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V, Spock's Beard, released on August 22, 2000. ELPfan 09's rating: 10/10 At the End of the Day Revelation Thoughts (Part II) All on a Sunday Goodbye to Yesterday The Great Nothing Part I - From Nowhere Part II - One Note Part III - Come Up Breathing Part IV - Submerged Part V - Missed Your Calling Part VI - The Great Nothing

Current Band Members:

Nick D'Virgilio Drums, Percussion, Vocals Dave Meros Bass, Stand-Up Bass, Vocals, French Horn Alan Morse Electric Guitar, Vocals, Cello and Sampler Neal Morse Lead Vocals, Piano, All Synths, Acoustic Guitar Ryo Okumoto Hammond Organ and Mellotron

This is Spock's Beard's fifth studio album release, hence the "V." The first piece, "At the End of the Day," is the second longest song on the album at 16:28. Written by Neal Morse, the song deals with coming to peace with yourself, I believe. It's either that or just major apathy. It is similar to "Flow" and "Harms Way" in structure. There are some good keyboard solos throughout the piece. Overall, this is a very good song.
"Revelation" is the first piece that is written by the Morse brothers, D'Virgilio and Okumoto, and not just Neal. The part that I've noticed is in the lyrics: "shifted paradigm" and "nothing new under the sun;" similar to LTE's song "Paradigm Shift" and the Flower Kings' song "Nothing New Under the Sun," not to mention the group Under the Sun. I wonder if they are more than just coincidences... Nevertheless, a good song. I also really like "Thoughts (Part II)." I like the juxtaposition of the two styles, not to mention the counterpointal a capella sections. Very cool. "All on a Sunday" is good, too. Just a nice little song about taking it easy. Sort of like my life. "Goodbye to Yesterday" is another good, short song. As in fashion with Kindness of Strangers, the middle songs on the ablum are the shorter, "singles," giving a pause between the longer epics.
Speaking of epics, "The Great Nothing" comes in at a whopping 27:03. The song is a memorial for musician and friend of the band Kevin Gilbert. The song starts with an odd vocal chord that evolves in a "Tarkus"-esque manner. It then introduces the main theme of the piece, played first on acoustic guitar, then on electric. The lyrics tell a story of a musician who comes out of no where and hits it big, only to lose it all due to misguidance by the management and record business. I think, anyway. Nevertheless, it's a great song. I really like the part at about minute 8. Part V is also cool. Suffice to say, the entire song kicks ass. The whole CD kicks ass. Hoo-ray!

© 2001 elpfan09@hotmail.com

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