NEAL MORSE

3.5 stars. Neal Morse is an incredibly talented musician, and the piano playing he does on this his first solo record is outstanding.

This is particularily true of the first song "Living Out Loud" where he really shows off his amazing command of the piano.The thing that impresses me more than his virtuosity with the piano is his song writing skills. I'm not normally one who puts great stock in lyrics, the instrumental part of the song means more to me as well as the vocal ability but i'm just blown away by the witty, humourous, wise, personal lyrics of these songs. Just incredible ! There is some variety on this record, and I would describe the songs mostly as fairly light, almost pop tunes really, but well done pop tunes of course.

It's quite an enjoyable listen.