Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[gzarruk]

That’s why Agenda sucks

[Fritzinger]

Agenda is in the lower 3% of Neal Morse's compositions in my opinion, but it has that neat post-chorus (?) thingy ("hey hey Joe, there's a place I know") and is therefore still a far better tune than that embarrassment of a song I Love It Loud.

[bosk1]

I agree that it is in the top 3%.  But you spelled "top" wrong.

[Fritzinger]

To make it clear, a song in Neal's lower top 3% is still at least an okay song 

[The Letter M]

Coming on May 15th, looks like Inner Circle members will get access to the new May release, "Beginning The Adventure: The Great Adventure Sessions". Looks like it'll be the first draft of the album that they wrote and recorded during their first sessions before Neal decided to make it a follow-up to TSOAD, so there's going to be different versions of songs we've gotten, as well songs and ideas that were cut from the final album! Sounds like it'll be exciting to hear!

-Marc.

[DTA]

Damn, I’m no Inner Circle member but I’d really like to hear that. I’m assuming there’s no way for non-IC members to buy it?

[MinistroRaven]

Damn, I’m no Inner Circle member but I’d really like to hear that. I’m assuming there’s no way for non-IC members to buy it?

Only way it's to be an IC member, OR getting a leaked copy

[ronnibran]

I’m cancelling my IC membership as soon as I download this. Been a member for four months and still have never gotten a single monthly newsletter. I’ve contacted them a few times about it and still haven’t gotten a response. I think the only way to get a response is to whine on Facebook but I don’t feel like doing that.

[ronnibran]

I’m cancelling my IC membership as soon as I download this. Been a member for three months and still have never gotten a single monthly newsletter. I’ve contacted them a few times about it and still haven’t gotten a response. I think the only way to get a response is to whine on Facebook but I don’t feel like doing that.

Haha tried to modify my post as I’ve been a member for three not four months but accidentally hit quote instead of modify. Didn’t see a delete button haha.

[MinistroRaven]

I’ve been a member since last January and the newsletters have never failed to be sent to me.

[ronnibran]

I’ve been a member since last January and the newsletters have never failed to be sent to me.

Consider yourself one of the lucky ones. Or maybe I’m just an unlucky one.

[KevShmev]

Hmmm, I guess I never thought about it, but I rejoined back in March because I wanted to watch the commentary thing about the new album, and I have never received any monthly newsletter or anything either.  Radiant strikes again. 

[MinistroRaven]

Hmmm, I guess I never thought about it, but I rejoined back in March because I wanted to watch the commentary thing about the new album, and I have never received any monthly newsletter or anything either.  Radiant strikes again. 

you guys should check your SPAM folders

[ronnibran]

Checked all that many times. Spam, junk, trash, every possible folder. Based on past experience with Radiant I have no reason to believe that I’ve missed them. And I get all my other Radiant emails just fine so I know the email address is fine.

[Fritzinger]

Neal should really consider changing this situation. It's cool to do it all on your own (and he might earn more money than if he went to insideout - which he deserves 110%!) but this seems to piss off a lot of fans. And that's not cool at all. He's such a great, professional, enthusiastic musician and these problems shouldn't worsen fan's views on him in my opinion.

[DTA]

Neal should really consider changing this situation. It's cool to do it all on your own (and he might earn more money than if he went to insideout - which he deserves 110%!) but this seems to piss off a lot of fans. And that's not cool at all. He's such a great, professional, enthusiastic musician and these problems shouldn't worsen fan's views on him in my opinion.

It will only change if people stop forking over money for it. Unfortunately, a large portion of the fanbase that buys stuff like this will follow Neal to the ends of the earth and put up with it. I bought a cd from Radiant last year and it took forever to come with no communication from them at all about why it took so long even after sending emails. I eventually posted on their facebook page and basically was told this is how slow it always is and the woman who runs it is "really overworked and busy" and other bullshit from fans who have just learned to accept it. This is a business, and I'm not going to buy from Radiant again due to that type of ineptitude. Run a business properly or don't. If enough people cancel this, then maybe things will start to change for the better instead of just accepting it because Neal's a cool guy.

[KevShmev]

Hmmm, I guess I never thought about it, but I rejoined back in March because I wanted to watch the commentary thing about the new album, and I have never received any monthly newsletter or anything either.  Radiant strikes again. 

you guys should check your SPAM folders

I have and no dice.

It will only change if people stop forking over money for it. Unfortunately, a large portion of the fanbase that buys stuff like this will follow Neal to the ends of the earth and put up with it. I bought a cd from Radiant last year and it took forever to come with no communication from them at all about why it took so long even after sending emails. I eventually posted on their facebook page and basically was told this is how slow it always is and the woman who runs it is "really overworked and busy" and other bullshit from fans who have just learned to accept it. This is a business, and I'm not going to buy from Radiant again due to that type of ineptitude. Run a business properly or don't. If enough people cancel this, then maybe things will start to change for the better instead of just accepting it because Neal's a cool guy.

Truth.  Fans with legit complaints are basically told me to be patient, Radiant is awesome, and that the lady who runs it does a great job despite being overworked.    I know I sound like a broken record about this, but it really is a shame that a musician as classy and gracious as Neal Morse is represented so poorly by Radiant Records.  He deserves better than to have his fans get such subpar customer service.

[bosk1]

I have not been an IC member for YEARS and have not ordered anything directly from Radiant for YEARS simply because they are so unreliable.  I love Neal's music, but the bottom line is, he's losing money because his organization doesn't have its act together. 

[The Letter M]

I guess I just must be one of the lucky ones. I've never had any issues with getting his Newsletters, or making/completing orders from the store. In fact, I even cancelled an order once and they accidentally sent it to me ANYWAY, AFTER i received my refund.

That sucks that you guys have all had these issues and I'm sure a lot of them are just simple mistakes, but they sure do add up over time, which is a shame. I do agree, though, that I feel like Radiant should have a bigger staff to help run things a bit more smoothly, rather than the mom-and-pop-style small business that it continues to be, but I guess that's just how Neal and his staff like to run things, which seems to have mixed reviews.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I have not been an IC member for YEARS and have not ordered anything directly from Radiant for YEARS simply because they are so unreliable.  I love Neal's music, but the bottom line is, he's losing money because his organization doesn't have its act together.

Truth.

Apparently they released the mp3's of the original Great Adventure demos this week, but I never got an email about it, just like I never get Neal's monthly newsletter anymore.  Such awful customer service.

[ronnibran]

It’s very agitating. There’s discussion going on right now on FB regarding the not getting the newsletters. I think most people just think I’m doing something wrong. Oh, and contacting and emailing Radiant isn’t enough, there’s some woman I should have known to private message about the issues. Honestly it’s become humorous at this point.

[KevShmev]

But wait, you can get the newsletters by going to the Radiant site and logging in...except that they haven't been updated since January.

Like you said, it's simply humorous at this point.

[The Letter M]

So I finally downloaded the "NMB 3 - Beginning The Adventure" Demo album, and it's pretty interesting so far. The familiar TGA themes are very present, but it's got a different vibe over-all. I'm only partly through the first track, a 24:31 epic. The rest of the "album" looks VERY much like a Transatlantic album, with 2 huge epics (24 and 28 minutes each), a 16-minute epic, and a shorter 6-minute piece as Track 3 (looking at you, BAF and SS).

I'm honestly glad they didn't go the TA-esque album route and gave us another concept, and a follow-up to TSOAD to boot!

-Marc.

[gzarruk]

So I finally downloaded the "NMB 3 - Beginning The Adventure" Demo album, and it's pretty interesting so far. The familiar TGA themes are very present, but it's got a different vibe over-all. I'm only partly through the first track, a 24:31 epic. The rest of the "album" looks VERY much like a Transatlantic album, with 2 huge epics (24 and 28 minutes each), a 16-minute epic, and a shorter 6-minute piece as Track 3 (looking at you, BAF and SS).

I'm honestly glad they didn't go the TA-esque album route and gave us another concept, and a follow-up to TSOAD to boot!

-Marc.

I remember one of MP's early updates about the album and he described it the same way as you just did, an album similar in structure to TA.

[ytserush]

Neal should really consider changing this situation. It's cool to do it all on your own (and he might earn more money than if he went to insideout - which he deserves 110%!) but this seems to piss off a lot of fans. And that's not cool at all. He's such a great, professional, enthusiastic musician and these problems shouldn't worsen fan's views on him in my opinion.

It will only change if people stop forking over money for it. Unfortunately, a large portion of the fanbase that buys stuff like this will follow Neal to the ends of the earth and put up with it. I bought a cd from Radiant last year and it took forever to come with no communication from them at all about why it took so long even after sending emails. I eventually posted on their facebook page and basically was told this is how slow it always is and the woman who runs it is "really overworked and busy" and other bullshit from fans who have just learned to accept it. This is a business, and I'm not going to buy from Radiant again due to that type of ineptitude. Run a business properly or don't. If enough people cancel this, then maybe things will start to change for the better instead of just accepting it because Neal's a cool guy.

There really isn't a staff. Probably figures it's too expensive to hire one.  I was a member from the beginning until I dropped it last year when they went download only.
 Never really had a problem with it, although I could have just been lucky because its obvious it's not a priority. (But I understand that because Neal doesn't seem to put much thought into the business side of things - which I understand again.)

In the beginning, Neal would answer the phone himself and sometimes I got the impression I was interrupting something (Like maybe a writing session.) He's a musician. I completely get why he doesn't want to deal with the business side. Robert Fripp was forced into it after being screwed by his record label and that's really one of the better models out there.

There's also Fish and Marillion although again Fish is not the most business savvy mind out there whereas Marillion got more involved in it becuase their fans kind of pushed them that way. Rush hired trusted people to run their fan club, but they kind of divested so I'm not totally sure how it is run anymore. I think they sold off to MusicToday so it's not as in-house as it used to be.

The part I never liked about Radiant was the shipping cost is is usually kind of a gauge which I would accept if an item was signed of if some other incentive was included.  Without that, I'd just get it somewhere else.

[MinistroRaven]

New Neal Morse interview:

https://www.sonicperspectives.com/interviews/interview-with-neal-robert-morse/

In the link there's an audio option and a transcript

[KevShmev]

Good interview.  Interesting that the Exorcist was played last year almost because Neal felt like, "what else are we going to play?"  An oversimplification, for sure, but that is how it came off to me.  If nothing else, it gave him an excuse to finish it.  I doubt it will be an album I listen to a lot, largely because of the directness of the lyrics, but I know it will be extremely well done, and it was a joy to see last September. 

[MinistroRaven]

New IC letter delivered today

[MinistroRaven]

Sadly it seems that Neal Morse doesn't realize that this people are hurting his business:



 

[SwedishGoose]

Talk about customer service eh..... working even when vacationing in an RV without reception 

[KevShmev]

LOL, nothing says good customer service like "I hope to get back to you in a couple weeks, and be sure to remind me in case I forget." 

Fortunately for Neal, it seems like many of his fans are in the "I want to support Neal no matter what" camp which means they are coughing up their dough to Radiant no matter how poor the service is.  Not me, though...I bailed.

[ReaperKK]

I don’t get it, is she like a family member? Is she doing this as a hobby, that type of comment would piss me off.

[MinistroRaven]

I don’t get it, is she like a family member? Is she doing this as a hobby, that type of comment would piss me off.

She is Will Morse (NM's son) mother in law

[KevShmev]

Right. In other words, the way Radiant is currently run isn't changing any time soon.  And while I doubt Neal dives too far into the inner workings of it anymore, which is why he hired someone else to run it, I am sure enough fans ante up on a regular basis to where it's profitable, meaning, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."  It is what it is.

[The Letter M]

I got my (signed!) copy of Neal's Jesus Christ The Exorcist double album in the mail today. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet because I've been busy with a lot of stuff (including keeping up with today's E3 conferences), so I haven't had time to spin it yet. I might get a chance tomorrow afternoon, so if I do, I'll come back here with some thoughts on the album!

-Marc.