Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[Stadler]

I kind of think you're kidding, because I can't imagine Neal doesn't know that about the song title.  I'm not as well-versed on scripture as some here, but I can very much anticipate that even if there aren't musical callbacks that there might be lyrical or thematic ones.   He's human, and therefore prone to mistakes like all of us, but that seems like it's a bit too obvious to be anything but a reference.

[Evermind]

I mean, Kamelot has two songs called Solitaire. I wonder if anyone asked them about that.

[gzarruk]

"Alexa, please play Overture by Neal Morse"

... that was the last time Alexa played anything.

[Mladen]

I kind of think you're kidding, because I can't imagine Neal doesn't know that about the song title.  I'm not as well-versed on scripture as some here, but I can very much anticipate that even if there aren't musical callbacks that there might be lyrical or thematic ones.   He's human, and therefore prone to mistakes like all of us, but that seems like it's a bit too obvious to be anything but a reference.

If it were a reference, maybe he would acknowledge it with a "part 2" or something. I understand that the idea seems odd to you, but I wouldn't be surprised if Neal doesn't remember every single song name in his vast catalogue. Especially because "The Glory of the Lord" from ? is a minute long interlude that isn't as memorable or popular as the songs it's sandwitched between on the record.

[Stadler]

Sort of a sidebar rant, but it annoys me when bands "steal" titles.  A "friend" (more like an acquaintance) formed a band and was so proud of cutting a record (I think they actually put out three records when all was said and done); the songs (all "original")?   "Round And Round", "Need Your Love", "In Your Eyes", "Into The Night", "Runaway", "Another Lonely Night", "Go Your Own Way", "Movin' On"...   I mean... it sounds like a "K-Tel Best of the Hair Bands!" compilation.   (Then again, their band name was a euphemism for a vagina, and it all sounded like bad Poison, so there you go.)

[Zydar]

"Alexa, please play Overture by Neal Morse"

... that was the last time Alexa played anything.

That somehow reminds me of the old meme with Blind Carol and her safety goggles

[Nel]

Oh wow, 14 tracks. Being a second "Sola" album, I figured it be another five-or-less with double digit track lengths.

[DTA]

I kind of think you're kidding, because I can't imagine Neal doesn't know that about the song title.  I'm not as well-versed on scripture as some here, but I can very much anticipate that even if there aren't musical callbacks that there might be lyrical or thematic ones.   He's human, and therefore prone to mistakes like all of us, but that seems like it's a bit too obvious to be anything but a reference.

If it were a reference, maybe he would acknowledge it with a "part 2" or something. I understand that the idea seems odd to you, but I wouldn't be surprised if Neal doesn't remember every single song name in his vast catalogue. Especially because "The Glory of the Lord" from ? is a minute long interlude that isn't as memorable or popular as the songs it's sandwitched between on the record.

There's only so many ways you can mix up the words Lord, Glory, Love, and Freedom before you end up with the same song titles. It's probably just an oversight, though I'm wondering how MP or Randy didn't notice either.

Sort of a sidebar rant, but it annoys me when bands "steal" titles.  A "friend" (more like an acquaintance) formed a band and was so proud of cutting a record (I think they actually put out three records when all was said and done); the songs (all "original")?   "Round And Round", "Need Your Love", "In Your Eyes", "Into The Night", "Runaway", "Another Lonely Night", "Go Your Own Way", "Movin' On"...   I mean... it sounds like a "K-Tel Best of the Hair Bands!" compilation.   (Then again, their band name was a euphemism for a vagina, and it all sounded like bad Poison, so there you go.)

And they didn't even choose cool song titles to rip off. Reminds me of when The Flower Kings' Adam & Eve album came out and first song was an epic called Love Supreme.

[Stadler]

I know, right?  They might as well have named the album "Generic". 

[bluefox4000]

In the Name of the Lord is kinda bland. i'll wait to see how it fits.

i remember not liking Welcome to the world much either last year at first listen so i'll wait.

[HOF]

According to MP on Facebook, today is Neal’s 60th birthday. Weird to think he’s only 7 years younger than Geddy Lee who turned 67 last week (Rush and Spock’s Beard’s debut albums were 20 years apart!).

[MinistroRaven]

Today a new single was released through Apple Music

Seamingly Sincere, IMO the best tune in the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArhoMNy8qB4

 

Apple link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/seemingly-sincere/1521887131?i=1521888005

[MinistroRaven]

It's also on Spotify.

[ronnibran]

Awesome song!  I like it tons better than the first song released.  Can't wait to hear this one in the context of the album, probably makes it even better.  Now if I can only stop listening to this so it still sounds new when I finally get the album...  that is the real struggle.

[ytserush]

According to MP on Facebook, today is Neal’s 60th birthday. Weird to think he’s only 7 years younger than Geddy Lee who turned 67 last week (Rush and Spock’s Beard’s debut albums were 20 years apart!).

Why such different fortunes and fates?

[gzarruk]

Today a new single was released through Apple Music

Seamingly Sincere, IMO the best tune in the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArhoMNy8qB4

 

Apple link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/seemingly-sincere/1521887131?i=1521888005

I'm liking this much more than NMB, honestly

[Dedalus]

Today a new single was released through Apple Music

Seamingly Sincere, IMO the best tune in the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArhoMNy8qB4

 

Apple link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/seemingly-sincere/1521887131?i=1521888005

I'm liking this much more than NMB, honestly

 

Very good song! 

Oh, I completely agree with gzarruk 

[Peter Mc]

Doesn’t grab me to be honest. Both songs are ok but haven’t got me even remotely excited about the album.  Neal has not let me down yet though so am still hoping it will be great.

[bluefox4000]

New song is just OK as well.  first time i've felt sincerely (lol puns)   underwhelmed  by Neal.

again this is a story and we don't have it yet so i'm not rushing to judgement.

i've been lukewarm on singles before but the album has blown me away by many a band/artist.  so i'm not giving up yet.

[Stadler]

New song is just OK as well.  first time i've felt sincerely (lol puns)   underwhelmed  by Neal.

again this is a story and we don't have it yet so i'm not rushing to judgement.

i've been lukewarm on singles before but the album has blown me away by many a band/artist.  so i'm not giving up yet.

That's actually the pattern with me now.  I avoid the initial releases almost like the plague (too soon?).   

[The Letter M]

https://youtu.be/BXDMMsIkEBo

Music video for "Seemingly Sincere".

-Marc.

[MinistroRaven]

Seamingly Sincere OFFICIAL VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXDMMsIkEBo

https://progreport.com/neal-morse-releases-video-for-9-minute-single-seemingly-sincere/

 

[Mladen]

I think I should leave the nine minute epic for when the entire album comes out. It would be a shame to listen to it beforehand.

[bosk1]

My review of the album will be up soon.  I don't want to create expectations one way or the other, so I'll just say I like the album a lot, as I do pretty much all of Neal's albums, and I'll leave it at that. 

A couple of other tidbits:
-The album DOES in fact share a lot in common with Sola Scriptura, which actually surprised me quite a bit given the subject matter.  The tie-ins (musically, lyrically, and, most importantly, thematically) are somewhat unexpected, but nice.
-Having heard and experienced the album, hearing singles from it is really strange.  I know artists pretty much HAVE TO release individual songs.  But hearing them outside the context of the entire album really does not do them justice.  Seemingly Sincere is one of my top 2 songs on the album, along with Never Change, but I'm not sure I would necessarily feel that way hearing it as a standalone piece. 

[Dedalus]

I listen to it a second time. I really loved this song! I haven't been so happy with a Neal song in years. 

I loved everything Neal did on this song: vocals, guitar, keyboards! Congratulations Neal. 

Randy's bass line is ok, but it didn't catch my attention in both auditions.

And I will not comment on MP, as it hurts the sensibilities of many here. Then let it go. 

I'm really excited to check out the whole album.

[The Letter M]

My review of the album will be up soon.  I don't want to create expectations one way or the other, so I'll just say I like the album a lot, as I do pretty much all of Neal's albums, and I'll leave it at that. 

A couple of other tidbits:
-The album DOES in fact share a lot in common with Sola Scriptura, which actually surprised me quite a bit given the subject matter.  The tie-ins (musically, lyrically, and, most importantly, thematically) are somewhat unexpected, but nice.
-Having heard and experienced the album, hearing singles from it is really strange.  I know artists pretty much HAVE TO release individual songs.  But hearing them outside the context of the entire album really does not do them justice.  Seemingly Sincere is one of my top 2 songs on the album, along with Never Change, but I'm not sure I would necessarily feel that way hearing it as a standalone piece.

It'll be interesting to see if this was because of Neal, Mike, and/or Randy. I know in the past, Mike (and Randy to some extent) was ready to make references to previous albums, in the case of Testimony 2 (though that makes more sense lyrically and conceptually). I think they also wanted to throw in more call-backs to TSOAD in TGA if they had time, but the album had already been re-written once by Neal, so I don't think they had the time to insert more (though I am tired, and could be misremembering all of that )

Less than a month from release, and it's shaping up to be one of my most anticipated albums of 2020!

-Marc.

[MinistroRaven]

My review of the album will be up soon.  I don't want to create expectations one way or the other, so I'll just say I like the album a lot, as I do pretty much all of Neal's albums, and I'll leave it at that. 

A couple of other tidbits:
-The album DOES in fact share a lot in common with Sola Scriptura, which actually surprised me quite a bit given the subject matter.  The tie-ins (musically, lyrically, and, most importantly, thematically) are somewhat unexpected, but nice.
-Having heard and experienced the album, hearing singles from it is really strange.  I know artists pretty much HAVE TO release individual songs.  But hearing them outside the context of the entire album really does not do them justice.  Seemingly Sincere is one of my top 2 songs on the album, along with Never Change, but I'm not sure I would necessarily feel that way hearing it as a standalone piece.

Annnnd here it is: (Album review by the one and only: bosk1) 

https://lotsofmuzic.weebly.com/home/neal-morse-unleashes-a-progressive-rock-biography-of-saul-of-tarsuspaul-with-his-latest-solo-album-sola-gratia-album-review-by-jerry-deschler

 

[bosk1]

Dude can write.

[The Letter M]

My review of the album will be up soon.  I don't want to create expectations one way or the other, so I'll just say I like the album a lot, as I do pretty much all of Neal's albums, and I'll leave it at that. 

A couple of other tidbits:
-The album DOES in fact share a lot in common with Sola Scriptura, which actually surprised me quite a bit given the subject matter.  The tie-ins (musically, lyrically, and, most importantly, thematically) are somewhat unexpected, but nice.
-Having heard and experienced the album, hearing singles from it is really strange.  I know artists pretty much HAVE TO release individual songs.  But hearing them outside the context of the entire album really does not do them justice.  Seemingly Sincere is one of my top 2 songs on the album, along with Never Change, but I'm not sure I would necessarily feel that way hearing it as a standalone piece.

Annnnd here it is: (Album review by the one and only: bosk1) 

https://lotsofmuzic.weebly.com/home/neal-morse-unleashes-a-progressive-rock-biography-of-saul-of-tarsuspaul-with-his-latest-solo-album-sola-gratia-album-review-by-jerry-deschler

 

Thanks for sharing! What a lengthy review. I wanted to read it all, but I want to go into the album with as little knowledge or expectation as possible. I'll definitely give it a read once I've heard it, but if there's that much to say about the album, I can only imagine the album itself will be worthy of such a long reaction.

-Marc.

[bosk1]

Marc, yeah, it is definitely longer than usual. **what follows is spoiler free, so don't worry**  I felt it was necessary to take a deep dive into the story itself, since most people are not as familiar with this particular story, and the lyrics are not necessarily as clear from a narrative perspective to paint the setting, IMO.  So I spent a lot of time expounding on that because I thought it would be helpful.  I kept second-guessing whether that was the best approach, but Jorge liked it a lot, so I went with it.

[The Letter M]

Marc, yeah, it is definitely longer than usual. **what follows is spoiler free, so don't worry**  I felt it was necessary to take a deep dive into the story itself, since most people are not as familiar with this particular story, and the lyrics are not necessarily as clear from a narrative perspective to paint the setting, IMO.  So I spent a lot of time expounding on that because I thought it would be helpful.  I kept second-guessing whether that was the best approach, but Jorge liked it a lot, so I went with it.

Thanks for the clarification! I will read your review once I've had a chance to digest the album a couple of times first. It sounds like there is a lot going on in the album, so that has me excited! Just a couple more weeks now!

-Marc.

[MinistroRaven]

NM posted on FB now:

Neal Morse:

For all my waterfall subscribers, I’m making “Sola Gratia” available to stream on the app this Friday at 8AM CDT! (That’s two weeks before its official release date at Radiant Records!) If you’re not already a member, sign up today! Special discount for Inner Circle. http://ow.ly/Z94N50B7VCB

[bosk1]

Nice!

[MinistroRaven]

For Watterfall users the new album should be already there.

--

For all other fans:
 
Watch the video for the albums third single ‘Building A Wall’ here: https://youtu.be/9ipFSeRGD84

Neal comments: This song sounds like a political commentary, but really it is not. I wrote this thinking about the apostle Paul being at Stephen’s trial, and also about the wall of separation at that time between the Jews and the Gentiles. Very biblical stuff. But, people can take it however they would like... My thought is that many times we humans desire to divide and separate, but God is looking to join all things together in one with Him. How’s that for a quote for a rather heavy rock song! Oh, by the way… I played drums on this one!

 

[bosk1]

Cool!  That is a fun track.  I love his comments, too.  And, see, that is EXACTLY what I was talking about in my review.  Knowing the Bible as well as I do, I knew exactly what he was going for lyrically here.  But for those who don't, it is not at all obvious what Neal is trying to say.

But again, fun track.  I'm glad he released that.  I really like the Broadway musical feel of the chorus in that one.  And cool that people get to hear one of the major Sola Scriptura callbacks too.