Ok, I realize this subject has probably been done to death but its probably been a while, and for me it comes down to one thing: Neal Morse's songwriting! I've been listening tonight to The light, Beware of Darkness, and Kindness of Strangers. Haven't heard masterpieces like Go the Way you Go, The Water, Walking on the wind, Waste Away, the good don't last too long, Cake walk on Easy Street, and Harm's Way in a long time. Sorry but nothing from the post morse era comes close in the songwriting dept. IMHO, and those aren't even the real classics like the Light, The doorway, and the best cuts from Day from Night, V, and Snow. For Me, Feel Euphoria was such a trainwreck I really doubted if they should or would go on, and it got only slightly better from there. I love Ted Leonard, but I just don't like the way his voice sounds with SB. I liked him with Enchant a lot more. Nick was a great drummer and backing/harmony vocalist, but just wasn't a lead vocalist for this caliber of a band. This is not commenting on the spectacular musicianship of Dave, Alan, and Ryo. So what percent of great PROG is songwriting? Not taking into account Neal's vocals and musicianship, how much has his absence in the songwriting dept. hurt this band. Well, you know my opinion.
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