Neal Morse - So Many Roads

(CD 3CD 2010, 63:37 / 79:24 / 71:34, Inside Out/EMI 0505178)

The tracks:
CD1:
  1- At The End Of The Day(16:49)
  2- Leviathan(6:45)
  3- The Way Home(5:05)
  4- Author Of Confusion / I’m The Guy(13:59)
  5- That Crutch(3:59)
  6- We All Need Some Light(4:24)
  7- Lifeline(12:33)
CD2:
  1- Question Mark Medley(31:25)
  2- Help Me(12:13)
  3- Testimedley(35:46)
CD3:
  1- Walking On The Wind(09:33)
  2- So Many Roads(30:17)
  3- Stranger/ Bridge Across Forever(31:44)

Neal Morse Website        samples        Inside Out Records


If you love Neal Morse then you should buy this triple live-album without giving it a second thought. If you like three and a half hours of progressive rock played at its best, you should also buy this album. All three CD’s are filled with extremely well-played prog rock; the highlights are the three epic medleys called Q Mark, Testimedley and So Many Roads. All three tracks clock over thirty minutes and they are a real treat to listen to, although you should not listen too carefully to the sometimes over-the-top religious lyrics, unless you are inclined to do so…

Other musical feasts are the Spock’s Beard classics At The End Of The Day from the album V (2000) and Walking On The Wind from the second album Beware Of Darkness (1996). Of course, you can also enjoy three Transatlantic-songs namely We All Need Some Light, Stranger In Your Soul and Bridge Across Forever. The most unknown song is probably That Crutch from the solo album Songs From The Highway. Morse’s backing band on this triple album is completely Dutch. He came to know this band by an e-mail from drummer Collin Leijenaar, who is also a reviewer for the Dutch progressive rock magazine iO Pages. He was trying to persuade Neal that his group of friends - all huge Morse-fans - could play all his material. Morse hesitated at first, but the entire tour was booked before he even met the band...

Well, if you listen to this album you can’t imagine that this really happened as the band plays ever so tight and superbly. In the centre of the music is always Neal Morse, with his charisma and his excellent voice, making this triple album a real treat. However, there’s one question I would like to ask him: why did you exclude songs from the amazing Sola Scriptura-album? Apart from that, this triple album is a ‘must have’ for all lovers of excellent rock music and certainly getting your money’s worth!

****+ Martien Koolen (edited by Peter Willemsen)

Where to buy?






All Rights Reserved Background Magazine 2013