TESTIMONY

This was the first Neal Morse solo-album I have heard and it's a tough one to review. I love many of the album's melodies and themes but being a concept album I usually prefer to listen through them in one go. This is of course very hard considering the running time of over 2 hours and, up to this day, I have never managed to achieve it. Previously I considered that The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, with its 90 minute running time, was pushing it but this album takes it to a new dimension.

Sorry Neal, as much as I love your music I wish that you could have removed some of the lesser material so that we could really enjoy all of the highlights. I realize that Snow is also almost 2 hours long but that album was divided nicely into two separate parts/chapters that started with Overtures and ended with Wind at My Back. This made it easier to split the experience into two separate sessions if I felt like it. Besides, the material on that release is way better composed and features a great deal of phenomenal highlights that kept me going from start to end of each CD without making me feel exhausted.

Testimony is the first solo concept album from Neal Morse and I tend to think that he blew this release slightly out of proportion. It was a noble intention that ultimately resulted in less than the sum of the individual highlights. A good, but non-essential release.

***** star songs: The Land Of Beginning Again (3:10)

**** star songs: Overture No. 1 (5:58) California Nights (5:46) Colder In The Sun (6:20) Interlude (1:56) The Promise (2:52) Overture No. 2 (2:31) Break Of Day (6:55) Power In The Air (5:03) Somber Days (5:06) Long Story (5:35) Moving In My Heart (3:06) I Am Willing (6:28) In The Middle (2:27) The Storm Before The Calm (7:31) God's Theme (2:31) Oh Lord My God (3:54) God's Theme 2 (2:10) The Land Of Beginning Again (0:54)

*** star songs: Sleeping Jesus (5:32) The Prince Of The Power Of The Air (2:43) Wasted Life (6:50) It's All I Can Do (6:25) Transformation (3:00) Ready To Cry (4:17) Sing It High (4:48) Oh, To Feel Him (6:17) Overture No. 3 (1:05) Rejoice (2:28)

Total rating: 3,67