Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[OpenYourEyes311]

This is irksome for me as well. Not because of Radiant; I don't really care how long stuff takes to get to me, and they always eventually do. But because I spent money on ordering the download of this two years ago, when they said it wasn't being released. Had they said, "yeah it's not priority, but eventually this will come out. Maybe 2023..." I would have waited. I always go for the physical, especially for Morsefest stuff. That's kind of infuriating.

[425]

This is irksome for me as well. Not because of Radiant; I don't really care how long stuff takes to get to me, and they always eventually do. But because I spent money on ordering the download of this two years ago, when they said it wasn't being released. Had they said, "yeah it's not priority, but eventually this will come out. Maybe 2023..." I would have waited. I always go for the physical, especially for Morsefest stuff. That's kind of infuriating.

Yeah, decisions like this are tough for me to evaluate. On the one hand, I don't like releases that are short-term exclusives without a good reason, because I don't like the practice of permanently making the release unavailable to fans who are happy to pay for it but miss the window. On the other hand, once you make the promise "this is going to be an exclusive," and people spend money based on that assumption, re-releasing it can seem like a raw deal to those people, especially if the re-release is cheaper or in a more desirable format.

I don't imagine this is going to happen, and it might not be economical to do it, but I think in this case it would be fair to give people who purchased the download a discount on the physical release.

[Willthescout7]

Neal is releasing a CD edition of Last Minute Christmas Album and is signing every copy. It's normal CD priced so if you like his poppier stuff I would check it out.

[Metro]

https://www.nealmorse.com/product/morsefest2020lockdown/

Morsefest 2020 is available for Preorder. Stand-alone, not bundled with the TA Blu-ray as we previously thought.

[MinistroRaven]

https://www.nealmorse.com/product/morsefest2020lockdown/

Morsefest 2020 is available for Preorder. Stand-alone, not bundled with the TA Blu-ray as we previously thought.

FROM NEAL MORSE:

"I’m delighted to announce a very special new release: Morsefest 2020: Lockdown on 4CDs and 2 Blu-rays!

Morsefest 2020 was an event that I’m still amazed actually happened! For a time, the pandemic meant that having a Morsefest was going to be out of the question. However as restrictions started to ease, we began investigating whether we could run Morsefest as a live stream with perhaps a very small crowd. Slowly the pieces came together for two nights: an evening where we visited the very best songs from the Cover To Cover albums, followed by a night that focused on my new Sola Gratia album. With a small group of massively supportive fans and helpers gathered we made Morsefest History! People tuned in from all over the world and even had Zoom Morsefest parties!

At the time, we didn’t envisage ever commercially releasing this for many reasons. But after putting out MF19 and MF21 as “self releases,” many, many fans (and also one drummer who shall remain nameless!!!) kept asking us to fill the gap in their Morsefest collection! After consulting with some fans, we all agreed - let’s do it! The audio was fully remixed and the video re-edited from the raw live streams and, I have to say, I think this is one of the very best Morsefest audio/video sets! Plus, we’ve included "The Great Nothing" from Morsefest 2018, which many of you have asked for on Blu-ray!

We’ve assembled a 4 CD/2 Blu-ray set available exclusively from Radiant Records, which will be released on January 17th, 2023. Pre-orders start on Tuesday, November 22nd at 9:00AM Central and we aim to dispatch as soon as we receive the finished product from the manufacturer! Plus, I’ll sign the first 200 copies sold from the website plus a random selection of orders will include an extra bonus piece of Morsefest history… wait and see!"

[Metro]

I’m assuming this will be packaged like MF19 and 21, with an obnoxiously large cardboard case that won’t fit on my shelf.

[The Letter M]

https://www.nealmorse.com/product/morsefest2020lockdown/

Morsefest 2020 is available for Preorder. Stand-alone, not bundled with the TA Blu-ray as we previously thought.

Neal's statement was:

Hopefully we're going to bundle it with the Transatlantic: Live in Paris at a special price, only on the Radiant site, so that'll be coming up in the near future.

I could see how it could be interpreted that way, but I just read it as "we will bundle it with Live In Paris at a special price". Thankfully those who wanted just MF20 can get it without the next Transatlantic live album.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Good to see it is being released the way it is. 

[gzarruk]

Good to see it is being released the way it is. 

It's the way it had to be

[Stadler]

So....if I wanted the signed copy (I'm sure I missed it by now) I would have to forsake the bundle price?  I haven't ordered MF yet, though I will; should I wait to see if it's still in stock or buy it and suck it up?

You know, you can't just wing this stuff.  You really can't.

[Metro]

I don’t think there’s gonna be a bundle at this point. Preorders for the TA Blu-ray go up next week, per the latest IC newsletter, so if they were gonna bundle them both together, why make MF20 available for preorder a week before?

[ytserush]

Neal is releasing a CD edition of Last Minute Christmas Album and is signing every copy. It's normal CD priced so if you like his poppier stuff I would check it out.

Friend of mine bought the CD (First time he ordered from Radiant so he never had his signature before) and we listened to it in the car and I thought it was pretty good. I love the Zappaesque tune and the rest if pretty cool too. Pretty laid back but I may pick it up at some point.

[Willthescout7]

Neal is releasing a CD edition of Last Minute Christmas Album and is signing every copy. It's normal CD priced so if you like his poppier stuff I would check it out.

Friend of mine bought the CD (First time he ordered from Radiant so he never had his signature before) and we listened to it in the car and I thought it was pretty good. I love the Zappaesque tune and the rest if pretty cool too. Pretty laid back but I may pick it up at some point.

That's generally my impression as well. Not one I pull out much, but if I want some nice easy background music while doing Christmas related activities I'll put it on.

[Metro]

Pre-Order Transatlantic's New Live Album
Hey everyone,
 
Just a heads up that we will open pre-orders for the new Transatlantic live album on Friday, December 2nd at 8:00AM Central / 2:00PM U.K. 
 
Pre-ordering from Radiant will give access to an exclusive variant and the chance to get a signed item free of charge with your order!
Watch for the email with links on Friday at that time!
 
Thanks for your support,
Neal

Email from Radiant just now.

Edit: I suppose this should have gone in the Transatlantic thread 

[gzarruk]

I was thinking about getting Neal's Last Minute Christmas Album from Radiant, but apparently their website messes up with my antivirus, as it is infested with some sort of malware. Never happened to me before, but with Radiant it doesn't surprise me anymore

To those who have it, how do you like it?

[Willthescout7]

I was thinking about getting Neal's Last Minute Christmas Album from Radiant, but apparently their website messes up with my antivirus, as it is infested with some sort of malware. Never happened to me before, but with Radiant it doesn't surprise me anymore

To those who have it, how do you like it?

I enjoy it, but it's not something I reach for everyday. It makes for really good background music I've found.

[MinistroRaven]

I was thinking about getting Neal's Last Minute Christmas Album from Radiant, but apparently their website messes up with my antivirus, as it is infested with some sort of malware. Never happened to me before, but with Radiant it doesn't surprise me anymore

To those who have it, how do you like it?

The malware in that website is a false positive. Don’t worry about it.

[gzarruk]

I enjoy it, but it's not something I reach for everyday. It makes for really good background music I've found.

Guess I'll wait another year before getting it I listened to a couple of the tracks on Neal's Youtube channel and wasn't really blown away or anything.

The malware in that website is a false positive. Don’t worry about it.

So weird, never happened to me before on their site

[MinistroRaven]

A new concept album is in the works, NM has music for a triple album, but he said he probably will trimmed it dow to a double album as he doesn't want to repeat themes too much. He signed a deal with Frotiers, he is working on lyrics now and he doesn't know who will play on it. The story will be related to Joseph from the Bible.

He is exchanging demos with Nick and Ross for a follow album too.

[gmillerdrake]

A new concept album is in the works, NM has music for a triple album, but he said he probably will trimmed it dow to a double album as he doesn't want to repeat themes too much. He signed a deal with Frotiers, he is working on lyrics now and he doesn't know who will play on it. The story will be related to Joseph from the Bible.

He is exchanging demos with Nick and Ross for a follow album too.

I've always thought telling David's story would be a great one to tell musically as well. So many avenues of story there. Will be interested to hear this....and, I hope that it's just a NMB album with that cast of characters writing/performing the music.

[Stadler]

A new concept album is in the works, NM has music for a triple album, but he said he probably will trimmed it dow to a double album as he doesn't want to repeat themes too much. He signed a deal with Frotiers, he is working on lyrics now and he doesn't know who will play on it. The story will be related to Joseph from the Bible.

He is exchanging demos with Nick and Ross for a follow album too.

I've always thought telling David's story would be a great one to tell musically as well. So many avenues of story there. Will be interested to hear this....and, I hope that it's just a NMB album with that cast of characters writing/performing the music.

I'd be interested if Neal could pull off a sort of "Star One" or "Ayreon" thing with six or seven decently known singers.  That'd be fun.

[bosk1]

A new concept album is in the works, NM has music for a triple album, but he said he probably will trimmed it dow to a double album as he doesn't want to repeat themes too much. He signed a deal with Frotiers, he is working on lyrics now and he doesn't know who will play on it. The story will be related to Joseph from the Bible.

He is exchanging demos with Nick and Ross for a follow album too.

I've always thought telling David's story would be a great one to tell musically as well. So many avenues of story there. Will be interested to hear this....and, I hope that it's just a NMB album with that cast of characters writing/performing the music.

I'd be interested if Neal could pull off a sort of "Star One" or "Ayreon" thing with six or seven decently known singers.  That'd be fun.

He pretty much did that with JCTE, and I thought it worked really well (although I still think Ted Leonard is a bit underwhelming as Jesus on the album [and that is related to album performance only--he knocked it out of the park on the live version]). 

[HOF]

Interesting that Neal is releasing this on Frontiers rather than Inside/Out. Has he worked with them before?

[gzarruk]

Interesting that Neal is releasing this on Frontiers rather than Inside/Out. Has he worked with them before?

IIRC, JCTE was also released through them.

[MinistroRaven]

Interesting that Neal is releasing this on Frontiers rather than Inside/Out. Has he worked with them before?

IIRC, JCTE was also released through them.

Correct

[KevShmev]

I wonder why he is doing this with another record company again.  I noticed that the Exorcist didn't sound as good as most of Neal's other records this century (the mix was a bit dry and flat), so I hope that was a coincidence and not a Frontiers thing. You never know when it comes to labels pushing certain things on artists. 

[bosk1]

You never know when it comes to labels pushing certain things on artists. 

[HOF]

I wonder why he is doing this with another record company again.  I noticed that the Exorcist didn't sound as good as most of Neal's other records this century (the mix was a bit dry and flat), so I hope that was a coincidence and not a Frontiers thing. You never know when it comes to labels pushing certain things on artists.

Poor sounding mixes are kind of a Frontiers trademark.

[gzarruk]

I wonder why he is doing this with another record company again.  I noticed that the Exorcist didn't sound as good as most of Neal's other records this century (the mix was a bit dry and flat), so I hope that was a coincidence and not a Frontiers thing. You never know when it comes to labels pushing certain things on artists.

I agree on the mix, it doesn't sound quite "right". That, and Eric's drumming.

[Willthescout7]

Has anyone else had trouble editing the name of the new IC Keys and Guitar album? I'm trying to rename and edit the files so they make a semblance of sense on my phone and computer, but my computer won't let me and I can't change the name on my phone either. I've tried turning off read only mode but it keeps turning back on immediately when I click away. I've tried redownloading a few times. This is the only IC release I've had trouble with. Anyone more tech savvy than me and can provide assistance?

[emtee]

After a few months of spinning other albums I grabbed Innocence And Danger and spun it on Sunday. Just a superb album, man. I would say it's on par with my 2 favorites, Testimony and One. And the middle section of Beyond The Years might be one of my top 10 musical sections of all time.

[Kram]

After a few months of spinning other albums I grabbed Innocence And Danger and spun it on Sunday. Just a superb album, man. I would say it's on par with my 2 favorites, Testimony and One. And the middle section of Beyond The Years might be one of my top 10 musical sections of all time.

Agree with everything you said Emtee except my two other favorites are Sola Scriptura and ?.  Beyond the Years is absolutley awesome!  Love Eric and Bill's contributions here.  Can't wait for the next NMB album!

[Metro]

Important news for Inner Circle members

New and Improved Inner Circle Membership!
Hi Everyone!
 
Behold! Christmas time comes with good tidings of great joy… well, that’s kind of what this email is about!
 
For many years our Inner Circle functionality on the updated website has thrown up a few problems… password issues, people not getting emails, payments not renewing - and we are really sorry!  But we now have a solution that will fix all of that going forward - which is the good news!
 
In order to make that happen, we have had to end the previous way of doing things, which (and this is the not so good news!) means that Inner Circle members will need to sign up again.  It actually won’t look that different to what you did when you first enrolled - but this time it will be without the problems. The old system will be switched off on Christmas Eve (December 24th).

So… there was good news, bad news and now… some more good news!  To thank you for your support as Inner Circle Members, and for taking the time to sign up to the new system, when you sign up, we will add the MP3 files for the Morsefest 2020 Cover To Cover show straight into your Downloads folder!
 
So you’ll get that audio 4 weeks before official release date and can enjoy it over the holiday season. 😃
 
In addition to the early release of Morsefest 2020 Cover To Cover audio, you also get your first month of new Inner Circle membership for free. 😃😃
 
Signing up for the new Inner Circle costs nothing today, and you get the audio files for immediate download.
 
Your monthly Inner Circle monthly membership fee will resume in 30 days on our new system.
Instructions
Click the link to sign up for the new and improved Inner Circle membership:
https://www.nealmorse.com/?alg_apply_coupon=IC-3MD
 
If you have any trouble we are standing by to help. Just drop us  an email at the link below, and we’ll help you make the transition:
 
help.my.inner.circle.access.is.wonky@nealmorse.com   🤓
 
Thanks again for your support and I look forward to an exciting year with lots of new music and releases in 2023!
 
Happy holidays!
 
Neal

[The Letter M]

Important news for Inner Circle members

New and Improved Inner Circle Membership!
Hi Everyone!
 
Behold! Christmas time comes with good tidings of great joy… well, that’s kind of what this email is about!
 
For many years our Inner Circle functionality on the updated website has thrown up a few problems… password issues, people not getting emails, payments not renewing - and we are really sorry!  But we now have a solution that will fix all of that going forward - which is the good news!
 
In order to make that happen, we have had to end the previous way of doing things, which (and this is the not so good news!) means that Inner Circle members will need to sign up again.  It actually won’t look that different to what you did when you first enrolled - but this time it will be without the problems. The old system will be switched off on Christmas Eve (December 24th).

So… there was good news, bad news and now… some more good news!  To thank you for your support as Inner Circle Members, and for taking the time to sign up to the new system, when you sign up, we will add the MP3 files for the Morsefest 2020 Cover To Cover show straight into your Downloads folder!
 
So you’ll get that audio 4 weeks before official release date and can enjoy it over the holiday season. 😃
 
In addition to the early release of Morsefest 2020 Cover To Cover audio, you also get your first month of new Inner Circle membership for free. 😃😃
 
Signing up for the new Inner Circle costs nothing today, and you get the audio files for immediate download.
 
Your monthly Inner Circle monthly membership fee will resume in 30 days on our new system.
Instructions
Click the link to sign up for the new and improved Inner Circle membership:
https://www.nealmorse.com/?alg_apply_coupon=IC-3MD
 
If you have any trouble we are standing by to help. Just drop us  an email at the link below, and we’ll help you make the transition:
 
help.my.inner.circle.access.is.wonky@nealmorse.com   🤓
 
Thanks again for your support and I look forward to an exciting year with lots of new music and releases in 2023!
 
Happy holidays!
 
Neal

I saw that email earlier. I'm glad they're finally addressing these issues that I and many others have been having for literal YEARS (since before the pandemic). Although I've noticed that the website nealmorse.com has not been loading for nearly a week now. Anyone else having this issue or is it just me? Either way, the link in the email wasn't working for me as well, so who knows when this will actually work.

Side-note, I ordered some merch from them on Black Friday and when I finally got my package earlier this month, they sent me a wrong t-shirt (I asked for a Morsefest 2018 shirt and they sent me a 2019 shirt, which I already had). I've emailed them 5 times since then and no response yet. I guess I was eventually going to have bad customer service from them since I haven't at all in the last decade or so since I started ordering from them. Ah well...

-Marc.

[gzarruk]

Although I've noticed that the website nealmorse.com has not been loading for nearly a week now. Anyone else having this issue or is it just me? Either way, the link in the email wasn't working for me as well, so who knows when this will actually work.

Not working for me either