TESTIMONY 2

Testimony 2 is a real difficult album for me to review. First off, being that the album was only released for pre orders and is not in the highest audio quality (128) its still a bit early to tally up a final review. But still, there are a few things i can already hear. Testimony 2 is a little bit more of the same we've been hearing the last 10 years from Neal Morse. Technical brilliance, long songs, emotional ballads, god related themes, its all here. The thing is, its getting a little bit old.

First off the length of the albums is a bit too much. Some of the songs sound as repetitions of others, not very original. It drags a lot. We could take a couple of the songs and take them away and we may have a masterpiece here.

Second. The compositions are not that good. While technically awesome, we aren't hearing anything new. We can see a lot of the same patterns he uses in Transatlantic, Spocks Beard and as a Solo artist. The repetition of themes from other songs from his previous work, plus the repetitions of this concept album, are a bit too much. We don't need to hear the same melody in every song to be reminded that it is a concept album. Learn from the masters. Lamb lies down on broadway anyone?

Third: Mike Portnoy is getting old. His drumming is awesome, but nowhere near his best. I might think he peaked in the latest Transatlantic record. He is also using the same old double bass patterns, fast fills here and there. Ballads sound horrible with his power drumming. Got to keep it simple when the song demands it Mike!

Fourth: Some songs are really really GOOD. The first three are awesome! I get excited listening to Time Changer, and Mercy Street (whats up with the Peter Gabriel ripoff name?) , also Overture 4 is great!

Fifth: Neal's singing is great, bad, good, and so-so. The chorus used in time changer with Spock's beard is HORRIBLE! A yes ripoff without the quality. Also, these passages don't sound good, and still Neal keeps going to them...

Overall i would say that this album is average. Some awesome stuff here and there. Testimony 1 is still better, and One is still the best Neal Album.