Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[Mladen]

This might sound a bit odd, but is anyone slightly less interested in the album given the bigger contribution from the remaining members of the band? I am aware of everyone's talent and general input, but I hope the album isn't deprived of the Morse magic, if that makes sense. Hopefully my point didn't come across as harsh, since that is not the intention.

[lucasembarbosa]

This might sound a bit odd, but is anyone slightly less interested in the album given the bigger contribution from the remaining members of the band? I am aware of everyone's talent and general input, but I hope the album isn't deprived of the Morse magic, if that makes sense. Hopefully my point didn't come across as harsh, since that is not the intention.

I have the opposite opinion. I'd like to see more contribution especially from Bill and Eric, they bring fresh ideas to the already established NM compositional style well known to us.

[King Postwhore]

Opposite for me as well.  This keeps a band fresh.

[425]

This might sound a bit odd, but is anyone slightly less interested in the album given the bigger contribution from the remaining members of the band? I am aware of everyone's talent and general input, but I hope the album isn't deprived of the Morse magic, if that makes sense. Hopefully my point didn't come across as harsh, since that is not the intention.

The Grand Experiment was also written as a full band with a lot of input from the other members, and that turned out quite good, in my opinion.

[Fritzinger]

Glad the title is somewhat different for this group (doesn't begin with "The ...") and thankfully no Overture. The cover art is pretty interesting also. I'm curious about the decision to stick both epics on the 2nd disc....I'd prefer them to be spaced out and have each disc be more balanced, especially since there's no concept running throughout. This group of musicians works really well together and I'm very excited to hear something non-Similitude for the first time in 5 years.

Well, there are two 20 min+ songs, one even longer than 30 minutes. I bet a jolt there's an overture for one of those two 

This might sound a bit odd, but is anyone slightly less interested in the album given the bigger contribution from the remaining members of the band? I am aware of everyone's talent and general input, but I hope the album isn't deprived of the Morse magic, if that makes sense. Hopefully my point didn't come across as harsh, since that is not the intention.

Don't worry, music with Neal Morse involved always sounds like Neal Morse. No matter how much the others' contributions are advertised in the announcements.

[The Letter M]

I&D looks to serve up 100 minutes of proggy goodness, half of which forms just two songs!

The two epics on disc 2 reminds me of The Tangent's Not As Good As The Book, which also features two epics on its second disc. I think naming the discs as "ainnocence" and "Danger" is probably just using the album title to their advantage as the album ended up being two CDs, so it sort of worked out that way.

I'm excited to hear what they've got, especially since they've included more ideas from Bill and Randy, but I'm sure they also wrote and re-wrote a lot of stuff in the studio. I'm also glad they're including another Making-of Documentary again, I love watching those!

Edit - apparently the final track of disc one *is* the famed Simon & Garfunkel song, as confirmed by Randy on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/629499552/posts/10159511970974553/

-Marc.

[ErHaO]

This might sound a bit odd, but is anyone slightly less interested in the album given the bigger contribution from the remaining members of the band? I am aware of everyone's talent and general input, but I hope the album isn't deprived of the Morse magic, if that makes sense. Hopefully my point didn't come across as harsh, since that is not the intention.

Isn't this the case for all The Neal Morse Band albums? (the whole reason why there is a branding disctintion between NM and TNMB). And I think most at the very least will agree their three albums thus far are good (and include all the elements that people love NM music for).

[darkshade]

^ Totally agree about The Tangent album. Similar track listing.

I'm excited to hear what they wrote. This isn't the first NM album to have two epics in a row (Sola Scriptura) and it works on that one, but that last track Beyond The Years on Innocence & Danger does look massive. I would prefer the epics spaced out as well, but we'll see.

[Fritzinger]

First album I thought of when I saw the tracklist was IQ's Resistance. But Not As Good As The Book fits even better.

The two epics are probably the thing I look forward to the most. But I agree, I would have liked them spaced out a bit more too.

Cover is very random and unimaginative (again) in my opinion. As is the whole concept and idea of the album name.

[gzarruk]

Cover is very random and unimaginative (again) in my opinion.

It looks like a Symphony X cover because of the maks

apparently the final track of disc one *is* the famed Simon & Garfunkel song, as confirmed by Randy on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/629499552/posts/10159511970974553/

Will need to check the original song in preparation for the album. Not a big fan of bands recording covers, though.

Anyway, really excited about this

[425]

This might sound a bit odd, but is anyone slightly less interested in the album given the bigger contribution from the remaining members of the band? I am aware of everyone's talent and general input, but I hope the album isn't deprived of the Morse magic, if that makes sense. Hopefully my point didn't come across as harsh, since that is not the intention.

Isn't this the case for all The Neal Morse Band albums? (the whole reason why there is a branding disctintion between NM and TNMB). And I think most at the very least will agree their three albums thus far are good (and include all the elements that people love NM music for).

My understanding is that for TSOAD and especially for TGA, Neal brought demos and the rest of the band made contributions. On TGE and I&D, the band wrote together without Neal bringing in a bunch of existing ideas.

[Mladen]

I seem to remember that The Grand experiment was also very collaborative. Unfortunately, I didn't care for that album that much. I will not look for patterns, though. As long as the music moves me, it doesn't matter who writes it. 

[hefdaddy42]

I love that we get a double album (for sheer content, as I love this band's output) AND not a concept album (because that would be too much).

Can't wait for this!

[Dedalus]

I'm not a big fan of NMB albums. But honestly I didn't think the last projects outside the NMB were that good (JCTE and Sola Gratia). So I got to a point where I don't expect anything, I don't have any demands,  I don't feel any excitement etc.

So I think I'm at a comfortable point.

I listen to Neal Morse's releases. If I like it, OK. If I don't like it so much, OK. 

[hefdaddy42]

I didn't think the last projects outside the NMB were that good (JCTE and Sola Gratia).

I agree with you on this.  Which is why I'm glad to him back making music with the band again.

[Dedalus]

Glad the title is somewhat different for this group (doesn't begin with "The ...") and thankfully no Overture. The cover art is pretty interesting also. I'm curious about the decision to stick both epics on the 2nd disc....I'd prefer them to be spaced out and have each disc be more balanced, especially since there's no concept running throughout. This group of musicians works really well together and I'm very excited to hear something non-Similitude for the first time in 5 years.

Well, there are two 20 min+ songs, one even longer than 30 minutes. I bet a jolt there's an overture for one of those two 

A safe bet 

[The Letter M]

Glad the title is somewhat different for this group (doesn't begin with "The ...") and thankfully no Overture. The cover art is pretty interesting also. I'm curious about the decision to stick both epics on the 2nd disc....I'd prefer them to be spaced out and have each disc be more balanced, especially since there's no concept running throughout. This group of musicians works really well together and I'm very excited to hear something non-Similitude for the first time in 5 years.

Well, there are two 20 min+ songs, one even longer than 30 minutes. I bet a jolt there's an overture for one of those two 

A safe bet 

I think there assuredly will be at least ONE "I. Overture" movement between those two epics, if both don't have one or some variation of the term Overture.

I didn't think the last projects outside the NMB were that good (JCTE and Sola Gratia).

I agree with you on this.  Which is why I'm glad to him back making music with the band again.

Agreed as well - I was luke-warm on Sola Gratia. It's not an AWFUL album, but I don't find myself going back to it very often these days. I had grown used to the musical variety and collaboration between the members of the NMB, so I am more excited to hear what Neal can do with them again. Hard to believe it's only been two years since The Great Adventure, but I suppose that's because 2020 felt like a really long time, and we've gotten Sola Gratia and Transatlantic's The Absolute Universe in the time between TGA and I&D, so Neal fans haven't exactly been super-starved for proggy Neal output.

apparently the final track of disc one *is* the famed Simon & Garfunkel song, as confirmed by Randy on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/629499552/posts/10159511970974553/

Will need to check the original song in preparation for the album. Not a big fan of bands recording covers, though.

Anyway, really excited about this

I don't mind Neal's covers, and in this case, if they treat it the way they did "MacArthur Park", then I'm actually looking forward to hearing how it'll work out. I wonder if it was Bill who brought the cover idea up again (as he did with "MacArthur Park")? I'm sure it'll be revealed in the Making-Of Documentary.

-Marc

[Dedalus]

Glad the title is somewhat different for this group (doesn't begin with "The ...") and thankfully no Overture. The cover art is pretty interesting also. I'm curious about the decision to stick both epics on the 2nd disc....I'd prefer them to be spaced out and have each disc be more balanced, especially since there's no concept running throughout. This group of musicians works really well together and I'm very excited to hear something non-Similitude for the first time in 5 years.

Well, there are two 20 min+ songs, one even longer than 30 minutes. I bet a jolt there's an overture for one of those two 

A safe bet 

I think there assuredly will be at least ONE "I. Overture" movement between those two epics, if both don't have one or some variation of the term Overture.

 

I didn't think the last projects outside the NMB were that good (JCTE and Sola Gratia).

I agree with you on this.  Which is why I'm glad to him back making music with the band again.

Agreed as well - I was luke-warm on Sola Gratia. It's not an AWFUL album, but I don't find myself going back to it very often these days. I had grown used to the musical variety and collaboration between the members of the NMB, so I am more excited to hear what Neal can do with them again. Hard to believe it's only been two years since The Great Adventure, but I suppose that's because 2020 felt like a really long time, and we've gotten Sola Gratia and Transatlantic's The Absolute Universe in the time between TGA and I&D, so Neal fans haven't exactly been super-starved for proggy Neal output.

The problem I see with NMB's idea of freshness is that two of the other four musicians have been collaborating with NM since 2003/2004.
The freshness has to come from Bill and Eric. At least I think Bill tries.

apparently the final track of disc one *is* the famed Simon & Garfunkel song, as confirmed by Randy on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/629499552/posts/10159511970974553/

Will need to check the original song in preparation for the album. Not a big fan of bands recording covers, though.

Anyway, really excited about this

I don't mind Neal's covers, and in this case, if they treat it the way they did "MacArthur Park", then I'm actually looking forward to hearing how it'll work out. I wonder if it was Bill who brought the cover idea up again (as he did with "MacArthur Park")? I'm sure it'll be revealed in the Making-Of Documentary.

-Marc

MacArthur Park is my favorite song from TGE sessions.

[gzarruk]

Glad the title is somewhat different for this group (doesn't begin with "The ...") and thankfully no Overture. The cover art is pretty interesting also. I'm curious about the decision to stick both epics on the 2nd disc....I'd prefer them to be spaced out and have each disc be more balanced, especially since there's no concept running throughout. This group of musicians works really well together and I'm very excited to hear something non-Similitude for the first time in 5 years.

Well, there are two 20 min+ songs, one even longer than 30 minutes. I bet a jolt there's an overture for one of those two 

A safe bet 

I think there assuredly will be at least ONE "I. Overture" movement between those two epics, if both don't have one or some variation of the term Overture.

I wish he did the bolded. In retrospective, they could've had "Breath of Life Overture" and "Forevermore Overture" on TAU (or something similar), but missed it. Same applies to all Neal's other tracks titled Overture

apparently the final track of disc one *is* the famed Simon & Garfunkel song, as confirmed by Randy on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/629499552/posts/10159511970974553/

Will need to check the original song in preparation for the album. Not a big fan of bands recording covers, though.

Anyway, really excited about this

I don't mind Neal's covers, and in this case, if they treat it the way they did "MacArthur Park", then I'm actually looking forward to hearing how it'll work out. I wonder if it was Bill who brought the cover idea up again (as he did with "MacArthur Park")? I'm sure it'll be revealed in the Making-Of Documentary.

-Marc

Just listened to the Simon & Garfunkel song for the first time and it sounded to me like Bill will definitely sing lead for that one, so I'm even less interested in that one now

[DTA]

Glad the title is somewhat different for this group (doesn't begin with "The ...") and thankfully no Overture. The cover art is pretty interesting also. I'm curious about the decision to stick both epics on the 2nd disc....I'd prefer them to be spaced out and have each disc be more balanced, especially since there's no concept running throughout. This group of musicians works really well together and I'm very excited to hear something non-Similitude for the first time in 5 years.

Well, there are two 20 min+ songs, one even longer than 30 minutes. I bet a jolt there's an overture for one of those two 

  Maybe we'll get the ever-elusive Prelude instead

[kirksnosehair]

[KevShmev]

Nice!  Less than three months away, woohoo! 

[MinistroRaven]

I'm curious as to why they named CD 1 'Innocence' and CD 2 'Danger' if there's no concept or theme to the album this time (aside from referencing the album title).

Well, not afraid pt 1 is in disc one and pt 2 on 2, I thnk there's a concept or theme on the album.

[425]

Maybe we'll get the ever-elusive Prelude instead

I think there assuredly will be at least ONE "I. Overture" movement between those two epics, if both don't have one or some variation of the term Overture.

What if it's "I. Prelude" and "II. Overture"?

[DTA]

Maybe we'll get the ever-elusive Prelude instead

I think there assuredly will be at least ONE "I. Overture" movement between those two epics, if both don't have one or some variation of the term Overture.

What if it's "I. Prelude" and "II. Overture"?

He already pulled that shit on Sola Gratia with Preface so I hope not but he has been known to repeat himself...

I. Prelude
II. Overture
III. Introduction
IV. Precursor
V. The End

[KevShmev]

Agreed as well - I was luke-warm on Sola Gratia. It's not an AWFUL album, but I don't find myself going back to it very often these days. 

As a whole, me neither, but it did give us Overflow and Never Change, both of which I already consider two stone cold Neal classic tunes.  Seemingly Sincere is pretty darn good as well.  I still revisit those three somewhat often.

[Volante99]

Oh yippee another double album...

So I know it sounds petty but my issue with NMB and like 90% of prog albums today is that the albums are just too damn long. The real tragedy of losing the physical album format is that it forced artists to self edit, trim the fat. So the album is 100 minutes- I bet there’s probably 55 minutes of killer, amazing music buried in a big chunk of fluff and half baked ideas...

Similitude and Great Adventure are nearly perfect- but just too damn long to be enjoyed in one go around.

[Kram]

Agreed as well - I was luke-warm on Sola Gratia. It's not an AWFUL album, but I don't find myself going back to it very often these days. 

As a whole, me neither, but it did give us Overflow and Never Change, both of which I already consider two stone cold Neal classic tunes.  Seemingly Sincere is pretty darn good as well.  I still revisit those three somewhat often.

Those are 3 really good songs.  Ive mentioned before that Sola Gratia grew on me more than any album in recent memory (I was quite lukewarm to it at first as well, but ended up really liking it).  But in the end it's only a middle tier NM album for me.  Really excited for the new NMB album though.  Similitude and TGA are both 5 star albums as far as I'm concerned.

[DoctorAction]

Bridge Over Troubled Water is a perfect song, afaic. I don't believe it can be successfully covered.

(That's not a slight on Neal and the boys)

[The Letter M]

Oh yippee another double album...

So I know it sounds petty but my issue with NMB and like 90% of prog albums today is that the albums are just too damn long. The real tragedy of losing the physical album format is that it forced artists to self edit, trim the fat. So the album is 100 minutes- I bet there’s probably 55 minutes of killer, amazing music buried in a big chunk of fluff and half baked ideas...

Similitude and Great Adventure are nearly perfect- but just too damn long to be enjoyed in one go around.

I can see your point, and it could be a cause for concern, but I trust the guys in the NMB. I think in this case, the lack of physical media's limitations means that we get as much as they are willing to write and release, and we aren't left with any un-released B-Sides or songs that didn't make it past the demo stage. Can you imagine if Transatlantic's The Absolute Universe got released as a single disc ONLY and we missed out on such gems as "Rainbow Sky" and "The World We Used To Know"? It's quite possible that they had considered a single album for Innocence & Danger, but they obviously felt strongly enough about all the material that they wanted to release it as a double.

I wonder if Inside Out had advised Neal not to release a double after the NMB had already released two double albums, and Transatlantic JUST had a double (triple?) album earlier this year? Perhaps the music is just so good that they said "What the hey, let them release it all." It will definitely make for one heck of a Morsefest show, though!

Speaking of, I assume that one night of Morsefest 2021 will feature the new album in its entirety, so now I am wondering what the other night will be? Nothing but epics? Fan classics? Songs they haven't played in a long time? I wouldn't mind seeing them finally play Momentum in its entirety, especially since "World Without End" hasn't been played at a Morsefest yet.

-Marc.

[darkshade]

I think a lot of fans were lukewarm to Sola Gratia because (a) they were burnt out on Neal's music, and (b) it isn't one of his best, and also maybe (c) people had high expectations being related to Sola Scriptura, an album that is considered his heaviest and the closest to prog-metal he's gotten. However I don't think it is anywhere near his worst either, and I think it's a solid Neal Morse album, and it came out around the time I was getting back into his music, so I had fresh ears. It wouldn't be a bad album for someone's first foray into his vast discography.

[darkshade]

Oh yippee another double album...

So I know it sounds petty but my issue with NMB and like 90% of prog albums today is that the albums are just too damn long. The real tragedy of losing the physical album format is that it forced artists to self edit, trim the fat. So the album is 100 minutes- I bet there’s probably 55 minutes of killer, amazing music buried in a big chunk of fluff and half baked ideas...

Similitude and Great Adventure are nearly perfect- but just too damn long to be enjoyed in one go around.

I can see your point, and it could be a cause for concern, but I trust the guys in the NMB. I think in this case, the lack of physical media's limitations means that we get as much as they are willing to write and release, and we aren't left with any un-released B-Sides or songs that didn't make it past the demo stage. Can you imagine if Transatlantic's The Absolute Universe got released as a single disc ONLY and we missed out on such gems as "Rainbow Sky" and "The World We Used To Know"? It's quite possible that they had considered a single album for Innocence & Danger, but they obviously felt strongly enough about all the material that they wanted to release it as a double.

I wonder if Inside Out had advised Neal not to release a double after the NMB had already released two double albums, and Transatlantic JUST had a double (triple?) album earlier this year? Perhaps the music is just so good that they said "What the hey, let them release it all." It will definitely make for one heck of a Morsefest show, though!

Speaking of, I assume that one night of Morsefest 2021 will feature the new album in its entirety, so now I am wondering what the other night will be? Nothing but epics? Fan classics? Songs they haven't played in a long time? I wouldn't mind seeing them finally play Momentum in its entirety, especially since "World Without End" hasn't been played at a Morsefest yet.

-Marc.

There's something to be said for just putting out your best 45-50 minutes of music and be done with it, but Neal and co deal in gigantism in regards to their music, and it's just what they do. If Neal was a major artist in the 70s, he would just be like Zappa, releasing multiple albums a year because of the limitations with vinyl. Instead he doesn't have to limit himself to those time constraints. And Neal does release shorter albums by his standards (Sola Gratia or The Breath of Life for recent examples.)

[KevShmev]

   Ive mentioned before that Sola Gratia grew on me more than any album in recent memory (I was quite lukewarm to it at first as well, but ended up really liking it).  But in the end it's only a middle tier NM album for me.  Really excited for the new NMB album though.  Similitude and TGA are both 5 star albums as far as I'm concerned.

Sola Gratia is lower tier for me despite the presence of those three songs I mentioned earlier, but that is only because his overall catalogue is so strong.  To me, it's a good album, with a few great songs, and I cannot argue with that.  And even though I find the Sola Scriptura callbacks to be shoe-horned in and almost distracting to where they throw off the flow at times, there is nothing on it I dislike.

[KevShmev]

Speaking of, I assume that one night of Morsefest 2021 will feature the new album in its entirety, so now I am wondering what the other night will be? Nothing but epics? Fan classics? Songs they haven't played in a long time? I wouldn't mind seeing them finally play Momentum in its entirety, especially since "World Without End" hasn't been played at a Morsefest yet.

I am thinking more of what the set list will be for the U.S. tour this fall. I can't imagine they'd play the whole thing in order, as with it being an album of unrelated songs, there is no need to give it the concept album treatment and play it in full every night from start to finish, meaning they can, for the first time since The Grand Experiment, do a set list for a tour where they can bounce from album to album all night.  Considering how good those first three NMB albums are, it will be nice if many of the songs get brought back for this tour.  Tons of those songs are too good to get the "one and done" treatment in regards to tours.  They should be able to do a set list of nothing but NMB songs now that they have four albums to pull from, three of which are doubles.

[darkshade]

   Ive mentioned before that Sola Gratia grew on me more than any album in recent memory (I was quite lukewarm to it at first as well, but ended up really liking it).  But in the end it's only a middle tier NM album for me.  Really excited for the new NMB album though.  Similitude and TGA are both 5 star albums as far as I'm concerned.

Sola Gratia is lower tier for me despite the presence of those three songs I mentioned earlier, but that is only because his overall catalogue is so strong.  To me, it's a good album, with a few great songs, and I cannot argue with that.  And even though I find the Sola Scriptura callbacks to be shoe-horned in and almost distracting to where they throw off the flow at times, there is nothing on it I dislike.

For me, some of the call backs work, but some don't. It could have been worse, and I feel like Neal tried not to overdo it.