Neal Morse recently released his new solo album Life & Times, a collection of singer/songwriter tracks that are a far cry from his prog rock proficiency. While Morse is currently on tour supporting his new album, we thought we would make a list of his prog solo/band albums and rank them. Tell us what you think.
9. Lifeline (2008) – Neal Morse followed up a series of concept albums with this collection of songs, a combination of a few prog outings, a couple of ballads, and one long epic with “So Many Roads.” A solid album by any measure but perhaps not as strong as the rest of his discography.
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8. Momentum (2012) – This album of non-conceptual songs found Morse in a more uplifting mood with songs like the rocking title track, the tongue in cheek “Freak” and the powerful closer “A World Without End.” The tour for the album marked the beginning of Eric Gillette and Bill Hubauer’s involvement with Morse, and eventually led to the Neal Morse Band.
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7. Testimony (2003) – Morse’s first solo outing following his leaving Spock’s Beard was autobiographical, exploring his religious discovery. It was also the first time Portnoy joined in one of his solo albums. The album runs 2 discs, with some great moments, but he was just getting started on this solo career.
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6. The Grand Experiment (2015) – The first album as the full Neal Morse Band injected new life into Morse’s solo career with great songs like “Waterfall,” “Alive Again,” and the brilliant “The Call,” one of his best songs to date.
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5. “?” (2005) – This concise and shorter concept album finds Morse, Portnoy, and George really hitting on all strides. The album was building off of what the trio had built after the ‘One’ album with plenty of bombast and emotion.
We are pleased to present the first episode of a new podcast series we have created called Prog Report Top 5. Prog Report editor and author Roie Avin will be joined by different guests to debate the top 5 of various topics (albums, songs, shows, etc.)
In this first installment, InsideOut Music US Product Manager and author Jeff Wagner joins Avin to relive highlights from this year’s Cruise to the Edge, the progressive rock cruise including Yes, Steve Hackett, Marillion, Sons of Apollo and dozens more. Find out about the ship and which performances were among the best and hear a few tracks from the artists featured on the ship.
Check it out here and stay tuned for more. For the full audio interview click the link below or download the podcast on iTunes.
Norwegian art-prog group Gazpacho are back with a new single “Soyuz One.” The single is from their upcoming album ‘Soyuz’ is due to be released on may 18th, 2018 via Kscope Music. You can hear the track here:
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A band who are used to seizing headlines with bizarre stories, including The Independent (UK) branding Molok as “An album that could destroy the world”, Gazpacho have a holistic approach to the album writing process, imbuing each with a captivating concept. The themes of Soyuz were born from the idea of how beautiful moments pass and cannot be “saved for later”, so within Soyuz are interconnected tales of people and lives “frozen in time”. Taking inspiration from a multitude of eras and subject matters, including the doomed Russian space capsule Soyuz and its iconic captain Komarov; the Tibetan Buddhist funeral practice in “Sky Burial”; the inclusion of the oldest recording of the human voice from 1860 and the Hans Christian Andersen inspired “Emperor Bespoke”.
Despite prog being associated with great keyboard players hailing back to greats like Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Geoff Downes, Richard Wright, and more, the most recent generation of prog, while suffering no shortage of great keyboard players, has largely been a guitar dominated affair. Guitars have added more strings, music has gotten heavier, and ever more complicated. Most heralded instrumental albums are from the well-known guitarists of the world. However, with his self-titled release, Gleb Kolyadin aims to show that this no longer need be the case. With the success of his award-winning duo Iamthemorning as his springboard into notoriety, Kolyadin has now recorded a giant album with beyond explanation performances and songs that excite and thrill with every listen. Gleb Kolyadin is certainly the next great keyboardist we all need to recognize.
First off, attention must be made to the production. The recording is superb and the mix dynamic. The multitude of sounds escaping from the speakers each find their own place and have room to exist. The album was mixed and engineered by Vlad Avy, who also previously worked on the two Iamthemorning records, and once again did a fantastic job bringing this music to life. The list of musicians included on this album is an all-star prog cast, with notables like Gavin Harrison on drums, Nick Beggs on bass, Theo Travis on flute and sax, and guests like Steve Hogarth and Jordan Rudess, among the collection of superstars. But it is Kolyadin that shines brightest on this album.
The album opens with “Insight” and a rocking grand piano groove, before the immense drums from Gavin Harrison introduce themselves. The two of them are in perfect synch as the song weaves into various sections. Harrison is truly as gifted a drummer as there is on the world and it shows once again on this album. The second half of the song has a great keyboard hook that arrives unexpectedly, but by the end you are left wondering, what was that? It is the perfect opening to the album as it absolutely sets a warning, don’t leave, there’s more.
There are a few vocal tracks and they are powerful their dark overtones and textures. Mick Moss sings on “Astral Architecture,” a wonderful track that again allows Kolyadin to show his grand piano chops. Moss’s vocals are perfectly placed on this track. “White Dawn” is a delicate piano intro to the excitable “Kaleidoscope,” a song that is a brilliant prog jazz mix. Again, the drums are just stupendous. Flautist Theo Travis displays his skills on the second half of this song, perhaps the highlight of the album.
Marillion’s Steve Hogarth makes an appearance on two tracks, the long epic “Confluence” where he does a spoken word intro before a tribal beat takes over eventually erupting into a rock ending. He also sings on the album closer, the ballad “The Best of Times.” Hogarth again is able to bring emotion to a song like only he can. Jordan Rudess, meanwhile, appears on the penultimate track “Storytellers” and you can tell exactly where he comes in.
Gleb Kolyadin has crafted an undeniably glorious album here, one that exudes talent all over. He proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that any fame that has come to Iamthemoning was no fluke. He is not only a gifted pianist and keyboardist, but a brilliant songwriter and arranger. Expect more big things from this immense talent.
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Released on Feb 23, 2018 on Kscope Music Key Tracks: Insight, Kaleidoscope, The Best of Days
Tracklisting: 1.Insight 4:12 2.Astral Architecture (feat Mick Moss) 6:30 3.White Dawn 2:34 4.Kaleidoscope 5:52 5.Eidolon 2:13 6.Into the Void 1:46 7.The Room 4:13 8.Confluence (feat Steve Hogarth) 10:22 9.Constellation The Bell 3:23 10.Echo Sigh Strand 2:29 11.Penrose Stairs 5:04 12.Storyteller (feat Jordan Rudess) 3:20 13.The Best of Days (feat Steve Hogarth) 3:24
Gleb Kolyadin – grand piano, keyboards Gavin Harrison – drums Nick Beggs – bass Theo Travis – flute, saxophones Vlad Avy – guitars Evan Carson – bodhran and percussion with Steve Hogarth Mick Moss – vocals and Jordan Rudess – keys also: Grigorii Osipov – vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel Iliia Diakov – violin Alexander Peresypkin – cello Grigory Voskoboynik – double bass Tatiana Dubovaya – vocals Svetlana Shumkova – hang drum, spoken vocals
One of rock’s great guitarists, Tony MacAlpine, known for his incredible instrumental guitar albums, has been very busy of late, following a health scare a while back. MacAlpine released his album Death of Roses last year and is now getting ready to tour Latin America where he will play his classic album Maximum Security in its entirety. We were able to catch up with the guitar master following a recent visit to annual NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, California.
TPR: You seem to be doing better since the health scare, everything going ok now?
Tony: Thanks! My wife and I are indeed doing much better and all tests are clear. It has been quite a while actually, so we are full steam ahead with everything I am involved with. We do appreciate all the love, support, and concern; it’s helped us a ton to get through all that we had to face!
You have a tour coming up in Latin America in March 3-11th, playing the album Maximum Security in its entirety, why the decision to do that?
Its been a request of many promoters for us to cover that record in it’s entirety. We were playing the Entire album in celebration of it’s anniversary when i unfortunately was side-tracked with some issues so this is a continuation of that. We had planned on playing in South America but had to postpone; so here we are now, ready to go get it done for the good people there!
Any unexpected challenges in revisiting the entire album?
Oh I wouldn’t say challenges but there have been a lot of years passed since the inception of that release so naturally we have many new ways to express ourselves when we interpret what was recorded. That is the true essence of mystery and wonder in music, because time gives a player and composer a completely fresh and unique view of the terrain; one in which that luxury was not afforded prior because of course it was new at the time. We enjoyed the same type of pleasure when we performed “Edge of Insanity” live for the same reason!
How much has changed since writing that album in how you approach an album today?
Well everything has changed. For instance, in how we record using computers instead of tape machines and this naturally has a direct influence on how your creative thought process functions. Also, we hardly ever perform tracks at the same time in the same place..most players record at their own studios now.
Other than that the actual writing and composition process is the same. If you don’t have any motivation you will have nothing to write. Thankfully, I have not run into a rut and have been quite motivated these days when it comes to writing.
Your last album ‘Death of Roses’ was said to be part of a 2 part release, any update on the next release?
There are no updates at the moment, but it is the second installment of a two-part series and I am still writing and experimenting with the ideas that I have uncovered. More soon to come.
Are you always still writing new material?
Well it depends really on what my schedule is like and, of course, what the demands are and what deadlines I am faced with having to meet. Lately, we have been revisting some of the older songs I have composed so we can include them in the new set of songs that we perform live.
Any other new projects in the works?
Nothing at the moment; just flying solo for the time being..
You have always been a staple at NAMM, recently you played a bash with Stu Hamm, Mohini Dey, and Gergo Borlai. What was that like?
That was a great deal of fun! We put that set together fairly quickly and, of course, the gig went by in a flash. I think it would have been even more fun to take something like that and bring it out on the road… who knows, maybe we would have even more fun doing a proper run than just a one nighter. NAMM is always funny that way though, because you get reconnected with people that you haven’t seen in quite some time..so there is a bit of relearning the personalties of people all over again. Mohini, Gergo, and Stu are all such wonderful talents and it’s always a blessing to play music with them!!
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