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Believe it or not, I have been spinning this CD for three weeks in a row combined with Roine Stolt "The Flower King" by which these two CDs are my favorite and both have taken roughly about 70% share of CD playing at my player. I also have ripped these two albums to my PDA so that I can listen to these excellent CDs whenever I go. Yeah, I live, I work, I seleep, I breathe with prog music man!

This latest album by Neal Morse blew me away the first time I spun the CD. I like especially the combination of silent / slow as well as dynamic and heavy segments. That's basically the strong point of this album. Mr. Morse is one of great prog musicians in the 2000s. See how he stirs our emotion (no need to talk about the lyrics yet) by mixing the mellow style at the intro part of "Temple Of The Living God" (6:13) - album opener - where he brings his music gently and brilliantly from powerful vocal backed with soft piano touch - and augmented with bluesy guitar fills - and firmly enters the dynamic segments through a very touchy "eastern" style music using "flute-like" sounds . oh man . this part is great! [I'm referring to approx minute 2:00]. This wonderful piece of music reaches its peak when it comes to minute (approx) 2:53 . oh the melody really kills me . Yeah, it reminds me to the music of Spock's Beard "Octane". Well, everyone knows that Neal Morse was a mastermind of Spock's Beard. So powerful his influence was - probably- that finally his music style seems like ingrained in the music of The Beard after he left the band. Oh no .. not really a true statement; because actually this opening track reminds me to "Octane" and it's different with the Beard music during Neal's tenure. Got the picture? If not - try playing "The Beauty of It All" (Spock's Beard "Octane") and compare it with this track. You may find some similarities in nuance.

The opening track continue seamlessly to the second one "Another World" (2:36) with a kind of The Beatles rhythm section. Of course there are high and low points that are totally different with The Beatles style, for example the combination of keyboard and guitar at the end of this track. It also moves seamlessly to "Outsider" (2:21) where the guitar style is the vein of Steve Hackett circa "A Trick of The Tail", continued with "Sweet Elation" (2:32) which is heavy with acoustic guitar.

"In The Fire" (7:24) brings the album to the kind of early albums of Spock's Beard, at least you can identify the unique singing style. It's an excellent track with pulsating keyboard combined with electric guitar work. Yes, you may find the guitar solo, as well as keyboard solo is stunning. Jordan Rudess' keyboard is so transparent here. Neal's voice is powerful and transparent. If prog spirit is in your blood it's very hard to deny this excellent track. It might explode your adrenalin. Watch out!

"Solid As The Sun" (6:12) - as the title implies - is another solid track where its strength lies at the interlude part where the bass player Randy George plays his bass guitar dynamically. It's basically a walking bass where he plays his instrument like a guitar solo. Really cool. I'd say that this track in terms of style is definitely an early Spock's Beard's music with heavy influence from The Beatles. Oh yes .. even the guitar playing style on bluesy part is very close to The Beatles.

"Glory Of The Lord" serves wonderfully as a bridge with heavy choirs and orchestration and it flows smoothly to "Outside Looking In" (4:19) (ehm.. the title reminds me to my favorite Grand Funk Railroad track "Inside Looking Out" ). I don't actually favor this track as it's too ballad, style-wise. But, as this serves as transition to next track "12" where Mr. Stephen Hackett contributes his guitar work. It's like a dream comes true having this track with Hackett as guest appearance. His guitar playing is so unique. It's enjoyable, really.

The last three tracks "Deliverance" (6:22), "Inside His Presence" (5:30) and "Temple Of The Living God" (4:27) are also excellent ones. Special for me is" Inside His Presence" (5:30) because I really enjoy the tasty piano work with transparent and powerful voice line. Not only that - the double guitar work during interlude part is cool. What's also interesting is the very smooth transition to the concluding track titled exactly the same with the opening track.

In summary, Neal Morse has been consistent with his music direction after he left the band. But on the other side of the coin, his music does not progress as the three albums sound alike. It does not mean that this album is not a good one. Even though I still prefer his previous album "One", this latest album demonstrates tastier music segments. It's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Recommended. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW