MORE NEVER IS ENOUGH

I can just imagine the scene. Mike Portnoy is sitting at home, all alone, with nothing but a stack of unsold 'Adrenaline Mob' EPs for company. He's just done the Yellow Matter Custard reunion but times are tight and he's running out of money. Another Transatlantic tour? Nope, the other guys are busy with their other projects. Could he grovel for acceptance from Dream Theater again? I think that bridge has been well and truly burnt. If only he could go on tour without having to leave the comfort of his living room. And then it hits him. He can! What if he makes another box-set from the Whirld Tour, give it exactly the same set-list in exactly the same order, and calls it something completely nonsensical. He phones Mr. Neal Morse who is delighted with the idea. What more would you expect from a man who is happy to charge $10 a month for the honour of being in his fan club.

And so, More Never is Enough was born.

Rather than go on and on about whether this was a legitimate excuse for a release or just a penny pinching scheme, I will cut to the chase and give you the details. The audio for the DVD on More Never is Enough is recorded in stereo, rather than the 5.1 of 'Whirld Tour 2010'. But it still sounds great, and from a visual aspect I would class both performances as about the same. More Never is Enough has Return of the Giant Hogweed as a encore to the main performance, but 'Whirld Tour 2010' has it as a bonus item with Steve Hackett from their High Voltage gig. So again, both discs are about equal.

The real difference comes (but this is only slight) from the CD recordings. Whereas 'Whirld Tour 2010' features the same concert on both DVD and CD, More Never is Enough has the Tilburg show on DVD, and the Manchester gig on CD. I attended the latter so may be a little biased, but I genuinely believe it is a better recording. The extra energy of the performance is tangible, and pivotal moments from both The Whirlwind and Duel With the Devil sound sharper and have greater impact. Not only that but the breakdown from Stranger in Your Soul features a bass pedal solo of Smoke on the Water! Would you rather listen to that, or three minutes of MP crowd surfing?

The Verdict: I have split the rating. For those who already have 'Whirld Tour 2010' I give it one star. Although More Never is Enough is certainly not "poor", it pretty much defines "completionists only". But if you don't have 'Whirld Tour 2010' then I award it the full five stars as it really is nothing short of a masterpiece.

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