ONE

Oh man . what a wonderful album this one is! Morse has proven himself to prog lovers that he can succeed by standing on his own creation. No question about his brilliant contribution to Spock's Beard; and this gentleman is definitely a prog genius! I'm truly honest on this even though I did not favor Spock's Beard early albums where I found too many mixture of styles between Gentle Giant, Yes, and . Gypsy King! (this one had made me reluctant with SB first album despite I admired the musicianship of the band). Even, I had Morse first solo album but it did not attract me to the bone at all. But .. his solo work after he left the band with "Testimony" and "One" are marvelous! Don't waste your time reading the following boring review (too long probably) as it is not intended to stimulate your mind to action on something (to buy this CD). Rather, it is intended to give my deepest and personal appreciation to the gentleman named NEAL MORSE especially in this album. So, don't read it, just buy this CD now!

The Creation (18:22) This epic track is sectioned into four: I) One Mind, II) In a Perfect Light, III) Where Are You? IV) Reaching from the Heart. It starts off with an atmospheric keyboard and orchestra arrangement that reminds me to watching a "Holywood" movie or "Lord of The Rings". It has a powerful nuance of great music. The music blasts off with Portnoy's work with his drum stools, keyboard, guitar sounds backed with symphonic music. The intertwining guitar, drum and keyboard in relatively fast tempo at the opening is really superb! The voice line then enters the music in relatively continuous stream of music accentuated with dynamic drumming and keyboard. Morse vocal and its harmony with backing vox are stunning. In some transitions and some passages, mellotron is used nicely. This track has a very tight structure that ties each musical passage beautifully in one cohesive way. I fail to identify any loose tie in any passage of its composition, all parts hold together tightly like a concrete structure but it gives you a total musical enjoyment and orgasm. I don't mean to be vulgar about this; I just want to make my point clear: it's a superb composition by any standard you look at it. All guitar and keyboard solos are packaged nicely. You will definitely agree with me if you listen to it by yourself. Believe me .. My personal experience: I don't realize that I'm approaching minute 18 of the song where I never get bored during my journey with this song since beginning. This track is an enhanced "Supper's Ready" of this millennium!

The Man's Gone (2:50) This short track features acoustic guitar and percussive in moderate tempo; performed with a theatrical vocal. If I enjoy this track as one song it does not attract me much, it's just a good track. But when I listen to it as a transition between "The Creation" and third track "Author of Confusion" . oh man . what a nice transition! Let's look at the third track.

Author of Confusion (9:30) It blasts off, really a blast!, with a fast tempo and complex music combining guitar, keyboard, drum and bass in a rocking mood. The music itself produces a sort of riffs but it's unlike prog met riffs. There are nice transitions featuring mellotron and dazzling drum work followed by lead guitar. They keyboard solo sometimes reminds me to Rick Wakeman's. Having run thru approx 4 minutes the great vocal harmony ala Gentle Giant enters the music. Oh my God . this vocal harmony is completely superb! The music then turns in moderate tempo with continuous flow. Mellotron work plays beautifully at background. Electric guitar and keyboard works are stunning and .. it's rocking! This track is and will be my long time favorite. Wonderfully crafted!

The Separated Man (17:58) It's another epic with four sections. Composed in a moderate tempo, this track is less complex compared to the previous one especially under the first section "I'm in a Cage". The transition piece features middle east nuance with excellent vocal harmony that ends up with a "nice" scream followed by uplifting musical passage. The acoustic guitar work is excellent. The ending part of the track features nice orchestra and vocal that concludes the song.

Cradle to the Grave (4:55) It's a ballad track that reminds me to Spock's Beard "The Distance to The Sun" of "Day for Night" album. The opening acoustic guitar work reminds me to Pink Floyd's "Animals" album. But when the voice line enters it's entirely different thing "Sometimes I don't understand why I was born at all .". It's a mellow and melodic song.

Help Me/The Spirit and the Flesh (11:13) It starts off with a great piano touch and flows naturally in moderate tempo with Morse vocal followed by short lead guitar fills. There are jazz influence appear in this track. This song is straight forward and there is stunning acoustic guitar fills. The music turns to another melody in the middle of the track with quieter passage and it turns high in happier mood. It ends up with symphonic music with excellent orchestration.

Father of Forgiveness (5:46) is a nice mellow track featuring piano and vocal at the opening followed by orchestra and soft drumming. Reunion (9:11) - the opening is composed in straight forward rock with orchestra. The tempo turns faster with dynamic drumming and violin and cello orchestration augmented with lead guitar work. The music sometimes turns quieter with piano as rhythm. The inclusion of female choirs is really good to conclude the album with "Make us One" in symphonic style.

Overall, it's a masterpiece and highly recommended album. Rating 4.75 / 5. GW, Indonesia.