Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[The Letter M]

-The Neal Morse Band will reconvene in July to work on the next album more, with the hopes of finishing it in the fall and releasing it in early 2019.
 

My concern over this is Portnoy's availability.  He has said that the other members of Sons of Apollo are already bugging him to get going on their next album. I know he prides himself on being able to juggle multiple projects at once, but it will suck if touring for the Neal Morse Band on this forthcoming album gets put on hold or ends up being a short tour because he wants to dedicate more time to this other band.  I have to think that the band would have finished it already this year if Portnoy wasn't so busy with SoA (I suspect Neal did the tour he did because he knew that was down time for the NMB due to Portnoy's tour schedule).

Well, according to the most recent IC Newsletter, sent out five days ago, they are already planning a tour schedule for 2019, and from Neal's own words - "We are now in the process of laying out a tour for the entire world in 2019. More to come." He also adds at the album will be finished in August, so I expect a Winter release.

He also mentions that Flying Colors is schedule to record their third album "at the end of the year". They apparently have "two-thirds of the album written and loosely-recorded from a couple years ago" and that it shouldn't take them long to complete that much, and write a bit more for a complete album in 2019.

So despite what SOA might *want* to do, it seems that Neal is pretty gung-ho about moving forward with both NMB and FC, though it's not clear if FC will tour in 2019 as well. I think if they're agreeable, SOA could write a new album next year between Mike's touring duties with NMB and FC, so that he's alternating touring and writing between SOA and his bands with Neal Morse, but we'll just have to wait and see how MP juggles it all. Then again, didn't he say he wasn't going to keep The Winery Dogs on hold for long or something to that effect? I wonder how his fellow Dogs feel and if they want to get together for another album/tour cycle sometime soon...

Either way, it seems like for Neal Morse fans, good things are coming in 2019! But before all of that happens, Neal did mention the upcoming release of Morsefest 2017, and apparently they're working on a fancy artbook release of the whole shebang - the Testimony 2 AND TSOAD shows. Neal says to expect this set to be released in November, so I suspect an October or late September pre-order, so be sure to save up for what will likely be a $75-100 artbook set, since it'll likely include 4 CDs and 2 DVDs (while I'd wish for BDs to be included as well or instead of DVDs, Neal seems insistent on releasing BDs separately from his CD sets). While I enjoyed the multi-disc digipaks of Morsefest 2014 and 2015, getting an artbook of Morsefest 2017 will be a treat, especially if they showcase the visual spectacle that accompanied the music!

-Marc.

[Stadler]

I get the distinct impression that "The Winery Dogs on hold" is not Mike's call to make.   

I also think that, as much as I love them, a "Neal Morse Band World Tour" is not exactly the "World Slavery Tour" where Maiden played something like 200 gigs in 330 days (actually it was 189 in 331, should have been 197, but a handful of dates were cancelled for health reasons). 

Though with that said, I see something giving in the next 12 to 18 months.  My prediction... it's Sons, but that's me (and perhaps not a small bit of wishful thinking, since I'd much rather get new Neal Morse than new Sons).   

[The Letter M]

Fans going to Morsefest this fall will be able to see Neal and Nick D'Virgilio play "The Great Nothing" as the opener on Saturday night!

-Marc.

[Indiscipline]

Really? If it's in my power, I'm definitely crossing the pond then.

[The Letter M]

Really? If it's in my power, I'm definitely crossing the pond then.

Yep! Neal posted it on facebook earlier this morning. I guess having Nick come around for another V epic seems like a great idea, though I have to wonder if they'll do other classic SB songs since Nick will be there anyway!

-Marc.

[axeman90210]

I get the distinct impression that "The Winery Dogs on hold" is not Mike's call to make.   

I also think that, as much as I love them, a "Neal Morse Band World Tour" is not exactly the "World Slavery Tour" where Maiden played something like 200 gigs in 330 days (actually it was 189 in 331, should have been 197, but a handful of dates were cancelled for health reasons). 

Though with that said, I see something giving in the next 12 to 18 months.  My prediction... it's Sons, but that's me (and perhaps not a small bit of wishful thinking, since I'd much rather get new Neal Morse than new Sons).   

My impression about the Winery Dogs was that Richie Kotzen wanted a hiatus to do his solo thing for a while, but that he might've been ready to come back to it this year if not for Mike and Billy already having something else going on in the form of SoA. So I don't think Mike is the reason they slowed down in the first place, but I do think he might be (part of) the reason they still haven't started back up. At this point my hope is that we get both new NMB and Flying Colors albums next year, along with extensive touring for the former and some select major city dates for the latter (trying to be realistic). Maybe another Sons of Apollo album, since the band seems keen on hitting the studio again. Would love to see either work on a new Winery Dogs album or just another tour from them in 2020, along with another Transatlantic record.

[Architeuthis]

I'd rather see MP just stick to the NMB and SOA as they are by far the two strongest bands he's a part of.  When you spread yourself too thin with too many projects, it leads to frustration from the members of all the bands involved and limits the possibilities of each band by slowing them down. I guess they could find different drummers but MP is part of the reason many show up to their gigs, plus his drumming skills are hard to top.
 I can see why it creates a bit of a canum-drum.. 😁
 

[kaos2900]

You could sub out MP with NDV in NMB and FC and I think my interest in both bands would increase more if that is even possible.

[gzarruk]

You could sub out MP with NDV in NMB and FC and I think my interest in both bands would increase more if that is even possible.

NMB with NDV would be a much better scenario imo, and FC isn't too hard for Portnoy to commit to, since they only do a few dates when they tour.

Btw, don't know if this has been discussed yet but, the way I see things, it's very possible that Casey ends up joining TSW full time if they plan to keep touring and recording new music, as Daniel is always going to have POS. That would mean even less chances for FC to be too active in the near future.

[gmillerdrake]

MP is part of the reason many show up to their gigs, plus his drumming skills are hard to top.

While I agree that MP is an incredible drummer and a blast to watch play live.....I think a major draw back to him being in these multiple bands is that it exposes his 'weakness' he has as a drummer.....and that is the fact that he (self admittedly) does not practice...which in effect limits his ability to improve.

MP certainly has a storied and impressive repertoire of fills..beats...rhythms that he employs on his endeavors....but, the fact remains that it's the 'same' bag of tricks used in each of his bands...just in different manners. It's not a 'bad' thing per say but when you're playing in three or four different bands and using the same type of fills without any attempt to create something new it does start to water down a bit. That being said...take 'Similitude for a Dream' for instance.....same bag of tricks used in various manners but it was still a fantastic effort by him and the band and it worked well.

What I find refreshing about Mike Mangini is that he purposefully tries to improve and come up with something new. Despite the opinions of 'The Astonishing'....I recently listened to it on a long road trip and the effort and creativity that MM puts into that album is unreal. It's really over looked at what he provides DT as far as 'fresh' fills/beats etc

[ronnibran]

OMG I nearly jazzed in my pants.  The Great Nothing is probably my favorite epic ever (by Neal, SB, or TA).  I am only going to Morsefest that one night, so in a panic went to look at my e-mail receipt to ensure I picked the right night lol.  Great news!

[KevShmev]

Well, according to the most recent IC Newsletter, sent out five days ago, they are already planning a tour schedule for 2019, and from Neal's own words - "We are now in the process of laying out a tour for the entire world in 2019. More to come." He also adds at the album will be finished in August, so I expect a Winter release.
 

That is good to hear!  We need some new music by the Neal Morse Band right away.

 
Either way, it seems like for Neal Morse fans, good things are coming in 2019! But before all of that happens, Neal did mention the upcoming release of Morsefest 2017, and apparently they're working on a fancy artbook release of the whole shebang - the Testimony 2 AND TSOAD shows. Neal says to expect this set to be released in November, so I suspect an October or late September pre-order, so be sure to save up for what will likely be a $75-100 artbook set, since it'll likely include 4 CDs and 2 DVDs (while I'd wish for BDs to be included as well or instead of DVDs, Neal seems insistent on releasing BDs separately from his CD sets). While I enjoyed the multi-disc digipaks of Morsefest 2014 and 2015, getting an artbook of Morsefest 2017 will be a treat, especially if they showcase the visual spectacle that accompanied the music!

It is probably too much to hope that it will be done in time to go on sale to those of us attending Morsefest, with the sale to the rest of the public a month or two later. I can hope, right? 

Fans going to Morsefest this fall will be able to see Neal and Nick D'Virgilio play "The Great Nothing" as the opener on Saturday night!

Nice.  Even though I like many of his epics more, that one is still pretty damn good, and it will be cool to see it performed.  That said, I was thinking it might get played Night 1 when it is the "Voices of the Beard" night, so it will be interesting what 3 hours of music we get that night if The Great Nothing is being saved for the following night.

[The Letter M]

Well, according to the most recent IC Newsletter, sent out five days ago, they are already planning a tour schedule for 2019, and from Neal's own words - "We are now in the process of laying out a tour for the entire world in 2019. More to come." He also adds at the album will be finished in August, so I expect a Winter release.
 

That is good to hear!  We need some new music by the Neal Morse Band right away.

I agree, but it probably won't come as quickly as you think.

 
Either way, it seems like for Neal Morse fans, good things are coming in 2019! But before all of that happens, Neal did mention the upcoming release of Morsefest 2017, and apparently they're working on a fancy artbook release of the whole shebang - the Testimony 2 AND TSOAD shows. Neal says to expect this set to be released in November, so I suspect an October or late September pre-order, so be sure to save up for what will likely be a $75-100 artbook set, since it'll likely include 4 CDs and 2 DVDs (while I'd wish for BDs to be included as well or instead of DVDs, Neal seems insistent on releasing BDs separately from his CD sets). While I enjoyed the multi-disc digipaks of Morsefest 2014 and 2015, getting an artbook of Morsefest 2017 will be a treat, especially if they showcase the visual spectacle that accompanied the music!

It is probably too much to hope that it will be done in time to go on sale to those of us attending Morsefest, with the sale to the rest of the public a month or two later. I can hope, right? 

HAH I doubt they could turn the album around in less than a month. It'll probably come out in November, which has been a popular release month for Neal - One, ?, TSOAD - or around there. I don't think it'll come out AFTER Christmas, so November seems pretty reasonable to me.

Fans going to Morsefest this fall will be able to see Neal and Nick D'Virgilio play "The Great Nothing" as the opener on Saturday night!

Nice.  Even though I like many of his epics more, that one is still pretty damn good, and it will be cool to see it performed.  That said, I was thinking it might get played Night 1 when it is the "Voices of the Beard" night, so it will be interesting what 3 hours of music we get that night if The Great Nothing is being saved for the following night.

"This just in! - OPENING ACT on Saturday Sept. 15, THE GREAT NOTHING!

The rare Spock's Beard epic will be performed by Neal Morse, Nick D'Virgilio, Randy George, Bill Hubauer, Eric Gillette and Paul Bielatowicz."

Well, he updated the Morsefest 2018 page on radiantrecords, so it does seem odd that they'd play this rare SB epic on the night that ISN'T "Voices Of The Beard", but maybe they wanted to do it without Ted? *shrug* Or perhaps they already had a HUGE set of SB songs that they wanted to do TGN as well, but couldn't fit it in on Friday night?

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

 
Either way, it seems like for Neal Morse fans, good things are coming in 2019! But before all of that happens, Neal did mention the upcoming release of Morsefest 2017, and apparently they're working on a fancy artbook release of the whole shebang - the Testimony 2 AND TSOAD shows. Neal says to expect this set to be released in November, so I suspect an October or late September pre-order, so be sure to save up for what will likely be a $75-100 artbook set, since it'll likely include 4 CDs and 2 DVDs (while I'd wish for BDs to be included as well or instead of DVDs, Neal seems insistent on releasing BDs separately from his CD sets). While I enjoyed the multi-disc digipaks of Morsefest 2014 and 2015, getting an artbook of Morsefest 2017 will be a treat, especially if they showcase the visual spectacle that accompanied the music!

It is probably too much to hope that it will be done in time to go on sale to those of us attending Morsefest, with the sale to the rest of the public a month or two later. I can hope, right? 

HAH I doubt they could turn the album around in less than a month. It'll probably come out in November, which has been a popular release month for Neal - One, ?, TSOAD - or around there. I don't think it'll come out AFTER Christmas, so November seems pretty reasonable to me.

I was talking about the Morsefest '17 release. I think you got confused when quoting too many parts of a post.

"This just in! - OPENING ACT on Saturday Sept. 15, THE GREAT NOTHING!

The rare Spock's Beard epic will be performed by Neal Morse, Nick D'Virgilio, Randy George, Bill Hubauer, Eric Gillette and Paul Bielatowicz."

Well, he updated the Morsefest 2018 page on radiantrecords, so it does seem odd that they'd play this rare SB epic on the night that ISN'T "Voices Of The Beard", but maybe they wanted to do it without Ted? *shrug* Or perhaps they already had a HUGE set of SB songs that they wanted to do TGN as well, but couldn't fit it in on Friday night?

I am surprised that he suddenly announced that they would be playing The Great Nothing. Makes me think that sales aren't as great as in years past and that announcing that would persuade some on-the-fence fans to go.

The first night is labeled as Storytellers, so I suspect we will get some cool covers of bands that influenced the three Beard singers. 

[The Letter M]

I was talking about the Morsefest '17 release. I think you got confused when quoting too many parts of a post.

Ooops 
Yeah, you're right. But like I said, Morsefest 2017 is coming out in November, two months BEFORE the Morsefest 2018 concert weekend, so I doubt he'd even have a personal pre-release copy to review before it's manufactured by then!

I am surprised that he suddenly announced that they would be playing The Great Nothing. Makes me think that sales aren't as great as in years past and that announcing that would persuade some on-the-fence fans to go.

The first night is labeled as Storytellers, so I suspect we will get some cool covers of bands that influenced the three Beard singers.

That is a likely reason, as well. I think some of his more-secular fans are a bit turned off by the whole "Jesus Christ Exorcist" rock opera he wants to perform, but he's got an all-star band lined up, you'd think that would draw some folks in as well. I'm glad he's been pretty transparent about it all, and he's been working hard on getting the music ready for it too, sending demos back and forth to the performers he's going to play with, just to make sure everything goes well in a couple of months! Regardless of the subject material, it's exciting for anyone going to get to see the world premier of a new Neal Morse work, and with all of those performers! It could be that he may never do a studio version of said rock opera, so this could be the one and only performance of it EVER! Now THAT would be something worth bragging about! 

I am interesting more in the storytellers set list, though, and you're probably right, there might be some covers, but given that Spock's Beard as a whole has THIRTEEN albums to pull songs from, they could do a 3 hour set of JUST Beard songs and still leave fans wanting more. My hope is that it's ALL SB songs and no Transatlantic, Flying Colors, covers, or other non-SB tunes. It's not often you can get Ted Leonard, Nick D'Virgilio, and Neal Morse all in the same room, though with all three of them there, I hope they *don't* play "Falling For Forever" since we got that fairly flawlessly with the ACTUAL full Spock's Beard band backing the vocalists, so let's leave that at that.

I'd like to see them play stuff like "The Good Don't Last" (with an actual string section), "Time Has Come", "The Gypsy", "A Guy Named Sid", and some other less-often played SB tunes, though I'm sure we'll get the millionth performances of "Wind At My Back" and "June"...

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I think some covers are a given for Night 1.  Given how much he sounds like Steve Walsh, Ted Leonard on lead vocals for a Kansas song would be a natural.  They could bust out Dust in the Wind and the place will go bananas.

That said, I really hope Neal takes this opportunity to play some Spock's stuff he has not played much or at all since leaving the band in 2002.  I won't quibble about June or Wind at My Back, since those songs are always crowd favorites, but gimme Flow, The Doorway, The Good Don't Last and/or The Healing Colors of Sound, and I will be happy.  Should be interesting to see what Spock's songs from 2003 till now get played.

[MinistroRaven]

From MP FB page:

All rest and no work makes MP a dull boy!! Off to Nashville today to resume work with the NMB on our follow up to The Similitude Of A Dream...that’s a tall order, but I know with the talent in this band we’re gonna come up with something magical again... 😉 #nealmorseband

[Mebert78]

From MP FB page:

All rest and no work makes MP a dull boy!! Off to Nashville today to resume work with the NMB on our follow up to The Similitude Of A Dream...that’s a tall order, but I know with the talent in this band we’re gonna come up with something magical again... 😉 #nealmorseband

That's interesting.  It sounds like the album isn't completely written yet, as he said "we're gonna come up with something magical again."  But scrolling back through this thread, MP had said the album was already written back in January:

“Sitting on an airplane flying home from Nashville and I just did a listen down of the writing/scratch tracks of the entire new NMB album from start to finish...WOW 😳 I’m blown away!!!
We knew following up TSOAD would be a challenge as it was such a special album to all of us, but I have to say this new one does the legacy proud and is an amazing follow up!
To nip the biggest question in the bud now, it’s a single disc and is NOT a sequel to TSOAD...
If I had to compare it to one of mine & Neal’s previous albums, I’d say it’s probably most similar to Sola Scriptura or Transatlantic’s Bridge Across Forever...
The album is filled with epic majesty, beautiful melodies and amazing playing from start to finish and I couldn’t be prouder of what we came up with....
I know it’s rather early to be teasing you all like this when we won’t even begin tracking til March and the album won’t likely be out til towards the end of the year, but I just wanted to check in and give you all a progress report and let you all know how excited I am with it!!
To be continued...“

I wonder if they weren't satisfied with the material they'd written after having a good six months or so to sit with it.  I'm happy about it, as I feel it can only lead to a stronger album.

[KevShmev]

Eh, it sounds like the rough drafts were done when he wrote that original post, and now they will probably work on smoothing out the edges, getting the arrangements figured out, and tweaking what needs to be tweaked. 

[The Letter M]

From MP FB page:

All rest and no work makes MP a dull boy!! Off to Nashville today to resume work with the NMB on our follow up to The Similitude Of A Dream...that’s a tall order, but I know with the talent in this band we’re gonna come up with something magical again... 😉 #nealmorseband

That's interesting.  It sounds like the album isn't completely written yet, as he said "we're gonna come up with something magical again."  But scrolling back through this thread, MP had said the album was already written back in January:

That doesn't like it to me - the whole "come up with something magical again" probably refers to releasing the album as a whole, and trying to compare it to the "magical" release that was TSOAD. By saying they'll "resume work" just means they'll be laying down the basic drum tracks and probably some other parts as well at the very least, and at most probably talk about some new ideas they've had since January. Eight months is a long time to sit on a new album's worth of material, so hopefully the time they've had to let it stew means they'll cut the fat, add some final ingredients, and serve up one hell of an album!

“Sitting on an airplane flying home from Nashville and I just did a listen down of the writing/scratch tracks of the entire new NMB album from start to finish...WOW 😳 I’m blown away!!!
We knew following up TSOAD would be a challenge as it was such a special album to all of us, but I have to say this new one does the legacy proud and is an amazing follow up!
To nip the biggest question in the bud now, it’s a single disc and is NOT a sequel to TSOAD...
If I had to compare it to one of mine & Neal’s previous albums, I’d say it’s probably most similar to Sola Scriptura or Transatlantic’s Bridge Across Forever...
The album is filled with epic majesty, beautiful melodies and amazing playing from start to finish and I couldn’t be prouder of what we came up with....
I know it’s rather early to be teasing you all like this when we won’t even begin tracking til March and the album won’t likely be out til towards the end of the year, but I just wanted to check in and give you all a progress report and let you all know how excited I am with it!!
To be continued...“

I wonder if they weren't satisfied with the material they'd written after having a good six months or so to sit with it.  I'm happy about it, as I feel it can only lead to a stronger album.

Again, I don't think they have been unhappy with the material, perhaps they just haven't finished it all yet? Mike and Neal have been very positive about what they've done so far. From the May IC Newsletter that Neal sent out:

We had a conference call this week and we have a game plan for how to proceed completing the new Neal Morse Band album. It's been difficult as we didn't finish in January and we are still having different ideas on how to arrange the pieces and what to do exactly with this next record. So we are going to have to reconvene. That is all arranged now for a few holes in our schedules over the summer.

And going back to the January IC Newsletter, here's what Neal had to say:

  I know everyone is very excited about this new album, as am I.  Here is a brief diary of mine about the sessions. 
       So we started on Friday the 5th.  Everyone flew in on the 4th and got in without incident. I actually picked everyone up, except Randy who got in earlier and got his own ride.  It was good to see everyone!  I talked to them at the hotel and then we got started at the crack of noon on Friday.  We dove straight in at our first meal, talking about our vision for the album; what we were seeing and feeling about it.  I was in a different place than I've been with other albums. I didn't have a really strong feeling about the particular direction we should go.  For awhile, when I was working on demos through 2017, I had felt like a Similitude 2 was what we should do, because I had some inspiration about some particular songs that I thought were very good and were based on the same book.  However, as I worked on my material more through the month of December, I wound up feeling like perhaps it wasn't the right time. The band felt the same way and we wound up doing a really great Prog album. It has a lot of recurring themes throughout, but I'm still not sure what it will be as we haven't written any words and there is a lot of exploring left to do. It's a different album to me. There are some beautiful themes and some very exciting parts; some very good song bits...it's an amazing journey all it's own. 
       Mike got out the dry erase board and put all the ideas up there, which is his normal MO. We wound up using quite a bit of the things we came in with.  Bill had quite a few demos and I had a lot of demos.  I had about, I don't know, maybe 80 minutes of demos. We also had some stuff from when we got together and wrote in August.  So we had a lot of stuff to choose from, but we also felt to write a lot of material in the room and that takes quite a bit longer.  So we took the same amount of time, or maybe more, to write this album than we did Similitude, which is a double and this is a single.  This is because it takes longer to collaborate than to play on someone else's song.  I don't want to reveal any titles, but the first piece we worked on wound up clocking in at well over 25 minutes and goes through a lot of amazing spaces.  We used quite a bit of Bill's material on the next one which clocks in at about 17 minutes. There's some King Crimson-esque bits in the second one, and some stuff that might be very at home on a Transatlantic record. On one of the mornings, I think it was Tuesday morning, I woke up with an idea for a regular song. Sort of along the same lines as Transatlantic's "Shine"  or something like that.  I presented that to the band and we recorded it.  It came out really, really good. After that, in the days to come, I think Thursday, Friday and Saturday were all spent working on the last piece, which is really a long beautiful thing.  That one starts out with a piece of Eric's that is very moving and goes into some other things that had been going on in my mind, and we wound up taking this motif of Bill's and really turning it into a thing. And then there was this other song idea that I had had just spontaneously, I think that day, that everybody really liked so we went into that. All of this of course with Mike very much at the forefront of the overview and Randy adding his bits.
       We had a huge snowstorm on Friday and the power went out Friday afternoon. That really set us back quite a bit. And then Jerry could only be here for part of the day on Saturday because he had to get out of town before the roads were closed. The whole snowstorm thing really set us back. But I'm sure God was in it all and we will see it come to a beautiful fruition.  I am now going to step back from it for a bit and let my ears rest and then come back with fresh ears after some time and give some serious thought to what the words should be and maybe even some arrangement ideas as well. 

So it seems like they had a fairly packed single-disc album's worth of songs, about 5 or so, so it doesn't seem like there was any shortage of material for use on the next album. Like I said above, they're probably just adding the finishing touches, and not writing anything from scratch this time around. Given the tight schedules of everyone involved, I'm sure this August session (which was going to be July according to Neal's June's IC Newsletter) will just be them laying down the basic tracks, then spending the next month or so doing their individual parts for the eventual mix and master. Again, I suspect a November release date!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Neal is 58 today!

Now, trying naming your 58 favorite Neal songs...

[King Postwhore]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[MinistroRaven]

[MinistroRaven]

[The Letter M]

Well, that should put to rest any confusion with regards to how far/how long the process of putting this album together has taken. I'm kind of glad they've spent a year on this material, on some level or another, and didn't hammer it out after one or two sessions as Neal and Mike are prone to do. They've traded demos, jammed them out, done conference calls afterwards, and have now reconvened to piece it all together for the final stretch!

I wonder if Neal's descriptions of the music from earlier in the year will still hold true for the finished pieces! Knowing Mike and the others, I'm sure some themes got cut, while others got more reprises throughout the album. The way they've talked about it, it'll sound like a Transatlantic album in terms of long songs and shared themes, so I suspect something like Bridge Across Forever. Hopefully they can finish the album by the end of the month or early September and aim for a November or December release!

-Marc.

[DTA]

Quick question unrelated to the new NMB album:

How are Neal's non-prog solo albums? I just finished my collection of his prog stuff with Lifeline, and was going to get his first solo album and It's Not Too Late next. Those are definite purchases for me.

But then I'm wondering about his other ones, Songs From November, Songs From The Highway, and the Worship albums. I'm not really into religious lyrics but I can tune them out if the music and songs are good. Are they in any way listenable or musically interesting?

[Mladen]

They're worth checking out. I made a huge mistake by ignoring the first album for years, since it ended up being one of my absolute favorites of his. I'd also recommend getting the new one, it's called Life & times. It's one of the albums I listened to the most this year and it truly made some of my days.

[DTA]

They're worth checking out. I made a huge mistake by ignoring the first album for years, since it ended up being one of my absolute favorites of his. I'd also recommend getting the new one, it's called Life & times. It's one of the albums I listened to the most this year and it truly made some of my days.

The first one is definitely my next pick. He was pretty much untouchable back in the late 90's. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll be buying all of his secular albums as I'm a sucker for NM pop songs. I'm more curious about the religious music he's released - the five worship albums, To God Be The Glory, Get In The Boat, and God Won't Give Up. Is the cheesiness off-the-charts or is it basically like his non-prog albums just with religious/preachy lyrics? I can handle that if the music is at least well-written, but if they're just bland pop/folk songs then I can do without. Thanks!

[Ninjabait]

Songs for November is really good. The arrangements are more complicated and brassy and it has a strong 80s Gospel/Peter Gabriel's So kind of vibe imo. Definitely recommend. Haven't heard the others yet

[KevShmev]

Unless you want a whole lotta Jesus and God talk, I would avoid the worship albums.

His first solo album, the self-titled one, is definitely one of my favorites.

It's Not Too Late, Songs from November and Life & Times are all good.  Not really any wow songs on them (he saves that for the prog stuff ), but all are good listens.

[MinistroRaven]

MP shared a video on his IG and I made these captures:





He said:

You can’t see that

But why teased us like that?

[DTA]

Unless you want a whole lotta Jesus and God talk, I would avoid the worship albums.

His first solo album, the self-titled one, is definitely one of my favorites.

It's Not Too Late, Songs from November and Life & Times are all good.  Not really any wow songs on them (he saves that for the prog stuff ), but all are good listens.

I don't mind the Jesus/God lyrics as I can honestly tune them out and just listen to the overall performance (plus I really only listen to music in my car by myself so I won't be embarrassed about playing it around my friends or girlfriend), as long as the music is catchy and there's melodic hooks. But for some reason, I associate worship music with boring dirges and lots of folky sounding stuff which I don't like. Pop songs I can handle but folk bores the hell out of me. But the 4 you mentioned are all on my list with the self-titled being my first choice.

[KevShmev]

I only heard two of the worship albums, but it was too much for me.  I always try to support Neal as much as I can, but it is not blind support.

[Stadler]

Unless you want a whole lotta Jesus and God talk, I would avoid the worship albums.

His first solo album, the self-titled one, is definitely one of my favorites.

It's Not Too Late, Songs from November and Life & Times are all good.  Not really any wow songs on them (he saves that for the prog stuff ), but all are good listens.

I don't mind the Jesus/God lyrics as I can honestly tune them out and just listen to the overall performance (plus I really only listen to music in my car by myself so I won't be embarrassed about playing it around my friends or girlfriend), as long as the music is catchy and there's melodic hooks. But for some reason, I associate worship music with boring dirges and lots of folky sounding stuff which I don't like. Pop songs I can handle but folk bores the hell out of me. But the 4 you mentioned are all on my list with the self-titled being my first choice.

Why would you be embarrassed about music you like?   

I will sometimes listen by myself if it's not their cup of tea, but f*** that.   I love Kiss, not apologizing for it, and I love both Harry Styles' new record AND Tyler Swift's 1989 and not apologizing for that.  Justin Beiber's "U Smile" is one of my favorite songs of all time.   Life's too short, man/girl.   If they make fun, it's on them. 

[OpenYourEyes311]

I have a few of his non-prog albums. I plan on picking up the rest at some point. Honestly, I like most of the songs on all the albums I've heard. Only a few were not to my liking.

Neal Morse - Great full band pop album with a great Prog Epic at the end. Lost Cause, Emma, A Whole Nother Trip... worth picking up

It's Not Too Late - Another full band pop album. Got some good songs, but I don't go back to this one very often

God Won't Give Up - Full Band worship album. Not bad at all. The Crossroads is really good.

Songs From the Highway - All acoustic folk worship album. This one is actually REALLY good. Isaiah 60, That Crutch, Resurrection Ground, Make Me A Dishwasher... all great songs. Just be sure to delete Talking Mega-Church Blues. Easily the worst song Neal ever wrote haha.

Songs From November - Full band pop album. I like this one too. Eric Gillette makes an appearance on my favorite track Flowers in a Vase.

To God Be the Glory - Full Band worship album. This is Our God is really good. Haven't listened to it too much, but nothing really offensive on here.

Life & Times - Mostly acoustic band pop album. This is GREAT. One of my favorite albums by Neal. He played a bunch of these songs at the Morsefest 2017 Inner Circle concert for the first time. They make a good first impression because most of those ones are my favorites: Selfie in the Square, He Died at Home (such a heartbreaking song), Old Alabama, Manchester... very good album. Worth picking up.