Spock's Beard

[Jaq]

  It caught my attention because Alex Exposito was the name a of really hot girl I knew in school.  Her true name is Alessandra, but she went by Alex.  (Yes, an anecdote involving a hot female in an Orbert post.  Don't tell me you're surprised.)

GIMMICK INFRINGEMENT   

[Orbert]

Sorry dude, but I was dropping the hot babe anecdotes long, long before you joined up.

I will say that some of yours are better, but let's not forget who was first.

 

[Jaq]

Curse the seniority clause. 

[Orbert]

Yeah, I get kinda desperate sometimes and have to whip it out.  It's super effective!   

[Mladen]

The last two SB albums are two of their best releases overall. I'm a bigger SB fan now than I was before X was released.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, my interest in the band was waning prior to X, so much that when they did the offer to pay extra ahead of time for the CD in order to have your name mentioned in Their Names Escape Me, I never even considered it, but X was so damn great, that it renewed my love for the band.  And then Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep was almost as good.  I still wish the band would write all of their own music instead of relying on so many outside writers post-Neal era, but whatever.

[ariich]

I love BNADS, but I'm apparently the only one who wasn't overjoyed with X and thought it was a step down from the previous two albums.

[jingle.boy]

I love BNADS, but I'm apparently the only one who wasn't overjoyed with X and thought it was a step down from the previous two albums.

Yes, you are.

[pain of occupation]

i'd say about two thirds of both the s/t and Octane are fantastic. love me some that stuff.

every 5th SB release is epic and strong as fuck front to back. so,  X.

for some reason, I haven't really given the latest one much of a chance. im still not sure what to think of Ted as their frontman.
but giving it a chance is probs about to change. my best bud who lives in china was looking for a new band recently, and I guess since I was slow on making a suggestion, he somehow stumbled upon Spock's latest all on his own and apparently loves it(!?). he starts sending me messages about the band, asking what I think of them n what not. anyway, im tripping out, cuz they aren't anything close to what this guy finds "palatablllllllllllle". there's hundreds of bands I woulda considered showing him before spock's. so ya, his "new favorite album" has me re-intrigued.

[Mindflux]

Well I hope with the next one they don't have to crowdsource their way to funding it. 

[The Letter M]

every 5th SB release is epic and strong as fuck front to back. so,  X.

I have high hopes and expectations for Spock's Beard's 15th album, XV.

-Marc.

[7StringedBeast]

I've been listening to Snow a lot lately.  It's a masterpiece album.  It might be the strongest album as far as melody goes I've ever heard.  Especially the vocal melodies.  Every word wants to be sang along to. 

Now, I just recently listened to BNADS for the first time.  I think the album is great.  The only problem with it for me is that the first track "Hiding Out" is so fucking good that it makes the rest of the album seem weak to me.  Like seriously, "Hiding Out" is an incredible song.

[The Letter M]

I've been listening to Snow a lot lately.  It's a masterpiece album.  It might be the strongest album as far as melody goes I've ever heard.  Especially the vocal melodies.  Every word wants to be sang along to. 

Now, I just recently listened to BNADS for the first time.  I think the album is great.  The only problem with it for me is that the first track "Hiding Out" is so fucking good that it makes the rest of the album seem weak to me.  Like seriously, "Hiding Out" is an incredible song.

The opening track is pretty strong, but so is the closing epic and the "Thoughts" sequel, "Afterthoughts". "Something Very Strange" is pretty epic too.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I still think Afterthought is pretty dreadful, but the rest of the album is really strong.  Hiding Out is definitely a good one!

[jingle.boy]

I still think Afterthought is pretty dreadful, but the rest of the album is really strong.  Hiding Out is definitely a good one!

SVS is probably my favorite.  Such a fun tune.

[KevShmev]

It really is.  I still prefer the shorter version on the bonus disc.  When I listen to the song, that is my go-to version of it.

[The Letter M]

Am I the only one hoping that, if principal writing for SB12 isn't already done, that Ted's time with Transatlantic and Neal will somewhat influence his contributions towards the next album? Supposedly, the boys are already gearing up for a new album either this year or next, so I'll be happy if Ted picks any proggy-ideas from his touring with the proggiest prog rock supergroup of the century.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

As posted by Neal on twitter, taken at the TA show last night, three generations of Spock's:

[The Letter M]

As posted by Neal on twitter, taken at the TA show last night, three generations of Spock's:

This is amazing. Al with SB's 3 front-men. I'm glad Nick and Al were there and I hope they enjoyed supporting their fellow Beardsmen!

-Marc.

[Mladen]

Yeah, those photos on Facebook really made my day. 

[Mindflux]

Nobody posted this yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZX2PsAKETc&feature=youtu.be

Drums only version of Hiding Out.  Pretty cool.

So as the title says, this is a drums only track of the song Hiding Out from Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep. Rich Mouser engineered the track. The drums are a Yamaha PHX kit (you'll see it in the images). The heads were Aquarian Texture Coated on top of the toms and and Classic Clear underneath. The Snare (a 14x5.5 Starclassic brass) has a Texture Coated w/Dot Underneath. Paiste Cymbals consisting of a 20" Giant Beat, 18" Dark Energy Crash, 16" Twenty Thin Crash, 20" Twenty Ride, 13" Signature Dark Crisp Hi Hats, 10" Signature Splash and an 18" Traditional China.

Rich uses a lot of mics. Close and distant. 20 in all for this track. We tried an AT 4047 in front of the kick and wow, it was awesome.

We tracked to Pro Tools and as this is digital, we did many passes and made a composite track of all the pieces we liked. Generally I like to do full takes so there were full versions we could've used but with the advantages of digital editing, we did this. Funny, there are still things that pop out when you remove the other instruments and voices. Some funny edits occur in the beginning and end but with everything in, you don't notice them.

The most important thing that Rich and I wanted to capture was dynamic depth. I wanted it very clear that I was using dynamics. The drums are loud and in your face without intruding on the other instruments and you can really hear when I lay into the kick and snare. Thanks Rich!!!

Musically, the eighth note reigns supreme. Ted had already created a pretty solid drum part. I just flattened it out a bit. I wanted something to keep consistency between the 4/4 sections and the 6/8. Plus it had to work with the odd bars of ⅝ that sneak in. Lots of snare and lots of flourishes. The melodic instruments play some interesting syncopation so I also wanted the song to groove. I tried to sort of straighten out the odd feel. This is one of my favorite songs on the record and what were Ted and I thinking when we added the background vocals? Oh, they sound great but playing and singing this one live is not easy. Thanks for writing a very cool song Ted!

Cheers! Oh and feel free to ask any questions.
Jimmy

[Mindflux]

Spock's is doing a kickstarter for their full PNAS 14 performance:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spocksbeard/progressive-nation-at-sea-dvd

[Mindflux]

Beard fans where you go?

[KevShmev]

I'm still here!

Actually, I went through a phase a few weeks ago where I listened to the Beard non-stop, and almost bumped this thread, but didn't for whatever reason.

I still can't believe how good and consistent the newest album is.  If you factor in the bonus songs, this might very well be a top 5 Beard disc.  It really is that good.

[RoeDent]

Even without the bonus disc, it's still an utterly brilliant album! Ted Leonard fits the band perfectly. They did well there. Something Very Strange has one of my favourite intros in all of prog. The wind from Afterthoughts, then that cool vocoder bit, and a long instrumental section mean it's well over 3 minutes before the first proper verse. In an 8 minute song, that's a pretty long intro!

[jingle.boy]

Spock's is doing a kickstarter for their full PNAS 14 performance:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spocksbeard/progressive-nation-at-sea-dvd

Seeing as how I have my own personal recording of the Neal morse songs from this set, not too interested in paying $40 or so for a one hour DVD that I already have half of.

[Mindflux]

I still can't believe how good and consistent the newest album is.  If you factor in the bonus songs, this might very well be a top 5 Beard disc.  It really is that good.

Yeah I spun the new disk this morning after I bumped the thread. Really great stuff on it.

[Mindflux]

Seeing as how I have my own personal recording of the Neal morse songs from this set, not too interested in paying $40 or so for a one hour DVD that I already have half of.

So instead you spent $2K for half the video. Makes sense. 

[The Letter M]

Tracking for the next album starts tomorrow!

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

Seeing as how I have my own personal recording of the Neal morse songs from this set, not too interested in paying $40 or so for a one hour DVD that I already have half of.

So instead you spent $2K for half the video. Makes sense. 

Yeah, that's all I got for $2k... 30 mins of SB.  What's with the 'loser' emote?

[Mindflux]

Yeah, that's all I got for $2k... 30 mins of SB.  What's with the 'loser' emote?

It was a joke, brah.
 

[jingle.boy]

I'm chilled. Wasn't bent out of shape over it, just didn't seem like the appropriate emote. No worries.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

People's use of emotes can sometimes be confounding. 

[KevShmev]

I still can't believe how good and consistent the newest album is.  If you factor in the bonus songs, this might very well be a top 5 Beard disc.  It really is that good.

Yeah I spun the new disk this morning after I bumped the thread. Really great stuff on it.

I did an alternate track listing for it, by incorporating the bonus tracks, dropping Afterthoughts (which I do not like), and using the shorter version of Something Very Stranger (which I prefer, largely because that keyboard melody that dominates the long intro sounds just like The Good Don't Last, and if I want to hear it, I'll listen to that song):

1. Hiding Out
2. I Know You Secret
3. A Treasure Abandoned
4. Submerged
5. The Man You're Afraid You Are
6. Down a Burning Road
7. Wish I Were Here
8. Something Very Strange
9. Postcards from Perdition
10. Waiting for Me

[RoeDent]

Tracking for the next album starts tomorrow!

-Marc.

Is this a joke? And if it isn't, are we talking about the next studio album?