Neal Morse Survivor 2021 - Results & Discussion

[The Letter M]

Hello and welcome to my 4th (Semi-)Annual Neal Morse Survivor, for the 2021 season (since the majority of the survivor will run through 2021)! Here I will post the album results, and eventually, the finals! To start off with, I'll post the track lists/options for each survivor, then as we finish each album, I'll update the track lists with the final results.

As usual, each album's 3rd place song will move to Consolation, with the exception of the extra-long double albums (Testimony, TSOAD, and TGA), which will have it's 5th and 6th place songs move into Consolation, while it's top 4 songs will move to the Finals (as I have done with previous double albums in other Survivors). These three albums will also begin with multi-song votes/eliminations because otherwise, they would take FOREVER to get through. Folks who have participated in my survivors in the past should be familiar with this method by now!

Because of that, the Consolation Rounds will consist of 14 songs (2 from each of Testimony, TSOAD and TGA, and 1 each from the other 8 albums) and the Finals will consist of 30 songs (4 from each of Testimony, TSOAD, and TAA, and 2 from each of the other 8 albums, plus the top 2 of the Consolation Rounds).

Last time I ran this survivor in 2015, I omitted Neal's debut solo album and It's Not Too Late due to a lack of interest, and I don't think that'll change this time around. I'm also not including Jesus Christ The Exorcist, despite being more proggy than albums like Songs From November and Life And Times, mostly because I'm not overly familiar with it, and I'm sure most NM fans aren't either, so I don't think many of us will miss its inclusion.

Also, last time I ran this, I had the intension of doing the Covers Survivor but never did, so this time, now that Cov3r To Cov3r has come out, I figured I'd finally do it this time.

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Testimony
1. Somber Days
2. Sing It High
3. Oh, To Feel Him
4. I Am Willing
5. Long Story
6. Wasted Life
7. Colder In The Sun
8. The Prince Of The Power Of The Air
9. Ready To Try
10. Power In The Air
11. In The Middle
12. Break Of Day
13. Sleeping Jesus
      God's Theme
15. The Promise
      Moving In My Heart
      God's Theme 2
18. The Land Of Beginning Again (1)
      Overture No. 3
      Rejoice
21. Interlude
      Overture No. 2
      Transformation
      Oh Lord, My God
25. Overture No. 1
      California Nights
      It's All I Can Do
      The Storm Before The Calm
      The Land Of Beginning Again (2)

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One (Special Edition - Restored Tracklist)
1. Author Of Confusion
2. The Separated Man
3. The Creation
4. Cradle To The Grave
5. Help Me | The Spirit And The Flesh
6. Reunion
7. King Jesus
8. Father Of Forgiveness
9. Nothing To Believe
10. Back To The Garden
      The Man's Gone

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?
1. The Temple Of The Living God (1)
2. Another World
3. In The Fire
4. Entrance
5. Solid As The Sun
6. 12
7. The Outsider
8. Outside Looking In
9. Sweet Elation
10. The Temple Of The Living God (2)
11. Inside His Presence
12. The Glory Of The Lord

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Sola Scriptura
1. The Conflict
2. The Door
3. The Conclusion
4. Heaven In My Heart

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Lifeline (Special Edition)
1. So Many Roads
2. Children Of The Chosen
3. Leviathan
4. Lifeline
5. Fly High
6. The Way Home
7. God's Love
(8. Sometimes He Waits/Set The Kingdom - Exempt)

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Testimony Two
1. Seeds Of Gold
2. It's For You
3. The Truth Will Set You Free
4. Time Changer
5. Jesus' Blood
6. Chance Of A Lifetime
7. Jesus Bring Me Home
8. Overture No. 4
9. Mercy Street
10. Time Has Come Today
11. Nighttime Collectors
12. Jayda
13. Crossing Over / Mercy Street Reprise
14. Road Dog Blues
15. Absolute Beginner
16. Supernatural

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Momentum
1. World Without End
2. Momentum
3. Thoughts (Part 5)
4. Weathering Sky
5. Freak
6. Smoke And Mirrors
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The Grand Experiment (Special Edition)
1. The Call
2. Alive Again
3. Agenda
4. The Grand Experiment
5. New Jerusalem (Freedom Is Coming)
6. Waterfall
7. Doomsday Destiny

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The Similitude Of A Dream
1. The Ways Of A Fool
2. City Of Destruction
3. Slave To Your Mind
4. Broken Sky - Long Day (Reprise)
5. Overture
6. So Far Gone
7. Freedom Song
8. Sloth
9. Breath Of Angels
10. The Man In The Iron Cage
11. The Road Called Home
12. Long Day
      Shortcut To Salvation
14. Draw The Line
15. We Have Got To Go
       Makes No Sense
       Back To The City
18. The Battle
19. I'm Running
      The Mask
21. The Dream
      The Slough
      Confrontation

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The Great Adventure
1. Welcome To The World
2. Dark Melody
3. Vanity Fair
4. Fighting With Destiny
5. A Love That Never Dies
6. The Great Despair
7. Freedom Calling
8. Welcome To The World 2
9. I Got To Run
10. The Great Adventure
11. Venture In Black
12. The Element Of Fear
13. Overture
      Hey Ho Let's Go
15. Child Of Wonder
16. A Momentary Chance
17. The Dream Isn't Over
      To The River
19. Beyond The Borders
      Overture 2
      Long Ago
      The Dream Continues

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Sola Gratia
1. Seemingly Sincere
2. Never Change
3. In The Name Of The Lord
4. Building A Wall
5. The Glory Of The Lord
6. March Of The Pharisees
7. Warmer Than The Sunshine
8. The Light On The Road To Damascus
9. Now I Can See / The Great Commission
10. Overture
      Ballyhoo (The Chosen Ones)
12. Overflow
13. Sola Intermezzo
14. Preface

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Consolation
1. The Creation
2. The Conclusion
3. Thoughts (Part 5)
4. The Truth Will Set You Free
5. Overture (TSOAD)
6. In The Fire
7. So Far Gone
8. Agenda
9. Leviathan
10. A Love That Never Dies
11. The Great Despair
12. Wasted Life
13. In The Name Of The Lord
14. Long Story

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Finals
1. Seeds Of Gold
2. The Conflict
3. World Without End
4. The Creation
5. The Door
6. The Separated Man
7. Author Of Confusion
8. The Call
9. The Ways Of A Fool
10. The Conclusion
11. Slave To Your Mind
12. The Temple Of The Living God (1)
      Alive Again
14. City Of Destruction
15. Broken Sky - Long Day (Reprise)
16. So Many Roads
      Vanity Fair
18. It's For You
19. Sing It High
      Another World
      Welcome To The World
22. Dark Melody
      Seemingly Sincere
24. Children Of The Chosen
      Momentum
26. Somber Days
      I Am Willing
      Fighting With Destiny
29. Oh, To Feel Him
30. Never Change

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-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Some notes - I'm using the Special Editions for One, Lifeline, and The Grand Experiment, including their bonus tracks of original material, but NOT the Cover Songs from those albums (and no "I'm A Heavy Metal Long-Haired Blue Bearded Tattooed Jew" - sorry).

And as stated above, if you didn't see it, I won't be including Neal Morse, It's Not Too Late, or Jesus Christ The Exorcist, since last time I did this, the first two didn't see enough interest in including them, so I'm starting with Testimony. Also, it seems like many fans might not be familiar enough with JCTE, and I myself haven't heard it very much in the last year, so it's not being included either (and I don't think many will miss it).

Anyways, I will be starting the first rounds for Testimony and One in a couple of days (probably Tuesday). Like with my Rush Survivor, I'll be running two albums at once again, just to expedite this process, especially since the last time I did this, Neal has released 2 more NMB albums and a solo album, so we've got a LOT of material to get through!

-Marc.

[Mladen]

Bring it on. 

[darkshade]

I'm down.

[The Letter M]

One's Final Round's Results:
Author Of Confusion 2 (40%)
The Separated Man 3 (60%)

1. Author Of Confusion
2. The Separated Man
3. The Creation
4. Cradle To The Grave
5. Help Me | The Spirit And The Flesh
6. Reunion
7. King Jesus
8. Father Of Forgiveness
9. Nothing To Believe
10. Back To The Garden
      The Man's Gone

Looks like "Author Of Confusion" takes the top spot, but both it and "The Separated Man" will go on to the finals, while album opener "The Creation" goes on to Consolation Rounds. For comparison, here's how this survivor ended back in 2015:

1. The Creation
2. Author Of Confusion
3. The Separated Man
4. Cradle To The Grave
5. Reunion
6. Help Me / The Spirit And The Flesh
7. Father Of Forgiveness
8. The Man's Gone
9. Nothing To Believe
10. Back To The Garden
      King Jesus

The same Top four, even though the top three swapped places a bit, while fifth and sixth places swapped with each other as well.

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Testimony's Final Round's Results:
Somber Days 1 (33.3%)
Sing It High 2 (66.7%)

1. Somber Days
2. Sing It High
3. Oh, To Feel Him
4. I Am Willing
5. Long Story
6. Wasted Life
7. Colder In The Sun
8. The Prince Of The Power Of The Air
9. Ready To Try
10. Power In The Air
11. In The Middle
12. Break Of Day
13. Sleeping Jesus
      God's Theme
15. The Promise
      Moving In My Heart
      God's Theme 2
18. The Land Of Beginning Again (1)
      Overture No. 3
      Rejoice
21. Interlude
      Overture No. 2
      Transformation
      Oh Lord, My God
25. Overture No. 1
      California Nights
      It's All I Can Do
      The Storm Before The Calm
      The Land Of Beginning Again (2)

"Somber Days" takes the top spot, while "Sing It High" places second, but both songs, along with "I Am Willing" and "Oh, To Feel Him", all move onto the Finals. For comparison's sake, here are the results from the 2015 Survivor:

Testimony
1. It's All I Can Do
2. Sing It High
3. Somber Days
4. Oh, To Feel Him
5. Wasted Life
6. Sleeping Jesus
7. The Promise
8. Power In The Air
9. Colder In The Sun
10. The Land Of Beginning Again (1)
11. The Prince Of The Power Of The AIr
      Ready To Try
13. California Nights
14. Moving In My Heart
15. Break Of Day
      Transformation
      I Am Willing
      The Storm Before The Calm
19. In The Middle
      God's Theme
21. Overture No. 1
      Overture No. 2
23. Rejoice
      God's Theme 2
25. Long Story
      Oh Lord My God
27. Overture No. 3
28. Interlude
      The Land Of Beginning Again (2)

Looks like "I Am Willing" moved way up, but for the most part, the top 10 remained the same.

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

? (Question Mark)'s Final Round's Results:
Another World 3 (100%)

1. The Temple Of The Living God (1)
2. Another World
3. In The Fire
4. Entrance
5. Solid As The Sun
6. 12
7. The Outsider
8. Outside Looking In
9. Sweet Elation
10. The Temple Of The Living God (2)
11. Inside His Presence
12. The Glory Of The Lord

The album's opening two tracks move on to the Finals, with ITF going to Consolation. For comparison's sake, here are the results from 2015:

1. In The Fire
2. 12
3. Sweet Elation
4. Entrance
5. Solid As The Sun
6. Another World
7. Inside His Presence
8. Outside Looking In
9. The Temple Of The Living God (1)
10. The Temple Of The Living God (2)
11. The Glory Of The Lord
12. The Outside

Looks like 4th and 5th places remained the same, but otherwise, it was a huge shake-up! "Another World" jumped up 4 spots, while "12" swapped with it. "Sweet Elation" went down 6 spots while the album opener went from 9th to 1st!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Sola Scriptura's Final Round's Results:
The Door 2 (66.7%)
The Conflict 1 (33.3%)

1. The Conflict
2. The Door
3. The Conclusion
4. Heaven In My Heart

The shortest album survivor in this series, with just three rounds, and for the most part, the results is almost always the same. In fact, it was exactly the same back in 2015! In the 2012 Survivor, the top two were swapped.

-Marc.

[darkshade]

Unfortunately I've not been keeping up with this, mostly because my time on the computer these days is erratic.

[The Letter M]

Lifeline's Final Round's Results:
Children Of The Chosen 3 (75%)
So Many Roads 1 (25%)

1. So Many Roads
2. Children Of The Chosen
3. Leviathan
4. Lifeline
5. Fly High
6. The Way Home
7. God's Love
(8. Sometimes He Waits/Set The Kingdom - Exempt)

I think we all knew SMR would end up in the top two, but I did not expect COTC to end up in the Finals, especially compared to previous survivors!

2015 Results:
1. Leviathan
2. Lifeline
3. So Many Roads
4. Children Of The Chosen
5. Fly High
6. God's Love
7. The Way Home
    Set The Kingdom
9. Sometimes He Waits

2012 Reults:
1. So Many Roads
2. Lifeline
3. Set The Kingdom
4. Children Of The Chosen
5. Sometimes He Waits
6. Fly High
7. God's Love
8. The Way Home
   Leviathan

COTC placed fourth the last two times I ran this survivor, with Lifeline ending up in 2nd place/the Finals as well, but now it didn't even make it to consolation! Quite a bit of a turnaround, but I think slightly less participation might be to blame. Either way, it's good to have a shake-up every now and then, and good to see SMR back into the Finals.

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Momentum's Final Round's Results:
Momentum 5 (100%)

1. World Without End
2. Momentum
3. Thoughts (Part 5)
4. Weathering Sky
5. Freak
6. Smoke And Mirrors

These were pretty predictable results, I'd say, with the top three being in the same exact position as they were in 2015, and the whole results being exactly the same as they were in 2012! Testimony Two ends in a couple of days, with The Grand Experiment a couple of days after that.

Starting this week, the mammoth double albums from The Neal Morse Band! I haven't spun these in awhile, so as a break between listens to Transatlantic's The Absolute Universe, I may have to spin TSOAD and TGA to re-familiarize myself with them, especially since this will be the FIRST time they appear in my Neal Morse Survivor!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Testimony Two's Final Round's Results:
It's For You 6 (100%)

1. Seeds Of Gold
2. It's For You
3. The Truth Will Set You Free
4. Time Changer
5. Jesus' Blood
6. Chance Of A Lifetime
7. Jesus Bring Me Home
8. Overture No. 4
9. Mercy Street
10. Time Has Come Today
11. Nighttime Collectors
12. Jayda
13. Crossing Over / Mercy Street Reprise
14. Road Dog Blues
15. Absolute Beginner
16. Supernatural

SOG and IFY make it to the Finals, and in fact, the top four songs this time around were the same last time in 2015. Here are those results for comparison:
1. Seeds Of Gold
2. It's For You
3. The Truth Will Set You Free
4. Time Changer
5. Nighttime Collectors
    Crossing Over / Mercy Street Revisited
7. Mercy Street
    Time Has Come Today
9. Jesus' Blood
10. Overture No. 4
      Chance Of A Lifetime
      Jesus Bring Me Home
13. Jayda
      Road Dog Blues
      Supernatural
16. Absolute Beginner

-Marc.

[DTA]

Glad Chance of a Lifetime rose a few positions...reminds me a lot of old Spocks and has one of my favorite choruses from him

[The Letter M]

The Grand Experiment's Final Round's Results
Alive Again 4 (100%)

1. The Call
2. Alive Again
3. Agenda
4. The Grand Experiment
5. New Jerusalem (Freedom Is Coming)
6. Waterfall
7. Doomsday Destiny

Even though it ended about a month ago, I just realized I never updated this thread with the TGE results, so here they are. This was the newest album the last time I ran this survivor back in 2015, so this is the last album I can compare results with. Heres how it shook down in 2015:

1. The Call
2. Alive Again
3. Waterfall
4. New Jerusalem (Freedom Is Coming)
5. Doomsday Destiny
6. The Grand Experiment
    Agenda

Looks like "Agenda" was the underdog this time around (along with the title track), rising from last place all the way up to third, while the top two remained the same (unsurprisingly).

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

The Great Adventure's Final Round's Results:
Welcome To The World 1 (33.3%)
Dark Melody 2 (66.7%)

1. Welcome To The World
2. Dark Melody
3. Vanity Fair
4. Fighting With Destiny
5. A Love That Never Dies
6. The Great Despair
7. Freedom Calling
8. Welcome To The World 2
9. I Got To Run
10. The Great Adventure
11. Venture In Black
12. The Element Of Fear
13. Overture
      Hey Ho Let's Go
15. Child Of Wonder
16. A Momentary Chance
17. The Dream Isn't Over
      To The River
19. Beyond The Borders
      Overture 2
      Long Ago
      The Dream Continues

"Dark Melody" takes the silver, giving the album's lead single "Welcome To The World" to take the gold on this album, though both songs, along with "Vanity Fair" and "Fighting With Destiny" all advance to the Finals, with "A Love That Never Dies" and "The Great Despair" going to Consolation Rounds.

Once Sola Gratia is finished, we will move on to the Consolation Rounds, which will include 14 songs, so it'll take 13 rounds, or 26 days of votng (assuming I don't accidentally miss a day of posting, so that'll take us through May, and so the Finals should begin sometime around the end of May. The finals will feature 30 songs, 29 rounds, and will take at least 58 days to complete (barring any tie-breakers), which means the Finals will take at least two months, so that'll be most of the summer through June and July.

And even further on, after that, I plan on doing a Transatlantic Survivor, since by then, The Absolute Universe will have been out for half a year, so I suspect many of us will have it under our belts enough to be able to vote through the album. Thanks again to everyone who has participated in this Neal Morse Survivor, especially DTA and Mladen, who, I believe, have voted in everyone round with me. Thank you for keeping this Survivor afloat!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Just realized I never replied to this thread with the final results of Sola Gratia and the Consolation Rounds, but ah well, they're in the top post. I'm bumping this again so I can be sure to update it in a few days with the final results of the finals.

It's been a LONG seven-and-a-half months, but I'm happy to see that we've made it to the end!! This was fun, as always, and I'm glad there were a few consistent voters through every album and round. Depending on when Neal's next couple of albums come out, it might be another 2-4 years before I do this again, but I hope we're all still around for when it happens!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

The final round for the Finals just went up, and for the curious, here are the results threads for the last two times I ran the Neal Morse Survivor, back in 2012 and 2015:

Neal Morse Survivor 2012 - Results & Discussion

Neal Morse Survivor 2015 - Results & Discussion

Depending on when Neal's next albums are released, I won't take another 5 years off until the next Survivor! I am looking forward to Innocence & Danger, though!!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

The Final Round's Results:
The Conflict 6 (100%)

1. Seeds Of Gold
2. The Conflict
3. World Without End
4. The Creation
5. The Door
6. The Separated Man
7. Author Of Confusion
8. The Call
9. The Ways Of A Fool
10. The Conclusion
11. Slave To Your Mind
12. The Temple Of The Living God (1)
      Alive Again
14. City Of Destruction
15. Broken Sky - Long Day (Reprise)
16. So Many Roads
      Vanity Fair
18. It's For You
19. Sing It High
      Another World
      Welcome To The World
22. Dark Melody
      Seemingly Sincere
24. Children Of The Chosen
      Momentum
26. Somber Days
      I Am Willing
      Fighting With Destiny
29. Oh, To Feel Him
30. Never Change

"Seeds Of Gold" once again takes the Gold, for the third time in a row (back in 2015 and 2012). I was hoping this song would take the top spot again, but I did not expect "The Conflict" to make it as far as it did!

This was a LOT of fun to do again! Since The Neal Morse Band is releasing a new album in less than 2 months, I doubt I'll rerun the survivor again until at least 1 or 2 more albums after Innocence & Danger, so probably around 2023 or 2024, depending on how many more albums Neal releases between now and then.

Stay tuned for the Transatlantic Survivor!

-Marc.

[Mladen]

That top 10 is really solid. I also forgot that Seeds of gold took gold both times, I guess we're consistent.

Also, The Conflict is a masterpiece. I for one am not surprised it made it this far.

[DTA]

Great top 10. I’m surprised about a few songs being placed where they are but this seems like a pretty solid list.