Spock's Beard Discography thread

[King Postwhore]

We are heading to Portland ME today so we'll jam to this album on the ride up.

[KevShmev]

 

[The Letter M]

Rich Mouser is pretty amazing, he's practically a member of Spock's Beard at this point. His mixing work on all of the SB albums he's done has been fantastic, and Noise Floor is no exception.

As an update, I received my Japanese Edition of the album last week, and while I haven't had a chance to listen to the 6 demos included on the bonus disc, I have spun the Ryo-written "Save Our Souls", which I thought would be another keyboard-only track like 'Listening To The Sky" or "From The Messenger", but it's actually got some tribal-sounding drumming and a guitar solo! With that track now in my playlist of the album, here's my final track list remix of all 13 songs:

To Breathe Another Day
What Become Of Me
Save Our Souls

Somebody's Home
Have We All Gone Crazy Yet
So This Is Life

Days We'll Remember
Armageddon Nervous
Vault
One So Wise

Bulletproof
Box Of Spiders
Beginnings

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

This album reminds me of Octane...there is nothing on there that is totally awesome, but it has a handful of really good songs and the rest is mostly good.

[King Postwhore]

She Is Everything blew me away.

[KevShmev]

Really good song, yes, with a tremendous solo, but I wouldn't describe the song overall as "totally awesome."  I save hyperbole like that for the biggies like Jaws of Heaven, The Light, The Doorway, Flow and At the End of the Day. 

[King Postwhore]

When I listen to that solo, I wear a condom.

[The Curious Orange]

My problem with this album is that I just don't like Beginnings. Apart from that, it may just be the best album from the Ted-era so far.

[RoeDent]

I must admit I'm inclined to agree with many here about Box of Spiders. At the moment, my least favourite of Spock's Beard's instrumentals. I cannot get a grasp of its structure; it just feels like an unrelated bunch of Ryo solos, with little repeated material to get one's bearings around the song.

[KevShmev]

It doesn't help that Ryo is a pretty average soloist.  Given that, pretty much any song that is centered around Ryo soloing is fighting an uphill battle.

[Nick]

It doesn't help that Ryo is a pretty average soloist.  Given that, pretty much any song that is centered around Ryo soloing is fighting an uphill battle.

Is it... climbing up that hill?

[RoeDent]

I bought Feel Euphoria today. Listening now...I've hardly heard any of these songs. It's certainly a darker atmosphere in the first few songs. Ghosts of Autumn is gorgeous!

The only two albums I need to get now to complete the SB studio discography are Day for Night and the self-titled. One of those will be considerably easier to get than the other. Whenever I've seen the self-titled album, it's always been vastly more expensive than any of the others. Was it a limited release or something?

[The Letter M]

I bought Feel Euphoria today. Listening now...I've hardly heard any of these songs. It's certainly a darker atmosphere in the first few songs. Ghosts of Autumn is gorgeous!

The only two albums I need to get now to complete the SB studio discography are Day for Night and the self-titled. One of those will be considerably easier to get than the other. Whenever I've seen the self-titled album, it's always been vastly more expensive than any of the others. Was it a limited release or something?

Funnily enough, I've been spinning various SB/Neal Morse albums, in chronological order, in my car as I commute to and from work and wherever I go, and I'm currently at Feel Euphoria myself (after getting through the first 6 SB albums, Testimony, Neal's previous 2 solo albums, NDV's Karma, and a slew of live albums), and it's refreshing to hear the first NDV-led SB album for the first time in awhile. It's a very underrated album, but I can understand why some folks don't rank or rate it as high as the others in the catalog. The band were definitely trying to find their feet after Neal left, but there's a lot of great moments throughout the album!

As for the self-titled album, I don't think it was a limited release, but it's never been re-issued. Here's one that's pre-owned on eBay up for bid, only $14.50, and on this search, a couple more around $25-26.

Hope that helps!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I bought Feel Euphoria today. Listening now...I've hardly heard any of these songs. It's certainly a darker atmosphere in the first few songs. Ghosts of Autumn is gorgeous!

Much better album that it is given credit for.  Ghost of Autumn is definitely killer, and I am a huge fan of East of Eden, West of Memphis as well.  I also like The Bottom Line a lot, and the Guy Named Sid suite is very nice. 

[DTA]

I bought Feel Euphoria today. Listening now...I've hardly heard any of these songs. It's certainly a darker atmosphere in the first few songs. Ghosts of Autumn is gorgeous!

The only two albums I need to get now to complete the SB studio discography are Day for Night and the self-titled. One of those will be considerably easier to get than the other. Whenever I've seen the self-titled album, it's always been vastly more expensive than any of the others. Was it a limited release or something?

FE is incredibly underrated. There's not a weak song on there, with The Bottom Line and Ghosts Of Autumn being standouts. I'm not in love with Sid as an epic but it's enjoyable throughout (btw does anyone know why the first 3 NDV SB albums had their epics divided up into separate tracks?) A lot of people seem to dislike the title track but I think it's one of the more interesting songs they'd done up to that point.

[jammindude]

It took me a long time to accept SB without Neal....and I've still never heard any material before Ted Leonard joined. 

It would be like if Gavin, Colin, Richard and John Wesley decided to play as Porcupine Tree. 

But now it's been long enough, and there's some distance there...I might be willing to give some of those albums a spin.

[DTA]

It took me a long time to accept SB without Neal....and I've still never heard any material before Ted Leonard joined. 

It would be like if Gavin, Colin, Richard and John Wesley decided to play as Porcupine Tree. 

But now it's been long enough, and there's some distance there...I might be willing to give some of those albums a spin.

There's no doubt that the Neal-era has the best songs. The vibe of the band was quirky and silly, and it showed in a lot of their music which made as lot of their songs feel really unique and adventurous. This aspect of the band was lost when he left and they got a bit more straightforward and "serious" for lack of a better word, but the NDV era certainly is worth hearing and has its fair share of highlights. There's some material which I would classify as "unnecessary" throughout which I never felt with the Neal albums (or Ted albums for that matter), but the stuff is well-played and varied enough to get lots of replays with X being the best of the 4 IMO. All of them are definitely worth hearing though.

[ytserush]

I bought Feel Euphoria today. Listening now...I've hardly heard any of these songs. It's certainly a darker atmosphere in the first few songs. Ghosts of Autumn is gorgeous!

The only two albums I need to get now to complete the SB studio discography are Day for Night and the self-titled. One of those will be considerably easier to get than the other. Whenever I've seen the self-titled album, it's always been vastly more expensive than any of the others. Was it a limited release or something?

I still have an extra still-sealed self-titled that I still have for reasons I can't remember. Let me know if you're interested. (PM? Email?)

It's probably my favorite of the Nick-fronted band.  I thought they were still trying to figure out what they wanted to be post-Neal and think they found it with this record.

[KevShmev]

There's no doubt that the Neal-era has the best songs. The vibe of the band was quirky and silly, and it showed in a lot of their music which made as lot of their songs feel really unique and adventurous. This aspect of the band was lost when he left and they got a bit more straightforward and "serious" for lack of a better word, but the NDV era certainly is worth hearing and has its fair share of highlights. There's some material which I would classify as "unnecessary" throughout which I never felt with the Neal albums (or Ted albums for that matter), but the stuff is well-played and varied enough to get lots of replays with X being the best of the 4 IMO. All of them are definitely worth hearing though.

Most of them, yes, but I still say that Jaws of Heaven is about as good as anything the band did with Neal in the band. There are only a few Neal-era songs I'd put ahead of it

[DTA]

Most of them, yes, but I still say that Jaws of Heaven is about as good as anything the band did with Neal in the band. There are only a few Neal-era songs I'd put ahead of it

Jaws of Heaven is excellent. Probably my favorite song of the NDV-era and a highlight of their entire catalog. I'd still put about a dozen Neal songs ahead of it, but I can see how others rate it higher.

[RoeDent]

A lot of people seem to dislike the title track but I think it's one of the more interesting songs they'd done up to that point.

I like its groove.

[The Curious Orange]

Do they have a new drummer yet? They've started to announce dates, so they must have someone lined up.

[ich bin besser]

The drummer from Saga is hired for the tour.

[ytserush]

The drummer from Saga is hired for the tour.

They could have done worse.

[The Letter M]

Hey fellow SB fans, I am bringing back the Spock's Beard Survivor soon, here at DTF in the Polls/Survivors subforum! If you enjoy participating in that sort of thing, please keep an eye out there for it very soon! It's been three year since the last one, and I've done them every three years since 2010, so I figured now was a good time as any to do another, especially since Noise Floor has been out for some time now.

-Marc.

[Mladen]

I think I've been a part of a SB survivor even ten years ago when there were about four voters.  It got better then next time or two, but now I'm confident you'll have plenty of voters. I'm in, of course. 

[The Letter M]

I think I've been a part of a SB survivor even ten years ago when there were about four voters.  It got better then next time or two, but now I'm confident you'll have plenty of voters. I'm in, of course. 

Was there one before me? I mean, that's quite possible, but I don't remember hearing about one, but this is the fourth one I have done (2010, 2013, and 2016 being the previous years). I think I had a solid number of voters last time, so I'm hoping there's a fair number again this time, at least, to make it interesting (maybe at least 7 or 8, 10 or more would be great). Glad to see you'll be participating again, Mladen! Can't wait to start Survivor'ing again!

-Marc.

[DTA]

I'm in. I'm curious to see the results even though The Light or At The End Of The Day will probably win.

[Mladen]

I think I've been a part of a SB survivor even ten years ago when there were about four voters.  It got better then next time or two, but now I'm confident you'll have plenty of voters. I'm in, of course. 

Was there one before me? I mean, that's quite possible, but I don't remember hearing about one, but this is the fourth one I have done (2010, 2013, and 2016 being the previous years). I think I had a solid number of voters last time, so I'm hoping there's a fair number again this time, at least, to make it interesting (maybe at least 7 or 8, 10 or more would be great). Glad to see you'll be participating again, Mladen! Can't wait to start Survivor'ing again!

-Marc.

I don't think there was one before you. The one I'm remembering must be the survivor you did in 2010, I'm positive you were the one running it.

[RoeDent]

Just in time for the survivor, I guess...I ordered Day for Night today, and all being well it should be here tomorrow. That will just leave the (quite hard to get still) self-titled album as the last Spock's album I need to get before I'm fully caught up. It's only taken the best part of a decade. The reference to Day for Night in DT's Octavarium ("Day for nightmare cinema show...") was the first time I was made aware of Spock's Beard.

[frogprog]

Today I listened to Kindness, Beware and V straight through, and man did I enjoy them!!! It's been a while since I heard them but what a fantastic group of songs. Unfortunately I did not have Day 4 Night ripped....

[RoeDent]

Listening to Day for Night for the first time. These are really good songs. Favourite so far is probably The Gypsy. It's got that wonderful quirkiness that I love about Spock's Beard. Crack the Big Sky is also a great track, and Distance to the Sun and Can't Get It Wrong are surprisingly pleasant.

[KevShmev]

Maybe it's because I didn't listen to it a lot back in the day because it was my least favorite Spock's record from the Neal era, but I probably listen to Day for Night as much as any CD from that era now, or should I say I listen to 2/3 of it as much as any (since I never listen to Skin, Gibberish or Can't Get It Wrong). 

[jammindude]

Day For Night was my introduction to Spock's Beard, so I have quite a soft spot for it.

I actually wish they would've made Healing a single track, but oh well. Crack the Big Sky is my fav.

[RoeDent]

In fairness, I wish they'd made all the Nick-era epics single tracks as well, just for clarity's sake. I can kind of understand something huge like 6DOIT or Garden of Dreams, but A Flash Before My Eyes is about as long as several of Transatlantic's epics.