SOLA SCRIPTURA

The initial overwhelming reaction to this album has puzzled me a bit, though it's understandable. For me personally, I enjoyed tremendously the first... ehem... "song" (29 minutes hehehe), and then it all began to feel more and more like a "been there, done that" affair. As I read somewhere, yes: Neal Morse will always sound like Neal Morse, but this time I think I'm beginning to feel a little tired. He has a style, a particular sound, which I've always enjoyed, but this thing started before going solo (you could cut pieces of Morse's solo albums and mix 'em in between songs from Snow or V and only the fans would notice), and by this time, for me it's becoming too familiar.

I listen to the melody go into a latin section and can't help going "ok, this was a novelty back in "The Light", but what the hell does it have to do in the middle of this ancient church times story???"... I hear Neal singing "long night's journey" in the exact same fashion and notes from Snow's "long time suffering", and there's no doubt these waters we've already been into.

"?" was Morse's solo masterpiece, I believe. "Testimony" ran for too long and was too rooted in his Christian adventures; "One" was great but somehow I find it hard to get back to listening to it, while "?" is a miracle that flows from the first to the last song with such a natural feel that you go "phew" when it's over.

"Sola Scriptura"? Well, of course, this is an early review and it will take many more listens, but so far, I only cruise through half the album before starting to feel I've listened to the same sound and style too many times. I might have focused this review on the "negative" aspects of the album, but it seemed irrelevant to rave about what others have already reviewed with enough detail. Check my rating for the final veredict: this IS a good, competent album, and the concept behind it might be the most interesting in its (ocasional) darkness... but it served for another purpose: me realizing I'm getting a little tired of Neal's bag-o-tricks.