LIVE AT HIGH VOLTAGE FESTIVAL

Few would have realised it at the time, but this live release ended up being a preview of things to come for Spock's Beard, as well as a celebration of their past. Jimmy Keegan had been filling in on the drums for their live shows ever since Nick D'Virgilio had taken over as lead singer following the departure of Neal Morse, though Nick was still serving behind the drum stool in the studio.

For his part, Nick was unable to make this festival appearance (or a Swedish one in the previous month) due to clashing commitments with Cirque du Soliel - which would lead to him officially leaving the band some months after this live show, when he realised that something had to give.

That decision might have been made easier by this show - because stepping into the breach was Ted Leonard of Enchant, who would go on to take the lead singer's spot in Spock's Beard full time. Thus, the Beard not only had someone to cover for Nick for these shows, but were also effectively use this as Ted's audition, testing him out both with their material and in front of the live crowd.

A further point of interested is added by the presence of Neal Morse on the last two tracks. Neal's solo band had been appearing at the same festival, with his set occupying a similar slot to Spock's Beard on the previous day, and he and the band were only too happy to take the opportunity to have a little onstage reunion. He's since had occasional appearances with the band both live and in the studio, but it's always been very clear that this has been as a "special guest" capacity rather than displacing any of the existing band members.

For a keen Spock's Beard fan, then, there's good reason to be interested in this release - but there's some caveats to bear in mind. Unfortunately, the sound on the album isn't what it could be; it clears up by the end, but On a Perfect Day sounds particularly poor. This is a by-product of the process used to record it: Concert Live's schtick is that they're able to record a live concert, burn it to CD quickly, and sell the live recording right to fans after the gig's done. This obviously means there's no real capacity to do overdubs, adjust the mix, filter out the sound of the audience, or otherwise give the recording much love. If you must have a raw recording of the gig, complete with the sort of sound issues you'll often run into in a hurried festival performance, here it is - but I wouldn't say this is especially essential unless you want a souvenir of this crucial moment in the band's history.

This 2011 live set is more of a merch item than a major release (in fact it was originally advertised as "ready to pick up IMMEDIATELY after the concert and the moshing have finished." Do people really mosh at a Spock's Beard concert?). It offers five songs covering around 15 years of the band's catalogue and showcases some lineup changes.

While this is for the most part a good selection of strong Beard songs, there's little that is particularly revelatory and the performances are not the best available, so it does have an air of 'for completists.' Yet I find it an interesting listen because of the multiple intersection of phases that it represents. Three songs are from Spock's Beard/Morse Era, two are from Post-Morse/Pre-Leonard albums. Jimmy Keegan (here the tour drummer) and Ted Leonard (here guesting on vocals in D'Virgilio's absence) were soon to join the band formally, and Neal Morse returns here to join in for two tracks on vocals. The album therefore offers a concise aural venue for musing about the different versions of the band.

My own sense of the songs is that while A Perfect Day (from Spock's Beard, 2006) is an enjoyable enough song, The Emperor's Clothes (from X, 2010) does not quite hold up against the older material, and the attempts at Gentle Giant vocal moments in the latter song don't quite land in this version. The older songs seem richer, though one must grant that they are cherry-picked highlights (and allow for my general preference for and more time invested in older Beard).

As for the vocals, Leonard and Morse have very different voices, and personal taste weighs heavily. I enjoy Morse's vocal style and tone significantly more than Leonard's (not his fault). Thinking about why that might be as I listen here to Leonard doing covers of Morse, I am struck by how much Neal Morse typically inhabits songs, creating a strong sense of confessional presence and of direct address to the listener. He does more with his voice, and he was often a preacher while singing well before he more literally started preaching in some of his later material; the discontinuity between pre-Christian and Christian Morse is not complete. Leonard (particularly here) can sometimes sound more distant and diffident to me, as if he's performing the tune more than living the song, and his tighter, higher tone feels a less intimate part of the whole to my ears, though it works well enough for the opener and for passages that need some soaring. Of course, Leonard is here stepping into another band's material and can be forgiven for not quite being inside it; there are moments that sound hesitant.

The recording quality is quite acceptable (better than, say, Don't Try This at Home), but with some noticeable issues here and there. As another reviewer notes, A Perfect Day sounds a little muddy, but not massively so. The intro to The Doorway doesn't go well. Most obtrusively, an important keyboard section drops out almost completely (and sounds off key) at the start of The Light, significantly marring the opening passage. The harmonies on June sound a little warbly - there are several better versions. But it's a live show, an instant merch item with no overdubs, and I suspect not recorded on a big budget - I find the sound quite listenable in that context.

I enjoy the way this set invites comparison of the different songs and eras. It's an entertaining enough hour, but not one that I will prioritize over a slew of other Spock's Beard recordings, and no song stands out as having its finest moment here. It's enjoyable, but seems to belong in the "for fans" category, though for fans it's worth the listen.