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This is another updated review, from the time before I was a member here, but in this case I'm mostly leaving it unchanged, as everything I wrote before is still true today. This is easily my favorite Spock's Beard album of them all, as it was when I wrote the original review.

It's funny to me that long time Beard fans are not all that enthusiastic about this album. I consider it, along with Beware Of Darkness, to be their finest hour. Mainly this is due to the epic The Great Nothing, which I think is the best song they have ever done, certainly in the epic format if not any format (yes, I prefer this to the song The Light...sacrilege!). The rest of the album is pretty good as well.

At The End Of The Day is the other highlight for me, being a much more "typical" Spock's composition with Beatlesque harmony vocals and poppy sections but maintaining an epic feel throughout. Some very nice melodies all through this piece. Thoughts Part II is exactly that, a continuation of the song Thoughts from Beware Of Darkness. I think it is a bit better than "part 1" from Beware, having a bit less of a Gentle Giant derivativeness about it (though the counterpoint vocals will always bring that comparison).

All On A Sunday is the one song that brings this album down for me, being a fairly dull pop song. Goodbye To Yesterday I have come to enjoy for what it is, a mellow ballad. And The Great Nothing, as I said already, is the crowning glory of this album. I can admit that it is not exactly the most original of prog epics, and it follows a more or less "prog by numbers" approach to the form (the Neal Morse patented prog formula presented in one of it's finest achievements). But I think it does it with such perfection and genuineness, that for me it just works beautifully. It also contains what I consider to be the finest Alan Morse guitar solo ever at the end of Part 5 (Miss Your Calling).

So all in all, a very good Spock's album and a very good prog album in general. Like all Spock's albums, however, it falls short of masterpiece status. It does, however, come very close, and if I could give it 4.5 stars I would. Since I can't, 4 seems most appropriate.

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