Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[gzarruk]

Anyone catch that Eric is listed as being on drums?  Interesting.

That's what happens when Mike's on tour with SOA

[devieira73]

Really curious to hear what Neal will do in a prog rock opera context. It will be a studio release?

[King Postwhore]

Anyone catch that Eric is listed as being on drums?  Interesting.

That's what happens when Mike's on tour with SOA

Um, it's about a guitarist playing drums you silly person.

[gzarruk]

Really curious to hear what’s Neal’s will do in a prog rock opera context. It will be a studio release?

Hoping for the studio release as well. This sounds too good to not record it.

[The Letter M]

Really curious to hear what’s Neal’s will do in a prog rock opera context. It will be a studio release?

Hoping for the studio release as well. This sounds too good to not record it.

Considering the world premier of it will be a live performance at Morsefest says to me that that performance will be the ONLY recorded and released version of it, because a studio one probably won't live up to the live version, even if he got all the same musicians and guests to be on it. I wonder if it being billed as a rock opera will mean that each of the guest vocalists will be assigned a character and will "act out" their songs on stage, a la Ayreon's The Theater Equation? With at least 7 vocalists on board, it'd be neat to see each of them take on a character and put on a great show!

While the subject matter of said rock opera may not be to everyone's liking, I'm more interested in the music and the production side of things. Neal posted a near-14-minute clip of demos from the opera, but I didn't listen to much of it as I was getting ready for work earlier this morning. Sounds promising, from what I heard, and I'm sure they'll pull it off spectacularly.

As for Eric doing drums, at least for the 2nd night, it doesn't surprise me. He's a great drummer and he's got the chops to play like Mike when it calls for it. I'm sure he'll be a solid drummer for the show, though I have to wonder if Nick will do ANY drumming on the 2nd night? It'd be cool to see some double-drumming, a la King Crimson.

I also wonder if the absence of Portnoy, and/or the rock opera will influence Morse-fans' decisions about whether or not they'll go to Morsefest this year...

-Marc.

[kaos2900]

Very cool line-up. Unfortunately there is no way I can attend. Anxiously awaiting the blu-ray release. 

[DTA]

They also started a NMB album right? Or is this in lieu of that?

[The Letter M]

They also started a NMB album right? Or is this in lieu of that?

The Neal Morse Band have started a new album, yes. They had writing sessions a couple months ago, but I think they still need to do the basic drum tracks, then they'll get to doing the other instruments and vocals throughout the year. I suspect the next album won't be out until 2019, maybe late Fall 2018 if we're lucky, but I think Neal and Mike have the third Flying Colors album to get out first.

Ideally, Flying Colors 3 will get wrapped up by Summer and get a Fall release, then the new NMB will come out in the Winter or Spring next year, just in time for a Spring/Summer tour, possibly leading into Morsefest 2019.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

That was not what I was expecting, but I have nothing but confidence in Neal Morse that this will kick ass again.  My brother and I are all over this. Road trip to Nashville again!!

[SwedishGoose]

Playing it live first and then record it in the studio can work really  well. It did for Pain of Salvation who played BE live about a year before the studio album came out.

[The Letter M]

Playing it live first and then record it in the studio can work really  well. It did for Pain of Salvation who played BE live about a year before the studio album came out.

That could be interesting. Playing it live first and gauging reactions to it could be a good way to find out whether or not Neal would even WANT to record it in the studio for a proper album release. If nothing else, Neal will release the Morsefest performance and that could just be it for the musical/rock opera, which I would be fine with.

As for the first night of Morsefest 2018 - I hope the song choices are unique compared to the last few Morsefest shows where Neal has played SB songs. Give us "The Great Nothing" or an epic from the NDV-era that hasn't been played in a long while.

So far, Neal has played "The Light", "At The End Of The Day", "Wind At My Back" (along with the rest of Snow), "Strange World", "Lay It Down", "The Healing Colors Of Sound Part 2", "June", and "Falling For Forever". Nick also sang "There Was A Time" and "The Doorway" last year.

With a vast catalog of soon-to-be-13 albums, I hope they pick some lesser played pieces. Personally, I'd LOVE to see all 4 parts of the "Thoughts" series played in succession - Thoughts/Thoughts Pt. 2/Afterthoughts/Thoughts Pt. 5 - especially considering all three lead vocalists will be present.

-Marc.

[kaos2900]

Just listened to the 13 minute sample of the rock opera on his site and I have say that it didn't do anything for me. I realize that they are rough demos chopped together to form a long sample but nothing I heard caught my ear. I'm sure the final product will be much more polished but my excitement has taken a small hit.

[kaos2900]

I just found out that the Morsefest 2016 STORYTELLERS concert will be available for Inner Circle Members. It will be released in two parts, both audio and video, with the first part being released this month for anyone who is a member.

Just FYI, in case anyone was waiting for this.

I'm planning on joining just to get this. Any updates on when it will released?

[The Letter M]

I just found out that the Morsefest 2016 STORYTELLERS concert will be available for Inner Circle Members. It will be released in two parts, both audio and video, with the first part being released this month for anyone who is a member.

Just FYI, in case anyone was waiting for this.

I'm planning on joining just to get this. Any updates on when it will released?

Should be soon, before month's end, so I would join ASAP just to be sure you can get the email notification for when the downloads are uploaded to Radiant Records.

-Marc.

[DT2003]

Anyone catch that Eric is listed as being on drums?  Interesting.

That's what happens when Mike's on tour with SOA

Um, it's about a guitarist playing drums you silly person.

I think to say Eric is a guitarist is cutting him short. Yes he plays guitar in NMB and it seems guitar is his instrument of choice, but he is also an incredibly talented drummer and singer and can pretty much play any instrument he wants it seems.

[KevShmev]

Pretty sweet to see that Neal played Flowers in a Vase last night in Denver, where Eric Gillette was a special guest (and another fella I am not familiar with).

[The Letter M]

The March 2018 Inner Circle release is now available for download! It's the first part of the Morsefest 2016 Storytellers concert, in mp3, wav, and video formats.

-Marc.

[kaos2900]

Awesome! Probably going to join so I can get it. Still wish this would have been released with the Snow release. Oh well. Anyone there who can recommend this?

[OpenYourEyes311]

I haven't been able to watch the video yet, but I listened to the audio on my way to work. While the music/performance and the recording are top notch, the performance has been edited to not include any of the talking between songs, which is what I thought the point of a "Storytellers" concert was. I'm assuming it's all there on the video, but I can't comment until I've seen it.  Also disappointed that the show is not all in one release. This one is labeled as "Part 1" and is only a 47 minute CD. I was under the impression that by going digital they were able to release full shows at one time. Color me a bit disappointed with the execution of this release. (But, again, the performance is really good.)

[The Letter M]

I haven't been able to watch the video yet, but I listened to the audio on my way to work. While the music/performance and the recording are top notch, the performance has been edited to not include any of the talking between songs, which is what I thought the point of a "Storytellers" concert was. I'm assuming it's all there on the video, but I can't comment until I've seen it.  Also disappointed that the show is not all in one release. This one is labeled as "Part 1" and is only a 47 minute CD. I was under the impression that by going digital they were able to release full shows at one time. Color me a bit disappointed with the execution of this release. (But, again, the performance is really good.)

I've been disappointed with the digital releases as well. They split up Neal's thoughts on TSOAD as well, and I wouldn't be surprised if further shows are split across 2 releases, probably to pad out the 6 releases they do each year.

At the very least, we get BOTH the audio AND video with this, so if we're really getting TWO releases...sort of. Think of it this way - normally we would've gotten the 2CD one month, then the DVD a couple months later, but now we're just getting half of each both months. And I'm sort of OK with that... sort of.

-Marc.

[ProfessorPeart]

The video is 20 minutes longer than the audio only so it's a good bet the story telling is there. Personally, I prefer that they snipped the chatter from the audio. I would've done that myself had they not. I usually remove talking from live releases for storage on my iPod.

[KevShmev]

When 2017 started, I had never seen Neal Morse.

By the time 2018 is over, I will have seen him six times, and he'll be 3rd or 4th on the list of artists I have seen the most (behind Rush, Dream Theater and possibly Blue Oyster Cult).

[kaos2900]

I joined Inner Circle to get the Storytellers concert. After an incredibly long time to download the video it appears I'm unable to put it on a jump drive to watch on my TV. It says that there is not enough room (the video is 4ish gbs and my flash drive is 16gbs). I've tried two different drives with the same issue. Has any one ran into this before?

[XeRocks81]

I joined Inner Circle to get the Storytellers concert. After an incredibly long time to download the video it appears I'm unable to put it on a jump drive to watch on my TV. It says that there is not enough room (the video is 4ish gbs and my flash drive is 16gbs). I've tried two different drives with the same issue. Has any one ran into this before?

could a formating issue?  I think FAT32 only supports files up to 4GB.  Maybe try reformating the drive in NTFS.

[kaos2900]

That did it! Thanks!

[The Letter M]

The latest Neal Morse IC Newsletter is out, later than usual because Neal has been so busy that he almost forget to send one out this month!

Some interesting tidbits - the idea of play Jesus Christ: The Exorcist for Morsefest 2018 was approved by Mike Portnoy, and he told Neal that it was a good idea! Glad to see the whole thing has Mike's blessing, considering Mike is such an integral part of Neal's works. I wonder if Mike will be available for Morsefest 2019 (undoubtedly he will, considering that 2019 will be a Mike/Neal year with Flying Colors 3 to tour on, and the new NMB album coming out).

Apparently, we are getting video and audio of the Tilburg show from the TSOAD tour, the audio mix of which is being worked on by Eric Gillette as we speak. The 2DVD/2CD set will be released in early June, with pre-orders starting in May. He doesn't mention a Blu-Ray release, though he says the show was "very well filmed and recorded".

Regarding the new NMB album, Neal says that they "are working on it. Work is ensuing and it shall be glorious."

No further words on FC3 or possible TA work, though I think I recall reading on Facebook that Roine was thinking next year might be a good time for them to reconvene, which should be exciting if that comes to pass! The rest of the newsletter talked about the current Life And Times Tour, individual shows, and skiing with his daughter.

I'm looking forward to the Tilburg show, though! I'm still wondering what's happening with Morsefest 2017's stuff, though. I guess we'll get it at some point, but I remember Neal saying he wanted the Morsefest performance of TSOAD to be the definitive release of the album live, but I guess we're getting TWO versions of it? Then again, it would not be the first time Neal releases two live shows of nearly the same material (looks at my Transatlantic collection...).

-Marc.

[kaos2900]

Was literally just going to post something similar.

I'm assuming that there will be a proper Morsefest release TSOAD as well. This might just mean we have to wait a little longer for it. Honestly, I'll probably skip the Tilburg show for the Morsefest Blu-Ray if there is one.

[The Letter M]

Was literally just going to post something similar.

I'm assuming that there will be a proper Morsefest release TSOAD as well. This might just mean we have to wait a little longer for it. Honestly, I'll probably skip the Tilburg show for the Morsefest Blu-Ray if there is one.

I think the Tilburg show would be good for anyone who just wants TSOAD live, as I can see Neal packing both nights of Morsefest 2017 into one giant set like he did for 2014 and 2015, considering they're Neal Morse albums, and not SB or other music. I did miss those big packages when 2016 was around, but getting that BEAUTIFUL artbook for Snow Live is a treat.

As a big fan of Neal's, I'll probably end up getting both sets anyway. The Tilburg show, if setlist.fm is correct, featured all four encore songs from the TSOAD tour (and I think Neal did that on purpose if he knew they were recording that night), but at Morsefest, they didn't play "Momentum" (which I think had a slightly different arrangement on that tour).

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I wouldn't assume that Flying Colors 3 will happen in the next year.  Neal said in an interview recently that it is not a given that the album will even happen.

As for the Tilburg release, while I am sure it will be good, since Morsefest will have TSOAD in full, I don't see the point in releasing this. Sure, they love to milk the fans (like getting two Transatlantic DVDs from the Whirlwind tour), but it just seems like overkill.

[devieira73]

https://progreport.com/mike-portnoy-on-the-latest-neal-morse-band-album/
Interesting that they’re still arranging the songs

[Fritzinger]

They should take their time. Let the songs rest a little and then come back to them. But what am I doing, this topic has been discussed more than once on this forum. I like that it's long songs though!

[gmillerdrake]

They should take their time.

Yeah....just hold up and wait a minute, re-evaluate.....pick out some pieces and maybe go back to square one for a fresh look.

[RodrigoAltaf]

They should take their time.

Yeah....just hold up and wait a minute, re-evaluate.....pick out some pieces and maybe go back to square one for a fresh look.

Let me catch my breath here a little, but are you saying that it´s time for a chaiannnnnnnnnge?

[Fritzinger]

Wait a minute...

[KevShmev]

Five days till he is here in St. Louis!!