Album is now startting to click. Part of the reason is that the interview has helped me to not view it as simply the "T1 leftovers," and part of it is just that it's too good to ignore. It has now surpassed Lifeline and ?.
And the way I see it, it's more like Neal is filling in some gaps from T1, but because T2 has been released 8 years after T1, it feels more like "here's what I didn't tell you the first time", but if you listen to them continuously (I know, a daunting task), you realize it's just Neal telling the story in various ways that best suit how the story unravels. T1, to me, feels more like how Neal's life used to be, and how he felt he needed to move on to Christianity to save himself, but T2 is more of the how and and when, and how it affected his family and bands, where as T1 was more of a history ("Let me take you back, to where it all began") and telling us how his life changed as a result of becoming Christian. T2 then further explains how his becoming Christian led him to a different calling and eventually "Crossing Over" and leaving his brothers/SB.
I think reading the book will greatly help understanding BOTH Testimony albums, and it'll be an amazing read and I'm sure will have some great insight into one of the greatest prog rockers in the industry!
Also, MP revealed today that they will be playing over 3 hours of Neal Morse music on tour!!! Incredible! I look forward to the eventual CD/DVD of this tour that Neal eluded to in the interview. I wish I could go to the show next Tuesday in VA... :-
-Marc.