Author Topic: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread  (Read 539820 times)

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Offline Cocopjojo

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7245 on: January 25, 2024, 11:01:39 AM »
Chester Thompson and Phil Keaggy are world class musicians.  If that turned into a real project, that would rock my face.
Yep - most people outside of the Christian music scene aren’t familiar with Phil (I wasn’t for a long time) but he is legitimately one of the best musicians on the planet. And one of the few artists I know of who puts out more music than Neal. Yes, really. Phil often has 2-3 albums release every year, and that has been happening for like 25 years. Though, to be fair, most of them are stuff he collaborates on rather than writes solo.

Offline bosk1

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7246 on: January 25, 2024, 12:03:31 PM »
I don't know him, other than vaguely recognizing the name.  I'm a Christian who, for the most part, actively avoids the "Christian music scene" because I find that most "Christian music" is not really very Christian, and is often either (1) just platitudes without much substance and/or (2) full of Biblical-sounding stuff that isn't really Biblical/Christian at all.  Combine that with the fact that I don't find most of the music to be very good, and it isn't a winning combination for me. 
"The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

Offline HOF

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7247 on: January 25, 2024, 12:48:02 PM »
I don't know him, other than vaguely recognizing the name.  I'm a Christian who, for the most part, actively avoids the "Christian music scene" because I find that most "Christian music" is not really very Christian, and is often either (1) just platitudes without much substance and/or (2) full of Biblical-sounding stuff that isn't really Biblical/Christian at all.  Combine that with the fact that I don't find most of the music to be very good, and it isn't a winning combination for me.

Generally, same. I do know of Phil Keaggy, but have never explored his music really.

I was surprised to learn today that Chester Thompson lives in Nashville and teaches drums at Belmont, which is a small Christian college in TN. Have known some people who went there even but had no idea he taught there.

Offline Cocopjojo

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7248 on: January 25, 2024, 05:42:57 PM »
I don't know him, other than vaguely recognizing the name.  I'm a Christian who, for the most part, actively avoids the "Christian music scene" because I find that most "Christian music" is not really very Christian, and is often either (1) just platitudes without much substance and/or (2) full of Biblical-sounding stuff that isn't really Biblical/Christian at all.  Combine that with the fact that I don't find most of the music to be very good, and it isn't a winning combination for me.
Agreed on all points.

Phil Keaggy opened for Neal at one of the first Morsefests and I was super impressed with his sound and playing style. All I knew of him before then was his guest work on One.

You should check out Shades of Green and True Believers. If you like those then you may find the rest of his work interesting, as he has a lot of songs similar to both of those tracks. Shades of Green is basically what I saw live at Morsefest that impressed me so much. But if neither of those is interesting to you then you're not missing out on much by passing on him.

Shades of Green (start at 50sec): https://youtu.be/3wpn6LVxX0s?si=VBaUXWpNJN2mtqd1&t=50

True Believers: https://youtu.be/RGfGPcRZUjM?si=A08w6jjNdZzjSSVE

Offline Jamesman42

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7249 on: January 25, 2024, 06:55:05 PM »
I'm only familiar with Phil, and I've heard of Chester but that seems like an interesting jam session. Had Neal ever worked with Phil?

My brother, go listen to Cradle to the Grave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKyOMLTlUKQ

Offline ReaperKK

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7250 on: January 25, 2024, 07:53:44 PM »
I'm only familiar with Phil, and I've heard of Chester but that seems like an interesting jam session. Had Neal ever worked with Phil?

My brother, go listen to Cradle to the Grave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKyOMLTlUKQ

That was a fantastic tune! I need to give the rest of that album a spin.

Offline The Letter M

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7251 on: January 29, 2024, 01:18:14 PM »
Neal brings up the jam session with Chester on his recent IC Newsletter:

Quote
Chester and I got to hang out backstage at the Steve Hackett concert at the Ryman in November and afterward I felt something from the Lord that I should get with him and maybe do some music together. So, we had lunch in December and then I went to his house and jammed with him for a little while and right away it just felt like there was something there. Then he came over to my studio near the end of December and we improvised again and recorded it and it was really special. Lots of magic there.

We felt like we should invite some other people to jam with us and so we had Phil Keaggy, who most of you know, and Byron House who is a bass player who's worked with Robert Plant and all kinds of amazing people and he lives locally here in White House, so I thought that would be cool. Byron also played on the Testimony album. We had a jam session last week and it was inspired! We improvised many different pieces and I'd sing whenever I felt to sing. It was pretty extraordinary.

We're not sure what we're going to do moving forward. I haven't felt to discuss it too much yet but we're looking to have a Zoom meeting and talk about possibilities. So, pray for us that we will know the Lord's will and we will carry it out to the best of our ability!

-Marc.
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Offline ronnibran

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7252 on: January 29, 2024, 01:44:58 PM »
Neal brings up the jam session with Chester on his recent IC Newsletter:

Quote
Chester and I got to hang out backstage at the Steve Hackett concert at the Ryman in November and afterward I felt something from the Lord that I should get with him and maybe do some music together. So, we had lunch in December and then I went to his house and jammed with him for a little while and right away it just felt like there was something there. Then he came over to my studio near the end of December and we improvised again and recorded it and it was really special. Lots of magic there.

We felt like we should invite some other people to jam with us and so we had Phil Keaggy, who most of you know, and Byron House who is a bass player who's worked with Robert Plant and all kinds of amazing people and he lives locally here in White House, so I thought that would be cool. Byron also played on the Testimony album. We had a jam session last week and it was inspired! We improvised many different pieces and I'd sing whenever I felt to sing. It was pretty extraordinary.

We're not sure what we're going to do moving forward. I haven't felt to discuss it too much yet but we're looking to have a Zoom meeting and talk about possibilities. So, pray for us that we will know the Lord's will and we will carry it out to the best of our ability!

-Marc.

Awesome, glad I joined the Inner Circle again (said sarcastically).  I didn't get the newsletter.   Guess it's time to cancel again/already. This also happened last time I joined, and I went months without getting newsletters and I ended up quitting the inner circle.  I was hoping this time would be different. I'd say it would be therapeutic to write Radiant Records but I won't have that satisfaction because I know my email will never get read lol.  At least they only got one month's subscription fee from me this time.  Bastards.

Offline TheHoveringSojourn808

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7253 on: January 29, 2024, 01:50:53 PM »
i am not a christian but have no problem with his christian lyrics. same way i have no problem with the number of the beast or WAP
harusame ni nuretsutsu yane no temari kana
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Offline Jamesman42

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7254 on: January 30, 2024, 07:41:30 PM »
The JLB avatar and the mere mention of WAP is hilarious to me.

Offline ReaperKK

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7255 on: January 30, 2024, 08:58:12 PM »
Wet Ass LaBrie

Offline ErHaO

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7256 on: February 04, 2024, 04:44:46 PM »
Just listened to Joseph pt 2 and had a good time. Did not hear pt 1, but I like this much more than Sola Gratia and the Jesus musical. Plenty of good vocal performances and some nice hooks. I actually enjoyed it much more than I anticipated.

Offline Metro

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7257 on: February 04, 2024, 05:01:25 PM »
I mentioned a while back that I was selling some of my Neal Morse CDs/DVDs. I still have 3 for sale if anyone's interested. Shoot me a DM.

Testimony 1 Live 2DVD

Testimony 2 Live in Los Angeles 3CD/2DVD

Alive Again 2CD/1DVD

Offline The Letter M

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7258 on: March 02, 2024, 08:42:12 AM »
Neal has sent out his February IC Newsletter and a couple of things:
-He's working on another singer-songwriter album, of which a few songs were played at the London Morsefest. He's playing every instrument and recording without click tracks. He says it'll be out this summer, probably on his Waterfall streaming app first, then on CD/Vinyl later on.
-The project with Chester, Phil, and Byron is moving forward, with album sessions probably happening in July. He wants to try and make this a crowdfunded project so it can be self-released, with more information on that coming in May.
-Morsefest 2024 *IS* happening, and while he doesn't have much info to give, he says it'll feature both Joseph albums, so if those are your bag, look forward to it! He says some key performers are already locked in (I assume he means some of the lead vocalists), but more info will be coming with dates eyed for November this year. It makes sense for him to do the Joseph albums since Mike will likely be unavailable this year for Morsefest.

-Marc.
« Last Edit: March 02, 2024, 09:06:39 AM by The Letter M »
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Offline HOF

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7259 on: March 02, 2024, 08:54:34 AM »
A singer-songwriter album from Neal is more interesting to me than his prog stuff these days, so I'll keep an eye out for that.

The project with Chester and Phil could be interesting too!

Offline gzarruk

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7260 on: March 02, 2024, 09:07:56 AM »
Yeah, Joseph pt. 1 and 2 were a safe bet for this year's Morsefest as he hasn't done anything else to suit that concept lately.

I'm also really interested in his project with Phil and Chester. Sounds like a great lineup.

Hopefully, after the cruise, he feels the itch to write some stuff for Flying Colors again and he could do so remotely with Casey as IIRC they did for Third Degree.
It sounds like, "ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk." Instead of the more pleasing kick drum sound of, "gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk."

Offline The Letter M

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Re: Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread
« Reply #7261 on: March 02, 2024, 09:12:00 AM »
Yeah, Joseph pt. 1 and 2 were a safe bet for this year's Morsefest as he hasn't done anything else to suit that concept lately.

I'm also really interested in his project with Phil and Chester. Sounds like a great lineup.

Hopefully, after the cruise, he feels the itch to write some stuff for Flying Colors again and he could do so remotely with Casey as IIRC they did for Third Degree.

I would love some Flying Colors, and I'm sure Mike could squeeze in a couple weeks for it sometime this year. And doing just a short FC Tour next year probably wouldn't eat into Mike's DT commitments either, so I see it as a big possibility if Steve, Dave, and Casey were all down for a fourth FC album.

-Marc.
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