https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JkEf9qsAYE
New music video for the album's title track! Reminds me of classic SB for some reason.
-Marc.
Wow, I REALLY like it!
I have only recently realized that, while Neal is one of my favorite artists and I love a lot of Neal's albums, I cannot really point to a lot of individual songs on his solo work that I truly love. When he is working on a grand concept, like Testimony, One, or SS, the songs themselves shine in the context of the entire concept, even if they may not be strong standalone songs. This is one of the things that made Lifeline such a disappointment for me. I feel that that turned around a bit with Momentum. There are some really strong individual songs on that album. This new one seems to fit the bill as well, which makes me more optimistic about this album than I previously was.
Good point. A lot of what the first five SB albums did was make songs that really stood out from each other, especially the first three albums, while DFN was a bit more homogeneous to my ears, V kind of fixed that by having only 6 songs.
I'll agree with you about
Lifeline, which really only had 4 stand-out tracks; the title track, "Leviathan", "So Many Roads" and "Fly High". The rest was a bit more forgettable, although the two bonus-disc originals were pretty nice and IMO, should have replaced the other 3 tracks on the album.
Momentum set the record straight by offering 6 unique songs that really did stand out from each other. I distinctly remember each one, from the rocking title-track, to the "Thoughts" sequel (a highlight for me), to the quirky "Freak", the SB-ish rocker "Weathering Sky" with its great sing-along chorus, the ballad-esque "Smoke And Mirrors", and of course, the epic closer "World Without End", which had some surprisingly good themes in it.
I am glad
The Grand Experiment (main album) will only feature 5 songs, although having all 8 on the album would've made it about 75 minutes long (the usual length of a Neal Morse album). We get to digest 5 songs a bit easier and I think it'll help those 5 stand out, although I see no problem with the title track being a stand out track, or the two longer tracks (the opening epic "Following The Call" or the closing epic "Alive Again"). I'm willing to bet the other two shorter tracks are a proggy-like tune and a ballad, just for variety's sake. Wait....bookending epics, three short songs in the middle...where have I seen that formula before....
Anyways, I am excited for this one! I look forward to hearing how the other 2 guys mix it up with the whole band with Bill on keys and other instruments, and Eric's guitar leads. I mean, we've heard them live, but as a creative output in the studio is a bit different, so this "grand experiment" sure has me anticipating the outcome!
-Marc.