THE NEAL MORSE BAND: THE GREAT ADVENTOUR LIVE IN BRNO - 2019

First of all, I am a huge fan of classic prog rock, I spent most of my time listening to the greatest albums of the 70s (Genesis, Yes, King Crimson ') but I don't look for new prog rock as I should. Last time I was involved with new prog releases was 2015, albums such as Hand.Cannot.Erase (Steven Wilson), Love, Fear And The Time Machine (Riverside), +4626 Comfort zone (Beardfish) were highlights of that great year. After that year, my enthusiasm in new releases went low.

But everything changes this year when I discovered Neal Morse music. I was blow away with his composition skills, and his live performance as singer and multi-instrumentalist. The energy and passion of this guy was beyond anything my eyes and ears had witness before. Now, in 2020 I'm ready to get back again in the modern prog rock scene, and must admit, there is an amazing catalog of artist out there to explore, including of course the Neal Morse band latest release, the Great Adventure live in BRNO.

I like the idea of reviewing this album, mostly cause it was released on march 6 of 2020, meaning the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, and maybe that works against the acknowledgment of this record, just a few ranks and no reviews so far, and that's a pity cause is a damn good live album!!!. Here is the Neal Morse band first-time touring in Czech Republic, with the amazing line up of Neal Morse (Vocals, Keyboards, Acoustic and electric guitar, and whistle???), Mike Portnoy (Drums and vocals), Randy George (Bass and Bass Pedals and vocals), Bill Hubauer (Keybords and Vocals) and Eric Gillete (Guitar and vocals).

The set list for this show is the full album of the great adventure, sequel of their latest masterpiece The Similitude of a Dream. One of the greatest things in Neal discography is the enormous legacy of live albums, starting in 2003 with Testimony and continuing with a live album of each of his tours. And let me tell you, I really like it, and the live recreation of The Great Adventure is top to bottom an amazing show of non-stopping action, with all his complex passages, heavy sections and melodic trademark. All this performed with a jaw dropping precision and an infectious energy.

The encore of the show is an amazing Great Medley, a well-crafted medley of Neal Morse's and band records, containing one song of each album, starting with In The land of the beginning again of Testimony (2003) to Broken Sky/Long Day Reprise of Similitude of a Dream (2016). I have to get credit to the band for this effort, is not an easy task to craft this 25 minutes of music, especially when you take into consideration the discography of a composer where his average song last 10-15 minutes.

This is a 5-star Masterpiece, one of the greatest of 2020 and if you are a fan of progressive rock, or in music in general you better not miss this great adventure of more than two hours of music.