Author Topic: Spock's Beard Discography thread  (Read 110133 times)

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Offline The Letter M

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #770 on: August 27, 2020, 12:06:07 PM »
I’ve mentioned before that X is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I love Edge of the In Between, and then I think From the Darkness and Quiet House are also really strong. But then I don’t care for Kamikazee (it’s ok), Emperor’s Clothes (don’t like much at all), or Man Behind the Curtains. If I regarded Jaws of Heaven as highly as most, I think X would be up there, but it’s never really grabbed me either. It is one of the best sounding SB albums though. I agree they knocked it out of the park from a production standpoint.

I also include the Noise Floor bonus tracks in my evaluation of that album. They are all really great and should have just been incorporated into the main disc (I believe everything would have fit, though I would have dropped Have We All Gone Crazy Yet and Box of Spiders if it were up to me).

I agree that the EP songs are just as good as the ones on the album and that they should have been included on the album. But they were released with the album and they can be purchased without a problem, so I don't really mind. The way this whole thing was released is a little weird though (as is the release of The Sea Within's debut).

With regards to Noise Floor and TSW's debut, I think the purpose of releasing the bonus tracks on a separate disc was to definitively say that the main album was on its own, and so that it can stand apart from the bonus tracks, especially since the amount of bonus tracks is fairly excessive and approaching EP length in both cases. I think, had it been one or two, they may have tacked them on at the end of the main album, like The Oblivion Particle.

Also, I remember reading once that double disc albums count as 2 sales per album, so the album numbers are inflated by including two discs instead of just one, but I could have remembered that wrong. I'm not super knowledgeable about how record sales are counted or reported, but releasing two discs might have been a numbers thing.

I agree that the EP songs are just as good as the ones on the album and that they should have been included on the album. But they were released with the album and they can be purchased without a problem, so I don't really mind. The way this whole thing was released is a little weird though (as is the release of The Sea Within's debut).

And The Flower Kings' Waiting for Miracles.

Not having heard from Roine specifically, I think the idea behind WFM's oddly-split discs was probably to open the 2nd disc with the reprise of the first track, to create a sense of parallelism between both discs. On vinyl, it doesn't matter as much since each quarter of the album fit on a vinyl side anyway, so the fourth side opens with the reprise of the first, creating a bookend-y feel across the album sides. I think Roine wanted to recreate that feeling with the discs, especially since the whole album wouldn't be able to fit on a single CD anyway.

Back to SB, though, Noise Floor wouldn't be the first time the bonus songs could have fit on a single disc with the main album. Not counting the short snippets and outtakes, the five bonus songs on Octane could have fit after the main album, totaling 79:20.

-Marc.
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Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #771 on: October 23, 2020, 08:09:30 AM »
Yo! Nick is back at it again, this time performing Thoughts Pt. 2 playing all the instruments himself. Wild stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrjyvC27mxo

Explanation from Nick’s Facebook. Man, I hope if Spock’s gets it together and makes more music that Nick will be included.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3354628751289322&id=125794630839433
« Last Edit: October 23, 2020, 08:18:26 AM by HOF »

Offline King Postwhore

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #772 on: October 23, 2020, 08:33:49 AM »
He did play on Noise Floor but didn't want to tour.  They got the drummer from Saga.  He is excellent live.  saw Saga last year at Progstock.
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Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #773 on: October 23, 2020, 08:37:54 AM »
He did play on Noise Floor but didn't want to tour.  They got the drummer from Saga.  He is excellent live.  saw Saga last year at Progstock.

Oh, I know, just seemed a little indefinite as to whether he would participate in the future. Jimmy did a great job drumming too, but Spock’s Beard is just better with NDV. Would love for him to contribute vocals as well.

Offline King Postwhore

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #774 on: October 23, 2020, 08:41:34 AM »
I love his swing in his playing.  I hope so because of the vocal possibilities as well but I'm not holding hope for it to happen.   
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
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Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #775 on: October 23, 2020, 08:57:28 AM »
And I don’t mean Nick taking over as lead singer. I love Ted, though it would be cool if they maybe shared some leads. But even if he’d just do high harmonies again like he did when Neal was the singer, that would be great.

Offline King Postwhore

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #776 on: October 23, 2020, 08:59:16 AM »
They traded off on Beginnings from Noise Floor.  I love that section of the song.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
"Oh, I am definitely a jackass!" - TAC

Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #777 on: October 23, 2020, 09:16:21 AM »
They traded off on Beginnings from Noise Floor.  I love that section of the song.

You know, I was under the impression Nick only played drums for Noise Floor, but sure enough he’s credited with vocals as well and that does sound like him on Beginnings, which is an amazing song. I learned something today!

Offline King Postwhore

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #778 on: October 23, 2020, 09:59:27 AM »
That's the one song you really distinctively hear his voice.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
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Offline DoctorAction

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #779 on: October 27, 2020, 12:24:53 PM »
I enjoyed some of Noise Floor today.
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Offline jingle.boy

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #780 on: October 27, 2020, 01:19:56 PM »
I enjoyed some of Noise Floor today.

I haven't even thought about going back to it since it dropped.  It did nothing for me.

:dunno:

Once bands get 10+ albums deep into their discography, I tend to be less eager to keep up, unless they are doing truly interesting and/or different stuff, still at a high quality.  I just keep thinking, why am I not just listening to <insert earlier album here>.  I could rhyme off a dozen bands that fall into that category, some of my most favorite bands included.
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Offline King Postwhore

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #781 on: October 27, 2020, 01:21:30 PM »
I really love that album Chad. 
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
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Offline Kwyjibo

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #782 on: October 27, 2020, 01:27:45 PM »
It wasn't bad, but not really good either imo.

But I recently got a lot more appreciation for The Oblivion Particle, listened to it a lot the past week and I'm really liking it.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #783 on: October 27, 2020, 01:40:44 PM »
I love Noise Floor. It’s probably the best sounding SB album, the drums are amazing, and the songs are almost all good to great (including the bonus disc). The only track I really don’t care for is Have We All Gone Crazy Yet. There’s something cohesive about the whole thing that sets it apart from most of the albums since Neal left really.

Offline The Letter M

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #784 on: October 27, 2020, 09:51:01 PM »
For me, Noise Floor was pretty great over-all, all songs included, but I think it might be hard for it to top all of BNADS, but it is pretty close. Having Nick back behind the kit really elevated the sound of NF for me, though that's not to say that Jimmy wasn't bad either, as I enjoy both of their drumming styles and nuances, but Nick has just gotten so good over the years. I think his time with Big Big Train really took his drumming to new heights.

The Oblivion Particle is the one of the three Ted-Era albums I don't go back to often. It's got a few great songs I really enjoy, especially "Bennett Built A Time Machine" (featuring Jimmy on vocals!), but I think the album kind of suffered from not having more writers on it. IIRC, without looking it up, all but two of the album's nine songs were written by Boegehold. They aren't BAD songs, per se, but the thing I enjoy about SB is the variety of writing styles between all the members, and I would have liked to have seen more Alan and Ryo penned songs on the album. Thankfully they mixed it up a bit more with Noise Floor, and even relegated a few of the Boegehold songs to the bonus disc.

I have a feeling it might be quite some time before the next SB album gets made, especially given that Pattern-Seeking Animals are already working on a third album. Who knows, though, maybe someone in the band might surprise us and announce a new album for next year. I'd be down for it, especially considering there are few albums I'm looking forward to in 2021 (Transatlantic, Big Big Train, Steven Wilson, and supposedly Dream Theater). A new SB album could really liven things up! It's not like they would have toured extensively for it even if there wasn't a pandemic.

-Marc.
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Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #785 on: October 28, 2020, 09:47:20 AM »
So I had sort of forgotten all about Falling *for* Forever off the Best Of compilation a few years back. Listened to it this morning and it’s a much better song than I remembered. Has some classic SB feel in the instrumental passages even if the lyrics and melodies seem a bit more modern Neal Morse than SB. Cool to hear all three SB vocalists on one track.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2020, 11:56:21 AM by HOF »

Offline gzarruk

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #786 on: October 28, 2020, 09:50:59 AM »
So I had sort of forgotten all about Falling Forever off the Best Of compilation a few years back. Listened to it this morning and it’s a much better song than I remembered. Has some classic SB feel in the instrumental passages even if the lyrics and melodies seem a bit more modern Neal Morse than SB. Cool to hear all three SB vocalists on one track.

It's definitely one of my favorite SB songs! And it does feel like a Neal Morse epic to me (which it is), but it's really good.
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: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #787 on: October 28, 2020, 11:40:13 AM »
So I had sort of forgotten all about Falling Forever off the Best Of compilation a few years back. Listened to it this morning and it’s a much better song than I remembered. Has some classic SB feel in the instrumental passages even if the lyrics and melodies seem a bit more modern Neal Morse than SB. Cool to hear all three SB vocalists on one track.

FFF is a pretty fantastic epic from Neal, and yeah, I kind of agree with gzarruk and HOF here, it's a bit of a modern Neal epic, but I like that he wrote it with both Ted's and Nick's voices in mind, and the dueling drums in the last section are fantastic showcases for Nick and Jimmy. I feel like every member on this song shines pretty well!

Since I make CD-r copies of a lot of bands and albums I like, it didn't make sense to make a copy of a compilation for one song, so I made my own version of The First Twenty Years to include a bunch of non-album songs, B-Sides, and alternate versions by SB that aren't part of their main albums (or were original bonus disc songs):
Iron Man (from TOP)
Something Very Strange (Sanctified Remix) (from BNADS)
Their Names Escape Me (Nameless Version) (alternate edit from X)
Southside Of The Sky (Yes Cover, from Snow)
The Truth (from the All On A Sunday single)
All On A Sunday (2001 Ver.) (from the All On A Sunday single)
Hurt (from Day For Night)
Stratus (from From The Vault)
Into Fire (from From The Vault)
Waste Away (Alternate Mix)
Falling For Forever

It's about 74 minutes long, so it fills a CD-r quite well, and I get a bunch of songs I didn't have one my other SB albums normally.

-Marc.
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Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #788 on: October 28, 2020, 11:47:45 AM »
So I had sort of forgotten all about Falling Forever off the Best Of compilation a few years back. Listened to it this morning and it’s a much better song than I remembered. Has some classic SB feel in the instrumental passages even if the lyrics and melodies seem a bit more modern Neal Morse than SB. Cool to hear all three SB vocalists on one track.

FFF is a pretty fantastic epic from Neal, and yeah, I kind of agree with gzarruk and HOF here, it's a bit of a modern Neal epic, but I like that he wrote it with both Ted's and Nick's voices in mind, and the dueling drums in the last section are fantastic showcases for Nick and Jimmy. I feel like every member on this song shines pretty well!

Since I make CD-r copies of a lot of bands and albums I like, it didn't make sense to make a copy of a compilation for one song, so I made my own version of The First Twenty Years to include a bunch of non-album songs, B-Sides, and alternate versions by SB that aren't part of their main albums (or were original bonus disc songs):
Iron Man (from TOP)
Something Very Strange (Sanctified Remix) (from BNADS)
Their Names Escape Me (Nameless Version) (alternate edit from X)
Southside Of The Sky (Yes Cover, from Snow)
The Truth (from the All On A Sunday single)
All On A Sunday (2001 Ver.) (from the All On A Sunday single)
Hurt (from Day For Night)
Stratus (from From The Vault)
Into Fire (from From The Vault)
Waste Away (Alternate Mix)
Falling For Forever

It's about 74 minutes long, so it fills a CD-r quite well, and I get a bunch of songs I didn't have one my other SB albums normally.

-Marc.

I was somehow mostly unaware of all these b-sides and extras. Is Into Fire the faux heavy metal song they did? I do recall that one.

Offline jingle.boy

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #789 on: October 28, 2020, 11:51:10 AM »
So I had sort of forgotten all about Falling Forever off the Best Of compilation a few years back. Listened to it this morning and it’s a much better song than I remembered. Has some classic SB feel in the instrumental passages even if the lyrics and melodies seem a bit more modern Neal Morse than SB. Cool to hear all three SB vocalists on one track.

I got lucky with FfF, in that there was a few hours where iTunes inadvertently made the title track available as a $.99 single-purchase.  I grabbed that sucker like Trump on a pussy.  A couple hours later, it was back to "album only".
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Offline The Letter M

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #790 on: October 28, 2020, 11:55:27 AM »
So I had sort of forgotten all about Falling Forever off the Best Of compilation a few years back. Listened to it this morning and it’s a much better song than I remembered. Has some classic SB feel in the instrumental passages even if the lyrics and melodies seem a bit more modern Neal Morse than SB. Cool to hear all three SB vocalists on one track.

FFF is a pretty fantastic epic from Neal, and yeah, I kind of agree with gzarruk and HOF here, it's a bit of a modern Neal epic, but I like that he wrote it with both Ted's and Nick's voices in mind, and the dueling drums in the last section are fantastic showcases for Nick and Jimmy. I feel like every member on this song shines pretty well!

Since I make CD-r copies of a lot of bands and albums I like, it didn't make sense to make a copy of a compilation for one song, so I made my own version of The First Twenty Years to include a bunch of non-album songs, B-Sides, and alternate versions by SB that aren't part of their main albums (or were original bonus disc songs):
Iron Man (from TOP)
Something Very Strange (Sanctified Remix) (from BNADS)
Their Names Escape Me (Nameless Version) (alternate edit from X)
Southside Of The Sky (Yes Cover, from Snow)
The Truth (from the All On A Sunday single)
All On A Sunday (2001 Ver.) (from the All On A Sunday single)
Hurt (from Day For Night)
Stratus (from From The Vault)
Into Fire (from From The Vault)
Waste Away (Alternate Mix)
Falling For Forever

It's about 74 minutes long, so it fills a CD-r quite well, and I get a bunch of songs I didn't have one my other SB albums normally.

-Marc.

I was somehow mostly unaware of all these b-sides and extras. Is Into Fire the faux heavy metal song they did? I do recall that one.

Yeah, it's got Neal doing some screaming-type vocals and they play some heavy and fast riffs. It's quite a romp, and I'm sure you could find it (and most of those songs) on YT somewhere. I think the only ones of those that I don't own on a physical CD are "Hurt" (which came from the EU special ed. of DFN) and "Their Names Escape Me (Nameless Version)" which I believe I downloaded somewhere, maybe Soundcloud, many many years ago. I forget where I got it exactly, but I believe a band member (or one of the writers like John or Stan) had posted it online.

But yeah, I am kind of sad that they didn't go the B-Sides/Rarities route with the compilation, but I get that they wanted to release a set that would appeal to new-comers. Maybe someday they'll re-open their vault and do a compilation like I made for myself, or perhaps do a "TFK- Kingdom Of Colours" type box-set through Inside Out and release *everything* they've ever recorded as a band.

-Marc.
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Offline RoeDent

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #791 on: October 29, 2020, 09:19:37 AM »
Talk of the First 20 Years compilation has got me thinking of making my own compilation.

Disc 1 (64:26)
1. Go the Way You Go - 12:07
2. Time Has Come - 16:22
3. Harm's Way - 11:05
4. The Gypsy - 7:28
5. Revelation - 6:04
6. Long Time Suffering - 6:03
7. Looking For Answers - 5:17

Disc 2 (56:00)
1. Ghosts of Autumn - 6:55
2. NWC - 4:16
3. The Slow Crash Landing Man - 5:47
4. The Quiet House - 9:14
5. Waiting for Me - 12:36
6. To Be Free Again - 10:24
7. One So Wise - 6:58

Offline Stadler

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #792 on: October 30, 2020, 10:12:15 AM »
Anyone know where I can find a discussion on the meaning of "June"?

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #793 on: November 05, 2020, 11:15:49 AM »
I enjoyed some of Noise Floor today.

I haven't even thought about going back to it since it dropped.  It did nothing for me.

 :dunno:

Once bands get 10+ albums deep into their discography, I tend to be less eager to keep up, unless they are doing truly interesting and/or different stuff, still at a high quality.  I just keep thinking, why am I not just listening to <insert earlier album here>.  I could rhyme off a dozen bands that fall into that category, some of my most favorite bands included.


Yeah, if I'm being 100% honest I haven't really been a big fan of Spock's Beard's output since NDV left.  That's not a slam on Ted at all, I just think NDV's departure had a fairly substantial impact on their sound and it's just not as appealing to me as it once was. 



I have to admit I don't even really care if they continue or not.  They had a long, storied run, this might not be a bad time to call it a day, at the end of the day  ;)

Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #794 on: November 05, 2020, 11:32:05 AM »
Anyone know where I can find a discussion on the meaning of "June"?

It’s essentially a fictional story about the band (Spock’s Beard) briefly having a hit song for a month with “Waste Away” (off Beware of Darkness). They have a sudden rise to fame (“June came upon us much too soon”), everyone thinks they’re great, they’re living the pop star life (“telephones in private rooms”), but before they know it the hit has run it’s course (“the crowd kept on singing Waste Away but it just didn’t feel right”), the band starts to disintegrate (“the prince and the drummer and the Fire girls couldn’t get our guitars in tune”), and their 15 minutes of fame are over and they are forgotten again (“and I knew it was over when the sound man said I wish were still in June”).

Man, June is such an excellent song. Will probably be in my head all day now. I also think Waste Away is a really cool song that maybe could have been a hit under the right circumstances (or with the right people pulling the right strings).
« Last Edit: November 05, 2020, 11:52:58 AM by HOF »

Offline Mladen

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #795 on: November 06, 2020, 02:35:42 PM »
So, are these guys still around? Nothing's come out of the SB camp for a while now, right?

Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #796 on: November 06, 2020, 02:46:00 PM »
So, are these guys still around? Nothing's come out of the SB camp for a while now, right?

Noise Floor was 2018, so not that long (by today’s standards). Half the guys are doing the Pattern Seeking Animals thing right now. Everyone has day jobs and the pandemic might also be putting things on hold. It doesn’t seem like anything new is on the horizon any time soon though.

Offline The Letter M

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #797 on: November 06, 2020, 09:52:36 PM »
So, are these guys still around? Nothing's come out of the SB camp for a while now, right?

Noise Floor was 2018, so not that long (by today’s standards). Half the guys are doing the Pattern Seeking Animals thing right now. Everyone has day jobs and the pandemic might also be putting things on hold. It doesn’t seem like anything new is on the horizon any time soon though.

In a recent thread on the SB Facebook page, I believe Ryo had said the band was not done, and I think John Boegehold said the same, though he did re-confirm that he is working on the third PSA Album.

I think the pandemic just kind of halted a lot of bands, especially those that make their money back on tours, even though SB don't tour a lot, their European tours seemed to balance out the costs of the tour and making the album they were touring on. So with no chance to tour, I don't think they're willing to spend the time to work on an album they might not be able to afford to make, unless it's crowdfunded like they did with X.

I don't think SB is done, but I think we won't see an album from them until late 2021 or 2022.

-Marc.
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Offline gzarruk

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #798 on: November 06, 2020, 10:00:05 PM »
So, are these guys still around? Nothing's come out of the SB camp for a while now, right?

Noise Floor was 2018, so not that long (by today’s standards). Half the guys are doing the Pattern Seeking Animals thing right now. Everyone has day jobs and the pandemic might also be putting things on hold. It doesn’t seem like anything new is on the horizon any time soon though.

In a recent thread on the SB Facebook page, I believe Ryo had said the band was not done, and I think John Boegehold said the same, though he did re-confirm that he is working on the third PSA Album.

I think the pandemic just kind of halted a lot of bands, especially those that make their money back on tours, even though SB don't tour a lot, their European tours seemed to balance out the costs of the tour and making the album they were touring on. So with no chance to tour, I don't think they're willing to spend the time to work on an album they might not be able to afford to make, unless it's crowdfunded like they did with X.

I don't think SB is done, but I think we won't see an album from them until late 2021 or 2022.

-Marc.

Crowdfunding sounds like a good option for a new SB beard album, since touring still isn't happening anytime soon. Really hoping we get new material from them sooner than later, but the new PSA album will keep me busy while we wait :tup
It sounds like, "ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk." Instead of the more pleasing kick drum sound of, "gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk."

Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #799 on: November 06, 2020, 10:16:11 PM »
Ted and Dave are involved in (what I gather to be) a fairly successful event/wedding band (The Rolling Heads, look em up on YouTube), that I bet have not been able to play much if at all this year. I know Ted has a full time job with some sort of investment or finance company, so he probably is doing ok. But I can imagine it’s a tough time for the band and hard for them to invest whatever it costs to record an album right now.

Offline Fritzinger

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #800 on: November 07, 2020, 03:33:19 AM »
Didn't know about the wedding band, that kinda makes me sad. I mean, I always had fun playing wedding and bigger party gigs when I studied music, because it's always great to make people dance and have a good time. But Meros and Leonard are two musicians I have asked for autographs before and they are two quarters of frigging Spock's Beard, a band that helped revitalise progressive rock in the 90s (granted, with a very different lineup). I knew that Alan Morse has a daytime job too (I think something with electronics? I don't remember). It makes me sad that despite being a name every prog fan knows, Spock's Beard still doesn't (or doesn't anymore?) bring in enough money for them to live from it.
any rock can be made to roll

Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #801 on: November 07, 2020, 08:54:04 AM »
Didn't know about the wedding band, that kinda makes me sad. I mean, I always had fun playing wedding and bigger party gigs when I studied music, because it's always great to make people dance and have a good time. But Meros and Leonard are two musicians I have asked for autographs before and they are two quarters of frigging Spock's Beard, a band that helped revitalise progressive rock in the 90s (granted, with a very different lineup). I knew that Alan Morse has a daytime job too (I think something with electronics? I don't remember). It makes me sad that despite being a name every prog fan knows, Spock's Beard still doesn't (or doesn't anymore?) bring in enough money for them to live from it.

Yeah, I mean it stinks in that you wish they were out playing the music they make and love. But on the other hand they seem to have a blast doing it, and it’s probably not the worst way to make some extra money. I believe Ted’s wife is one of the other members, and Jimmy Keegan is the drummer.

Offline darkshade

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #802 on: November 08, 2020, 08:40:44 AM »
SB's story is a downer. Their main composer and lead singer leaves and no one really liked those first few post-Neal albums. I only really know X and the first post-Neal album, and neither did much for me either. When people talk about Spock's role in the revitalization of prog rock in the 90s, that is what they're referencing, the time when Neal was in the band. Neal's solo career has been booming since, relatively speaking. He and any of his other bands are as popular as he's ever been, especially Transatlantic. Spock's would probably be bigger if Neal stayed in the band. Are contemporaries The Flower Kings any bigger though?

Offline ProfessorPeart

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #803 on: November 08, 2020, 09:30:14 AM »
Al is the CEO of DynaMetric. Has been for 25 years.

https://www.dynametric.com/

If you go to the About Us page you will see Al in the picture. I also found his LinkedIn. It lists his CEO position and his position in Spock's.
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Offline HOF

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. Noise Floor (2018)
« Reply #804 on: November 08, 2020, 09:46:03 AM »
Al is the CEO of DynaMetric. Has been for 25 years.

https://www.dynametric.com/

If you go to the About Us page you will see Al in the picture. I also found his LinkedIn. It lists his CEO position and his position in Spock's.

Yeah, I knew he did something tech related. Even Neal has things besides music. At one time at least he owned/operated some sort of ice cream/food truck for events and parties and such.