SNOW

Neal Morse's final album at the helm of the band he founded is a rock opera masterpiece.

It's too bad that he left the band after it's release; I would loved to have seen this album performed live. Morse went on to a fantastic solo career, while the band went forward with uneven results (understandable, since Neal Morse was the creative force behind the band for its first six albums). Morse is also one of the masterminds behind the Prog supergroup Transatlantic.

"Snow" is the story of a young man whose called this nickname due to his pale complexion. Snow leaves his small town for New York, where he discovers his supernatural powers to feel the pain of the people he encounters and the ability to heal them.

This is a very moving album ? the Christian allegory is real but it is subtle. The music moves effortlessly from the influence of Genesis to Yes to The Beatles to Gentle Giant to Kansas.

There are wonderful ballads and hard-edged rockers. There are excursions into magnificent instrumentals that showcase the band's excellence as players (especially Morse, who provides vocals and plays piano and acoustic guitar).

This 2-CD concept album moved Morse into the upper-echelon of composers; with this album he developed the ability to create a complex yet cohesive album with repeated themes to tie things together and catchy melodies and hooks for individual songs that are worthy of radio airplay.