DEEP WATER

*In a moment of existential contemplation, this review was written simultaneously with Steven Wilson's The Overview. In a similar mode to Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, the general theme here is existential understanding, big and small. Here Neal Morse is thinking small, in terms of the importance of the value of personal relationships and the effort required to maintain them. When he thinks big, it's mostly to reinforce the focus on the importance of personal thinking and behavior guided by religious beliefs, because our need to feel comfort in those times we look up and think about larger (and potentially unfeeling and uncaring) cosmic forces can be resolved because the Big Guy will take care of all of that. Our actions matter because we are designed to fit into that plan, and if we do that, He's cool with us. The deep blue of the blue pill that can only be found in the deepest water, so to speak.*

It's still a ton of fun to follow Neal's career. From Spock's to solo to NMB to religious classic interpretations to...well, I had thought the well had run a bit dry, so Neal did the unexpected and first collaborated with a bunch of younger musicians to largely positive results, but then also collaborated with a bunch of other late-career musicians.

The latter is what we have here: Cheezus prog by geezers! The story is interesting about how this album came about, but I think there's certainly a lot of mythmaking about the results being jams stitched together into something magical. This is definitely a Neal Morse album, and much of the writing/progression is borrowing from his previous works, or others. For example, take The Heart of Life. The opening sounds like early Transatlantic, the verse sounds like Spock's, and I cannot for life of my hear the chorus without thinking of Song for America. There are many similar moments in the Deep Water epic as well. Fun, and perhaps even innovative...if you haven't heard a bunch of Neal as I have.

The writing is what it is. The only other fairly substantial flaw is Neal going over the top. Too many widdly synth runs and way, way to many Neal vocal improve. The Heart of Life is by far the worst, as it's filled with hey heys, yeah yeahs, and the dreaded falsetto "YEAAAAAHHHHH" blast. Imagine a random person screaming "yeah" as loud and as high as they can, and ask yourself if you think anyone would want to pay to hear that? For some reason, Neal just cannot figure this out. My advice: write the lyrics and sing the lyrics, and stick to that.

Given those flaws, why do I enjoy this album so much then? It's the players! It's nice to hear some Neal prog without Thunderdrums Portnoy. Byron is bringing wonderful variety on the bass, from stiff, to warm, to that beautiful fretless double octave solo in the Deep Water suite. But by far the biggest highlight is Phil. I've been hearing all my life about how good Phil Keaggy is, and every time I've explored his stuff, I can respect the incredible tone and playing, but I don't really enjoy the musical experience. It's like my experience of trying pork chops and never really enjoying the experience compared to steak or lobster, but then I had a double chop that was perfectly cooked and seasoned, and I'll never forget it. Now I've heard this wonderful version of Phil, and he adds so much in terms of the guitar, and then more in the vocals for an added surprise. It's like he slots into the Eric Gillette role in the Morse-iverse, but with more technical variety and richer, bigger tone. For example, have you ever wondered what it would sound like for Eric Johnson to play an extended solo on a Supertramp tune? Probably not, but with Walking in Daylight, we have the answer, and it's a lot of fun!

All in all, that's 3 stars for the writing/originality, and 5 stars for the musicianship, which levels out at a solid 4-star. If you still the traditional Neal-prog style, but are interested in the being applied to diverse, talented, and seasoned musicians, Cosmic Cathedral will certainly do the trick, and you can feel safe taking the dive into Deep Water.

It would be easy to just state we have yet another Neal Morse project on our hands, and in while in some ways that is true it is also very different in others. Neal hung out with Chester Thompson at a Steve Hackett gig in Nashville and felt they should do something together, and a month later they had lunch and a jam which delivered interesting results, so Neal then invited in two of his previous collaborators, guitarist and singer Phil Keaggy, and bassist Byron House, and they got together for some sessions. Much of the album was apparently created from those jams, where Morse's long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, such as for the 38-minute epic, "Deep Water Suite". However, this album has Morse all over it, although the main surprise for me was the power of Thompson's drumming as he is all around the kit, hitting very hard indeed. Bear in mind he is in his mid-seventies, it is astounding he is able to punch like this, while Phil Keaggy is not much younger and both House and Morse (the youngest) are in their mid-sixties. Mind you, one would never guess from the music and performance that all these guys could retire and collect their pension.

What comes with age is experience and musical nous, and there is no doubt here we have a quartet who can easily bounce ideas off each other and know how to make a difference with nuances here and there. I have followed Neal's career since I first came across an import of 'The Light' more than 30 years ago, and this feels very much like a follow- on from much of what has come before, just with some different arrangements, with "Time To Fly" having some very Morse-like female backing harmonies. This apparently commenced with an idea from Phil which the others all took on, but one certainly feels Morse has bent this to his will.

The final result is an album which will in many ways feel familiar to fans of Neal's work, and if, like me, you cannot get enough then this is a really interesting release indeed. I cannot say enough about Chester's drumming though, as it is a core element of this record. I find it strange to think I first saw him play on the Genesis 'Duke' tour in 1980, as that was such a very long time ago, and here he is still putting the youngsters to shame.

If you like Morse-style commercial prog, then this is definitely for you.