Release

Style

When Neal Morse left Spock’s Beard in October of 2002, I thought that he would be making music in the style that I am now going to review.  ‘Testimony’ from 2003 and ‘One’ from 2004 proved to be different to his usual style, but the prog wasn’t completely absent.  Luckily, the influence of his conversion was only to be found in the lyrics (about the message of the Lord).  Apparently, that wasn’t far enough for Neal.  He wants to play the part of a missionary who spreads the Lord’s message…first by touring almost every church and now with a real Christian CD.  It’s a CD that’s full of church songs that will convince you of God’s and Neal’s good will.  The only real question is do you want to be convinced…

So what’s the difference between the two previous albums and this one?  On the other two albums, you heard the impact of Spock’s Beard: bombastic, big and lasting, yet still with touches of feeling.  The ballads really stuck with you by way of their strongly built up melodies and the climax was found on one solo or another.  On this album, you don’t find any bombasticness, no changing themes, in short, no progressive music.  At the very most, you could say that this music has a symphonic impact.  They’re mostly just typical Morse ballads (especially the first few songs), but without the necessary excitement.  There are no good guitar solos to be found, but sometimes you get to hear some nice organ sounds.  This is really a pity because you don’t need to throw out guitar solos to make a Christian album.  This is really a missed opportunity for some of the songs because, despite the corny lyrics, there are some great musical passages that really could have used those solos.  It also would’ve been nice if some of the songs had been arranged with some gospel in mind.  The choir is too well behaved and the spark was missed.  If this album had adapted the style that U2 had used on “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” from their ‘Rattle and Hum’ CD, then it would’ve been on the right track. 

I don’t think that Neal really had the intention to deliver a fully finished album with this ‘Lead Me Lord’.  He just wants to give that special ‘being with the Lord’ feeling again with the music that was made at that moment.  Therefore, this album won’t be intended for most prog and sympho lovers.  It’s really just one more album for the die hard Morse fans and the converts…and beware, this is just part 1.  There is more to follow!

Musicians

Neal Morse: Piano, Organ, Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Drums and Lead Vocals
Mark Leniger: Drums, Saxophone

Terry Mears: Bass
Doug Zachary: Bass
Todd Morell: Drums
Joey Pippin: Trumpet
Wade Brown, Chris Griffith: Vocals
Jessica Mears: Solo female voc, Lead Vocals
DeAnn Mouser: Lead Vocal
Wil and Jayda Morse: Additional Vocals

Jessica Mears, Terra Mears, Debbie Bressee, Aaron Clifford, James Massie, Justin Morrell, Debbie Martin, Marsha Guisewite, Colleen and Julie Harrison, Terry White, Rick Altizer, Missy Hale, Angela Cruz, Mandisa and Alicia, Neal Morse: Background Vocals
Luke Pugliese: Drums
Todd Morrell: Drums
Choir:
Christian Gospel Temple Choir