V

Ahh, Spock's Beard. I can kind of see them as the "More than mediocre version of Dream Theater" although also have plenty of their own sounds and styles as well. Spock's Beard is kind of the institution that Neal Morse had to graduate from in order to become the brilliant solo artist he is today. Spock's Beard will always play second fiddle to Dream Theater in the neo-progressive world, and Neal Morse is making better music now that he is no longer with them. With all that being said however, Spock's Beard has always been a great band, and "V" is a great album. That's great, not unbelieveable, not amazing nor phenominal. If there were two more songs on there like "The Great Nothing" and "At The End Of The Day" instead of those four middle songs we'd be talking about an amazing album when we mention "V". "The Great Nothing" is an awesome epic with some interesting subject matter. I especiall love the heavy guitar riff which the Cello plays along with. That was such a cleverly increadible touch. "At The End Of The Day" is amazing because of the way it is structured and all the great melodies inside it. The way that beginning verse comes back with a vengance at the end of the song is very exciting in my opinion. Those falsetto harmonies in that one section... "It begins, it believes and it blows me away", so beautifully orchestrated. That section is a definite highlight of Spock's Beard's entire exsistance. So why is the album only great? Those four middle songs. "Revelation, Thoughts pt. 2, All On A Sunday, and Goodbye to Yesterday", they are all either catchy or alright at best. For the most part, those songs are boring through and through. "Revelation and All On a Sunday" would be the worst two and "Goodbye to Yesterday and Thoughts pt. 2" would be the better half. Those four songs sound like they were just thrown together in one session without much care and thrown on the album for the hell of it.

All together, "V" is an album that I've enjoyed listening to a few times already and can continue to listen to, but I will most likely be skipping the four middle tracks.