DAY FOR NIGHT

Day for Night is the fourth studio album from American symphonic prog act Spock´s Beard. I really enjoyed both Beware of Darkness and The Kindness of Strangers which are Spock´s Beard ´s second and third studio albums. Those two albums are excellent symphonic progressive rock albums IMO. Day for Night is unmistakably a Spock´s Beard album but the commercial approach that Spock´s Beard occasionally pursued on earlier albums is more evident on Day for Night.

The music that Spock´s Beard play is heavily rooted in the symphonic progressive rock scene of the seventies and they are greatly influenced by bands like Genesis, Gentle Giant and Yes. Spock´s Beard add some more contemporary rock influences in the music too though which means that their music doesn´t come off sounding old fashion.

There are thirteen ( fourteen on the european version. Hurt which is the bonus track is a simple hard rock/ heavy rock song. Nothing special really) songs on the album. the first seven songs are seperate songs while the last six seque into each other to form an epic called The Healing Colors Of Sound.

The album starts with the best song on the album which is the title track. It´s a favorite of mine also when we´re talking the whole Spock´s Beard discography. Gibberish is next and it´s a very Gentle Giant influenced song with polyrythmic vocal parts. I´m not too impressed and I much prefer Thoughts from Beware of Darkness which is in a similar vein. Skin is the next song and it´s basically a contemporary rock song with a catchy chorus. It shows that Neal Morse can also write commercial music but I´m not very interested. The Distance to the Sun is a semi-ballad type song and even though this is not my favorite style I must admit that this song is very beautiful and one of the better songs on the album.

Crack the Big Sky is a 10 minute long song. I enjoy parts of the song but the middle section with the brass ( or maybe it´s keyboard brass?) is not to my liking and it´s like the song doesn´t end with a bang like it´s supposed to. The Gypsy is another progressive rocker. Again I only enjoy parts of the song. It seems a bit unfinished to me. Can't Get It Wrong is an absolutely dreadful ballad that would have fit much better on Neal Morse weak solo efforts from that time. The Healing Colors of Sound is probably my least favorite of all Spock´s Beard´s epics, but it´s still pretty good and varied.

The musicianship is as usual of high quality.

The production is part of why I don´t think this album is as good as it could be. The vocal production in particular is something I don´t enjoy. Neal Morse otherwise warm voice sounds cold and clinical. It´s like it´s been recorded in a bathroom or something. The general sound of the album is professional but too cold IMO.

Day for Night is my least favorite Neal Morse era Spock´s Beard album. There are simply too many weak or mediocre songs and parts on the album. There are some moments of excellence though ( like the title track) which means that this is a 3 star album. I would buy this last ( of the Neal Morse era albums) if I were a newcomer to the band.