Neal Morse - One
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CD Details
Artist: Neal MorseEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-11-02
Music Label: Metal Blade
Soundtracks:
- The Creation
- The Man's Gone
- Author Of Confusion
- The Separated Man
- Cradle To The Grave
- Help Me/The Spirit And The Flesh
- Father Of Forgiveness
- Reunion
Music reviews of One
Music Review: The next chapter in Neal Morse's musical journey...
Rating: 4 Stars
It must have been a challenging task for Neal Morse to follow up his previous album Testimony, which not only was his comeback as a solo artist but also a fantastic album in many ways. One, his new output, is another successful release, differing from its predecessor slightly. It is less autobiographical and more progressive. On the other hand, the concept of the album has still heavy religious overtones - they're just less in-your-face and a bit more general. Testimony was a very personal disc for Morse, as its lyrics were directly inspired by his own life. One sees him exploring religious themes on a larger scope. Some people might be turned off by the lyrics on this album; but personally, I'm not the least bit annoyed. The music, vocal melodies, and songwriting are too good to ignore the album just because of its lyrical message.
That said, if you're familiar with Morse's back catalog, all the parts on One are things you may have already heard. There isn't anything ground-breaking or overtly original here; but the trademark Neal Morse sound is still all over the place. It's just that, listening to this album, you will find yourself going back to various records in Morse's discography, mostly the first two Spock's Beard discs, some of the proggy stuff of Transatlantic, and the orchestral side of Testimony. Needless to say, Morse still remains as unrivaled as ever with his love for Beatles melodies in the vocals and Gentle Giant influence in his songwriting. The inclusion of Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy on drums shows as well - not only does Portnoy play the drums amazingly, but he must have had a finger in the song arrangements this time as well. I definitely get a more subtle Transatlantic vibe on this disc, which makes it more proggy than Testimony. There are parts written with the intention of giving Portnoy the opportunity to shine as a brilliant drummer. Note the four-minute instrumental beginning of "The Creation" where Portnoy places intricate rhythms between the guitar and bass sound. He is also incredibly rocking during the breakdown of "Author of Confusion", quite possibly the heaviest song Neal Morse has ever written. This, too, has a long drawn-out instrumenal beginning before it delves into its multi-layered chorus. Randy George plays full, fat and round bass lines through the entire song and Randy George handles the guitar work successfully. I love all his solos on this disc - he should work with Morse forever!
Phil Keaggy guests on the album offering electric and acoustic guitar solos and some vocals as well. His electric solo on "The Creation" is fantastic; but this 18-minute epic is amazing from start to finish anyway. It's got ethereal keys, a solid rhythm section, killer guitar runs, and top of it all, Morse's unique vocal harmonies. The last couple of minutes on the song are the best - the part where Morse comes back into the music after a somewhat improvised middle section is simply mesmerizing. I like this song a little better than the other lengthy piece, the 17-minute monster "The Separated Man". This one is relatively slower in pace and it encompasses a nice folky vibe that melts into Gentle Giant-like melodies at the end. The trade-off between crushing electric and soft acoustic guitars marks the highlight of the song.
"Cradle to the Grave" is my favourite ballad on One. Strange as it may seem, Neal Morse's singing is VERY similar to Mike Tramp on his last couple of solo albums. Disagree all you want, Morse sings exactly the same way as Mike Tramp with a somewhat rough voice over absolutely beautiful melodies. I think the last three tracks, while still good, aren't quite up to par with the album's first five. I like the bluesy guitar on "Help Me / The Spirit and the Flesh", the nice piano melody on the other ballad "Father of Forgiveness" (though it lacks the punch of "Cradle..." in my opinion) and the happy vibe of "Reunion" which represents the forgiving of the fallen man and his once again being "one" with God, but the musical tapestry on the first couple of songs is more interesting. Overall, One will make a good addition to your prog rock collection. Hell, I'll buy whatever Morse puts out simply because he is one of the very few singers out there who can write such beautiful vocal melodies.
Description of One
Progressive/Christian Rock ARTIST BIO: At long last. The holy grail of prog! Take great artists like NEAL MORSE, MIKE PORTNOY and PHIL KEAGGY and put them together and...LOOK OUT! Here's how one reviewer put it: "Take Transatlantic, the orchestral beauty of Testimony and some clear nods to the prog greats of Genesis, YES, and Gentle Giant, along with some lesser pop sounds like old Tears For Fears and some Who derived moments and Neal's inescapable Beatles influence and you have it all." This is ONE great album! He goes on to say: "Speaking of Portnoy. Hold on to your socks! There are some absolute freak out moments of drum god envy going on! I mean that guy has done some freaky stuff with Dream Theater to say the least but there are a couple of tunes on here like "Author Of Confusion" that were seemingly written to give Portnoy the opportunity to shine, I dare say, brighter than ever before!" Here's what Neal had to say about it: "The Lord works in mysterious ways. I never thought this album was going to turn out as good as I think it has. I was stuck writing it for months. All along feeling like I needed help, knowing I had something, but also knowing it wasn't quite 'there'. I felt like it needed collaborators, but had no idea who those collaborators were. Then, along came Randy George (who was part of the Testimony band) and the correct missing words and music seemed to just roll off the tip of his tongue. He would say a line and I would shake my head, stunned, saying 'wow... that's IT!' Enter Mike Portnoy who is not just a master drummer but also a master at arranging parts and musical passages and almost immediately it took shape and was, well, almost PERFECT! Can you tell I'm excited?"This album essentially tells the story of man's creation/separation/reunion with God. But, of course, that is not unique. What's unique about this album is the way in which the familiar story is told, with sweeping grand passages as well as heavy prog and emotionally wrenching songs, this is truly a unique album the likes of which has never been attempted before.
Also featured on the album is the guitar work and vocals of the great PHIL KEAGGY who also sings a duet with Neal ("The Cradle to the Grave").
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