SPOCK'S BEARD

I must say, before you judge new Spock's Beard, you have to say to yourself, this is not the old-fashioned Spock's Beard with Neal Morse's catchy pop-proggy hooks and the lack of his traditional sound (Heard with everything Neal has been associated with). Just admit to yourself that you can only picture Spock's Beard with Neal Morse playing keyboards and singing. But this is not the Neal Morse Spock's Beard anymore, it does not have Neal Morse's familiar voice or his often lopsided lyrics on them, but we still have 4 very talented musicians + Boeghold (the 5th beardle). With all their talent, we have here the first self- titled Spock's Beard album. I see this self-titled album as a start, a start in their new sound. I found myself not comparing this album to the Spock's Beard of the old or one of my favorite Progressive musicians, Neal Morse, but with what the new lineup has put out. I think what they have put out this time, is special compared to the last two releases.

1. They have got rid of trying to sound like the old Spock's Beard and adopted a newer sound that was somewhat heard on Octane and non-existent on Feel Euphoria. I applaud the lads for doing so, their new sound is great and I love it.

2. They have gotten Boeghold for the orchestrations, which is greatly appreciated by me. His orchestrations on the last Spock's Beard album, Octane, which was not so great at all, but in fact very mediocre.

3. The new Spock's Beard is not very Prog at all.

Why did I mention the last number, with Spock's Beard not being Prog? Other than the first song and parts of the other songs, this is not a typical Prog Rock release. Is This Live is included, which is an almost 3 minute purely Hard Rock piece. I do not appreciate it at all , but I can appreciate how Spock's Beard have changed. The epic does not sound Neal Morse-era at all, but instead introduces us to a new era, a new era where Spock's Beard sounds great without the Neal controlling the songwriting.

Overall, I find this album to be very satisfactory, in fact I find it an excellent addition not to just a prog music collection, but to every music fan's collection.

3.8 stars