BEWARE OF DARKNESS

Beware of Darkness is in some ways as good as its predecessor The Light. The same influences are present especially Gentle Giant and Genesis. And really the style for the most part is unchanged.

The album starts with a cover of George Harrison's 'Beware of Darkness' for which the album is named. I usually do not rate covers of songs, but I do like what they did with it and do prefer this to the original.

'Thoughts' (9/10) is the first part of a series of songs that would be found on later Spock's records and on Neal Morse's solo album Momentum. The song has an obvious Gentle Giant influence, what with the multipart vocal harmonies and wandering instrumentation. 'Thoughts' has great bass, keyboards, and vocals and remains a staple of the Beard's early sound.

'The Doorway' (10/10) is my personal favorite of the album. It opens with a firth of fifth type piano melody which is later accompanied by synths. From here the song goes through the classic Spock's music of driving bass and catchy melodies before returning to the main melody and ending in dramatic fashion.

'Chatuaqua' (5/10) is a short and fun instrumental entirely on acoustic guitar. There's nothing memorable about it, but it is a pleasant listen.

'Walking On the Wind' (10/10) is a more rhythmically driven song. Dave's bass and Nick's drums are amazing here, as are the vocal melodies. Everything I like about Spock's Beard could be represented in this song.

'Waste Away' (8/10) is another example of Spock's Beard not taking themselves seriously. How could you, with lyrics could like "Some people are like gravy, spilled on God's Sunday shirt." Of course, the music is upbeat and fun too. This is one of their less prog songs, but it's still good nonetheless.

I equate 'Time Has Come' (8/10) to 'The Water' from the first album. Both are good songs and have good ideas, but they also lack cohesion and these ideas just wander.

Overall, Beware Darkness is a great predecessor to the amazing debut and has a lot of good ideas and melodies. But much of what is done on this album was already explored on The Light. Solid nonetheless.

(8/10)