Neal Morse Appreciation Thread

^Not too long then. 

Whenever somebody has a 'Pick your favorite Neal Morse disc' (from Testimony on), I have such a hard time picking a favorite. With the exception of Lifeline, each disc has it's own personality and brilliance that just touches me. I love Testimony because that's when I was just getting back into prog and that disc had everything I was looking for. ? is an absolute masterpiece, though. Brilliant musicianship and arranging from beginning to end.

Sola Scriptura is quickly becoming a favorite, too. Primarily because of "The Conflict" and "The Conclusion". Much like "Supper's Ready", I love an epic that just has this triumphant climax that just rocks your soul. These two songs have that for me. Especially on "The Conclusion" during the "She's clothed with the sun..." It's just absolutely beautiful.

I'm just so happy that there's a future for Transatlantic. I like Lifeline OK, but I felt that Neal needed a shot in the arm to get that edge back. Hopefully this project will regain his focus. Much like Epignosis, I'm a Christian and really draw inspiration from his faith based lyrics, so that aspect of his work is something I enjoy. The formula was just getting tired with Lifeline.

As for Spock's Beard, I don't know where I lean on that. I've enjoyed his solo output so much that I tend to forget that he was in another band previously. It would be cool to see them get back together and perform Snow in it's entirety. Hopefully it happens.

E

Snow is one of my top five albums of all time. The first time I heard it when I was first getting into Spock's Beard was magical and I instantly fell in love with it. I think it is in the same league as other double album concept albums such as The Lamb and The Wall.

It would be incredible if Neal performed this with the Beard. If there was a performance of this in the States, I would travel practically anywhere to see it. I feel the same way about Neal performing with Transatlantic, which could happen with the release of a new album.

I got into Spock's Beard and Transatlantic shortly after Neal left both bands and was devastated that I would never be able to see them live. I would be thrilled beyond belief if I could see either band live with Neal.

But, yeah, Snow is awesome and I never get tired of it. It is the beginning of Neal's incredible run of concept albums that goes all the way until Sola Scriptura. Brilliant stuff!

Snow vs. Testimony??

While Snow is a good album, there's nothing that equal the quality of the album V with the great epic songs. My favorite Neal Morse solo is Testimony follow by ?. For some reasons, i had troubled to get in his 2 latests cds. Don't know why...

progrocker2244 wrote: Snow vs. Testimony??

My goodness, this is a tough one. Probably Snow....but by a thin margin.

E

YES!!!! After my review ? went into the top 100 at spot #97!!!!!!

That's my birthday present for Neal

rushfan4 wrote: progrocker2244 wrote: rushfan4 wrote: I'm thinking that the people that are the most active posters in the Flower Kings Appreciation thread will be the most active in this thread too.  I know that it is not 100%, and as soon as I post this the next 10 people will dispute it, but I think that there is an excellent chance that if you are a fan of the Flower Kings, you are also a fan of Spock's Beard, and most likely therefore, Neal Morse.  Although each band is unique in their own rights, to me at least, they are the two most similar of the new era prog bands, and I find it hard to believe that you can't like one band without liking the other.  I agree. Spock's Beard and The Flower Kings tend to go hand in hand. Transatlantic was the connecting link for most people. I discovered TA from Neal, and then I became a Flower Kings fan because of Roine. The music doesn't sound even remotely the same, but they tend to have the same general fanbase. Yep.  For me, it was Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy.  His being in Transatlantic led me to track down The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, and Marillion.  I wasn't familiar with any of those bands prior to Transatlantic.  Spock's Beard CDs were fairly easy to find since they are a US band I could find their CDs in the brick and mortar stores.  I had to do some internet searching to find The Flower Kings and Marillion CDs.  I had never really bought any CDs from the internet before I started searching for their CDs.

I took a very similar route Scott.

My prog resurgence was initiated by a re-appreciation of both Genesis and Dream Theater.  iTunes figured that if I liked Dream Theater, I'd like Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings and Transatlantic.  I thought why not, and based on the iTunes reviews, picked up Snow (one review said that this was the place to start for Spock's Beard).  The rest as they say is history, I absolutely loved Snow, a week later, I found Retropolis by The Flower Kings in a used CD place and picked that up, loved it as well.  Since then, those two have risen to the ranks of my all time favorite bands with The Flower Kings currently tied with Genesis which is lofty praise. 

I avoided Neal's solo CD's for some time mostly because I'm not very religious.  I ended up hearing a suite of tracks from ? on the internet radio station that I was listening to at the time (The Dividing Line Broadcasting network) which pushed me to get over the prejeduce.  I picked up ? on iTunes and I think I listened to it in it's entirity about five times on that first night.  Amazing CD!  I'm not as fond of his other ones, though admittedly, I need to listen to "One" and "Testimony" a few more times to get a valid opinion of them.  Sola Scriptura is very good and Lifeline leaves a bit to be desired.

Many months ago on Sunday morning I played and sang a ? medley in church, mainly featuring "The Temple of the Living God" and "Inside His Presence."

One white-haired woman was so touched she gave me fifty bucks.

But "Inside His Presence," biblically-speaking, is one of the greatest songs ever.

This guy is really underrated. Excellent musicianship. Loved ? and Sola Scriptura.