Spock's Beard

I think V is phenomenal, by the way, and I happen to like Octane a lot despite the reviews here.

Eraserhead wrote: V would be the album to start with

I REALLY like the new CD X.  It seems SB has finally lost the "trying to not sound like Neal was ever in the band" concept and just wrote SB sounding music.  BTW got front row seats for the Downey Ca show in Sept. 

X, good album.

Garion81 wrote: I REALLY like the new CD X.  It seems SB has finally lost the "trying to not sound like Neal was ever in the band" concept and just wrote SB sounding music.  BTW got front row seats for the Downey Ca show in Sept.

Garion, I agree and disagree (if I understand what you're trying to day), I don't think they're consciously avoiding any Neal Morse sounding material, though they're not purposely going that way either.  I think they've finally found their own sound so to speak.  I really don't hear a lot of similarities to a Neal Morse era Beard CD, I just think they've arrived at their own sound and it's a wonderful sound at that.

I am so jealous, I really hope they something closer to Pittsburgh later on this year or next year.  I'd love to see the show for this album.  (Come back to Pittsburgh guys...we love you here).

Enjoy the show.

I have to say that I absolutely love "X", definitely the best post-Neal Spock's Beard album, and I'd have to say that it surpasses a few Neal-era Spock's Beard albums (which is really hard for me to say). It might rank fourth after Snow, V and Kindness of Strangers.

It is definitely one of their most consistent releases, I love every song and don't ever feel like skipping tracks. And Jaws of Heaven is absolutely one of the best Spock's Beard songs of all-time. I am blown away by it. I also love the names song, but perhaps that is because I get to hear Nick D'Virgilio sing my name I am so happy that my favorite band has finally come into their own sound without Neal.

I get to see the band for the first time live in Downey and I couldn't be more excited. I'm going with my dad, we have seats in the fourth row. It is going to be awesome. I just need to get my dad into X before we go to the concert.



Edited by natewait - July 24 2010 at 15:49

I haven't ventured very far into their discography (I only have their S/T, Feel Euphoria, and Snow) but they're one of the few symphonic prog rock bands I enjoy.  I especially like this track:

Roland113 wrote: Nate, See, i put it ahead of V even.  V has a great set of bookends but I don't really like the songs in between.  "Thoughts II" has some nice moments, but that's about it.  With the middle being so unimpressive, I don't quite give it the love that most Beardies do.  Now I'm curious, I need to list their albums in my order of preference...ahh, the problem with being obsessive - compulsive: 1)  Snow 2)  X 3)  The Kindness of Strangers 4)  V 5)  Beware of Darkness 6)  Feel Euphoria 7)  Day for Night 8)  The Light  (Love the title track, can't really listen to "The Water" in front of my three year old") 9)  Octane 10)  Spock's Beard Here's a thought, I'd love to hear Neal release a new version of "The Water" sometime.  I'd think that he's a little embarrassed by the song at this point, but it really is a great one.

Yeah, I understand what you mean about V, but the only song I don't really love is "Goodbye To Yesterday". I absolutely love "Thoughts Part II", and I think "All On A Sunday" is a fun little song. I used to not like "Revelation", but it has grown on me. But, I mainly consider it one of my favorites because "At The End of the Day" and "The Great Nothing" are my two favorite Spock's Beard songs.

So, here is my ranking:
1. Snow
2. V
3. The Kindness of Strangers
4. X
5. Beware of Darkness
6. Day For Night
7. The Light
8. Octane
9. Spock's Beard
10. Feel Euphoria

It would be nice if Neal did a new version of The Water. I made an edited version for my friend once where I cut out the offensive part. It is a great song.

Biff Tannen wrote: I actually like "Goodbye to Yesterday" the most out of the 2-5 tracks on V.  I like "Thoughts II," but I don't think it is as awesome as most SB fans seem to think.  "All on a Sunday" is nice, and "Revelation" is a mixed bag, in that the verses are killer, but the chorus is rather pedestrian.  The bookend epics are both tremendous, obviously.  Anyway, the new album, X, is definitely fantastic.  I still can't believe how great it is; it is probably their best post-Neal CD (slightly better than the really good Feel Euphoria).  "Jaws of Heaven" and "From the Darkness" are both outstanding, and probably two of the best SB songs...of any era!  Most of the rest of the CD is damn good, too, with "Kamikaze" being the only song I am somewhat iffy on so far.  Regardless, they really hit it out of the park with this one. :)

Good assessment, I was at a "party" over the weekend (me and three other guys sitting around and sharing music).  As it turns out, I got to play the last song and I went with "From the Darkness".  I think I converted a few new fans. 

"Kamikaze" doesn't do a lot for me either but it has some nice moments.  I have a love / hate relationship with "The Emperor's Clothes".  In general I don't really care for the main themes of the song (Verse and Chorus) but the jazzy middle part is fantastic and, in my mind at least, fairly unexpected from them.  I'm not saying that there isn't, but I can't think of any other real jazzy moments in their music.  That is something that I'd expect from The Flower Kings.  As such, I found it rather refreshing.

I forget if I mentioned this before, but this is the first CD that they've released that doesn't make me pine for the days that Neal was still in the band.

I have