Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[kirksnosehair]

Well, I've heard it probably 10 times now and I like it a hell of a lot more than the new The Flower Kings album, but that's not saying much.  I have been thinking this for several years now but I think it's really starting to show that Neal Morse is spreading himself way too thin.  This album if full of riffs and melodies I can go and lift off pretty much every one of his previous albums, they're just in a slightly different order and/or key, but it's all the same bag of tricks he's been using since Snow. 


I will say that he seems to have at least tried a few new things like "Seemingly Sincere" which stands head and shoulders above the rest of this album. 


This is one of those rare Neal Morse albums that I seemed to like a little bit less with each listen. 


It's decent, but definitely not essential.  It will be at or near the bottom of my rankings for Morse's solo work.  I didn't think he could make an album I'd like less than Lifeline, but this one...yeah, it just doesn't really register with me. 

[darkshade]

I think I would at least put it above Lifeline and Day For Night, my two least favorite of his albums.

[Kram]

Wow, repeat listens to Sola Gratia sounds like a completely different album from my first impressions. It's not top 5 or anything, but it's solid just like pretty much all of Neal's output. If you're burnt out on his music, I could see how this would feel like too much, and there's still a couple of parts of the album I'm not that into, and I still don't think it's his strongest work by far, but it's got lots to enjoy as well. They can't all be Whirlwinds and Question Marks.

Yep, it grows on you for sure.  Still middle to bottom half of his discography for me, but that's still pretty good compared to just about everyone else.

[darkshade]

Is "?" the best Neal Morse album?
Maybe not your favorite, but a good gateway album if you like something with Transatlantic or Dream Theater?
Listening right now, and this one always knocks it out of the park.

[DTA]

Is "?" the best Neal Morse album?
Maybe not your favorite, but a good gateway album if you like something with Transatlantic or Dream Theater?
Listening right now, and this one always knocks it out of the park.

I think it’s the best of his non-NMB solo albums. It’s concise and stays interesting throughout.

[Kwyjibo]

For me "?" is definitely Neal's best.

[Kram]

Is "?" the best Neal Morse album?
Maybe not your favorite, but a good gateway album if you like something with Transatlantic or Dream Theater?
Listening right now, and this one always knocks it out of the park.

Quite possibly.  It's definitely in the upper echelon of his discography with One, Sola Scriptura, V and Similitude.  5 Star release!

[Zydar]

For me "?" is definitely Neal's best.

I agree. I haven't heard all of his albums, but so far it's my favourite.

[emtee]

I'm the opposite. After Testimony and One, two amazing albums, ? did not connect with me. Parts are solid but not the whole. I rarely spin it.

[bluefox4000]

For me personally.  Testimony and One didn't do much for me at all.  Testimony didn't click for me till Morsefest '14.  that's the definitive version for me.  One never clicked.  i like things like the Creation, Author of Confusion and The Separated Man.  but the album as a whole is WAAY too long for it's own good.  even for a neal album, lol. It just goes on and on and on......and on.  the '14 live version is even longer, lol

but i ADORE the one-two punch of ? and Scriptura.  two of my fav Neal albums ever.

[Zydar]

I still haven't checked out Sola Scriptura. I should do that soon.

[darkshade]

To me, ? and Sola Scriptura are the most "Dream Theater-y" Neal Morse albums.

[Kwyjibo]

"?" has Jordan Rudess as guest so there's that.

[darkshade]

Giving Sola Scriptura a listen. Fantastic album, one of Neal's best IMO. I wish Neal's new album wasn't connected or related to this album, as SS is such a massive piece of work. Some of Neal's strongest work, some of his strongest melodies, and some heavy riffs (for Neal) By contrast, Sola Gratia seems small in comparison. If I was just comparing SG to a more recent album like Momentum or The Grand Experiment that would be a different story, and I wouldn't view it as a so-so follow up/prequel to SS. Plus, structurally, Sola Gratia is more like ? than SS, with each track bleeding into the next one, so it seems unfair to compare the two.

[ronnibran]

I'm the opposite. After Testimony and One, two amazing albums, ? did not connect with me. Parts are solid but not the whole. I rarely spin it.

This is an accurate description of “?” to me also. And it’s  my least listened to Neal album.

[Kram]

To me, ? and Sola Scriptura are the most "Dream Theater-y" Neal Morse albums.

Agreed.  Especially sonically with the heavier guitars.  Plus Paul Gilbert's guitar solo at the end of The Door, is one of my all-time favorite guitar solos by anyone

[axeman90210]

That is an absolutely monumental solo

[darkshade]

I may have been hard on Lifeline. It isn't as good as the albums that came before and after, but it isn't as bad as many people claim, including myself. The Christian lyrics are more in your face, but musically, it's standard Neal Morse fare. An underrated epic So Many Roads that is arguably his weakest epic ever, maybe 2nd weakest, which is still good. Title track is one of Neal's best songs.

[Fritzinger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrbPPoZe5RM

Speaking of guitar solos: whenever Steve Hackett's incredible, soaring guitar sound kicks in at 3:20, I make this face:

[Zydar]

haha yeah, Steve Hackett often has that effect on me.

[gmillerdrake]

To me, ? and Sola Scriptura are the most "Dream Theater-y" Neal Morse albums.

Agreed.  Especially sonically with the heavier guitars.  Plus Paul Gilbert's guitar solo at the end of The Door, is one of my all-time favorite guitar solos by anyone

100% agree     It fits that moment in the song so perfectly and is an incredible display of pure talent and genius at the same time.

[425]

I may have been hard on Lifeline. It isn't as good as the albums that came before and after, but it isn't as bad as many people claim, including myself. The Christian lyrics are more in your face, but musically, it's standard Neal Morse fare. An underrated epic So Many Roads that is arguably his weakest epic ever, maybe 2nd weakest, which is still good. Title track is one of Neal's best songs.

I like Lifeline pretty well. It might help that I came to it years later and am not comparing in the position of comparing it quite so directly to Sola Scriptura, but I never understood why people ragged on it so much.

[darkshade]

I may have been hard on Lifeline. It isn't as good as the albums that came before and after, but it isn't as bad as many people claim, including myself. The Christian lyrics are more in your face, but musically, it's standard Neal Morse fare. An underrated epic So Many Roads that is arguably his weakest epic ever, maybe 2nd weakest, which is still good. Title track is one of Neal's best songs.

I like Lifeline pretty well. It might help that I came to it years later and am not comparing in the position of comparing it quite so directly to Sola Scriptura, but I never understood why people ragged on it so much.

When I was getting into Neal's solo stuff, which was around 2010/2011, I checked out Lifeline last out of all the albums Neal had put out at that point, and Lifeline just couldn't compare to Testimony, One, ? or the 3 Transatlantic albums up til that point. With time, I have found myself enjoying it more and more, though I still find it weaker than most of his other work. One reason many people dislike it is that the lyrics are way more Jesus-y than his other albums, which I find he's more restrained with in that regard, for the most part.

[bluefox4000]

I just never thought lifelines songwriting was that strong.

The epic is just ok.  and the ballads are too cheesey even for Neal.  the title song i great though.

[darkshade]

Yea, I've warmed up to it more, but Lifeline still remains a lower tier album.

It's amazing how Neal went from one of his least best, to what I consider, his best work, in The Whirlwind. Obviously the rest of the band contribute, especially Roine Stolt, but TA to me has always had a strong Neal presence, moreso than having a TFK vibe. Just like Neal Morse Band is still predominantly Neal. I consider Neal (and MP) working with Roine a great combo though, as Transatlantic albums chart high for both artists, I think TW is Neal, Roine, and Portnoy's best work out of anything they've done; I don't know Marillion well, I'm gonna go ahead and say it's likely the same for Pete.

I think it's a near perfect album, and has so much energy it's addicting. Even though they're divided into tracks, it really does feel like one long composition with distinct parts, as opposed to something like DT's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence which sounds more like a suite, though there are some structural similarities to SDoIT.

Everything from the melodies to the riffs to the instrumental sections to the more equal share of vocals by Neal and Roine to the powerhouse sound that comes from the rhythm section of MP and PT, Pete's bass is monstrous on this album. One of the best bass tones I've ever heard, prog or otherwise. I could see this being a good album to start with if you are unfamiliar with Neal and Roine's music.

[ronnibran]

I know I'm in the minority, but So Many Roads is hands down my favorite Neal Morse epic.  There's just something about it...  Since Lifeline came out, So Many Roads has pretty much been in the top spot for my overall favorite song of all time.  World Without End from Momentum was a close second for a very long time, I remember listening to that monster of a song daily for a long time after Momentum came out.  I'm a lyric guy, so it could be that the lyrics of So Many Roads really hit home or something, too.

And I'm also in the minority when I say that Seeds of Gold is probably my LEAST favorite Neal epic.  To me that one sounds so uninspired and cookie cutter.  I know that's just my taste/opinion. It's not bad by any means, I just never listen to it unless maybe if it comes up on shuffle or something.

[The Letter M]

In the run of "So Many Roads", "Seeds Of Gold", "World Without End" and "Alive Again", I think I enjoyed each about the same as they came out, but looking back, I'd probably say SOG and AA are my favorites, though SMR has some catchy moments. It's definitely the highlight of Lifeline, but I still really enjoy SOG a lot, and same with AA whenever I get around to listening to it, though WWE is still a bit of a slog to get through. I'm kind of glad that Neal didn't pump out more long epics on the following two NMB albums, just to give them a bit of a rest, but you could also toss in "Falling For Forever" for Spock's Beard (which also came out in 2015, same as The Grand Experiment). Couple all of those with the two epics on Transatlantic's Kaleidoscope in 2014, Neal had a *LOT* of epics 2008 and 2015, but we haven't had any since then, which is why I'm expecting at LEAST one 20-minute epic from Transatlantic's new album.

-Marc.

[Stadler]

AA and SOG are incredible.   AA is usually my favorite of the epics, and SOG is not far behind.   I'm just not as familiar with WWE and SMR; I may spend some time with them this weekend.    The thing about AA and SOG is that they both have several moments that are very "Genesis-esque", and particularly the period I like best (Selling England...  through Abacab).   The intro to SOG is so evocative of the Firth Of Fifth intro (that's a good thing) and there are several moments of AA that might as well have been an outtake from Wind And Wuthering.

[Peter Mc]

Lifeline was always a little underwhelming to me although I have always loved the title track. I always saw it as a weaker album and SMR as a weaker epic track.  However I listened to it last year again as we were discussing SMR on here and I really enjoyed the album.  Will have to have a Neal marathon soon to confirm but I certainly ended my last listen feeling that I’d been a little unfair on Lifeline and it was actually a really good record.

[kirksnosehair]

Is "?" the best Neal Morse album?

Neal Morse solo?  Yeah, definitely.  Not his best work overall though.  I have to give that to his Transatlantic material. 


But "?" is a 5-star album for me.  And I only own about a dozen of those out of well over 1500 albums I've purchased in the last 15 - 20 years

[darkshade]

Testimony 2 is a great follow-up to the first Testimony, and what a follow up. Always loved this album since it came out. I think it's a notch stronger than the first album, partly because it does what Testimony does, but in half the time, and because the sound production is phenomenal, as Neal's abums have become over time. The production values on NM/Transatlantic albums, especially since 2000, have always been good, but I think Lifeline is the first album where it became substantially better, did Neal make studio updates around that time??

Anyway, T2 is another one of Neal's best, with powerhouse prog, some of Neal's best keyboard work, and also really ripping down the guitar. I get the feeling of taking that energy from The Whirlwind and bringing it over to Neal land, Portnoy is crushing it, and you can hear it in Randy's bass lines too, so crisp, so punchy. Yea that sound production is kicked up a notch. Everyone is so clear.

[darkshade]

Momentum is another winner. Some say this is one of his weaker albums, I don't see it that way. It's got some of his best stuff on here. It's just that it doesn't try to be anything other than what it is. It's a Neal Morse album, that's it. It's not a 55 minute epic, it's not a multi disc tale, not a concept, themed album. It's just a Neal Morse album. Thankfully, it's better and more prog than Neal's first 2 albums prior to Testimony, which were "just" Neal Morse albums to me. First two songs are classic Neal tunes, some nice breather moments in between some great rock Neal. The epic closer World Without End, while not my favorite and could have been a little shorter, is a fantastic epic. This is a good albums for noobs as this is a shorter album of Neal's as well.

[gzarruk]

Momentum is another winner. Some say this is one of his weaker albums, I don't see it that way. It's got some of his best stuff on here. It's just that it doesn't try to be anything other than what it is. It's a Neal Morse album, that's it. It's not a 55 minute epic, it's not a multi disc tale, not a concept, themed album. It's just a Neal Morse album. Thankfully, it's better and more prog than Neal's first 2 albums prior to Testimony, which were "just" Neal Morse albums to me. First two songs are classic Neal tunes, some nice breather moments in between some great rock Neal. The epic closer World Without End, while not my favorite and could have been a little shorter, is a fantastic epic. This is a good albums for noobs as this is a shorter album of Neal's as well.

I really like Momentum! The only song I dislike is Freak.

[LudwigVan]

Actually, I think I’ve got Sola Gratia over Momentum. But it’s close.

[425]

I really like Momentum, too. I think it has a lot of songs that don't get enough love. Weathering Sky is an awesome short track, and Smoke and Mirrors and Freak have distinct personality among the ballads.