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It was friday 13th when I
received this disc in the post. Could it be an omen ? After all the
brandnew Spock’s Beard album not only sported a brandnew logo, it
was also the first CD without the band’s engine : Neal Morse. With
drummer Nick d’Virgilio stepping in the footsteps of Phil Collins
and Dave Grohl, no doubt I was very much interested to hear how the
band tackled the departure of their frontman. Would I be at all
‘euphoric’ in the end and could the new album follow in the
footsteps of the band’s most prestigious release to date the much
anticipated double concept album “Snow” ?
Working as a fourpiece as opposed to
being a quintet certainly brings along its changes. Luckily Nick
already sang several parts when Neal was still in the band so that’s
not such a big difference. At times Nick even tries to evoke Neal’s
way of singing which is not bad as long as he can put his own soul
into it. Remember when Phil Collins took over from Peter Gabriel and
he sounded exactly the same ? Opening track ‘Onomatopoeia’ sounds
more like the Foo Fighters which of course is a brave thing to do
but then again damned dangerous to open a new album by a new line-up
with ! Throughout the entire album guitarist Alan Morse will also
sound much harder and aggressive than ever before but, thank god, he
also knows when to hold back and emphasize on the melody rather than
hard hitting chords. ‘The bottom line’ is the kind of music we have
been associating with Spock’s Beard since the very beginning : great
arrangement, multiple vocals, nice keyboard passages, interesting
musical changes and very Morse like towards the end. If this track
would open the album then I’m convinced a lot of fans would
immediately be pleased to hear nothing has changed. But it has,
believe me. Just listen to the sound of the drums during the
titletrack whilst the vocals have also received a special treatment,
Alan delivers some fusion-like guitarplaying and Ryo attacks his
bank of keyboards as if he’s accompanying the latest hiphop
sensation. And that’s before the short Rage Against the Machine
intervention ! I needed several listens before I could digest that
one. Still find it difficult to label the name Spock’s Beard on that
track I’m afraid !
With ‘Shining star’ our friends try
their hand at writing the ideal FM-song and come rather close to an
unreleased Eagles or Don Henley song. OK as a song but as a track on
a new Spock’s Beard album ? Nine times out of ten it’s good ‘old’
Ryo which puts the Spock’s train on the right track as he
illustrates during ‘East of Eden, west of Memphis’ delivering one
hell of a keyboardsolo. Don’t really understand the backward tape at
the end though. Solitary piano and a title which announces authentic
Spock’s genius with ‘Ghosts of autumn’. I have to be very honest
here and say that to me it’s Ryo who rules this song all along. A
classic if ever I heard one containing sheer genius from all members
involved. I’m not really sure whether the band felt it to be
necessary but believe it or not this new album also sports it’s very
own epic. Six shorter songs together make the long ‘A guy named Sid’
which begins in a rather funky way. ‘You don’t know’ comes as a
laidback bluesy number which once again is a complete surprise. Yet
the biggest surprise is when Ryo (yep it’s him again) delivers some
synthsounds which I place in the “Tales from topographic oceans”
frame of mind changing towards powerful Audioslave moments in
‘Judge’. A vocal highlight comes with ‘Sid’s boy choir’ which is a
short barbershop type of composition which introduces the final part
of the epic. ‘Change’ once again is a straightforward rock song
which ends in pure Spock’s tradition by means of a very powerful and
bombastic ending. The closing song ‘Carry on’ is a pure Neal Morse
classic and I even doubt whether it’s Nick singing or whether Neal
has been tempted to enter the studio anyway. This is the kind of
material we (I ?) want to hear although it’s a little on the mellow
side. But hey, wait for it, this is also the end of the album !
Recorded at their favourite Lawnmower
and Garden Supplies studio I think that Nick’s idea of progressive
rock tends to lean more towards the attitude of his great friend the
late Kevin Gilbert. When you listen to some of Kevin’s work you will
also agree that this is not your average cup of progtea but that he
tends to find the perfect marriage between seventies prog and
contemporary music. But is “Feel euphoria” a good album ? To me it’s
not a bad rockalbum but it’s not such a good Spock’s album. Spock’s
Beard has become Spock’s Chin-Tuft and it’ll take a while to grow
that beard back. The precious metal might still be there but they’ll
need plenty of silver polish to get that old shine back. Livewise
the band will hit the road with an extra drummer which will enable
Nick to fully concentrate on his singing whilst he will also do some
drumming during the longer instrumental sections. Two separate
gorilla’s ? Now didn’t Phil and Chester … |
