? [AKA: QUESTION MARK]

"I never even spoke to Steve (Hackett)! I emailed his manager and we worked things out and we emailed them the music we wanted Steve to solo over and he fedexed us a disc back with his bits on it. It's a brave new world!" That was Neal Morse comment when was asked about the involvement of Steve Hackett in his latest offering. The comment which can be found on a Dutch prog-website evokes at least two things in my mind: First, Morse really had opened up to contribution on the guitar department which has been lacking of 'kicks' within the last two albums (his second solo period that is). In this respect, he also hires his brother to beef up this department, and overall, this has balanced all the departments. Second, it seems that high profile musicians really knows what they are suppose to do when presented with raw material and asked to fill some 'missing' parts and make it a coherent whole. Not just coherent, but takes it to the higher unimaginable level.

Neal Morse has made a fantastic job in this album, and the song entitled '12' (track 9) where Hackett has contributed a powerful solo is simply majestic, which was why I chose to begin my review on the things behind this song. Hackett's unmistakable sound graces this song beautifully and it was so moving that brought tears in the corner of my eyes, sent butterflies inside my stomach. The rhythm section in this song is solid as the sun, which is also the case on the rest of the songs. '12' begins with a ballad opening part, with a typical Morse's backing vocal style, and then goes into a jazzy (piano) territory in the vein of Transatlantic just to prepare you to meet Hackett's tour de force! Excellent track! Some nice and tasty synthesizer parts add up to the joy of listening to this track.

The album is a concept album built around religious conception of tabernacle. You don't have to pay a lot of attention to the lyric if you are not into Christianity, but the music is so powerful by itself that it demands your complete attention. It is a 56 plus minutes of pure progrock enjoyment where you can enjoy a rocking trip ('Sweet Elation', 'Solid As The Sun', '12' and 'In The Fire') or a floating one ('The Outsider', 'Outside Looking In' and 'Inside His Presence'). Track 5, 'In The Fire' is worth listening not just because Jordan Rudess and Alan Morse perform a van Damme-versus-Stallone kind of duel, but also because it has a dynamic arrangement, a great bass-drum sound, bits and pieces of tasty progressive rock sound spread throughout the length of the song in the right position to glue you in your place and listen to the song intensely! It is definitely a highlight of the album!

Funky brass section and the preacher sound sample on the following track 6, 'Solid As The Sun', in my opinion, is a bit out of place, uncharacteristic of the sound that tries to be developed by the song. However, it does not last that long that potentially endanger the whole spirit of the song. Nice track!

To sum up, this is a solid offering by Neal Morse, and in my opinion it has outdone the previous album 'One'. Mind you, this is not merely a collection or assemblage of Morse's familiar and predictable prog sounds, it is a quite fresh outing and therefore is highly recommended. (Nirarta - Indonesia)