I was instantly hooked. This album comes at you like compressed steam finally finding an escape. The opening piece, “The Call”, greets you with soaring harmonies that are soon joined by a powerful accompaniment and a truly impressive drum part; and it only begins there. There are no weak pieces on this album.

According to his website, Morse gathered some friends together with no prewritten material to start with and created from scratch the works we hear on this album. Well, score one for freeform creativity, as well as having excellent taste in friends! Critics can arrogantly claim that Morse having high powered artists like Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Bill Hubauer, and Eric Gillette to work with pretty much guarantees a good product. That may be true to a point. But then again, placing a novice in the highest powered Formula One car only guarantees an ugly crash into the wall of the first turn. Talent is essential; but what is done with it determines the final product. The Grand Experiment is a shining example of what talent, synergy, and being open to working with whatever is being created in the moment can produce. The contributions of each musician are abundantly clear in these tunes. What is also abundantly clear is the sum of this album is even better than its parts. RR-CCR

Essential Track: 'Alive Again' Twenty-six minute magnum opus “Alive Again” succeeds with its ‘songs within a song’ approach in logically flowing from one part to the next to form a complementary whole. In other words, those into other mega epics from Morse will feel at home from encountering the same high level of sophistication. Consider how “Alive Again” brings a similar diversity to the table, including upbeat and heavier rocking moments, others taking a ballad-like approach, some acoustic based, multiple instrumental portions (which almost account for half the songs length) and climactic closing that ties everything together in moving fashion. The Neal Morse Band ranks with a select few possessing the technical aptitude to pull such a work off. AR-AW



Read the reviews at Classic Rock Revisited and Prog Archives.

Listen to samples and buy the CD from Radiant Records and other fine retailers.

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Click on the following link for a complete list of bands that have played for the NewEARS Art Rock Series

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2015-03-07
Mike + The Mechanics - The Hits Tour at The Wilbur Theatre - Boston, MA at 08:00 PM
$55 - $75

2015-03-08
Mike + The Mechanics - The Hits Tour at Infinity Hall - Hartford, CT at 08:00 PM
$74 - $94

2015-03-19
The Moody Blues - Timeless Flight: The Polydor Years at The Hanover Theatre - Worcester, MA at 07:30 PM
$60 - $128

2015-03-22
The Moody Blues - Timeless Flight: The Polydor Years at Oakdale Theatre - Wallingford, CT at 07:30 PM
$38 - $73

2015-04-04
The Machine performs Pink Floyd at Calvin Theatre - Northampton, MA at 08:00 PM
$25 & $35

2015-04-08
Zappa Plays Zappa One Size Fits All 40th Anniversary Tour at Calvin Theatre - Northampton, MA at 08:00 PM
$28.50 - $72.50 (VIP)

2015-04-09
Zappa Plays Zappa One Size Fits All 40th Anniversary Tour at State Theatre - Portland, ME at 08:00 PM
$35 - $75

2015-04-10
Zappa Plays Zappa One Size Fits All 40th Anniversary Tour at Ridgefield Playhouse - Ridgefield, CT at 08:00 PM
$75

2015-04-11
Nightwish at The Palladium - Worcester, MA at 07:00 PM
With Special Guests Delain
$35 - $180

2015-04-11
Brit Floyd - Celebrating Five Decades of Pink Floyd at Lynn Auditorium - Lynn, MA at 08:00 PM
$47 - $76.05

2015-04-11
Magma at Brighton Music Hall - Allston, MA at 08:00 PM
$25 - $30

2015-04-12
Brit Floyd - Celebrating Five Decades of Pink Floyd at Hanover Theatre - Worcester, MA at 08:00 PM
$34.50 - $49.50

2015-04-12
Zappa Plays Zappa One Size Fits All 40th Anniversary Tour at Berklee Performance Center - Boston, MA at 08:00 PM
$29.50 - $79 VIP

2015-04-16
Brit Floyd - Space and Time World Tour at Verizon Wireless Arena - Manchester, NH at 08:00 PM
$20.50 - $39.50

2015-04-17
Brit Floyd - Space and Time World Tour at Cross Center - Bangor, ME at 08:00 PM
$24.75 - $43.75

2015-04-18
Brit Floyd - Space and Time World Tour at Flynn Center - Burlington, VT at 08:00 PM
$38.75 - $59.75

All Events ...>>

 

Listen to the latest NewEARS Prog Show Podcast:

02-27-15 - Special Guest: Michael Sadler (Saga)

02-20-15 - Special Guests: IZZ and Mary Fahl

02-13-15 - Special Guest: Max Harvey

02-06-15 - Special Guest: Protean Collective

01-23-15 - Special Guest: Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, KC, ...)

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