Neal Morse Solo CD Review

P&C1999, Ear Candy Records, ECRCD 001

1. Living Out Loud 4:31
2. Lost Cause 5:02
3. Landslide 5:28
4. That Which Doesn't Kill Me 4:42
5. Everything Is Wrong 5:03
6. Nowhere Fast 3:45
7. Emma 3:16

A Whole Nother Trip (23:58)
8. Bomb That Can't Explode 9:03
9. Mr. Upside Down 4:41
10. The Man Who Would Be King 4:22
11. It's Alright 5:52

Total Running Time: 55:47

Neal Morse all instruments

Additional musicians:
Nick D'Virgilio drums (except 1)
Glenn Caruba percussion (8-11)
Chris Carmichael strings (7,8-11)

So, the first solo outing from Spocks Beard frontman and songwriter Neal Morse and perhaps an indication of the direction Spocks will follow on their next albums. So knowing what happened to the Genesis sound after Phil Collins released his first solo it was with slight apprehension that I fed the CD to the system. A group of eight songs, some almost 18years old (Emma) some almost written in the studio at time of recording, for someone that appreciates clever, whimsical lyrics this work is an absolute joy from start to finish.

Neal obviously has grown up with and taken on board a number of rock and pop influences and in the first six numbers of the album these are set free to roam. Kicking off the album is the Bruce Hornsby influenced 'Living out loud' followed by 'Lost Cause'. Any one that knows Hornsby's first album and the classic 'The way it is' should know exactly what I'm talking about. Great playful Morse lyrics abound "Used be a Lemon now I'm an Artichoke", "Used to be the punchline now I'm everyone's joke" just two examples from 'Lost Cause'.

The third track 'Landslide' a Morse ballad complete with mellotron strings on the "candle waving" chorus.

Neal follows this with the rocker 'That Which Doesn't Kill Me' reminding me a little of Crowded House.

The next track 'Everything is Wrong' is the standout piece of the first 7 tracks.

To mournful accompaniment of piano and brushed percussion (provided throughout by Spocks Nick D'Virgilio) Neal really pulls the heartstrings in this haunting ballad.

It is with the last closing epic 'A Whole Nother Trip' that we find the real Morse sound and indeed the Spocks Beard sound. This track was originally intended for the 'Transatlantic' project so might give an early indication of the feel of that eagerly awaited release.

'Bomb that Can't Explode' An almost King Crimson bass riff introduces this piece evolving into a very Latin feel with counter-pointing harpsichord and grunge rhythm guitar - If you can imagine such a thing! After the five-minute instrumental intro the rocker starts. The chorus is pure trademark Morse I can hear myself now singing it at the top of my voice at a concert. There's all sorts of things in this first section including some very "trip hop" sampled percussion work and a jazz like guitar solo worthy of Frank or Trey. I have to remind myself that with the exception of Nick on drums and a few strings on the whole Morse plays album every instrument… Stunning.

'Mr Upside Down' Very Beatles like could have come straight off The White Album if it wasn't for the subliminal voice effects and computer "blip" sounds. A 60's McCartney for the new century?

'The Man Who Would Be King' After a hint of the original opening theme we return to the Latin feel. Percussion straight from Santana and a flamenco guitar break that almost made we want to put on one of my wives Gypsy King albums - Love it!

'It's Alright' With counter-pointing melodies Morse and D'Virgilio tuck us up in a safe warm bed. Again in a very Lennon McCartney 'Abbey Road' kind of way.

A lot of song writers would be happy writing one classic song sequence - The Beatles with side two of Abbey Road / Genesis with Suppers Ready etc, - Morse has composed and released three of these classics in the past four years (The Light/ Healing Colours of Sound/ A Whole Nother Trip) with a forth one to follow on the Transatlantic project. The only problem I have with the track is that it is a Neal Morse solo piece and not a Spocks Beard item that we could anticipate experiencing in a future live situation (And I do wish Neal would get out of the habit of saying/singing "OK" between sections) Spocks Beards future seems to be in very capable and safe hands. With A Whole new trip Neal Morse has undoubtedly now proved himself to be the Prog songsmith of his generation.

One thing I will add and something that must be of concern to the band - This CD was supposed to be released in early October. Although being an "approved" reviewer, over a month after its release I am yet to receive a copy and the CD has not become available to buy in UK outlets. The only reason I have my copy now is that I bought it via Internet from the USA. This also happened earlier this year with Spocks Beard's Day for Night - It took six weeks after release for the first copies to hit the UK shelves, but I know for a fact it was in mainland European shops on the first official release day. From newsgroups and comments overheard at the recent Spocks Beard London concerts Inside Out appear to have a major distribution problem within the UK that must be addressed.

I sent an early copy of this review to Inside Out ( The European record company) and received this reply which, with their permission I pass on:-

As for the whole distribution thing in the UK, it's a tough one. To be fair I wouldn't point the finger at The UK distributor as they've done a great job in the UK for us with Spock's Beard. It seems to be more a problem of co-ordinating schedules. Unfortunately The UK distributor need all of the promo info a lot earlier than we can usually supply it and therefore they sometimes have to put their release date forward from what it is here in Germany. I am working on rectifying this problem and have had a lot of help and support from The UK distributor. The good thing is they're really into the products (which is rare believe me) and I think this makes a big difference. Sales in the UK for Spock's Beard have really jumped ahead and the band's profile has been raised considerably. I know it must be a little frustrating for the fans to not be able to get the records on time but please try and bear with us. And really, there is no need to put the blame on The UK distributor. They're doing all they can and have been a great company to work with so far. Unfortunately sometimes these things aren't always as simple as they might appear to be.