Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[MinistroRaven]

I don't know if I would say Kaliedoscope felt too "scheduled," as those guys seem to have no problem writing under those conditions.  But I completely agree that, while it is a good album, the magic is not there for whatever reason.

My reason for Kaleidoscope not having “the magic” is it feels very formulatic/: the mandatory epics and the ballad, even in the same order as the first two albums (ballad track 3). I loved the 2nd disc of The Whirlwind with the shorter songs. Would love for TA to go to the shorter songs approach at least for a full length album. It was very refreshing to my ears.

Having said this, the last Neal albums also feel formulaic for me. So I’m very skeptical about the new release and I’m afraid I’m about to jump off Neal’s ship. I enjoy his solo albums a lot, but the band efforts just feel bland and no magic.

If you listen carefully, Into The Blue has the same (or very very similar) structure to World Without End. It's, like you say, the same formulaic approach (not saying the songs aren't good, tho).

Kaleidoscope, while really good, is just a TA by the numbers album:

- Into The Blue is just a standard Neal Morse epic
- Shine is basically We All Need Some Light 2
- Black As The Sky is a very cool song and works well as a single
- Beyond The Sun is basically Bridge Across Forever 2
- Kaleidoscope is a classic TA epic.

Great songs, but nothing new.

Agreed on all aspects, but it stills holds a great place for me as it was the album through I saw the band performed live for the first time

[Architeuthis]

Having said this, the last Neal albums also feel formulaic for me. So I’m very skeptical about the new release and I’m afraid I’m about to jump off Neal’s ship. I enjoy his solo albums a lot, but the band efforts just feel bland and no magic.

 So are you saying Similitude if formulatic??  I think SOAD is one of the most adventurous modern prog albums I've heard! Sure, there are re-occurring themes but they are done tastefully throughout. Can't wait to hear The Great Adventure.
 I don't know how anyone would want to jump off the Neal Ship after listening to Similitude.  If you're gonna jump ship, you might as well do it right and wait til Prog Cruise 2019..   

[bosk1]

Having said this, the last Neal albums also feel formulaic for me. So I’m very skeptical about the new release and I’m afraid I’m about to jump off Neal’s ship. I enjoy his solo albums a lot, but the band efforts just feel bland and no magic.

 So are you saying Similitude if formulatic??  I think SOAD is one of the most adventurous modern prog albums I've heard! Sure, there are re-occurring themes but they are done tastefully throughout. Can't wait to hear The Great Adventure.
 I don't know how anyone would want to jump off the Neal Ship after listening to Similitude.  If you're gonna jump ship, you might as well do it right and wait til Prog Cruise 2019..   

People "jump ship" on a band/artist for a variety of reasons.  Here's just a thought:  If someone was starting to feel a bit burned out on Neal already for whatever reason, the fact that TSOAD is SO long and so "formulaic" in terms of being "typical Neal" could lead some to feel even more burned out.  I could understand that argument.

For me personally, although Neal is one of my favorite artists, I feel slightly burned out just because he is so prolific and releases SO MUCH music that, despite having a lot of variation and unusual elements, can still often sound "formulaic" in the way I described above.  That said, Neal's studio albums are still "automatic buy" for me.  And most of the live stuff as well.  And I don't see that changing in the near future.

[goo-goo]

@bosk1

I think I have a little of both of your reasons. The fact that he is releasing another double album will probably not help my cause 

However, I do believe Neal has shined more artistically (in my opinion) in his solo efforts (more focused on the songwriting), like Songs from November and Life and Times. I absolutely enjoy those releases and do not feel burned out by them. Even in the acoustics in Transatlantic, those are tearjerker songs for me. But I guess because of the massive amount of material he releases in the band efforts, maybe that's why I feel the formulaic style of the music.

Anyways, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

[bluefox4000]

Neal is very formulaic.  and i won't say i love everything because of it.

Neal i think found a groove very early on.......like literally track 1, lol.  The Light and he has never strayed to farr from it.  adding stuff.  but the light had nearly ALL morse's hallmarks.  and he's mostly kept to that.

now it just so happens i like it, lol.  but it produces misses like Anything else.  thankfully that formula was shaken up with NMB.  and  TSOAD is......IMO.  the best thing he's ever done.

but anyway that's my take on this.

[The Letter M]

I guess I'll weigh in on this whole conversation. I can't say I've ever felt "fatigued" by Neal's works very much, though I will say that around the time of Lifeline/T2/Momentum, he did start sounding like his ideas were running on E, and things started feeling very same-y to me. Lifeline was OK at the time of release, but has aged poorly to my eyes (and I think Neal realizes that as well, as he's not gone back to that material save for a couple songs here and there). Testimony 2 is just another extension of Testimony, and while it is good, is pretty typical for Neal. And Momentum just happens to be the one album that, while I really enjoy, I probably don't find myself going back to - I'd rather listen to either album on each side of it (T2 and TGE).

When he finally formed the NMB and incorporated Bill's and Eric's ideas and performances into the studio work, Neal's ideas seemed refreshed, and I REALLY enjoyed TGE when it came out. It felt like Neal had a shot in the arm, and the ball kept rolling with TSOAD, so I have high hopes for TGA when it comes out next year. I look forward to hearing more collaborations with every band member!

As for his other works, with Transatlantic, I will echo the sentiments that Kaleidoscope does feel like it treads familiar ground, and that's OK for me - the first two TA albums are spectacular, so going over similar ground doesn't diminish Kaleidoscope for me, but it doesn't make it better - it's just simply good, a solid 4/5 or so. And while some might feel it is "formulaic", I find myself really enjoying the input from Roine, Pete, Mike, and even Daniel on this one, and it's pretty refreshing at times, especially parts of the epics and "Black As The Sky". In the years since its release, I've often found myself going back to it at random intervals because it feels easy to get into, whereas I feel compelled to listen to ALL of "The Whirlwind" once I start it. With Kaleidoscope, I can put on an epic or two, or just spin the shorter songs and feel like I got a good dose of Transatlantic that is still fresh to me, whereas listening to SMPT:e and BAF, while amazing, are both still a bit overplayed to my ears, so I tend to give them a rest every now and then.

While we're discussing TA...
BAF > TW > SMPT:e > K

-Marc.

[bluefox4000]

I guess I'll weigh in on this whole conversation. I can't say I've ever felt "fatigued" by Neal's works very much, though I will say that around the time of Lifeline/T2/Momentum, he did start sounding like his ideas were running on E, and things started feeling very same-y to me. Lifeline was OK at the time of release, but has aged poorly to my eyes (and I think Neal realizes that as well, as he's not gone back to that material save for a couple songs here and there). Testimony 2 is just another extension of Testimony, and while it is good, is pretty typical for Neal. And Momentum just happens to be the one album that, while I really enjoy, I probably don't find myself going back to - I'd rather listen to either album on each side of it (T2 and TGE).

When he finally formed the NMB and incorporated Bill's and Eric's ideas and performances into the studio work, Neal's ideas seemed refreshed, and I REALLY enjoyed TGE when it came out. It felt like Neal had a shot in the arm, and the ball kept rolling with TSOAD, so I have high hopes for TGA when it comes out next year. I look forward to hearing more collaborations with every band member!

As for his other works, with Transatlantic, I will echo the sentiments that Kaleidoscope does feel like it treads familiar ground, and that's OK for me - the first two TA albums are spectacular, so going over similar ground doesn't diminish Kaleidoscope for me, but it doesn't make it better - it's just simply good, a solid 4/5 or so. And while some might feel it is "formulaic", I find myself really enjoying the input from Roine, Pete, Mike, and even Daniel on this one, and it's pretty refreshing at times, especially parts of the epics and "Black As The Sky". In the years since its release, I've often found myself going back to it at random intervals because it feels easy to get into, whereas I feel compelled to listen to ALL of "The Whirlwind" once I start it. With Kaleidoscope, I can put on an epic or two, or just spin the shorter songs and feel like I got a good dose of Transatlantic that is still fresh to me, whereas listening to SMPT:e and BAF, while amazing, are both still a bit overplayed to my ears, so I tend to give them a rest every now and then.

While we're discussing TA...
BAF > TW > SMPT:e > K

-Marc.

i agree on the Period from lifeline to Momentum.

if any period at all can be considered Neal coasting it's this.  though i LOVE Testimony 2.  but i played Lifeline the other day.  and it SOUNDS like a man tired aand fried.  First off the melodies don't stick as much to me.

2.  i can usually overlook his views.  but the record for ME.....is way to pulpit preachy. to me he went a bit too far in that direction here.  i feel he knew it.  cause he's dialed it back since.  T2 notwithstanding (it was more of his story)

3. So many is just as an epic weak.  i like sections but as a whole it failss for me.  it remains my least fav Epic.  Even with NMB bringing new life to it.

but Lifeline is the low point to these ears.

[DTA]

Children Of The Chosen is the highlight of Lifeline for me and I'm surprised it doesn't get any attention. Like I've never seen anyone mention it ever. Being as MP creates a lot of the setlists for Neal, I'm surprised that one has slipped by him as he's usually good with picking out rare and underplayed tracks.

[bosk1]

Testimony, One, and Sola Scriptura remain three of my favorite albums by ANYONE.  But I remember coming off of SS feeling like Neal really needed to break from doing concept albums.  He is a great storyteller.  And the music was just incredibly diverse and high quality.  But just the very nature of doing four concept albums in a row made Neal's music start to feel a bit formulaic.  And it also made it tough to listen to at time because I find that, for me, it is kind of hard to listen to songs from a concept album in isolation.  It's kind of an all-or-nothing deal for me.  So when I heard he was breaking from that for Lifeline, I thought that was a smart choice.

But as mentioned, Lifeline just did not sound as inspired as his previous work.  There is some good stuff there.  But it never really hooked me, and I don't disagree with the statement that Neal just sounded a bit tired, like he was retreading familiar musical ground rather than coming up with something new.

T2 felt like a bit of a return to form.  And it simultaneously felt fresh yet familiar.  But even with the bonus disk, it still kind of felt like retreading old ground.

Momentum was really a big step up for me from the last two.  It felt like what Neal was trying to accomplish with Lifeline managed to come to fruition this time around in terms of just writing an album of songs.  No story.  No preconceived structure.  Just going for it and writing songs.  Then The Grand Experiment, with new band behind him, was an even bigger step up. 

Similitude might just be my favorite post-SS album of his.  It was the right time to go back to doing a big concept piece.  And it feels fresh and inspired.  I am perhaps just a bit burned out on a lot of the familiar things Neal brings to the table.  But at the same time, I can't say I don't really enjoy this album (or the older material, for that matter).

[The Letter M]

Children Of The Chosen is the highlight of Lifeline for me and I'm surprised it doesn't get any attention. Like I've never seen anyone mention it ever. Being as MP creates a lot of the setlists for Neal, I'm surprised that one has slipped by him as he's usually good with picking out rare and underplayed tracks.

In the years since Lifeline's release, I have grown to enjoy "Children Of The Chosen" more and more, but it doesn't help raise the album from OK to Good. Still, a good song, but outside of Morsefest 2017, Neal has only played 3 songs from that album live, to my knowledge, with the Neal Morse Band - the title track, "Leviathan" and the closer "Fly High". Other than that, he hasn't given it much attention, and I don't blame him. He also had the opportunity to play the whole album live with Morsefest, but instead of doing Lifeline and Testimony 2 (which would have been next in his solo album sequence after the first four albums), he decided to just do the epic "So Many Roads" and the title track, abandoning the rest of the album from ever getting a complete live performance, probably, ever!

With regards to Momentum, like I said, while it is enjoyable, I remember seeing the track list when it was revealed and thinking - "Man, Neal has done this album format a LOT - a few short songs, then a huge closing epic." It felt like he was treading ground that Day For Night and V had done, but those songs just have held up better to me since then. I'd rather listen to those SB albums than Momentum, if I'm being honest, and while the album initially wow'ed me at release (especially for being more lyrically secular than not), it has not aged well to my ears. The epic is overly long, and the shorter songs are all merely OK as a collection. I think the live versions of those songs are much better, especially with the 6-member band playing them. Now I am tempted to put on Live Momentum when I get home tonight from work!

-Marc.

[bluefox4000]

I'm glad he's never played lifeline in full.

I watched Morsedest 2017 again.  while i still Call it my fav one.  that back to back of Lifeline and So many Roads opening night 1.

wow it's rough for me.  Repeated viewings i'm like speed it up men, lol

[KevShmev]

Lifeline (the song) is a good tune, but is one that feels way too long. Could have been a great 7-8 minute song, instead of the 13-minute chore that it is.  I enjoyed it at Morsefest, but would have been more than happy with something else.  Reminded me a bit of DT in that regard, in the sense that they took a really good song and made it way too long with too many instrumental parts instead of keeping it concise.

Children of the Chosen is pretty good, but I rarely revisit it.

I am with those who say they rarely go back to Momentum.  It's very good, but just doesn't stack up to the beastly prog records of Neal's that came before and after it (T2 and The Great Experiment).  I still love Thoughts Part 5 and World Without End, however.

[gzarruk]

Agree on the thoughts (pun intended) posted about Lifeline. The title track and Leviathan are my favorites, but the rest of the album doesn't click with me at all. The epic, specially, was a huge disappointment to me at my first listen. Now I like it more, but I'd still take any other Neal epic over So Many Roads every time.

Agree with Bosk on Momentum, that album did accomplish what Lifeline couldn't. Not his best album, but still very very good. World Without End is definitely a top 5 NM song for me tho

TGE was a bit disappointing to me. The Call and Alive Again are great (except for that long section that has Bill singing ) and Waterfall is very cool, but it has my least favorite NM song (Agenda) and the title track feels weird as well.

[KevShmev]

TGE was a bit disappointing to me. The Call and Alive Again are great (except for that long section that has Bill singing ) and Waterfall is very cool, but it has my least favorite NM song (Agenda) and the title track feels weird as well.

Okay, but Agenda and the title track only take up 9 1/2 minutes of the album, while the other three songs take up 43 1/2 minutes.  I can't call any album disappointing where 82% of the album is great/cool.

[bluefox4000]

TGE hinges on Alive Again for me.

One of the best epics IMO.  the rest of the album is OK.  the Call is Fine i guess.  i'm burned out on it though.  the Title track......bland.  i mean it's fine really.

HATE hate hate hate.....gasp....hate Agenda.

Waterfall is pretty.

thamk god for that epic though.

[The Letter M]

Lifeline (the song) is a good tune, but is one that feels way too long. Could have been a great 7-8 minute song, instead of the 13-minute chore that it is.  I enjoyed it at Morsefest, but would have been more than happy with something else.  Reminded me a bit of DT in that regard, in the sense that they took a really good song and made it way too long with too many instrumental parts instead of keeping it concise.

Children of the Chosen is pretty good, but I rarely revisit it.

I am with those who say they rarely go back to Momentum.  It's very good, but just doesn't stack up to the beastly prog records of Neal's that came before and after it (T2 and The Great Experiment).  I still love Thoughts Part 5 and World Without End, however.

"Lifeline" does feel a bit bloated, doesn't it? I like that Neal trimmed the fat on "Momentum" for the album version, but it was neat to hear him pull out the full version on the TSAOD tour, complete with the bombastic opening and long-slow middle section, but you can tell he cut that fat because it was already so similar to songs like "Lifeline" that had all that extra fluff.

"Thoughts Part 5" is a beast of a song, and I hope that if Neal ever invites Spock's Beard back for another Morsefest, they do a "Thoughts Sequence" where they play all four songs (Parts 1 and 2, Afterthoughts, and Part 5) together with all of the vocalists on stage! That would be amazing to see!

TGE was a bit disappointing to me. The Call and Alive Again are great (except for that long section that has Bill singing ) and Waterfall is very cool, but it has my least favorite NM song (Agenda) and the title track feels weird as well.

Okay, but Agenda and the title track only take up 9 1/2 minutes of the album, while the other three songs take up 43 1/2 minutes.  I can't call any album disappointing where 82% of the album is great/cool.

Good math!  But if you add the 2nd disc bonus tracks (which are no slouch, and all better than "Agenda" at least), those two songs only make up about 12.2% of the total album, so you've got 87.8% of an amazing album to enjoy!

But yeah, "Agenda" isn't HORRIBLE, and I don't dislike it as much as most folks. It's a bit like "Freak" from Momentum, in that it's a weird and quirky Neal tune, but I don't believe Neal ever played "Freak" live, so maybe having done "Agenda" a couple dozen times made fans dislike it more?

Also, regarding epics, it's odd that Neal hasn't done one in awhile outside of "Falling For Forever" and "Alive Again" in 2015, so I wonder if any of his grand epic demos and ideas are just sitting in a computer folder somewhere, waiting to be used in the next Transatlantic sessions? Then again, I could be surprised and TGA could have an epic, which would be unlike any of Neal's other narrative-concept albums (Testimony 1 and 2, Snow, TSOAD). I actually wouldn't mind if TGA was something more akin to One, where there's a mix of long and short songs with an epic or two thrown in to bookend the album!

-Marc.

[gzarruk]

Sola Scriptura was mostly epics, so it could definitely happen.

About TGE. I was a bit disappointed because they marketed it as a creative spark and a different approach, now that it was the whole band and not just Neal writing the stuff. They even changed their name to adopt the "band" thing, and the album ended up being a trademark Neal Morse album, just with two other singers here and there. The songs arent THAT good, overall, so while I can enjoy it, I'd rather listen to other NM releases.


...did I mention Agenda is terrible?

[bosk1]

I don't get the sudden hate for Agenda.  Anyone who doesn't like that song has some sort of disorder.

[bluefox4000]

I don't get the sudden hate for Agenda.  Anyone who doesn't like that song has some sort of disorder.

oh it's not sudden with me, lol

just a complete waste of album space, IMO.  but hey what do i know, lol

[The Letter M]

Sola Scriptura was mostly epics, so it could definitely happen.

About TGE. I was a bit disappointed because they marketed it as a creative spark and a different approach, now that it was the whole band and not just Neal writing the stuff. They even changed their name to adopt the "band" thing, and the album ended up being a trademark Neal Morse album, just with two other singers here and there. The songs arent THAT good, overall, so while I can enjoy it, I'd rather listen to other NM releases.

Have you seen the Making Of TGE DVD that came with the special edition of the album? You really get a sense of how much material really was Neal's and what the other band members brought to the table, which is more than any other album before it. Before Eric and Bill joined, it seemed like every solo Neal album was 90% Neal's ideas, with the other 10% just being whatever they jammed in the studio between demos. Mike and Randy have even brought up that they felt like it was really all Neal's music they were playing, but with The Neal Morse Band, they felt like there was a lot more input from everyone, and that Neal's music was used less and less (at least, from his original demos - the same could be said for TA's The Whirlwind and Kaleidoscope, both of which have pretty in-depth Making Of DVDs as well).

I guess I just view TGE through a different lens having seen how that recording/writing process went down in the DVD, and having heard the TGE demos that Neal released (which also included demos from Eric), I can tell just how collaborative the album was. Maybe it just feels more like Neal's works because his works have evolved over-time to incorporate more and different ideas from his band mates?

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

https://www.radiantrecords.com/products/759-the-neal-morse-band-the-great-adventure.aspx

The pre-order page is live, but orders can't be placed until Tuesday, December 4th at 10am EST/9am CST. The album will be 3 versions for sale - 2cd, 2cd+DVD, and 3 LP vinyl.

50 customers in the first 24 hours will be randomly picked to receive a frame-able print signed by the whole band, so no need to F5 at 10am to get it!

-Marc.

[bosk1]

Oh goodie.  We're back to the cycle where pre-orders are about to go live, and bunches of people enthusiastically get their preorders set, and then on release day, a far-too-significant fraction of those fans are left to complain that their orders were delayed and that they should have either done a regular order from another source or picked it up at a store on release day. 

[bluefox4000]

Oh goodie.  We're back to the cycle where pre-orders are about to go live, and bunches of people enthusiastically get their preorders set, and then on release day, a far-too-significant fraction of those fans are left to complain that their orders were delayed and that they should have either done a regular order from another source or picked it up at a store on release day. 

yea i did Radiant ONCE......never ever again.

bad business.

[KevShmev]

Given that it is Radiant Records, that is almost guaranteed to happen! 

Granted, I can't complain too much since I got my Morsefest 2017 box set right away (although I have been burned in the past by them), but quite a few people are still waiting for theirs, based on what I have read online.

Seems like a bunch of people ordered the Morsefest and Life & Times DVD as a bundle, and since the L&T DVD was delayed at the plant, they have not received anything yet. Unreal. Good customer service would have been to bite the bullet and send those people their Morsefest orders so they got them right away, but nope, they are making them wait for everything since they were ordered as a bundle.  And numerous people had been emailing to ask about the status and getting no updates back. 

I continue to be saddened by how poorly Neal is represented by Radiant Records. He deserves better than that.

[bosk1]

In fairness to Radiant, I have heard similar stories about preorders from a LOT of different vendors over the years, including Amazon.  That is why I NEVER preorder.  (Plus, I generally like going in and physically picking up the album at a store)  But that said, it seems like I have heard of it happening a lot more with Radiant.

[The Letter M]

Given that it is Radiant Records, that is almost guaranteed to happen! 

Granted, I can't complain too much since I got my Morsefest 2017 box set right away (although I have been burned in the past by them), but quite a few people are still waiting for theirs, based on what I have read online.

Seems like a bunch of people ordered the Morsefest and Life & Times DVD as a bundle, and since the L&T DVD was delayed at the plant, they have not received anything yet. Unreal. Good customer service would have been to bite the bullet and send those people their Morsefest orders so they got them right away, but nope, they are making them wait for everything since they were ordered as a bundle.  And numerous people had been emailing to ask about the status and getting no updates back. 

I continue to be saddened by how poorly Neal is represented by Radiant Records. He deserves better than that.

This is VERY odd, because I ordered the bundled and got both the Life & Times DVD AND the Morsefest Artbook on November 17th. Apparently, looking back at an old email, they had to order MORE of the L&T DVD, so I guess I got lucky and my order was in the earlier batch before the cut-off. Weird, though, that they didn't order enough of the DVD. Perhaps they had more orders of the bundle than they expected, which I guess is a good thing for Neal in the end - more people want more of his music!

I also haven't had many issues with Radiant myself, not nearly as bad as other folks have said here - no botched orders, no untimely deliveries, no damaged or wrong products. Heck, I even cancelled an order once and got my refund, but they STILL sent the order to me! I haven't opened it yet, but I never thought to return it. I figured I could gift it to someone who might have never heard of Neal's music and might like it.

With regards to TGA itself, I am glad to see there's another Making Of DVD as they are always one of the things I look forward to with a new Neal project! I even find myself going back and watching old Making Of DVDs (Snow, V, The Whirlwind) from time to time because I really enjoy seeing his creative process and how he works with Mike, Randy, and now Eric and Bill. It'll be neat to see how the band creates yet ANOTHER double-album!

-Marc.

[Fritzinger]

I won't pre-order this at Radiant. I pre-ordered something there ONCE (think it was the Whirld DVD package) and I clicked "order" the second the pre-order began. The band also promised to sign the first [don't remember] copies that were ordered. Then the following things happened:
1. Shipping was ridiculously high (which I understand given that it shipped from USA to Germany)
2. Shipping took ridiculously long (which I also understand, but even for the distance it was too long)
3. The slipcase cover of the DVD was damaged
4. The flippin thing wasn't signed
Sorry Radiant. First and last time.
Plus, they only seem to sell the black LPs and I found a German website that sells an orange vinyl version for just about the same price.

[Fritzinger]

Oh, by the way, I found the tracklist of the album!
(Found it on an official German seller website so I hope it's okay to post that here)

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

[Zydar]

Hey Ho Let's Go gives me Ramones vibes 

[DTA]

I definitely need more Neal Morse tracks named "Overture". Holy shit, use "Prelude" or "Introduction" or something!

[KevShmev]

Assuming that track list is correct, I am ecstatic to see it is another album with mostly shorter songs.

[Mladen]

That usually doesn't count when it comes to concept albums, though. However, Neal manages to pull off a short, infectious tune which is part of the concept but also can be played on its own. My favorite example of that on the previous album is Freedom song.

[bluefox4000]

I definitely need more Neal Morse tracks named "Overture". Holy shit, use "Prelude" or "Introduction" or something!

being that my first love is Broadway......i'm used to it, lol

[ronnibran]

Preorders from radiant come with instant download of the first “single” so I’m assuming we’ll hear a song on Tuesday. Obviously won’t be a full blown video from the video shoots. Just speculation, I could be wrong of course. But I’m cautiously optimistic. I would think they’d release it on YouTube at the same time.

[Fritzinger]

I definitely need more Neal Morse tracks named "Overture". Holy shit, use "Prelude" or "Introduction" or something!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think those things are not the same... Preludes or Introductions don't present big chunks of the most important themes and melodies of the piece. Overtures do just that and those themes are later reprised and varied. I think, often (especially in classical music), the Overture ends in a similar way as the whole piece, so the Overture is foreshadowing the end of the piece (like the Overture in Six Degrees did!).