Neal Morse Appreciation Thread - A Guide for Beginners and Fans

Amazon does do that, but not on all CDs. So you'd have to check on a case by case basis.

 

Finally got around to watching Jesus Christ the Exorcist today. Stonking stuff, and fits Neal's blueprint as an updated Jesus Christ Superstar. As a fully paid up member of the Christian party I am very happy that there is somebody out there doing this for us.

 

I wasn't a fan of Snow until I watched the awesome Snow Live DVD a few weeks back. It was wonderful seeing all the Spock's members together and having seven musicians enabled them to put on a performance that was probably better than they could have achieved back when the album was released. It's right up there with my other favourite Neal-related live DVDs, namely The Whirld Tour and Alive Again.

Inspired by Snow Live, I ordered both the Morsefest 2015 and Morsefest 2017 sets, as I couldn't choose between them. They've both arrived this morning!

 

I like that you emphasize One. It was the first new Neal album that was released after I got into him (primarily through Spock's Beard) and I've always loved it (maybe my favorite of his solo albums), yet I don't usually see it getting a lot of love.

 

Personally I thought it was a dip in quality after Testimony but obviously some will disagree! Just shows the quality of his catalogue when people debate about what is or is'nt his best. The consensus is usually much more clear cut with most artists and bands.

 

One is my favourite Neal Morse album. Especially when the bonus tracks from the second disc are inserted to give the full 92 minute experience :

The Creation
Back to the Garden
The Man's Gone
Nothing to Believe
Author Of Confusion
The Separated Man
Cradle To The Grave
Help Me / The Spirit And The Flesh
King Jesus
Father Of Forgiveness
Reunion

As a fully fledged Christian, King Jesus is one of my Top ten songs, and I always wonder how, time limits not withstanding, it came to be left off the album.

 

I agree, and I'm not a Christian! Not sure it would make my top 10, but it is undoubtedly a great track.

Actually, this made me recall New Jerusalem which was relegated to the bonus disc of The Grand Experiment. Always thought it was much too good to be left off the main record.

 

As much as I love two of the three bonus songs from One (King Jesus and Back to the Garden), I don't think they work well within the context of the normal album. I know that was the original plan, but changing it the way they did was the right move, IMO, as the proper album would have felt a bit bloated. And we still got those songs are bonus songs, I think it worked out for the best.

IIRC, Mike Portnoy was not a big fan of New Jerusalem and was the one who made the strong push to leave it off the proper record, which I agree was a mistake. I think both that and Doomsday Destiny are both pretty great.

 

ranking-every-neal-morse-prog-album

An interesting blog post by a NM fan ranking his prog albums. Mine would be way different to this.

Here's his list if you don't have time to read...

1. Sola Scriptura (2007)
2. ? (2005)
3. One (2004)
4. Similitude of a Dream (2016)
5. Testimony 2 (2011)
6. The Great Adventure (2019)
7. Jesus Christ The Exorcist (2019)
8. The Grand Experiment (2015)
9. Testimony (2003)
10. Sola Gratia (2020)
11. Momentum (2012)
12. Lifeline (2008)

 

I'd find it difficult to rank all of these albums. However, my faves are probably:

? - concise and brilliant all the way through

The Grand Experiment - where the group contributions provided a real freshness to the music. Plus, The Call and Alive Again are among my Top 1o Neal tracks.

Testimony 2 - including the excellent bonus disc tracks

While my Bottom 3 are:

Sola Gratia - though I agree with the blogger that the second half from Sola Intermezzo on is near flawless.

Lifeline - on which I still like enjoy the change pace of provided by the shorter non-proggy songs. Plus the title track is my of my Top 1o Neal tracks.

Jesus Christ The Exorcist - This is my least favourite purely because of it's more musical flavour, which is not a criticism, it's just less to my personal taste.

Looking through the list of albums reminds me of just how much brilliant music Neal has released over the last 20 years - in addition, of course, to the earlier Spock's tunes and all of the Transatlantic albums. Wow!!

 

Seems odds to include Neal Morse Band albums and not Neal's other prog bands like Spock's and Transatlantic, but oh well. Neal fans are often weird about how they group his albums, like ranking his albums and ignoring the non-prog albums. I don't think I ever see another artist whose fans regularly rank his or her albums specifically by genre. Why not just rank all of the officially released ones?

That aside, I cannot get on board with Sola Scriptura at 1. It is really good, but it would not be top 5 for me. 2-4 would be my 1-3, with Similitude at 1, and then The Grand Experiment and Testimony 2 would complete my top 5. Actually, I might even put T2 in the top 3...

The bottom 3 there looks right (all good albums, but not nearly as great overall as all of the others). I'd throw The Exorcist in that bottom tier as well.

The Great Adventure, Sola Scriptura and the original Testimony are kind of caught in that tier for me where they are clearly better than the bottom tier ones, but also clearly not as good as the top tier ones, IMO.

Neal's first solo album (the self-titled one) would also rank pretty high for me. I can't say I would rank It's Not Too Late, Songs for November or Life and Times very high either, but I like all three, and there is some great stuff on each.

If I had to include the Transatlantic albums, the first three would all be in that top tier with Similitude, T2, One, ? and The The Grand Experiment. The new Transatlantic would be in that Sola Scriptura/Testimony/The Great Adventure tier.

I am a big fan of all of the Spock's stuff, with and without Neal. Snow would be my highest with Neal, but I don't think it would quite crack that top tier.

And we cannot forget Flying Colors. I love all three of those albums. I would rate all three pretty high.

 

It would be much different to mine! He's almost got it back to front!

 

Presumably because the band features his name. It is a 5-way collaboration, but Neal is clearly the primary songwriter.

There are quite a few of his albums (e.g. the 5 volumes of The Worship Sessions, God Won't Give Up, To God Be The Glory) that most secular fans of his 'prog' stuff haven't heard, and probably have no desire to. I imagine it stems from that.

 

Check out Jesus Christ - the Exorcist 2 cd set. Awesome!

 

My top five are:

1, Sola Scriptura
2. Lifeline
3. Momentum
4. ?
5. One

I didn't get on with The Grand Experiment so I haven't picked up the the other two band albums. I haven't heard the first Testimony record. Never found it. I like its sequel though, even if it doesn't quite make my top five.

As yet, I haven't got round to Sola Gratia nor Jesus Christ: The Exorcist though I'm keen to hear them both.

EDIT: An old post of mine here reminds me that I did get the second Band album. It obviously didn't make much of an impression. I'll have to have a look and see if I've still got it &. if so, give it another spin. Might gain a fresh perspective!

 

It looks great. I really must get round to picking it up. It's definitely on the list.

 

FWIW, the ratings on Progarchives are as follows:

4.20 ?
4.19 Sola Scriptura
4.13 The Similitude Of A Dream
4.11 One
4.05 Testimony
4.00 Testimony 2

3.98 Momentum
3.91 The Great Adventure
3.80 Sola Gratia
3.79 The Grand Experiment
3.74 Jesus Christ The Exorcist
3.15 Lifeline

Poor old Lifeline. I was well aware of its lowly reputation before I finally bought it and so had very low expectations, which it easily exceeded. Yes, it's certainly one of his weaker albums but I really enjoy it - even the poppy short songs, which are nice enough as poppy short songs go - and think 3.15 is a little harsh.

I wonder if part of the reason for the higher scores of most of the earlier albums is that Neal's music seemed "fresher" back then.

 

Lifeline. Not for me. I like his Christian Prog musics. And Eric Gillette, he can strum a bit! Why JCTE is rated so low is beyond me. Some people just have no taste lol.

 

Wow! The Grand Experiment to me is the best album he's been involved in outside of Transatlantic. I could listen to The Call and Alive Again on repeat for 24 hours and never get tired of them. The bonus tracks on the album are also his best bonus tracks. Mcarthur Park is just awesome sang by Bill. It's also his best tour I've seen and I've seen a few!
Nice to see Lifeline 2nd on your list as it always seems to be underaprecciated . Like The Grand Experiment it is more of a song orientated album than the concept ones; whilst great theybcan be a bit too much for one continuous listen .

 

I probably need to work a little harder with The Grand Experiment and the other NMB albums. There's just so much to take in. Love to see him/them live though.

Nice to know there's another Lifeline fan out there. I just love the mix of prog & pop-rock. The balance of the album is superb. In a just world, The Way Home would have been Neal's Dust In The Wind.

 

Me too! I too love The Grand Experiment. With those two awesome epics, plus three shorter more accessible tracks, it's probably the album I'd use to introduce newbies to Neal Morse.

Yes! Lifeline provides a nice change of pace from the more full-on 100% prog albums. Much I as completely adore all of Neal's lengthy concept albums, sometimes I want to listen to something a little less "demanding".

 

I have 21 NM cd's and 4 DVD's. Awesome stuff.

 

I'm hoping the new album will be more in the vein of The Grand Experiment & Lifeline. I'm sorta burnt out on concept albums for now !

 

Had The Grand Experiment CD on in the car for this week. Good stuff. Inspired to pop the Alive Again DVD this weekend.

 

I get that, but Neal was actually a more dominant songwriter in Spock's than he is with the Neal Morse Band.

To be fair, I think Lifeline doesn't have a higher ranking because it's not that great. Even the best songs on it, the title track and So Many Roads, while both really good, have that feeling of being a bit too long. Everything else just seems kind of there. There is no In the Fire or The Doorway or We All Need Some Light or Seeds of God or The Call on Lifeline. Not a bad album at all, just doesn't stand out when compared to most of his other albums.

I like JCTE, and enjoyed the heck out of it when I saw it at Morsefest '18, but I think many do not rate it higher for two reasons: 1) the lyrical content, and 2) Neal doesn't do a lot of lead singing on it. I also think the overall sound of it doesn't help, as the mix is very dry and bland. The music doesn't pop and the melodies don't grab you like they do on most of his other records. And honestly, much of the songs have a bit of a rough draft feel to it. Neal had it sitting around for years and it just feels like he rushed getting it ready for Morsefest in 2018, because his options to do anything else new that year were limited, and then made a few tweaks to it when finishing it up for the studio release. Despite being as long as it is, it feels like he could have made it a lot better by spending more time on it, IMO.