This album is my favorite from one of the more current progressive bands who started out in the 1990’s. For me, this album, along with the next pop driven conceptual album, Snow, are my favorite in the Neal Morse era of the band. Ryo Okumoto played a lot of the organ and mellotron while Neal did the piano and synths.
I was first introduced to the Beard through V’s first epic song “At The End Of The Day.” I instantly loved it, with its eclectic mixtures between rocking, jazzy, soft ballads, etc. It was also their vocal harmonies that my mom and I enjoyed from them. Around this time, I had just gotten into my Yes and Genesis phase, particularly Yes’ Close To The Edge, and Genesis’ Foxtrot, and this shared some cool modern twists to those albums for me.
Ryo and I became good friends, and we would talk to each other once in a while.
As I was reading through album reviews on this band, I was introduced to other bands like Gentle Giant, with their multi-part vocal craziness which is a lot of fun! Spock’s took those concepts and made them accessible for people who love to listen to melodic music, even if it’s not as complex as the 1970’s bands. That’s one of the features I love about them!
Another thing I enjoy about the Beard is their love of acoustic guitars, especially in the first section of “Thoughts Pt. 2.” Some other acoustic favorites in their discography are the songs “June” and “The Doorway,” especially when Neal, Alan, and drummer Nick trade off solos live! It’s a lot of fun!
They also wrote really catchy songs like the rocking “All On A Sunday,” and the soft “Goodbye To Yesterday.”
The second epic “The Great Nothing” starts with a wild digital mellotron going beyond the traditional range; it’s one of my favorite spacy intros. This song also features my favorite concept, using an instrumental motive throughout the song, like Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
I really love the guitar playing of Neal’s brother Alan as well, particularly the solo later on. I think of him as one of the most unique players in the group, adding wild effects which are rarely heard on the guitar. He’s also one of my inspirations, because like me, he doesn’t use a pick.
I also love Ryo’s exciting organ solos on the two epics, which are also fun to learn!
Anyway, I hope you’ll like this album. If you love bands that take the concepts of epic pieces while not being too complex in harmony, and you love the sound of vocal harmonies, catchy melodies, etc, I think you’ll like this album.