Sunday 21 July 2013

The Great Nothing (Spock's Beard, 2000)

This long suite (more than 27 minutes) is a peak in Spock Beard's career, IMHO and comes from one of their best albums, "V", obviously the fifth in the band's catalogue. It comprises six movements ("From Nowhere", "One Note", "Come up Breathing", "Submerged", "Missed Your Calling" and "The Great Nothing") and I couldn't say wich is the best one. All melodies are good, there's a perpetual change in arrangements, instrumentations, tempos, moods and a well structured architecture, too. The instrumental passages and the sung themes are always pleasant, but never trivial.

Spock's Beard: their line up for "V" (2000).

Music and words are by Neal Morse and we find here many of his favourite elements, such as the acoustic guitar solos and the piano bridges, but also the spiritual subject in lyrics. In short, this is the quintessential Spock Beard, including the grand walls of sound, some country rock hints and, last but not least, the choral vocal arrangements. With such a programme, those 27 minutes seem to pass in one breath. A breath of good prog, of course.

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