THE NEAL MORSE BAND: THE SIMILITUDE OF A DREAM

Neal Morse is a genius. Not because he can write great songs, but because he has stitched together an eclectic and extraordinary collection of musicians as the vehicle for this latest album. It's the same bunch that he had for The Grand Experiment but they've grown more comfortable with one another and really shows. You know what Mike Portnoy brings to the table, and this is apparently the 500th album that he and Neal have done together. Randy George is a long time collaborator with Morse and Portnoy on Neal's solo efforts. He may be the most overlooked musician in the band because he is the only one who doesn't sing. Then comes the new kids. Bill Hubauer may ring a bell if you remember the 90's CCM band Apologetix. They were essentially the contemporaty Christian version of Weird Al Yankovic. Hubauer is an excellent multi-instrumentalist and vocalist and his contributions to the arrangements have been mentioned in interviews by both Portnoy and Morse. Like Morse, Hubauer doesn't look anything like a rock musician. In fact, they both look more like tax accountants. And lastly, the kid, Eric Gillette. If you close your eyes you can hear Petrucci. But baby face Gillette lacks the bionic muscles and Grizzly Adams beard. The album is the best album I've heard this year. And as much as I love the new Haken album, this was a real hard thing to say. It was released with much hype when Portnoy claimed it was one of the best albums he'd ever been a part of. I know my initial reaction was "Seriously?" I'm hear to tell you to believe the hype. Within these 100 minutes you'll hear vestiges of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Queen, Kansas, Steely Dan, Riverside, Styx, Dream Theater, ELP, ELO, Yes, CSN, Little Feat, etc etc. Neal Morse's solo work (along with Transatlantic) always get pigeon holed into the Symphonic Prog category. This album won't be confined to such a narrow description. The songs run the gamut from ballads, to heavy metal, to gospel, to broadway, to southern rock. Some of the tracks are as heavy as anything they've done (yes I'm including Sola Scriptura). In case you aren't aware, the album is based on John Bunyan's 1678 book "The Pilgrims Progress". Back in my high school days, this was required reading. Of course, it was on the new release list back then. The transition into this musical presentation is extraordinary. I know I'm asking for laughter when I compare this work to "Tommy", "The Lamb Lies Down", "The Wall", "Jesus Christ Superstar", etc. But the comparisons are fair. The tracks are woven together through the story without compromise. There aren't any epic tracks on this album, save the finale, which still clocks in at less than 10 minutes. The 105+ minutes are divided into 23 tracks. The vocal harmonies throughout are nothing less than stellar. We saw examples of this on their last album with the CSN-like harmonies and layered choruses. On this album, the harmonies are taken to the next level, even to the extent that you're wondering how they fit on such heavy arrangements until you go "oh yeah, that fits." There are several repeating themes throughout the album presented as variations depending on the bit of the story that is being presented at that time. The album starts our with a beautiful melody (to be repeated at other times), that gives way to the Overture. This contains many of the themes found in the album and is a wonder jumping off place for the record. The album then passes into the various dream sequences set forth in Bunyan's book. "City of Destruction" is straight up RnR. "We Have Got To Go" contains shades of Genesis' "Cinema Show". The vocals on "Makes No Sense" are really well done along with a throwback keyboard solo work. This gives way to "Draw The Line" with its driving groove and Portnoy lead vocals until the song evolves into a Steely Dan sounding ending. "The Ways of a Fool" is a well balanced, bouncy, Queen-like fun song. "So Far Gone" combines several motifs presented previously as the first half of the album approaches. The combination reminds me a little of "One Day More" from Les Miz. This passes into the "Breath of Angels" complete with gospel choir to end the first CD. As excellent as the first CD is, the second one is even better. "Slave to Your Mind" kicks the second half with a driving groove complete with keyboard rich jam. This hands off to one of the coolest vocal pieces on the record, "Shortcut to Salvation". Part Little Feat, part Supertramp, overlapping choruses to finish it up. Just great. "The Man in the Iron Cage" is next. This song just kicks ass (think Riverside's "Celebrity Touch" or Zeppelin's "Black Dog"). "Freedom Song" is a country swing with a really cool CSN feel and vocals to match. The song describes the release of the burdens of the protagonist in the story which gives way to "I'm Running", an ELO type fling complete with one of the coolest bass solos anywhere. "The Mask" starts out with a beautiful piano interlude that passes into the darkest and most dramatic part of the album as the protagonist wrestles with himself and his alter-ego or Satan or whatever. This moves into the cool groove of "Confrontation". This song twists and turns and devolves into "The Battle", which is just sick (think Kansas "Magnum Opus"). Finally, peace, "Broken Sky/Long Day (Reprise)". This 10 minute finale is a masterpiece. The wonderful chorus line builds to a Gilmour-like solo at around 3:49. Coming back around for a key change and another chorus topped off with retro Tony Banks keyboard work. This melds into the original "Long Day" motif as the climax of the album as the protagonist proclaims "The son's coming home." At that point Neal yells "Come on!" and Eric Gillette loses his mind on guitar atop of everything else. One last time the music fades to a postlude concluding with "let the great adventure now being?." and a "day in the life" final piano chord. Mike Portnoy fought to keep this record a single disc for fear that the double album "concept" type project for fear that it would get compared to the Dream Theater album. I'm glad Mike lost the argument, because the results really are astonishing (see what I did there).