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Innocence & Danger, the fourth album by The Neal Morse Band, released in 2021, completes the four-piece.
The band's songwriting and skill are immense, a modern progressive with a fantastic '70s sound, influenced by jazz, rock, pop, and fusion.
The album features both short, accessible songs (from the first album, "Innocence") and longer, more epic compositions (from the second album, "Danger"), with the usual excellent arrangements we've come to expect from this project, beautiful melodic compositions, and the superb guitar playing of Eric Gillette, who truly shines on this album, in my opinion.
The album is characterized by a mix of progressive rock and softer acoustic sections, and a consistently high level of performance, with Neal Morse and Bill Hubauer on keyboards, Randy George on bass, Mike Portnoy on drums, and Eric Gillette's splendid guitar.
A confirmation of the greatness of this band, which has both a virtue and a flaw: it's all "very Morse," not far from Neal Morse's solo work, the previous works of The Neal Morse Band, and Transatlantic.
A virtue? A flaw? If you like Neal Morse and this group of fantastic musicians (and have 1 hour and 40 minutes to play), then it can only be a virtue.
Three vinyls totaling nearly 100 minutes, and it's not a concept album like the previous two.
The tracks are all top-notch; the "Innocence" album contains accessible songs like the heavy "Do It All Again" and the classic rock "Bird on a Wire," while "Danger" offers epic and complex suites, and the 31-minute "Beyond the Years" is a delight for prog lovers.
Some notes on the tracks:
- Do It All Again, heavy, rhythmic rock with an intro reminiscent of early neo-prog.
- Bird On A Wire, very classic rock with a great vocal by Eric Gillette.
- The World Is a Beautiful Place, energetic and melodic with a catchy chorus and religious lyrics.
- Another World, a beautiful acoustic song that's a sort of break from an album that generally has a "domineering" sound.
- Not Afraid Part 2, a long, epic piece lasting over 19 minutes and a beautiful, exaggerated variation on the song "Not Afraid Part 1."
- Beyond the Years, a very long, epic piece lasting 31 minutes that draws on all the band's influences. It's full of grandiose melodies and great complexity.
- The Quiet Place, has a beautiful melodic theme with a fabulous flute.
The songs I enjoyed the most were "Another Story to Tell," "Emergence" with its fantastic acoustic guitar, and the suite "Beyond the Years."
And I forgot, there's some psychedelic atmosphere, and it fits perfectly!
Recommended!!!
Tracklist
1. Do It All Again (8:53)
2. Bird on a Wire (7:23)
3. Your Place in the Sun (4:12)
4. Another Story to Tell (4:50)
5. The Way It Had to Be (7:14)
6. Emergence (3:12)
7. Not Afraid, Pt. 1 (4:54)
8. Bridge over Troubled Water (8:08)
9. Not Afraid, Pt. 2 (19:30)
10. Beyond the Years (31:23)
Duration 99:40
LineUp
- Neal Morse - vocals, keyboards, guitars
- Eric Gillette - guitars, vocals
- Bill Hubauer - keyboards, vocals
- Randy George - bass
- Mike Portnoy - drums, vocals
Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page
