Sufjan Stevens & Neal Morse's takes on S&G

I've long wanted to do a Sufjan Stevens and Neal Morse poll. Both are American singer-songwriters. Both are multi-instrumentalists who play guitar, keyboards/piano amongst other instruments (I know Stevens plays many instruments). Both come from Christian backgrounds and have Christian themes in their music, and both have solo works and worked considerably with others. Both released their debut solo albums in 1999 and have released albums this decade (Stevens has health issues and has dealt with tragedy that means he is not so active making music now). At RYM, Neal Morse's debut is ranked at #1,116 for 1999 and Stevens' debut is ranked at #1,154 for 1999. They rate that Stevens album lower than I would, and the subsequent Stevens album I hold in much higher regard than RYM seems to... And both Neal Morse and Sufjan Stevens are inspired by Americana and American folk music and have that as a quality in music they make.

Despite those similarities, I adore Sufjan Stevens' music, but I never connected with Neal Morse. I enjoy the Christian themes in Sufjan Stevens music (I have seen complaints about it, but I like it) but not in what I know of Neal Morse's music. I guess Stevens approach feels more personal and introspective to me whereas Morse seems more preachy. You can hear a church or gospel influence in not just the lyrics but in music by both.

I decided to compare song rankings at RateYourMusic for the two artists as a means to explore more Neal Morse music, and maybe finally "get" him, and I thought it might be an interesting exercise. (I did a personal faves forum tracks per album playlist before for Stevens CLICK ). When looking at the song rankings/listings for Neal Morse, I noticed "Bridge over Troubled Water" (The Neal Morse Band). That is one of my favourite songs, it is by Simon and Garfunkel. Not that, that long ago I listened to Sufjan Stevens' All Delighted People EP (it's an hour long EP, go figure) and the immediate standouts for me on that album were the 17 minute "Djohariah" and the next longest track. "All Delighted People (Original Version)". That track is meant as something of a homage to Simon and Garfunkel and while not a cover, it references another of S&G's greatest songs, and another fave of mine, "The Sound of Silence" both lyrically and musically.

So I decided to listen to that Neal Morse track and compare it with the Sufjan Stevens as two that either cover or are inspired by two amazing classic Simon and Garfunkel songs. I'm not keen on the Morse to be honest, hasn't changed my mind, but I'm glad I tried. I don't know how many here would appreciate "All Delighted People". Ideally, please try to listen to each track before voting, but they are quite long and one might not need to in full to know if you like something. What I hope is people don't just vote for the artist, but instead based on the song itself.

Sufjan Stevens "All Delighted People (Original Version)" (a song made in part in homage to S&G's Sound of Silence, as well as existential ennui and the Apocalypse).



The Neal Morse Band "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (adapted from the S&G original)



While I would expect many to prefer the S&G songs than these that were inspired by them, I do want to compare and contrast these two tracks in choosing between them.

On another note: Neal Morse in PA, whereas Stevens is not, but he's kind of approved (but on hold). I would love to review Sufjan Stevens music here as he has become a hugely important artist to me.

Edited by Logan - 4 hours 46 minutes ago at 16:21

All Delighted People is a Sufjan Stevens track with which I have difficulties - I'm a fan for sure but this one tends to rub me up the wrong way. I mean it's Sufjan, it's creative and it has its moments, but still. The Steve Morse track is OK, so overall it's a draw, which is about as much a success for Steve Morse (in my personal world) as my football club on rank 14 snatching an away point from Eintracht Frankfurt on rank 3 last weekend (which made us quite happy).