Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[Fritzinger]

I cannot get on board with any edit of the album that eliminates The Way It Had to Be, which might end up being my favorite song from it.   And I am not a fan of automatically calling any slower/mellow song a ballad, and I would not call that one a ballad.

I've read that a lot of people love this tune. That's totally fine, I just don't understand that at all 
But you're right, not every quiet song is a ballad. However, in this case, it is a ballad imo.

[Stadler]

Makes 83 minutes. A little trimming here and there to make it 80 minutes (worst case cut out Emergence) and you have a KILLER 1 disc (or 2LP) Neal Morse album (NMB album, sorry Jacy!!). Songs like Your Place and Another Story could have easily landed on a bonus disc. They're not bad but I really don't need pop songs like these on one of Neal Morse's prog albums. And The Way It Had To Be just doesn't work for me. One of the band's weakest ballads. It's relying far too much on that Im7-IV7 chord progression from Dark Side Of The Moon and Bill's bridge around 4:30 just doesn't fit the setting in my opinion.

Wow I'm sounding like I don't like this album. I do though! I think it's a brilliant album and Not Afraid 2 is one of Neal's best epics ever (only has that one tiny flaw where the flow isn't continued around 8 minutes but broken up to make space for the Mystery Man part). I just think a producer looking over the band's shoulder suggesting things like the above would elevate this band even more!

Not to argue, but to just present an alternate viewpoint, since "taste", but this album is perfect the way it is.  Meaning, it's not perfect, but what might be "wrong" with it is not the song selection.   For me, epic after epic after epic gets tedious.   I listened to the album without knowing the songs or when the songs started/ended, and for me it really flowed nicely as a result.  And maybe it's me and my age/place in life, but those songs that sort of have a look back over the shoulder REALLY resonate with me.  I think this is an album that isn't made by men who are young anymore and are writing about that.   I'm not really 100% down with the religious aspect of Neal's lyrics - I usually search for a more secular allegory in his songs (Supernatural: that to me is about love; Alive Again:  that to me is about overcoming adversity and coming out of a dark period in your life) - and this album is probably his best at taking something that could be very religious in nature and making it more universal.   

[KevShmev]

I cannot get on board with any edit of the album that eliminates The Way It Had to Be, which might end up being my favorite song from it.   And I am not a fan of automatically calling any slower/mellow song a ballad, and I would not call that one a ballad.

Yeah, it's definitely not a ballad. And while it's not among my favorites on the album, I think it's good, and I can't really picture anything else coming after Another Story to Tell.

Agreed. The transition from Another Story to Tell into The Way It Used to Be is masterful.  Most of the album does not have transitions (most of them begin and end without any transition or fade into the next song), but doing that with those two was a very wise decision.

[RoeDent]

To me Not Afraid (1) should be the only Not Afraid. It's clearly the dominant lyric in the chorus. The big epic Not Afraid 2 could have a different title.

And no, not "I Love You"...don't worry.

[gzarruk]

To me Not Afraid (1) should be the only Not Afraid. It's clearly the dominant lyric in the chorus. The big epic Not Afraid 2 could have a different title.

And no, not "I Love You"...don't worry.

Not "Mistery Man" either

[emtee]

I didn't think it would ever be possible for a NM album to top Testimony and One, but I think this album does. The only song I don't love is the cover. The rest is perfection.

[Architeuthis]

Tried listening to this album for the first time yesterday after my initial listen to Maiden.  Just couldn't get excited about it after Senjutsu.  I liked some of what I heard, but I need to give it time when I'm not in a metal mood.

Oh completely!  These albums are two different beasts but both excellent.  Let the novelty of the Maiden album settle down a bit,  then you can fully appreciate the NMB album.  I've been going back and forth between the two this last week especially, but on different days with different beer.
Perhaps next I'll try listening to both albums back to back to see if I come out normal.  Sounds like a grand experiment to me.    😁🤯

[Architeuthis]

The only song I don't love is the cover. The rest is perfection.

I think the cover is quite amazing,  even the drum fill at the end!  💯💪

[KevShmev]

Morsefest this weekend!

SPOILERS

DAY 1:

I am not there, but my older brother went.  He is never good at remembering set lists, but it sounds like most or all of the first disc from the new album was played, along with Staring at the Sun, Revelation and some kind of medley featuring songs from Similitude and The Great Adventure.

[OpenYourEyes311]

I don't wanna spoil anything for the Morsefest streamers, but I came down to TN last night... and blew a tire on the way😡

Looked like I wasn't gonna make the show, but reeeeeally lucked out with traffic and the NTB tire place I went to in West Virginia. Made it for the second hour. It was AWESOME. And VERY MUCH looking forward to tomorrow's show

[KevShmev]

I don't wanna spoil anything for the Morsefest streamers, but I came down to TN last night... and blew a tire on the way😡

Looked like I wasn't gonna make the show, but reeeeeally lucked out with traffic and the NTB tire place I went to in West Virginia. Made it for the second hour. It was AWESOME. And VERY MUCH looking forward to tomorrow's show

Nice!! 

[DTA]

Morsefest this weekend!

SPOILERS

DAY 1:

I am not there, but my older brother went.  He is never good at remembering set lists, but it sounds like most or all of the first disc from the new album was played, along with Staring at the Sun, Revelation and some kind of medley featuring songs from Similitude and The Great Adventure.

Staring At The Sun as in the U2 song? Or Solid As The Sun from Question Mark? Revelation is a great song that’s been ignored for much too long.

[KevShmev]

Distance to the Sun. Oops. 

I will be curious to see the actual set list to see what songs from Similitude and The Great Adventure were actually played (assuming a set list poster doesn't get lazy and just call it a medley without identifying what songs were played).

[ronnibran]

Kinda wish I hadn't gone for the stream-fest.  Streaming issue after issue.  Ended up watching some of it on the  small computer screen with headphones.  But I can stream anything all day long and this is the first thing I've had issues with.  And then less than two hours and no encore?  I mean I get it, there's another concert tomorrow night.  Overall just a disappointment for me.  Oh well, wasn't a huge cost investment.  Only reason I went for it was the cost seemed reasonable this year for the virtual tickets.

At least for tomorrow I have my expectations lowered and will just plan on watching on the computer instead of large screen tv and "it is what it is" lol.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, it seems like the Morsefest shows are getting shorter yet more expensive.   I am sure tomorrow night's show will be long, with all of the epics, but it used to be that both nights were long shows.  Seems like night 1 is getting shorter and shorter every year. My brother said today's show was 1 hour and 45 minutes.  The first Morsefest I went to was 2017, and night 1 was right around 2 1/2 hours (and much cheaper!!).

Still curious to see what epics get played tomorrow aside from the two new ones.  I think the Healing Colors suite is a good bet if they bust out a Spock's song from the Neal years that has not been played yet at a Morsefest.   I believe the only other long epics/suites from the Neal years as yet un-played are The Water (won't get played for obvious reasons, unless they figure out a way to play it with leaving the one section out), Time Has Come (probably too much of an oddball song) and Flow (feels like too much of an Al song to play without him). 

[DTwwbwMP]

Stream was GREAT for me and the set list was spot on. The SOAD/TGA medley WAS an encore. Yes, the show lasted 1:45 which seems a bit short but considering what is on tap for 2moro night, I was completely fine with it. The acoustic spot in the show was AMAZING!

[ronnibran]

Yeah, it seems like the Morsefest shows are getting shorter yet more expensive.   I am sure tomorrow night's show will be long, with all of the epics, but it used to be that both nights were long shows.  Seems like night 1 is getting shorter and shorter every year. My brother said today's show was 1 hour and 45 minutes.  The first Morsefest I went to was 2017, and night 1 was right around 2 1/2 hours (and much cheaper!!).

Still curious to see what epics get played tomorrow aside from the two new ones.  I think the Healing Colors suite is a good bet if they bust out a Spock's song from the Neal years that has not been played yet at a Morsefest.   I believe the only other long epics/suites from the Neal years as yet un-played are The Water (won't get played for obvious reasons, unless they figure out a way to play it with leaving the one section out), Time Has Come (probably too much of an oddball song) and Flow (feels like too much of an Al song to play without him).

Yeah I'm sure I'll like tomorrow better.  I'm all about the epics and would take them over the short songs any day.  I'm mostly bitter about the streaming issues.  I suppose I may have been spoiled that the 3 nights of Morsefest I've been too have been the two nights of first Morsefest, and then the musical thing, so I wasn't used to the "shorter" set list.

[gzarruk]

Night 1 is on Setlist.fm already: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-neal-morse-band/2021/new-life-fellowship-cross-plains-tn-2b8d30fe.html

[darkshade]

It's like take out food or fast food these days.

The burgers keep getting smaller, but they keep increasing the price.

[Stadler]

Night 1 is on Setlist.fm already: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-neal-morse-band/2021/new-life-fellowship-cross-plains-tn-2b8d30fe.html

Dammit.  One of the things I love so much about Mike Portnoy - and by extension Neal Morse - is that there are SO many moments where it seems they are thinking exactly what I'm thinking.    I got the references to Abbey Road when I heard Suite Charlotte Pike, and so to hear the live version was like "uh, huh! I saw that coming!".   There are others, but now "Breathe" at the end of "The Way It Had To Be"?  C'mon, man.  It's gettin creepy!    Not that I saw that coming per se, but TWIHTB is so Floydian to me it's a perfect fit.

[Mladen]

From what I can gather, the first night is supposed to resemble the Innocence side of the album, in that it only contains shorter songs. Now, Neal does have a bunch of fantastic short songs, so every one of us could point out a handful of tracks that should have been there, but still, that's one solid set list.

I am however looking forward to seeing the set list on the Danger night. Since it is only supposed to contain long songs, World without end is due for a comeback.

[Kram]

From what I can gather, the first night is supposed to resemble the Innocence side of the album, in that it only contains shorter songs. Now, Neal does have a bunch of fantastic short songs, so every one of us could point out a handful of tracks that should have been there, but still, that's one solid set list.

I am however looking forward to seeing the set list on the Danger night. Since it is only supposed to contain long songs, World without end is due for a comeback.

Interested in tonights set list as well.  I think you're right about World Without End.  I believe Neal posted a clip of him practicing part of The Light - so I think there's a good chance that will get played as well.

[gzarruk]

I think Alive Again will definitely appear since it's NMB's only other epic and it hasn't been played at Morsefest as far as I know.

[DTA]

I thinking World Without End, Healing Colours, Alive Again, and the new epics. I’d love to see something like Time Has Come make a random appearance

[OpenYourEyes311]

Tonight's MF was great! Longer than last night, which I appreciated, but I didn't feel cheated last night.

I also see some really good guesses in here!  

[MinistroRaven]

Managed to get the files for night 1 and the IC concert, watching right now.

 

[DTwwbwMP]

Tonight was simply INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Letter M]

Looking at the setlist on setlist.fm now and it looks like it was about 150 minutes of music tonight? Being just six songs, it definitely feels like a night with Transatlantic, but just without Transatlantic. 

I really hope Neal is willing to release Morsefest 2021 as a physical product, unlike Morsefest 2020. I would love to get it on CD/BD, especially seeing the second night's setlist. I hope everyone who attended/streamed enjoyed themselves!

-Marc.

[Mladen]

If I saw a Neal Morse concert and this was the set list, I would have been thrilled. Swap Alive again with Seeds of gold or one of the Sola scriptura epics, and it hardly gets better.

[KevShmev]

I didn't see the actual set list posted here yet, so here ya go:

Not Afraid, Part 2
The Separated Man
Flow
World Without End
Beyond the Years
Alive Again

That is pretty insane.  Came in at around 2 hours and 45 minutes, according to my brother.  It would be a shame if a show with that set list isn't actually released for the general public to buy on DVD or Blu-ray (at this time, the only people who can buy the video are people who attended the concert), but I am not counting on it.  And it goes without saying that a set list of that length and with those songs more than makes up for Friday's shorter show.

I saw on FB that Portnoy said he wanted to do Time Has Come, but Neal wanted Flow.  I like Time Has Come, but Flow was definitely the better choice. Portnoy also added that he has more of an appreciation for Flow after playing it, as he was not a big fan of it before.

[DTA]

I didn't see the actual set list posted here yet, so here ya go:

Not Afraid, Part 2
The Separated Man
Flow
World Without End
Beyond the Years
Alive Again

That is pretty insane.  Came in at around 2 hours and 45 minutes, according to my brother.  It would be a shame if a show with that set list isn't actually released for the general public to buy on DVD or Blu-ray (at this time, the only people who can buy the video are people who attended the concert), but I am not counting on it.  And it goes without saying that a set list of that length and with those songs more than makes up for Friday's shorter show.

I saw on FB that Portnoy said he wanted to do Time Has Come, but Neal wanted Flow.  I like Time Has Come, but Flow was definitely the better choice. Portnoy also added that he has more of an appreciation for Flow after playing it, as he was not a big fan of it before.

Great setlist. Flow is a good oddball choice that nobody probably expected, and it leaves the door open for them to potentially do Time Has Come next year. Neal's song choices from his first two solo albums were great too. I always get disappointed to see those albums be ignored when he's doing solo shows.

[ronnibran]

It was a great setlist!  Beyond the Years was the highlight for me, just because it's still new(ish) and I'm still really into it.  Glad Neal chose Flow over Time Has Come.  The Separated Man was a nice surprise, too.

[Mladen]

I agree that Flow is a better choice than Time has come. 

I still can't get over that setlist. It's incredible.

[KevShmev]

I still think The Separated Man might be the best song from Neal's solo records, so glad to see that one getting some love again.

I like Time Has Come a lot, but Flow is definitely better.   I consider Flow a top 5 Spock's song along with The Light, The Doorway, At the End of the Day and Jaws of Heaven.

[Metro]

I watched the livestreams last night and Friday night, plus the IC show yesterday.

1st night was great. All the new songs sounded great, plus a couple surprises like Revelation and The Way Home. The TSOAD/TGA Medley was cool but I would have preferred a few deep cuts rather than songs that have been played before at MF. It was a great show all around though.

The IC show was great background music  It was all songs from Neal's first two albums, which I've never payed much attention to, plus a few covers. I'm sure this will be an IC release some time next year.

2nd night setlist was incredible! I figured the two I&D epics, plus Alive Again and World Without End would be played. I was expecting Healing Colors of Sound if they were gonna do an SB epic, but Flow was a nice surprise. Separated Man was great as always. And they played that whole set all the way through with no intermission!

All this has me very excited for MF22 in April, but it also has me wondering what's left in Neal's catalog to cover at future Morsefests.

In the IC letter for March of this year, Neal said:

It remains to be seen how many more years we will be able to do Morsefest at New Life Fellowship, the church we've been having it all these years, as it is possible the owners could sell it.

So who knows when/where/if MF23 will happen.