Official Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

[HOF]

The blowback against SOA pretty much lead to MP shutting down his forum, which is a shame. But man that band was quite disappointing for the talent it boasted.

[Kram]

Yea, I feel a bit of schadenfreude with the end of SOA. Didn’t they come out of the gate saying they were the “new kings of Prog Metal?” What a short reign that was.

Lol, yes they did. Maybe someone should ask Steven Wilson what he thinks of the “New Kings of Prog Metal” Sons of Apollo? See what he says hahaha

[Architeuthis]

KevShmev, What did Derek do to piss off their audience?  I ran into Derek after a SOA show in Seattle and he wasn't friendly at all, lol!   
It didn't bother me enough to boycott SOA though. 

[KevShmev]

KevShmev, What did Derek do to piss off their audience?  I ran into Derek after a SOA show in Seattle and he wasn't friendly at all, lol!   
It didn't bother me enough to boycott SOA though.

I cannot remember everything, but I know there is an old thread here on the band where a lot of it was discussed in real time.  I took he took a few direct shots at Dream Theater.

I didn't boycott them. I still checked out both albums. Neither stuck with me at all, but I never cared for the singer's voice or the guitar player.   And I am admittedly not a fan of Billy Sheehan's warbly bass tone, so a lot was working against it, for me anyway.

[HOF]

KevShmev, What did Derek do to piss off their audience?  I ran into Derek after a SOA show in Seattle and he wasn't friendly at all, lol!   
It didn't bother me enough to boycott SOA though.

He was saying and tweeting stuff like “no cheesy keys” (implying that Jordan’s keys didn’t rock or whatever) and I think some things that seemed like a swipe at DT (can’t remember if there was a dig at James or maybe it was making fun of The Astonishing or something along those lines). Basically tried to make it an “us” (the two x-DT guys) v “them” (DT) type of thing.

[Architeuthis]

That sounds like something that Derek would say. Pretty arrogant considering what Jordan Rudess is capable of, on a whole different level. 
As KevShmev said, I have both of SOA albums which kind of fall flat. The first one is good but their second one took a dive.  They pale in comparison to anything NMB put out.  Now that's some real music that I want to hear more from.

[Fritzinger]

KevShmev, What did Derek do to piss off their audience?  I ran into Derek after a SOA show in Seattle and he wasn't friendly at all, lol!   
It didn't bother me enough to boycott SOA though.

I remember a comment on Facebook where a fan criticized something about the band and Derek said something like no one cares and "go back to flipping burgers!".

It's these moments when I appreciate the class, maturity and calm nature of someone like JP.

[Architeuthis]

Yes!  John Petrucci and the guys in DT have a lot of class.  I've never once heard any of them talk bad about anybody.  They are very wise in that way. Plus if you have a big heart, kindness comes natural.  This is something I obviously need to work on since I was kind of ripping on Derek in a previous post..dohh!! 

[KevShmev]

I had forgotten about the flipping burgers comment, but I remember it now.  I think, given his love for bands like VH and Kiss, that Derek thinks being a "cool" guy ripping on who he perceives as "uncool" fans is just him being cheeky, but not everyone can pull that off.  David Lee Roth could probably say it with a wink and a nod and everyone would laugh it off because we'd know it's just "Dave being Dave," but with Derek, he just came off like a jerk.  I don't think he has the personality or the pedigree to successfully pull off that kind of trash talk.

[MinistroRaven]

I had forgotten about the flipping burgers comment, but I remember it now.  I think, given his love for bands like VH and Kiss, that Derek thinks being a "cool" guy ripping on who he perceives as "uncool" fans is just him being cheeky, but not everyone can pull that off.  David Lee Roth could probably say it with a wink and a nod and everyone would laugh it off because we'd know it's just "Dave being Dave," but with Derek, he just came off like a jerk.  I don't think he has the personality or the pedigree to successfully pull off that kind of trash talk.

Do you mean octopus pedigree?

[ReaperKK]

I think the problem with Derek doing it is that he was never cool to begin with

[ytserush]

Yea, I feel a bit of schadenfreude with the end of SOA. Didn’t they come out of the gate saying they were the “new kings of Prog Metal?” What a short reign that was.

Even AMob lasted longer.

[Stadler]

KevShmev, What did Derek do to piss off their audience?  I ran into Derek after a SOA show in Seattle and he wasn't friendly at all, lol!   
It didn't bother me enough to boycott SOA though.

There are some, I'm one of them, that thought there was a LOT more humor in what Derek was saying than the way people took it. Not saying it was "funny" - it wasn't - but I think it was a lot more tongue in cheek than some people thought. 

[Kwyjibo]

Yeah, Derek doesn't seem to be the guy that goes out and insults people on purpose.

[gmillerdrake]

Yeah, Derek doesn't seem to be the guy that goes out and insults people on purpose.

Ehh....I mean, unless you know Derek personally all we have to go off of is interviews and whatever interactions he has with fans. All I know is when me and my sons went to the SOA show he looked utterly pissed off the entire show while stationed at his keyboard area.....his body language said he was pissed.....his lack of effort and stage presence said he was pissed.....everything he exuded was negative energy. It was apparent to all involved.

He's always come off as a jerk in my eyes with his interviews and what not and given me zero reason not to believe he isn't an utter jerk. Him insulting people intentionally completely fits the image he's given to me.

[hefdaddy42]

^agreed^

All I have to go on is what he puts out to the public, which definitely makes him seem like a jerk.

[Kwyjibo]

Yeah, I don't know him personally, it's as much guesswork for me as it is for you.

I've not seen him with SOA, so can't comment on that, but I've seen him several times with DT and he seemed to have a lot of fun. And I've seen him with Billy Idol and he also seemed to have a lot of fun there, even if he was clearly a criminally underused sidemen.

And I've read interviews for his solo records, where he was very humble and had nothing but praise for all the musicians he worked with.

His actions at the start of SOA were questionable, but I still think that he doesn't seem to be a jerk to me.

[Stadler]

And there's DT film of him joking around.   "Making history.  And you?"

[ReaperKK]

Derek should team up with Richie Kotzen and make a resting bitch face power trio, just need a third

[bosk1]

Yeah, Derek doesn't seem to be the guy that goes out and insults people on purpose.

Ehh....I mean, unless you know Derek personally all we have to go off of is interviews and whatever interactions he has with fans. All I know is when me and my sons went to the SOA show he looked utterly pissed off the entire show while stationed at his keyboard area.....his body language said he was pissed.....his lack of effort and stage presence said he was pissed.....everything he exuded was negative energy. It was apparent to all involved.

He's always come off as a jerk in my eyes with his interviews and what not and given me zero reason not to believe he isn't an utter jerk. Him insulting people intentionally completely fits the image he's given to me.

As I've mentioned, the in-person stuff I witnessed at a SOA gig on the first tour are also very consistent with that.  So, for me, what Hef said nails it:  "All I have to go on is what he puts out to the public, which definitely makes him seem like a jerk."

[Pebsie]

UNBELIEVABLE.
The flipping burgers comment was towards ME. I’d commented something stupid (“Originality?”) with a link to a song that sounded very very similar to the SoA single (can’t remember which for either song, sorry!) and he commented “Let’s see your musical originality… after you’re done flipping your burgers!”.
And yeah, I was and am a musician so it was pretty nasty. But what I said was pretty rude too tbf, but you don’t act like that towards fans. I ended up banned from the Mike Portnoy Forum for trolling. “He’s a well known troll” the mods said. Weird cos I think that’s the only time I’d ever posted there.

Ah well.

[Architeuthis]

I just had a thought. "Flippin Burgers" would be a good name for a band.   

[Cocopjojo]

UNBELIEVABLE.
The flipping burgers comment was towards ME. I’d commented something stupid (“Originality?”) with a link to a song that sounded very very similar to the SoA single (can’t remember which for either song, sorry!) and he commented “Let’s see your musical originality… after you’re done flipping your burgers!”.
And yeah, I was and am a musician so it was pretty nasty. But what I said was pretty rude too tbf, but you don’t act like that towards fans. I ended up banned from the Mike Portnoy Forum for trolling. “He’s a well known troll” the mods said. Weird cos I think that’s the only time I’d ever posted there.

Ah well.

That's wild. Crazy that you'd be lurking here and happen to see this story being re-told!

[Stadler]

Quick question:  Does anyone get the distinction or significance of the "Innocence" and "Danger" segments of both the new album and the subsequent live performances?   I don't think I've heard it addressed anywhere as of yet.

[Kram]

Quick question:  Does anyone get the distinction or significance of the "Innocence" and "Danger" segments of both the new album and the subsequent live performances?   I don't think I've heard it addressed anywhere as of yet.

I'm not exactly sure what your asking, but I always understood it as "Innocence" was the first part of the album, which featured the more concise accessible songs, and "Danger" was the second part of the album, featuring the longer "crazier" epics.

[MinistroRaven]

Prog Report Interview withe Neal talking about Joseph pt1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRlSM8WiIPI

[425]

Quick question:  Does anyone get the distinction or significance of the "Innocence" and "Danger" segments of both the new album and the subsequent live performances?   I don't think I've heard it addressed anywhere as of yet.

I'm not exactly sure what your asking, but I always understood it as "Innocence" was the first part of the album, which featured the more concise accessible songs, and "Danger" was the second part of the album, featuring the longer "crazier" epics.

I understand it this way, too, but if the question is "why does the concept of 'innocence' correspond to concise, accessible songs, and the concept of 'danger' correspond to epics?" (as I took it to be) I don't think I have an especially convincing answer.

[Stadler]

Quick question:  Does anyone get the distinction or significance of the "Innocence" and "Danger" segments of both the new album and the subsequent live performances?   I don't think I've heard it addressed anywhere as of yet.

I'm not exactly sure what your asking, but I always understood it as "Innocence" was the first part of the album, which featured the more concise accessible songs, and "Danger" was the second part of the album, featuring the longer "crazier" epics.

I understand it this way, too, but if the question is "why does the concept of 'innocence' correspond to concise, accessible songs, and the concept of 'danger' correspond to epics?" (as I took it to be) I don't think I have an especially convincing answer.

Bingo.  I got the division of labor, but not the "why"?

[Kram]

Quick question:  Does anyone get the distinction or significance of the "Innocence" and "Danger" segments of both the new album and the subsequent live performances?   I don't think I've heard it addressed anywhere as of yet.

I'm not exactly sure what your asking, but I always understood it as "Innocence" was the first part of the album, which featured the more concise accessible songs, and "Danger" was the second part of the album, featuring the longer "crazier" epics.

I understand it this way, too, but if the question is "why does the concept of 'innocence' correspond to concise, accessible songs, and the concept of 'danger' correspond to epics?" (as I took it to be) I don't think I have an especially convincing answer.

Bingo.  I got the division of labor, but not the "why"?

Maybe because it's more "dangerous" to write crazy long epics? As in "most" people don't understand them? I would say that's true of the general public, but not true of NMB target audience. But that's the only thing I can figure..

[faizoff]

Got the shipping email from Radiant regarding the 3 CD Hamburg Innocence & Danger performance. Had forgotten I had ordered it.

[The Letter M]

Got the shipping email from Radiant regarding the 3 CD Hamburg Innocence & Danger performance. Had forgotten I had ordered it.

Nice. I haven't seen my shipment email yet, but I'm glad they're sending them out finally. Isn't the proper release date this Friday?

-Marc.

[faizoff]

Correct this 14th is official release day.

[The Letter M]

Correct this 14th is official release day.

Well I just got my shipment notification email not long ago, but I doubt it'll get to my home from TN in under two days, but I'm in no rush to listen to it. I really dug I&D so I'm interested in seeing how those songs translated live in Hamburg.

-Marc.

[faizoff]

Same here I can wait for it, I'm going through a ton of Dream Theater right now so once done with that might check it out.

[ronnibran]

Another new single from Neal's new album.  Meh. I'll check out the album when it comes out but not sure I'm in the mood for a musical lol.

https://youtu.be/KtghcX7DRDo