? [AKA: QUESTION MARK]

The enigmatic album by its name contains the well known Morse styles. This time, the length managed to be below 60 minutes so easier to digest. The album is a pleasant walk reflecting current Morse messages, music imagination, diverse keyboards and strong melodies. The first and last track build the backbone with the main motive supplemented with strong playing. Like on his previous solo albums, Morse is capable of crafting catchy shorter songs that neither a progger nor his girlfriend can despise ("Outsider", "Outside looking in"), in this vein, however "Inside his presence" beats them in my opinion. Typical keyboard dominated instrumentals can be spotted in "Sweet Elation" with lovely synths whereas "In the fire" brings a dynamic fierce piece with significant Portnoy's contribution and dueling guitar/synths a la Dream Theater. Mellow down and turning into a mellotron heavy section is fantastic and transitions seamlessly. "12" comes close to the dramatic mood of the 'Sweet Elation" albeit slightly slower; we're delighted with soaring guitar soloing which, to my ears, could be coming from who else than Mr. Hackett. The work is well structured with the climax coming in the last 4 tracks (with the exception of the light "Inside his presence"). While I don't care about the lyrics and the message of this album that much, the music is inspirational to me.

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