Alrighty, here I go, trying to rank the 9 albums from Testimony through The Similitude Of A Dream...
1. One - It was tough trying to sort out these top three, but after listening to One last night (the expanded version), I remembered just how much I freaking LOVE this album. At 11 songs long, a good meaty 93 minutes, it covers a lot of ground for Neal, and there are a LOT of highs on here, from the opening "The Creation", the intensity of "Author Of Confusion", and the strong epic "The Separated Man". The weaving of musical and lyrical themes in this one a bit stronger than Testimony IMO (which felt a bit copy-and-paste), and the expanded track list helps fill that out a bit more. As preachy as "King Jesus" sounds, it's a DAMN good rock tune, and I love it. "Reunion" is a brilliant closer, and it didn't have to be a bombastic 25 minute epic to finish the album, either. The varying styles and song-lengths really spice things up on this album, which is why I never get tired of listening to it.
2. The Similitude Of A Dream - WOW...who knew that Neal could put out another double-disc concept album and have it sounds so fresh and new?! Well, MP did and despite his hype, the music spoke for itself and proved it was amazing. One year on, I still put this one on occasionally, and I love the input from Bill and Eric on this one, musically, lyrically and vocally. The band really stepped up their game from TGE and made a modern classic concept album that will hopefully stand the test of time! I'm not sure how much more I can gush about this one, but the only reason it's not number 1 is because I love One just a bit more (it has about 12 years on it, so...). There are so many highlights on here, like "City Of Destruction", "The Ways Of A Fool", "Breath Of Angels", "The Man In The Iron Cage" and soooo many more. There are very few dips in quality or enjoyment on this one. I wish I had had the chance to see this one live when they came around Baltimore, but I just didn't have the time for funds to. Bummer...I guess I'll just have to enjoy the inevitable TSOAD Live set whenever we get that!
3. The Grand Experiment - When it was announced that Neal was adding more band members to him, Mike and Randy, I was a bit nervous, because how do you mess up a formula that was proven to work?! That trio put out so many good albums and songs that adding new players might shake things up TOO much, but boy was I wrong! They did shake things up, but in a GOOD way, and you can tell from the get go that this was not quite the band from before. The opening a capella section of "The Call" really drives home that new-band-feeling. Neal had finally found a five-piece that could compare to Spock's Beard, and with 2 new multi-instrumentalists/vocalists on board, the possibilities of what this band could do opened up greatly! It was also a great way for Neal to FINALLY cover "MacArthur Park" (which was brought up years ago on another Making-Of documentary, I think for Question or Sola). Almost every song on this album is perfect, especially the first three pieces. "Agenda" is GOOD, but not great, and it does what it is meant to do, and let be honest, Neal needs a silly tune every now and then (like "Freak"). The two bonus originals are pretty amazing as well, especially "New Jerusalem". Top to bottom, there isn't much I dislike on this album, and the epic stands up as one of his best. I think because this has been around longer, it ranks one higher than
4. Question Mark - I ordered this album a week before release, in late October 2005, and was thus the first new Neal Morse album after I became a fan of his, and my anticipation was high. The announcement of guest musicians like Roine Stolt and Steve Hackett had me excited, and the idea of a 12-part 55 minute concept album seemed glorious, especially after the longer Testimony and One albums. MAN this is an album on fire, and the use of horns and winds really brings to life a lot of the intense sections. Neal really did try and make this one sound a bit different from his previous two, and being his shortest album, it's great to spin a few times and really dive into it, because there is a LOT to get into on this short album. I really love "12" and "In The Fire", but the last two tracks are pretty amazing too.
5. Sola Scriptura - When this album came out, I was really into it, and I really loved heavier music, but in recent years, I've mellowed out a bit on the heavy stuff, but I still REALLY enjoy this one. It really felt fresh and unique for Neal at the time, and the Transatlantic-ish approach for the album format worked pretty well (though it just made me miss Transatlantic more at the time). Opening the album with two monster epics was a bold choice, and I can see how that might make this album a bit difficult for fans to get into, heaviness aside. I think this one tops the others below it, for me, because it stands out among Neal's other albums, for many reasons, and it was his second new album after I became a fan, so it's been around for a long time for me. Despite that, though, I definitely don't spin it as much as I used to.
6. Testimony 2 - This album took the standard Neal Morse formula and changed things up quite a bit, and there were a lot of conscious decisions made to do that. For example, the album opens with the pop tune instead of the overture, and the finale is a fade-out rather than a grandiose held-chord explosion. There's a lot of different genres and styles thrown around in there too, and the vocal return of Spock's Beard is a true highlight, as is "Jayda", "The Truth Will Set You Free", and "It's For You". There are plenty of intense musical and lyrical moments on this one, which is why I enjoy it a bit more than Testimony 1. The epic on disc two is also quite possibly one of my favorite Neal Morse epics of all time, so that helped push this album up a bit.
7. Testimony - When I discovered Neal Morse and his solo prog career after SB/TA, this and One were the only albums I knew, so they got a lot of spins, but this one was longer and a bit more of a slog to get through. After he had just released Snow, it seemed a bit derivative to have another 2-disc concept album (and longer than Snow at that), and I can understand a lot of the criticisms lobbed at this album - bloated, too many reused themes, very preachy at times (though that doesn't bother me as much as Lifeline or any of the others here). I think having the songs organized in five large chunks helped make the album a bit more digestible - you could listen to Parts 1 and 2 and feel good, take a break, and then spin disc 2. Heck, I even made a 5-song version of the album with each song being whole parts! There's a LOT to digest on this album, and it's not as good TSOAD as far as his double-disc concepts go, but it's still enjoyable nonetheless, I just find it slightly less enjoyable than the ones above it.
8. Momentum - This album was Neal next non-concept after Lifeline, but here his music feels a bit more polished, has a bit of SB-ish feel to it, mostly due to the track-list being a similar format - open with shorter songs and close with an epic - kind of like Lifeline, but more like Beware Of Darkness, The Kindness Of Strangers, Day For Night, and Neal Morse (eponymous release). This album also features Neal's longest non-album-length epic yet, and it's a MONSTER of an epic with some great movements and parts within. The shorter songs good to great, with "Thoughts (Part 5)" being a stand-out. There's nothing inherently wrong or bad with this release, and outside of the epic and "Thoughts", it's pretty average for Neal, but the lyrics are a bit less in-your-face-religious like with Lifeline, and feel a bit more like Spock's Beard in that respect, which I think is why I, and many other fans, prefer it over Lifeline if comparing the two directly.
9. Lifeline - It's no surprise that I put this here. I've voiced my opinions on this album many times here, and for me, it's just an inconsistent album over-all. Personally speaking, the lyrical content goes from religious-with-a-story/concept to religious-for-being-religious'-sake, and the tunes come off a bit more preachy than even the fifth part of Testimony. Over the years, though, the album has grown on me a bit, and while I only initially liked the title track and the epic, as well as "Leviathan", I've also grown to enjoy "Children Of The Chosen" and even "Fly High". The 2 bonus tunes are also pretty interesting, and feature the only Neal Morse solo prog song to NOT feature Mike on drums (performed by Collin Leijenaar on the mini-epic "Set The Kingdom", which has never been played live as far as I'm aware). It's an OK album, and I would only recommend it to die-hards and completionists, but definitely get the 2 CD edition with the bonus tracks and covers! "Crazy Horses" is one of the weirdest song choices ever, but they make it work!
WHEW...oh man, if you read all of that, what's wrong with you?! If so, thanks for doing that, and I hope that it made some sense. I wrote all that very stream-of-consciousness and so it might not be very coherent in spots, but it's pretty much how I feel...tonight.
-Marc.