Spock's Beard Discography thread

[gzarruk]

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.

He served ice cream in 15/16.

[HOF]

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.

He served ice cream in 15/16.

You joke, but here is the website, which randomly includes the video to Yes’ Love Will Find A Way at the bottom of the home page.

http://www.mojocookiedough.com/home.html

[gzarruk]

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.

He served ice cream in 15/16.

You joke, but here is the website, which randomly includes the video to Yes’ Love Will Find A Way at the bottom of the home page.

http://www.mojocookiedough.com/home.html

This is amazing.

[HOF]

I got that info from this amazing interview Neal did a few years ago. Well worth reading if you haven’t before (all about how much he loves his Ford van):

https://www.motortrend.com/news/celebrity-drive-singer-songwriter-neal-morse/

[HOF]

NDV seems to be doing more than just about anyone to keep the memory of Spock’s Beard alive. He’s back with another one-man cover, this time it’s The Gypsy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fclD2vlGoPM

Feels like the band need Nick’s involvement to push them into making more music again. Heck, see if Neal will come on board and have another three-singer epic or something.

[darkshade]

Just found out The First Twenty Years has a 'new' 20 minute epic on there, with Neal on it.  Thinking about getting it.

[gzarruk]

Just found out The First Twenty Years has a 'new' 20 minute epic on there, with Neal on it.  Thinking about getting it.

Written by Neal and featuring the 3 lead singers of SB + a drum duet with Nick and Jimmy. One of my favorite Spock's Beard songs

[RoeDent]

Tbh, the last two Spock's albums were kinda stale. I wouldn't be surprised if PSA is the new outlet for what would've been Spock's. It solves their drummer problem, and while we don't have Ryo and Alan, 3 out of 5 ain't bad.

[KevShmev]

Just found out The First Twenty Years has a 'new' 20 minute epic on there, with Neal on it.  Thinking about getting it.

It's a good song, but Neal has so many 20 minute (plus) songs since the mid 90's (whether it be with Spock's or TA or NMB, or on his solo albums) that Falling for Forever kind of got lost in the shuffle for many fans, myself included.  It is definitely unique to get a Spock's epic with all three (Neal, Nick and Ted) singing, but it has never been a song I reach for often. 

[HOF]

Tbh, the last two Spock's albums were kinda stale. I wouldn't be surprised if PSA is the new outlet for what would've been Spock's. It solves their drummer problem, and while we don't have Ryo and Alan, 3 out of 5 ain't bad.

I just can’t help but think Nick would make time to be involved in SB to the extent he could. It’s not like they tour a bunch anyway. He clearly still loves the music and recording a new album at Sweetwater likely wouldn’t be a problem for him.

[The Letter M]

Ryo is working on his new solo album and posted an update on his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/100053172201295/posts/227337365715335/

I was gonna post this in the main SB thread but it hasn't been updated since 2017, so I figured this was better.

-Marc.

[HOF]

Ryo is working on his new solo album and posted an update on his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/100053172201295/posts/227337365715335/

I was gonna post this in the main SB thread but it hasn't been updated since 2017, so I figured this was better.

-Marc.

Ha, I thought this was the main SB thread!

[RoeDent]

We decided without words that this is the main SB thread years ago. The title should be changed to reflect that.

This is surely the death knell for Spock's Beard as an entity. With PSA gaining momentum, Ryo's gone off on his own. All that's left (no pun intended) is to see what Alan does, if anything.

[The Letter M]

We decided without words that this is the main SB thread years ago. The title should be changed to reflect that.

This is surely the death knell for Spock's Beard as an entity. With PSA gaining momentum, Ryo's gone off on his own. All that's left (no pun intended) is to see what Alan does, if anything.

I think SB will come back eventually, probably in a few years, maybe 2023 at the earliest. But hey, I would love to be surprised (in a good way)!

-Marc.

[gzarruk]

We decided without words that this is the main SB thread years ago. The title should be changed to reflect that.

This is surely the death knell for Spock's Beard as an entity. With PSA gaining momentum, Ryo's gone off on his own. All that's left (no pun intended) is to see what Alan does, if anything.

I think SB will come back eventually, probably in a few years, maybe 2023 at the earliest. But hey, I would love to be surprised (in a good way)!

-Marc.

I really hope SB isn't over yet. Hopefully they'll get back together later this year to make an album, even if it gets released next year.

[HOF]

I wonder if Alan is just getting to the age where he’s done being in a band like SB. He’s 62 and it’s not like the band makes money. No idea what kind of personal investment making an album would involve for him or the others, but he may just be looking at retirement and not want to pour money into the band anymore.

[RoeDent]

I really hope SB isn't over yet. Hopefully they'll get back together later this year to make an album, even if it gets released next year.

Given PSA said they'd already started work on PSA3, I can't really see this happening. Not everyone is like Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy who can release like 3/4 studio albums a year.

I think SB will come back eventually, probably in a few years, maybe 2023 at the earliest. But hey, I would love to be surprised (in a good way)!

-Marc.

This is perhaps more likely. They haven't really had a lengthy hiatus at all, over 26 years. Even when members left.

[kirksnosehair]

Honestly, not to just drop a hot take in here but to me Spock's Beard never fully recovered from Neal Morse's exit. 


When I need a Spock's Beard fix it's going to come from one of those first 6 albums.   11 times out of 10

[ProfessorPeart]

Honestly, not to just drop a hot take in here but to me Spock's Beard never fully recovered from Neal Morse's exit. 


When I need a Spock's Beard fix it's going to come from one of those first 6 albums.   11 times out of 10

So what you are saying is, that when Neal left they stopped being the majestic Spock's Beard and simply became Kirk's Nose Hair? 

Seriously, I enjoy all 3 era's. I routinely go to V, Octane and Brief Nocturnes when I have a Spock's itch. I know people call X the pinnacle of the Nick era, but for me it is Octane. A Flash Before My Eyes is just stunning. I was badly injured in a car wreck that was not my fault and it hits real close to home, almost too close.

[HOF]

There are highlights throughout the post-Neal era that make it worth revisiting, even if as a whole they never really reached the heights of the Neal era. I still think Feel Euphoria was a solid first effort, and there are some real highs on Octane as well. The next two I don’t like as much (X has some really strong moments though), and the first two Ted albums are more ok than amazing. But Noise Floor just felt like a rejuvenated band to me. I’d hate to not see them build on that, but if that’s the last thing they do it was a fine farewell statement.

[DTA]

Honestly, not to just drop a hot take in here but to me Spock's Beard never fully recovered from Neal Morse's exit. 


When I need a Spock's Beard fix it's going to come from one of those first 6 albums.   11 times out of 10

I think the rest of the guys in the band are awesome and insanely talented but I do agree that there's a magic that exists on the Neal albums (The Light through V) that virtually no prog band since has really recaptured (same with The Flower Kings 90's/early 00's output).

[KevShmev]

I like all three eras as well, although there have been diminishing returns with each Ted album, so it might be a good time to call it a day.  I agree that most of the best stuff comes from the Neal era, but I still love most of X and Brief Nocturnes..., and I will still swear by most of Feel Euphoria.  I wasn't keen on Octane at first, but it has aged pretty well.  And even a largely mediocre album like the self-titled one still had a few bad ass songs in With Your Kiss and One a Perfect Day.  Long story short, even the least best Spock's albums still have a few keepers.

[kirksnosehair]

Yep, I agree with everything you guys are saying, there is definitely some solid material on the post-Neal Morse albums, just nothing like "The Doorway" or "The Light" or "At The End of The Day" or "The Great Nothing"


Octane, to me, was the pinnacle of their post-Neal work.  I think X is a bit overrated.  "Jaws of Heaven", though, is one of those very few post-Neal songs that I'd put up there pretty close to the songs I mentioned above.

[Kwyjibo]

All three eras have some great material and all three eras some not so great material.

Maybe the Neal era overall is the strongest, V is my favorite record by them, but then I don't like Snow, it's at the bottom of my ranking. And Day For Night wasn't that great either.

Octane and X are the Nick era highlights, X being better than even most Neal era records.

And Brief Nocturnes was a really good start to the Ted era, TOP was still very good but Noise Floor was a significant drop in quality.

But I still hope they have another record in store sometime in the future.

All of this imo, of course.

[The Letter M]

I think the Nick-Era is pretty solid over-all, but given they had such huge shoes to fill, it was always going to be difficult to follow-up albums like V and Snow. Feel Euphoria is a good effort, but I think it's a bit all over the place. Octane definitely stepped it up a bit, and the opening suite is some of the best Post-Neal material out there. I think they were wise enough to make a shorter album with bonus tracks, but even then, those bonus tracks were just as good, if not better than the back half of the main album. The self-titled release is definitely the album that should have had some trimming done to it and been given the bonus-disc treatment. It suffered from having a lot of slower songs in the middle and it dragged the pacing down a lot, and the "traditional" multi-part epic at the end is probably the weakest one from the four Nick-Era albums. When X came out, I was really impressed and surprised, and to this day, I'd say it's probably my favorite Nick-Era album, with a return to some sprawling epics and longer songs with strong instrumental sections. It's probably as close to classic SB as that line-up would get, but unfortunately, it was also the last album with Nick, and it seemed like all the steam they had built up to that point was let out and the band was doomed.

Enter - Ted Leonard - and BNADS, which, while a bit from perfect, was a STRONG entrance for Ted. The main album has some great moments and songs, and even the bonus tracks are worth listening to! Over-all, probably my favorite of the three Ted albums, but Noise Floor would not be too far behind it, and The Oblivion Particle a bit further back. As a whole, these three albums aren't bad, and I can kind of hear a return of the kind of writing that the band was known for with Neal. Not sure if that was a conscious effort, or if Ted's entrance into the band kind of led them in those directions, but this line-up definitely seems like a fair melding of everything that came before, but with Ted's fresh input, which, thankfully, is different enough from his other band, Enchant.

-Marc.

[Mladen]

The Neal era is my favorite overall, but then again, X and BNADS are among my top 4 Spock's Beard albums. There is also at least one "dud" in each era. It's a fairly consistent discography.

[The Letter M]

The Neal era is my favorite overall, but then again, X and BNADS are among my top 4 Spock's Beard albums. There is also at least one "dud" in each era. It's a fairly consistent discography.

Agreed! Those duds for me are DFN, SB9, and TOP. The best ones are Snow, X, and BNADS, though some days I may pick V or BOD over Snow, but Snow really hit me when I discovered it, and so it holds a special place in my heart. I loved Octane when I first got it (it was the band's newest album when I discovered them in 2005), but X has slowly overtaken it as my favorite Nick-Era album, and like I said in my above post, BNADS is just great through and through.

-Marc.

[DoctorAction]

X and Octane are close and BNADS is good but the Neal-era musical chemistry in the band by the time you get to Day for Night, V and Snow is untouchable, imo.

Goes without saying that all the members of TNMB, TA etc are fantastic musicians but I'd swap all that post-SB output for Nick, Dave, Alan and Ryo. Just beautiful style and touch.

I'm still sad he left and wish he would stop messing about and get back to his "real" band, tbh. 

[The Letter M]

I'm still sad he left and wish he would stop messing about and get back to his "real" band, tbh. 

If this wasn't the Spock's Beard thread, I'd almost think you were talking about Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree. 

-Marc.

[darkshade]

I'm not very familiar with post-Neal SB, but I do own X, and I think it's pretty good (though I haven't listened to it in some time)
I really need to do some homework and check out the other albums, I've never been motivated to because of all the comparisons to Neal era SB and how nothing is as good after he left, according to many online. But like I said, X is pretty good, so it can't be that bad.

[HOF]

I still don’t get why people don’t like Noise Floor. For me it has some of the best songwriting of the post-Neal era. The songs are crisp and the production value is high, and Nick’s drumming is amazing. Beginnings is easily one of the best songs they’ve ever written, and I love So This is Life, One So Wise, and Bulletproof from the bonus disc.

I feel like the fact that they split the material between a main and a bonus disc hurt the perception of this one. They could have put it all on one disc. The one song I don’t really like at all is Have We All Gone Crazy Yet. I’m not crazy about What Becomes of Me either, and I would have maybe dropped Box of Spiders for the superior Armageddon Nervous, but I would have included the other tracks from the bonus disc. To me, there is easily a great album’s worth of music between the two discs.

[Fritzinger]

The NDV era albums have a big nostalgia bonus for me.

SB9 is the first album I bought from them, on vacation with my parents at age 14, at the Edison Mall Fort Myers (the same shop in which I bought Hybrid Theory a few years earlier)  I read about SB in the German Dream Theater Forum (which unfortunately closed down, which fortunately brought me here) and bought the CD without hearing a single note beforehand.
I was sold at the opening drum fill. On A Perfect Day is still one of my absolute favorites by the band and I think it's safe to say that it changed my life, almost the same way as hearing The Root Of All Evil (my first DT song) for the first time a year earlier or so. SB9 was my entrance to all things Retro-Prog: I started listening to Neal Morse, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, even Änglagard and Beardfish. And shortly after NDV released his (amazing!) Lamb-rendition, I was a big time prog nerd and discovered all the "original" prog bands.

I understand that objectively, SB9 is one of the weaker albums of the SB2.0 bunch, but I absolutely love it. Is This Love?, Slow Crash, Wherever I Stand, Sometimes They Stay might be oddballs and expendable for most fans, but I wouldn't want to mis a single second off this album.

[425]

I only have half of the SB albums, but I always find it interesting how widely people's choices of favorites differ. True, it seems that the consensus is that the Neal era is strongest and that X and BNADS are the strongest post-Neal albums, but you can find plenty of people who disagree. And besides those points it seems like there are very few points of agreement.

My own hot take is that I often see people talking about Day for Night as one of the weakest Neal-era albums, but I got it recently and think it might be one of my favorites.

[darkshade]

My own hot take is that I often see people talking about Day for Night as one of the weakest Neal-era albums, but I got it recently and think it might be one of my favorites.

I'm one of those people. I think it's the weakest album Neal wrote between SB and his prog work since he left SB.

[HOF]

My own hot take is that I often see people talking about Day for Night as one of the weakest Neal-era albums, but I got it recently and think it might be one of my favorites.

I'm one of those people. I think it's the weakest album Neal wrote between SB and his prog work since he left SB.

I love Day for Night, but it does have a little bit of what seems like filler. I don’t care for Gibberish or The Gypsy so much, even though I know the counterpoint vocal thing on Gibberish is a bit of a trademark. I also think Crack the Big Sky goes on a little too long, though I do like it. But the title track, Skin, Distance to the Sun, and The Healing Colors of Sound are all favorites. The ending of My Shoes (Revisited) is one of my favorite guitar solos ever.