OCTANE

After the slightly disappointing FEEL EUPHORIA album, released soon after the departure of front man Neal Morse (in many people's opinion he was the hub of the band), Spock's Beard have bounced back with what could be thought of as something of a return to form. That said, they are never going to be what they once were, their main material writer having left, so a shift in direction and sound is inevitable.

OCTANE has many of the elements of 'traditional' Beard, although I feel there are elements I find I'm waiting for which never materialize, such as the desire to hear a more prominent part played by keyboard player Ryo Okumoto - they seem happy for him to fill the body of the music with fat string chords and the odd flurry of hammond, but nothing like what Beard fans were treated to 2 or 3 albums ago. The overall shape of the albums is hard rock number followed by soaring ballad followed by hard rock number, or so it seems. There's plenty of Al Morse guitar, but does the song writing do justice to four talented musicians, albeit who until the demise of lead singer Neal Morse were little more than his backing group? Well, in places yes and very much so. The writing in track 1 (The Ballet Of The Impact) leads you to believe that Spock's Beard are back with a vengeance, but the album begins to disappoint a little after that until the monumental track 7 (Of The Beauty Of It All), which I believe Neal Morse would have been proud to have put his name to. The album is worth the listen for this song alone.

Overall a good album, better than their proceeding effort and one where some high octane moments hit you like an echo of the good old days and make you almost feel the euphoria at last.