Announcing: THE NEAL MORSE BAND ‘THE SIMILITUDE OF A DREAM’

[infandous]

I think you mean "You always know-ooh-WHOA-ooh-WHOA!"

I thought that was implied by my comment

[JKL2000]

I don't mind the hyperbole - it's Neal Morse, after all, and it wouldn't be him without that kind of stuff :-)

More to the point, it's lwpmedia!

[YESHEAD777]

Sounds great!

[SRS]

I don't have any skin in the game on this...I have most of the Neal SB CDs, but none of the post-Neal and no Neal solo. Nonetheless, I gave the clip a listen because of the Portnoy hype, and...I've heard this a hundred times before. Not just from Spock's, but many other bands as well. It's very much Prog-by-the-numbers, and unless the rest of the album is markedly different from the clip, I'd say Portnoy needs to get out more.

I've heard this "prog-by-numbers" claim before and always wondered where all those other 'hundreds' of bands were and why am I missing out on them.

[ThomasKDye]

My suspicion is the bit at 6:26 - 7:26 repeats on a fading loop at the end of the album, with the guitar solo building and building as it does...

[Adrian]

Sounds great. Could easily have worked for the next Transatlantic project, based on what the clip sounds like. I think I'm a few albums behind on NM's solo output, but I think I'll be getting this one.

Good to see he's coming to the Triple Door in Seattle, too. Nice venue.

[Firth]

Nice video, but this recording doesn't seem to cover any new ground.

[BarryLI]

Sola Scriptura Part II.

[Rick]

I like the influence Eric Gillette adds to the band. He brings that Petrucci feel to the band. I like the heavier sounding guitars with Neal's music. Good combo for me.

Listening to the second track, City of Destruction, that is available with the preorder. Sounds like Eric is singing more on this track. That's not a bad thing as he has a great voice. Looking forward to hearing more..

[miamiscot]

I like Eric's voice a lot but I am really looking forward to seeing if Bill gets more time at the mic. I love his voice.

[SRS]

Sounds great. Could easily have worked for the next Transatlantic project, based on what the clip sounds like.

I thought the same - and sort of wished it was. And it does have a Sola Scriptura or ? feel to it which is a good thing to me. The second song "City of Destruction" would have worked less so as a Transatlantic song. But looking forward to this as I'm sure there will be a lot to like about it. Imaging the tour will be a complete performance of it.

[Mr. Toad]

Sounds tasty. Methinks I shall go...'cept one thing, the State Theatre is not in D.C. but Falls Church, Virginia. Nice venue.

[Garden Dreamer]

Sounds great. Could easily have worked for the next Transatlantic project, based on what the clip sounds like. I think I'm a few albums behind on NM's solo output, but I think I'll be getting this one.

Yeah, the instrumental bit that kicks in at the 3:00 mark and goes on for nearly 2 minutes is pure Transatlantic material. Either you like Neal's "brand" or you don't... dishing out more of the formulaic "comfort prog" that he's been doing for how many albums now? I'll be getting it, with no complaints.

[Poisoned Youth]

Yeah nothing new here, but I won't be able to stop myself from buying it. There have been some "gem" tracks that have come out of Neal's work on just about every album.

My one hope is that all the songs don't run into each other as one long piece. That bit has been done to death and I find I can't enjoy certain albums - especially over time (Whirlwind I'm looking at you) that insist on it.

[BravadoNJ]

...actually i'm hoping it does play out like a continuous piece similar to ?.
nobody is doing anything like this today. i've become so bored with new music these days.
i crave for something more challenging then just a collection of new songs.
a 100 minute rock opera satisfies my yearnings for something more.
and since i've fallen hook line & sinker for Neal Morse's albums- bring it on!
I NEED THIS!

[JKL2000]

...actually i'm hoping it does play out like a continuous piece similar to ?.
nobody is doing anything like this today.

Im astonished to hear that.

[Poisoned Youth]

...actually i'm hoping it does play out like a continuous piece similar to ?.
nobody is doing anything like this today. i've become so bored with new music these days.
i crave for something more challenging then just a collection of new songs.
a 100 minute rock opera satisfies my yearnings for something more.
and since i've fallen hook line & sinker for Neal Morse's albums- bring it on!
I NEED THIS!

Fair enough, though I find this statement a bit ironic since the sentiment shared in this thread, even by fans like myself, is that Morse and his music have become predictable.

If you want something more challenging, that opportunity exists and the music is out there. It's usually the limitation of the listener, not the music, that creates the boundaries.

[miamiscot]

Fair enough, though I find this statement a bit ironic since the sentiment shared in this thread, even by fans like myself, is that Morse and his music have become predictable.

If you want something more challenging, that opportunity exists and the music is out there. It's usually the limitation of the listener, not the music, that creates the boundaries.

I like that and will be stealing it.

[ca1ore]

I'll buy it, I always buy prog albums ... if just to support 'the effort'. About a quarter end up being long-term staples (many that I didn't anticipate would), the rest just credenza-ware. But that's OK. Hard to get a sense of things on crappy computer speakers.

[ca1ore]

the sentiment shared in this thread, even by fans like myself, is that Morse and his music have become predictable.

Not 'new news' of course, but that's true for the vast majority of artists into the back part of their careers - and listeners, for that matter . FWIW, the last thing NM did that I found innovative was SB V (yes, I'm old).

[JKL2000]

It's usually the limitation of the listener, not the music, that creates the boundaries.

This is so true. I remember when the Web was still fairly new and it was harder to find out about prog you didn't already know from easily available resources like the radio, or the Harmony encyclopedia, or just browsing in record stores.

I would sometimes reach a point where I thought I'd explored everything, and I'd get desperate and try to find prog on a Europe cassette or something! Then I'd find another resource, like a record store that carried more prog, like I remember discovering Nektar at J&R Music. Then after a while I found the Gibraltar encyclopedia, and that pretty much opened the floodgates.

And now, with Bandcamp, Facebook, etc., and good old PE, there's really no shortage of avenues to explore, when I feel the need to branch out again. Really there's SO much I don't think I could ever complain about any lack of good music, only a lack of time.

But I think if you want 100 minute rock operas, there are probably lots of those too that you don't know about. Just as one close example, have you checked out Edison's Children's "The Final Breath Before November?" Ok, it's only 79 minutes and basically three tracks. Two shorter ones then the last one has XIII parts, and part VIII is composed of VIII(a) through VIII (d). LOL.

It includes Pete Trewavas of Marillion and Transatlantic.

[moecurlythanu]

This is so true. I remember when the Web was still fairly new and it was harder to find out about prog you didn't already know from easily available resources like the radio, or the Harmony encyclopedia, or just browsing in record stores.

I would sometimes reach a point where I thought I'd explored everything, and I'd get desperate and try to find prog on a Europe cassette or something! Then I'd find another resource, like a record store that carried more prog, like I remember discovering Nektar at J&R Music. Then after a while I found the Gibraltar encyclopedia, and that pretty much opened the floodgates.

And now, with Bandcamp, Facebook, etc., and good old PE, there's really no shortage of avenues to explore, when I feel the need to branch out again. Really there's SO much I don't think I could ever complain about any lack of good music, only a lack of time.

True enough, but I think Sean was referring to open mindedness, and a willingness to go out of one's comfort zone and explore music that has not heretofore been in the wheelhouse of that individual.

[Yodelgoat]

I'm all for no new "ground breaking" That concept has given us Rap, Autotune, cookie Monster vox and the current form of Electronic music - none of which I find interesting in the least. I like prog, as it currently exists (and has for 40 years). Tell me I have a narrow view of what Prog is, but thankfully, that subject is taboo here, and I can just rejoice in the fact that NM doesnt have to "break new ground" - His taste in music closely matches my own. So I think its all good. You dont need to "move on" to stay relevant IMHO.

Want new ground? I don't. Rototill the old ground. It has plenty of nutrients to feed my musical garden. (who, am I deep or what?)

[JKL2000]

True enough, but I think Sean was referring to open mindedness, and a willingness to go out of one's comfort zone and explore music that has not heretofore been in the wheelhouse of that individual.

Yes, my point was that at one time it was harder to find that music, but now it's easy so there's no "excuse" aside from not being open to the exploration.

Maybe it wasn't one of my clearer posts.

[JKL2000]

Apparently on the new album Neal experiments with new twists on hip-hop and the album features no conventional instruments. Also, the vocals are all delivered by children.