...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI


..::OPIS::..

Niespełna trzy lata po naprawdę bardzo udanym The Similitude of a Dream powraca The Neal Morse Band. I to powraca z kontynuacją literackiej historii zawartej na tym dwupłytowym koncepcie. Przypomnijmy, że ów koncept został luźno oparty na słynnym dziele Johna Bunyana Wędrówka Pielgrzyma. To wejście do tej samej niejako rzeki jest także ponowieniem całej muzycznej konstrukcji, według której zbudowane było The Similitude of a Dream. Zatem dokładnie ten sam kwintet, w bliźniaczą niemalże oprawę graficzną, upakował jeszcze raz na dwóch dyskach ponad sto minut muzyki (tu o 3 minutki mniej) wpisane w 23 muzyczne tematy (czyli o jeden więcej), podzielone na pięć rozdziałów.

Takie konsekwentne trzymanie się przez artystę pewnych przemyślanych założeń zawsze budzi szacunek, ale już bardzo wierne powtarzanie muzycznych rozwiązań, czasami wzbudza kontrowersje. I tu na The Great Adventure dokładnie tak jest. Album zarówno pod względem brzmieniowym, jak i aranżacyjnym jest wręcz bliźniaczą kopią poprzednika. Poużywać sobie zatem mogą ci, których nużą opasłe muzyczne tomiszcza Morse’a z łatwymi do odgadnięcia rozwiązaniami.

Jednak ci, którzy lubią kompozytorską erudycję Morse’a i kochają takie progresywno – symfoniczne granie o chrześcijańskim przesłaniu z pewnością się tym albumem nie zawiodą. Bo choć to momentami granie pełne absolutnie przewidywalnych rozwiązań, to jednak wykonane na bardzo wysokim technicznym poziomie. Każdy z panów po raz kolejny pokazuje tu swój kunszt. Powie ktoś: zatem mamy tu kolejne dzieło pełne przerostu formy nad treścią? Nic z tych rzeczy, gdyż muzycy bronią się po raz kolejny całą masą dobrze zbudowanych kompozycji o świetnej melodyce.

Mamy tu zatem ciągłe żonglowanie kontrastem poprzez zderzanie mocnych, rozkrzyczanych gitarowych riffów uzupełnianych intensywną grą perkusyjną Portnoya (Welcome To The World, The Great Adventure, Fighting With Destiny, The Element Of Fear) z niezwykle uduchowionymi, nostalgicznie brzmiącymi fragmentami (The Dream Isn't Over, A Momentary Change, Long Ago, The Great Despair). Do tego jest u nich to nieodzowne bawienie się różnorakimi konwencjami. Jest miejsce na prog, hard rock, blues, czy muzyczną burleskę (Vanity Fair). Jest też wreszcie ich znak rozpoznawczy - fantastyczne, wielogłosowe harmonie, tak silnie odwołujące się Beatlesowskich figur. Znajdziemy je choćby w Welcome To The World, To The River, The Great Adventure i Vanity Fair. Kwintet ponadto zdaje sobie doskonale sprawę z tego, że aby wciągnąć słuchacza w płytę, należy go skutecznie „atakować” nośnym melodycznym motywem, który co rusz powraca i… z każdym kolejnym razem wydaje się znajomy i jeszcze bardziej atrakcyjny. I tak tu jest, z tym że panowie potrafią go podać za każdym razem w innym aranżacyjnym anturażu.

Najlepsze momenty płyty to już wspomniane The Dream Isn't Over, Welcome To The World, A Momentary Change, The Great Adventure, Beyond The Borders, Long Ago, The Dream Continues, Vanity Fair i The Great Despair zwieńczony najpiękniejszym na całym albumie solowym popisem gitarowym, w sam raz na podgrzanie atmosfery koncertu przed samym jego finałem. Finałem ze wzniosłym i wymownym już w samym tytule A Love That Never Dies. No właśnie.

Mariusz Danielak


Jak skutecznie zmierzyć się z sukcesem poprzedniej płyty? Dodajmy: podwójnej, epicko brzmiącej płyty? Najlepiej nagrać… kolejną podwójną płytę. „Let the great adventure now begin” – ostatnie zdanie z wydanego w 2016 roku albumu „The Similitude Of A Dream”” okazało się prorocze. Wielka przygoda trwa. Bo oto trzymam w ręku nowy, wydany pod koniec stycznia dwupłytowy album The Neal Morse Band zatytułowany „The Great Adventure”.

Z wielu względów można go nazwać kontynuacją wydanej dwa i pół roku temu poprzedniej płyty. To równie opasłe, dwupłytowe dzieło składające się z 2 aktów, 5 rozdziałów i w sumie aż 22 muzycznych tematów układających się w wielką epicką całość. Nawet graficzny projekt okładki jest niemal identyczny. I skład grających muzyków też (Bill Hubauer (k, v), Eric Gillette (g, v), Randy George (bg), Mike Portnoy (dr, v)). No i sama muzyka: wspaniała, epicka, zachwycająca. A w roli głównej oczywiście sam Neal Morse. W wielkiej, fenomenalnej wręcz formie. „Byłem przekonany, że następca „The Similitude Of A Dream” będzie albumem całkowicie od niego różnym, tymczasem poszedłem w stronę, którą podpowiadało mi serce” – tak opowiada on o nowej płycie. Istotnie, w największym skrócie należy stwierdzić, że „The Great Adventure” zawiera te wszystkie elementy, które fani muzyki Neala Morse’a kochają najbardziej: jest tu rock, jest metal, są pierwiastki jazzrockowe, piosenkowe, orkiestrowe, są liczne powracające tematy (tym razem najczęściej przewijają się one w dwóch częściach utworu „Welcome To The World” oraz w „To The River”). Są też nośne, przebojowe wręcz nagrania, wśród których na wyróżnienie zasługuje wspomniane już „Welcome To The World”, „The Great Despair” czy na przykład „I Got To Run”. Co zachwyca to przestrzeń, szczególnie w zakresie wokali, jaką Neal pozostawił swoim kolegom. Partie, w których główne linie wokalne prowadzą panowie Portnoy, Hubauer czy Gillette należą do najlepszych na płycie. I zdecydowanie urozmaicają one brzmienie całego zespołu.

Album „The Great Adventure” skomponowany jest i wykonany z niebywałym rozmachem, posiada niesamowite tempo i flow, który nie pozwala ani na chwilę na wyłączenie się z posuwającej się do przodu, utwór po utworze, akcji. Pod wieloma względami przypomina mi on – a konkretniej poszczególne jego rozdziały – rozbudowane, wielowątkowe suity supergrupy Transatlantic.

Z pewnością „The Great Adventure” nie sposób nazwać dziełem przełomowym w dorobku Neala Morse’a. Na pewno też nie dziełem, które potencjalnie mogłoby wyznaczać nowy etap, czy – jak domagają się krytycy twórczości naszego bohatera – stylistyczny przełom w jego dorobku, ale dla zwolenników (a tych jest przecież znacznie więcej niż przeciwników) dokonań Morse’a będzie to kolejna, blisko dwugodzinna smakowita muzyczna uczta. Ba, jak zwykle w przypadku tego pana utrzymana na najwyższym, liczonym według najlepszych progrockowych standardów, poziomie.

Artur Chachlowski


I believe there are a few definitive moments in the course of a person's music listening. For me, the first one came in 1981 when at the age of 12 I discovered a copy of the recent Yes album, 'Drama', in my uncle's LP collection. Intrigued by the cover, I put it on and never looked back through the prog gates that had been blown open by 'Machine Messiah'.
Then almost 20 years ago I was looking for prog on the internet and found the Gnosis2000 website, and when I looked at the highest rated albums they were by Italian bands I'd never heard of. What?! Better than Yes, Genesis, and King Crimson? I bought 'Per un Amico' and 'Darwin' and realized there is a wonderful prog world outside of English- speaking countries--especially Italy.

A few years after that, I heard Neal Morse's 'One' album, and I was floored. I had really enjoyed his 'Testimony' album and the Transatlantic and Spock's Beard I had heard, but 'One' just took it to another level for me. Not only the musicianship and songwriting, but to write about the concept of separation from and return to divinity, with all of its symbolism--well that was Prog Heaven, and another defining moment for me in my music listening life.

So imagine my surprise when two years ago, the Neal Morse Band released 'The Similitude of a Dream', which I like even better than 'One'! It has since become my favorite album post 1970s, and is a contender for top spot overall. Again, the combination of musicianship (taken to a completely different level with the addition of Eric Gillette and Bill Hubauer to the solid core of Mike Portnoy and Randy George, and of course Neal) with songwriting and concept is just incredible. The album is based on the first several chapters of 'A Pilgrim's Progress' by John Runyan, which describes a man's journey from the City of Destruction to Heaven, having to overcome many obstacles along the way.

The tour for the album was unlike anything Neal had ever done, playing the album all around the world for most of 2017. So when the band got together again in the beginning of 2018 to record the next album, they all knew they didn't want to do a double concept album, and definitely not a follow up to 'Similitude'. How could you follow that? The initial writing and recording sessions resulted in a single demo album filled with good songs, but things were unsettled. Neal decided to follow his gut (again) and rewrote and expanded the music they had recorded, and with some trepidation shared this concept album consisting of two and a half hours of music to the rest of the band. They were on board!

The resulting album is entitled 'The Great Adventure'--another double concept album, a sequel to 'The Similitude of a Dream'! The concept centers on Joseph, the son of the protagonist of 'Similitude', who is angry that his father left him and his family in the City of Destruction. He decides to go after his father and faces many challenges of his own along the way. Musical and concept themes from the first album are woven seamlessly into this one, enriching it both musically and lyrically.

In fact, his treatment of music themes is one of the strongest skills of Neal's songwriting, and the Neal Morse Band continues and strengthens this compositional technique. These themes are often used as Wagnerian leitmotifs, bringing to mind a particular character or situation--but then they are turned on their heads, upside down, backwards, different speeds, every way possible. Trying to decipher the themes is one of the joys of discovering this music. For example, on this album the main theme is 'A Love that Never Dies.' The album begins with a short reprise of the final theme of 'Similitude', when this new theme immediately appears. Then it recurs in some form in at least seven more songs (I'm sure I've missed some), then closes the album, along with a companion theme 'To the River'. Another example: a lovely acoustic guitar melody in 'Long Ago' turns into a blistering Eric Gillette riff in 'Welcome to the World 2'--you have to listen hard to pick it out, but it's there.

Here are a couple examples of Neal taking a music theme and turning it using lyrics. Toward the beginning of the album, the 'To the River' theme has these lyrics:

To the river am going, with my sadness and despair. All my questions I bring with me-- I hope to find the answers there.

Then at the end of the album, when Joseph reaches the River and realizes that he must cross over to find his Father, he sings:

To the river I am going, coming 'cross that great divide. Mourn not for me, for I entering To a love that never dies.

One more--when Joseph introduces himself and shares his anger and bitterness, he says that when he complains the people around him say:

Welcome to the world! Where the struggle is real, and you know it feels to beg, plead or borrow. Welcome to the world! Where dreams come to die, and the innocent cry cuz there ain't no tomorrow.

Then when Joseph makes the decision to follow after his father in 'To the River', voices sing:

Welcome to the world! Where souls come to fly, and there is no goodbye cuz there ain't no tomorrow. Welcome to the world! Where the illusion is real, let life you can feel wash away all our sorrow.

But as talented as Neal is with themes, he also excels at writing memorable songs. In fact several of the albums in his discography are singer-songwriter albums, not prog--and they're very good! The most recent example is last year's "Life and Times". Memorable songs are the core of Neal's prog albums as well, of course expanded and embellished and treated with complexity and dexterity--but memorable songs nonetheless. You will never finish a Neal Morse album and not walk away with a few hooks floating around in your head, and that includes this one. A great example is the title track, one of the singles they released prior to the album, available to check out on YouTube. Listen to that and you will hear a great song with excellent hooks--and of course the instrumental break will more than satisfy any symphonic prog fan.

The bottom line is I really love this album! They have built upon the strengths of each band member, and this album sounds even more like a collaborative effort. And how does this stack up to 'Similitude'? It is at least as good, if not better! I didn't think that was possible going into it, knowing it was a sequel. But after living with this album for a while (thanks to Neal for providing an advance copy!), I can safely say that this is one of the great ones, that I will never tire of listening and discovering. There's so much here to enjoy! Five stars (Gnosis 15/15)

Todd


Prologue: Given personal, family, political and professional developments, I just don't seek out enough new prog as I should, but I'm always going to make time for these guys. I was, like most others (fans of, and members of, the band included) super surprised to see a new album so soon, and that it was another double album inspired by the Pilgrim's Progress story. I checked out the singles released on youtube and found them to be solid, but nothing spectacular. There just wasn't a lot of reason to expect this to be a great album--worth having, certainly, but you would think that creativity and inspiration is a limited resource, and both to likely have peaked during the previous album.
But damned if I don't find this to be a better album, defying the odds once again! I generally find this album to be more musical, to flow better, to more deftly integrate moments that remind of Yes, Dream Theater, Styx, Spock's Beard and Transatlantic, but don't scream "we directly wanted to show we were inspired by this song". Take the title track: it clearly is a weird combination of Momentum and The Grand Experiment title tracks from previous NMB albums, but it's just better than both of those tunes. The intro, which serves as a transition between both albums, it so artfully done that I would describe it as genius-level craftsmanship. The tempo kicks and contrasts in the overtures sound more energetic to me (and I greatly enjoyed those moments on the previous album!). The singles sound better in the context of the album as well: the wall of sound seems a little grating by itself, but in the context of the album, they fit quite nicely.

The highlights for me include the first 25 minutes, through Dark Melody--just great pacing, contrasts, performances, and songwriting. Then we have some up-and-down moments in the middle three chapters: nothing bad, but in an album that repeats themes multiple times, it's easy to feel some applications of a given theme work less well, and I find that to be the case in the middle half (i.e., Beyond the Borders and To The River, although the second overture and subsequent subdued sections, and Vanity Fair, are quite good). Then the final highlight passage from me is the last 20 minute or so. Perhaps the emotional release of the finale doesn't equal the previous album, but it's still excellent.

The album does leave with some final thoughts that genuinely surprised me, in terms of thinking about this album in the contexts of NMB specifically, and Neal's work in general. I remember at the last tour, the closer to the first album (Breath of Angels) was heavy on the chorus, and it distinctly lost some emotional punch live, and I do fear that this might happen live to the album closer to this record, but that's on the guys to figure out. More importantly, most of the highlights of the last 20 minutes are Eric's phenomenal signing and guitar parts, so much so that it almost feels weird to call this group The Neal Morse Band. I remember seeing them for their first tour, and the songs and shows were set up to feature Adson Sodre so much on guitar that I really wondered if they needed Eric. He was clearly very good, but he seemed to be a utility player who could sing, play keys, and guitar in a group that had multiple other members capable of doing those things as well, and seemed to have the songs written to feature their work more than Eric's (almost certainly unintentional, but that's what I perceived at the time).

Now that's all changed: Eric's the star here, and I think that I'll look back on this pair of albums and perhaps wish that this exceptional group had a name that better reflects what they really are doing, but I concede that this is certainly a minor point. Another surprise for me was the satisfaction of getting my copy in the mail, and simply placing it next to my Similitude of a Dream album. The artwork, the content, the emotional impact--these albums just belong together, in a similar manner to the Lord of the Rings DVD trilogy that I have on display on the shelf because it looks cool and is meaningful to me personally. I wouldn't have really recommended NMB to make The Great Adventure a year ago, but now that I have it and am really enjoying it, I'm doing a full reversal: come back to this specific creative well one more time and go all in for the Pilgrim's Progress trilogy. I truly believe they have the opportunity to secure a legacy in prog with this series--perhaps not for astonishing musical uniqueness or originality, but instead a sheer thematic triumph of ambition, inspiration and dedication.

Flucktrot



..::TRACK-LIST::..

CD 1 - Act I (54:31)
Chapter 1:
1. Overture 10:06
2. The Dream Isn't Over 2:40

Chapter 2:
3. Welcome to the World 5:25
4. A Momentary Change 3:42
5. Dark Melody 3:29
6. I Got to Run 6:05
7. To the River 5:02

Chapter 3:
8. The Great Adventure 6:17
9. Venture in Black 5:16
10. Hey Ho Let's Go 3:22
11. Beyond the Borders 3:07


CD 2 - Act II (49:44)
Chapter 4:
12. Overture 2 3:46
13. Long Ago 3:45
14. The Dream Continues 1:20
15. Fighting with Destiny 5:23
16. Vanity Fair 4:00

Chapter 5:
17. Welcome to the World 2 4:01
18. The Element of Fear 2:34
19. Child of Wonder 2:28
20. The Great Despair 6:18
21. Freedom Calling 7:31
22. A Love That Never Dies 8:38



..::OBSADA::..

Neal Morse - vocals, keyboards, guitar
Eric Gillette - guitar, vocals
Bill Hubauer - organ, piano, synth, vocals
Randy George - bass, bass pedals, vocals
Mike Portnoy - drums, vocals

With:
Chris Carmichael - strings
Amy Pippin - backing vocals (22)
April Zachary - backing vocals (22)
Debbie Bressee - backing vocals (22)
Julie Harrison - backing vocals (22)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcq6xc26WQI



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