Are Non-Christians Able To Enjoy Neal Morse Music?

For me, it depends on how good the music is and artist's performance. However, overtly preachy lyrics are a turnoff for me. I not a particular fan of Morse's music, but the same held true for me when he was in Spock's Beard.

Edited by SteveG - December 29 2016 at 04:36

I am generally not a fan when anyone feels the need to project their beliefs at me, whether it be through music or otherwise, whether it be politics, religion, or what have you. If that's how you feel, so be it, great! I just don't need to hear about it. I try very hard to live my life not projecting my beliefs on anyone else.

Edited by Jeffro - December 29 2016 at 10:27

And what about Kansas, and Kerry Livrgen?

My girlfriend and I watch the weekly Hallmark movies just about every Saturday night.  I watch them for her benefit...but ahem....I find that I actually do enjoy them.  An old softy buried somewhere within my tough exterior.  (or so I want to believe anyways)

As regards to the original post, let me direct the OP to this thread.  http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=103212&KW=neal+morse&PID=5197808#5197808

I like Neal Morse's music a lot but it's his vocals (not lyrics) that i dislike the most. He doesn't have a very good range and i think he tackles music out of his league vocally speaking so his music is knocked down a step for me personally. As far as lyrics, i find most artist's lyrics ridiculous when you sit and read them without musical accompaniment whether it be Satanic black metal, Christian rock or just plain philosphical prog. Once in a rare while i find lyrics that actually sound profound and condusive to the sounds that surround them. I think i'm like many who are musically oriented first and lyrically secondarily. I know others are the opposite but if i only got into music for the lyrics i would find very few albums that resonate with me 

It seems like a lot of prog fans here are not into Morse's music....so who's buying his albums? 

Yes.

So, what I'm mostly hearing is a lot of people here who don't really care for Neal's music outside of its lyrical content, and a lot of people who pay little attention to the lyrical content of music in general. Neither viewpoint really applies to my situation, however.

I'm usually a big fan of lyrics in music, particularly outside of the realm of prog, and they often tend to help or hinder my ability to enjoy a song. Outside of prog, I'm especially fond of the singer-songwriter stuff from the Laurel Canyon scene of the late-60's and 70's. In prog, however, I find most lyrics to usually be a neutral factor in my enjoyment of the music, with a few notable exceptions. The lyrics of Peter Hammill/VDGG greatly improve my enjoyment of the music, and the same goes for Fish-era Marillion. Off the top of my head, however, the only time that I recall a lyric making me dislike a song from the prog world (prior to Neal Morse's Christian-themed lyrics) was with 'The Trees' by Rush. Those lyrics struck me as rather trite and callous propaganda for the ideals of Ayn Rand-ian economic Darwinism, and particularly rubbed me the wrong way.

On the music side, the sound of Neal Morse-era Spock's Beard holds a special place in my heart. I was living in Los Angeles in the early to mid-90's, unsuccessfully trying my own hand at making it in the music business as a singer/lyricist. Mark & Brian, the morning DJ's on KLOS radio there, introduced me to the music of Kevin Gilbert and Toy Matinee, which I absolutely loved. Then Kevin's later band, Thud, introduced me to the incredible drumming of Nick D'Virgilio. So, when I heard that Nick was in a full-blown symphonic-style prog band (featuring an actual mellotron, no-less!), well I had to check this band out. Sure, the influences of the classic-era were blatantly obvious, and the band certainly didn't seemed to be breaking too much new musical ground, but their sound was (to quote liberally from Aussie-Byrd-Brother) "melodic and energetic" and the vocalist and main songwriter (Neal) had "a killer ear for great melodies and slick vocals." They were a breathe of fresh air in the stale music scene of mid-90's L.A., to me anyway. I became a fan, and was lucky enough to see them live numerous times at clubs in and around L.A., and even to meet the guys in the band on a few occasions. To this day, I consider the "V" album to be one of my favorites from the decade.

So, were it not for the Christian-themed lyrics, I really should be able to enjoy Neal's current music, one would think. However, my dislike for the dogma of the bronze-age sky-god religions in general, and Christianity in particular, really seems to get in the way of my ability to appreciate any of the music. Try as I might, I just can't get past the lyrics to see why PA members have rated his current album as the top release of 2016. Again, am I completely alone in this?

Bragi Taliesin wrote: So, what I'm mostly hearing is a lot of people here who don't really care for Neal's music outside of its lyrical content, and a lot of people who pay little attention to the lyrical content of music in general. Neither viewpoint really applies to my situation, however. I'm usually a big fan of lyrics in music, particularly outside of the realm of prog, and they often tend to help or hinder my ability to enjoy a song. Outside of prog, I'm especially fond of the singer-songwriter stuff from the Laurel Canyon scene of the late-60's and 70's. In prog, however, I find most lyrics to usually be a neutral factor in my enjoyment of the music, with a few notable exceptions. The lyrics of Peter Hammill/VDGG greatly improve my enjoyment of the music, and the same goes for Fish-era Marillion. Off the top of my head, however, the only time that I recall a lyric making me dislike a song from the prog world (prior to Neal Morse's Christian-themed lyrics) was with 'The Trees' by Rush. Those lyrics struck me as rather trite and callous propaganda for the ideals of Ayn Rand-ian economic Darwinism, and particularly rubbed me the wrong way. On the music side, the sound of Neal Morse-era Spock's Beard holds a special place in my heart. I was living in Los Angeles in the early to mid-90's, unsuccessfully trying my own hand at making it in the music business as a singer/lyricist. Mark & Brian, the morning DJ's on KLOS radio there, introduced me to the music of Kevin Gilbert and Toy Matinee, which I absolutely loved. Then Kevin's later band, Thud, introduced me to the incredible drumming of Nick D'Virgilio. So, when I heard that Nick was in a full-blown symphonic-style prog band (featuring an actual mellotron, no-less!), well I had to check this band out. Sure, the influences of the classic-era were blatantly obvious, and the band certainly didn't seemed to be breaking too much new musical ground, but their sound was (to quote liberally from Aussie-Byrd-Brother) "melodic and energetic" and the vocalist and main songwriter (Neal) had "a killer ear for great melodies and slick vocals." They were a breathe of fresh air in the stale music scene of mid-90's L.A., to me anyway. I became a fan, and was lucky enough to see them live numerous times at clubs in and around L.A., and even to meet the guys in the band on a few occasions. To this day, I consider the "V" album to be one of my favorites from the decade. So, were it not for the Christian-themed lyrics, I really should be able to enjoy Neal's current music, one would think. However, my dislike for the dogma of the bronze-age sky-god religions in general, and Christianity in particular, really seems to get in the way of my ability to appreciate any of the music. Try as I might, I just can't get past the lyrics to see why PA members have rated his current album as the top release of 2016. Again, am I completely alone in this?

OK, I may be somewhat blind in this since I don't know how he writes his lyrics, nor exactly the theme he is singing about, but my advice would be to take the lyrics as mythology instead of religion.