be the only album to have three songs in there.  SMPTe and Similitude both might as well, but I'd have to really think about it. 

[Architeuthis]

Dang,  I went online to get tickets for the Seattle show in October and it appears to be sold out.