It’s not always easy writing about your musical influences. From a journalistic standpoint (like, say, as a blogger) you want to be as objective as possible, making sure to cover the subject matter from all angles while presenting all viewpoints. From a fanboy standpoint, you want to share with the world your discovery; screaming from the rooftops about how great so-and-so is and why everyone in hearing range needs to run right out and buy everything they’ve ever produced.
For me, Spock’s Beard is such a band, and I am most certainly a fanboy.
The California-based progressive rock band recently released their 10th CD – appropriately titled “X” – and it’s a doozy. I’m not even going to try and create suspense and mystery like I usually do to get you to click the “Read More” link. This CD kicks ass outright and needs no more explanation.
But if you’d like to hear more about the CD, then follow me…
Spock's Beard - Nick D'Virgilio, Alan Morse, Dave Meros, Ryo Okumoto
One of the great things about progressive rock is that, when done well, the music can have hints of everything from rock to classical, jazz, electronica, pop, and metal. (A good supply of cowbell never hurts, either.) One of the great thing about having a band full of ridiculously talented musicians is their ability to seamlessly integrate all of those elements into great songs. While most prog bands and spending their time working out the most complex riffs and “bet you can’t play this” nonsense, the boys in the Beard and busy crafting songs. Yes, actual songs that groove, have great vocals, and essentially blow the mind.
From the first notes of the opener “Edge of the In-Between” I knew I was going to be in for a treat. “Epic” is certainly a good description. Quickly moving into a an awesome verse groove, one thing I was pleasantly surprised with were the lyrics. Yeah, I know, this is a guitar blog. Deal with it! SB have typically been somewhat hit-and-miss with lyrical content in the past, so it was really nice to hear some well thought out concepts.
Guitarist Alan Morse shines with his solo over a rockin’ 7/4 pattern, mixing quirky figures and nuanced mastery of his Sustainer guitar. At 10:30, this song is the quintessential prog epic and they could not have picked a better song to lead off the CD.
The Emperor’s Clothes is a cross between the Beatles, Ben Folds, Gentle Giant, and Jellyfish. Strings, french horn, sitar, and their trademark contrapuntal vocal lines add a great contrast to the first song. Keyboardist Ryo Okumoto gets to stretch out and show why he’s such an in-demand player. I also absolutely love drummer/lead vocalist D’Virgilio’s vocals on this record. Brilliantly sung!
If you’re a fan of old-school instrumentals like those from ELP, then Kamikaze will be right up your alley. Written by Okumoto, Kamikaze grabs you by the nethers from the first note and doesn’t let go until it’s over four minutes and fifteen seconds later. Morse also shines once again with a fantastic (albeit quick) solo. This is one of the coolest instrumental songs I’ve ever heard a prog band write. Period!
At close to seventeen minutes, From the Darkness finally settles the listener in after three songs of progressive bliss. This is a bit more of a “rock” song compared to the previous three, but to simply call it a rock song would be somewhat misleading. The song mellows into an almost ambient trance while it builds back up again. D’Virgilio again sings beautifully in this section, leading to some solos and building into yet another kick ass 7/4 riff that Morse gets to solo over. (It makes me wonder if he actually prefers to play solos in complex time signatures.)
The Quiet House is perhaps my least favorite song on the CD, though it has a very cool chorus. It’s not a bad song, but it has not – as of yet – knocked me on my butt like the others. Though there are some proggy moments, this is perhaps the most straight-ahead rock song of the lot.
Danny Elfman comes to mind with the opening of Their Names Escape Me. I felt like I was about the watch the beginning of a new Tim Burton movie. I love the concept of this song, if you’ll allow me a quick aside.
SB decided with this CD that they were going to produce it independently. Their record label went under and rather than try to “get signed” again they decided to go it on their own. To help finance the project, they reached out to their fans and asked them to contribute to the production costs by placing a pre-order sale while they were still recording. The benefit for them? Well, the guys wrote a very cool bridge section of the song and proceeded to sing/name all of the people who contributed.
At first you may think the concept will fall flat on its face, but it’s actually quite brilliantly conceived and executed. If you missed the idea of naming all of these people in a song called “Their Names Escape Me” this is where you go back and read it a few times and then slap yourself in the forehead. As some of my business associates say, “That one will catch you on the way home.”
If they had simply named everyone over the same riff it would have gotten old very fast. But they were smart enough to keep the music moving forward (dare I say, progressing) and it turned out as not only a great piece of music but also an innovative and very cool tribute to their fans.
The classic Spock’s sound returns for the next song – The Man Behind the Curtain. I can’t help but think that D’Virgilio’s close friendship and musical relationship with songwriter extraordinaire Kevin Gilbert has rubbed off on him here. “Curtain” is at the same time both chaotic and controlled, melodic and cacophonous, but it all works very well together. There is a balance to it all, and the closing acoustic guitar/vocals is the perfect ending.
No prog CD would be complete without an epic to close things out. At 16:22, Jaws of Heaven acts as almost like a summary of everything that came before it. Like “Edge of the In-Between” as the opener, “Heaven” is the perfect closer. It all builds up to the last few minutes where the melody soars high above, thanks once again to Morse’s incredible guitar work.
I’m tellin’ ya, you guys gotta check this band out.
Spock’s Beard‘s “X” could not have come at a better time. It’s been a while since a truly great prog band has put out a truly great prog CD. And with my band Din Within (shameless plug) currently working on the music for our sophomore release, I am feeling re-energized and inspired thanks to four guys from California keeping the torch well lit and shining bright!
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Wow, I’ve been a reader for a while, but this band is worth a comment! (Not that your other posts are not worthy, but my level as a guitarist is not high enough to even think of talking about… *hopes that makes sense; my Spanglish is getting old*)
I’ve instantly fallen in love with SB. The trailer on youtube was enough. I’m buying SBX right now.
Thanks for your great taste and the time you spend in this blog!
Thank you, eNoyx. I think you’ll really like the CD a lot. Their back catalog is great, too. V, The Kindness of Strangers, Day for Night, Snow, Octane, Beware of Darkness… they are all mind-blowing.
Please do me a favor and let me know what you think of the CD after you’ve had a chance to listen to it.
And thank you for the kind words about the blog. I really appreciate it!
Josh, excellent review! Well written, exciting and informative, concise and interesting comparisons and descriptions … man, you are so right: if anyone reading this has never listened to a Beard album, *you don’t know what you’re missing* – exquisite musicianship and soaring, powerful music that ebb and flow with sincerity and panache!
I’ve yet to order my copy yet (I’m corralled financing other projects at the moment), but that’s gonna happen next week – and it’s reviews like yours that only whet my appetite and drive me insane at the same time! Bravo!
Hey, nice review. I’m one of the Executive Producers, if you look closely. =)
I have to disagree with one part of the review though…I think The Quiet House is hands down the best song on the album. It’s as if Queensryche went back in time, teamed up with Kansas for a serious syncopated 7/4 riff (actually, almost the whole song is in 7), and then invited Steely Dan to write the alternating dreamy verse and chorus.
Oh, and then Daniel Gildenlowe of Pain Of Salvation (Perfect Element era) wrote the bridge.
I absolutely LOVE it.
I agree with everything else you said…The Emperor’s Clothes is my second favorite, with Their Names Escape Me a close third. The album is quite huge in its scope, depth, and polish. I will be back-filling my post-Neal SB collection post haste.
Mike
George, you’ll dig it. And I’m glad you spelled “whet” correctly.
Hey Josh,
Thanks for the thorough review…I find it amazing that so few people are aware of this incredible band.
They should be a lot more popular than they are, unfortunately.
I loooove this review as it speaks exactly what I feel about this awesome, mind-blowing band. This album is simply out of this world. The energy, texture, flavor, intensity and intensity in EVERY song is intoxicating. The entire one-hour-plus album played through and, honestly, I felt like only five minutes had gone by. So don’t let other BS reviews steer you away from this album or this band.
And, further, I disagree that these guys lost something when Neal Morse left. Yes, they are a different band… but they are mighty indeed and – hopefully – will be around for a long, long time so that their powerful music can continue to add color and beauty to our lives… Long live the Mighty Beard!
Thanks for your thoughts, Rob. I purposely left mention of Neal out of my review because it’s been long enough now where they deserve to be judged on their own merits and not be constantly compared to an old lineup.
Yes, and you did the right thing. These guys are a powerful unit on their own without having to go down the beaten path of comparing them to the Neal Morse era. I wish they would tour more. I live in Florida and would jump at the chance to see them. Maybe they will with the new album, I hope. Again, thank you for this wonderful site and for your intuitive and passionate reviews.
I saw them during Octane, and then saw Neal for Testimony the following week. That was interesting. I agree that they are a powerful unit on their own, and I think they are starting to hit their stride. The next few years are going to be very interesting for them.
Josh: I hit about your site by ‘accident’ when I googled ‘Spock’s Beard X reviews’, and I’m glad I did. I’ve been a big fan of the Spock for a number of years, and I too love this album – thanks for your insightful review. But the real reason I’m writing is because at the end of your review you gave a shameless plug for your band ‘Din Within’ – I was so shocked! I love your ‘Awaken the Man’! I look forward to your sophomore release….when is it coming? Thanks again and God bless!
Randy Evans, Clearwater, Florida
Glad you are digging it, Randy. Mark and I are writing now. We definitely won’t have anything out before the beginning of 2011 at least. We certainly take our time!
I will patiently wait….and in the meantime I’m going to keep up with your insightful page!
While I completely agree that this is a fantastic album (on par with “Snow” IMO). However, I’d disagree with the assessment that “it’s been a while since a truely great prog band put out a great CD”. I’d like to point to towards the likes of IQ’s “Frequency”, Unitopia’s “Artificial”, Gazpacho’s “Tick Tock”… These bands all represent differing styles in the prog-rock genre but I think that the last few years has been pretty excellent (with a lot of misses as well). However, it’s awesome to see The Beard at the top once again.
DH, respectfully I’ve never heard of Unitopia or Gazpacho, so I would be very hard-pressed to include bands like that in my assessment. I have heard of IQ but not the CD you mention, and I would venture to guess that the other two bands are completely unknown; certainly not nearly at the level of popularity such as SB. I appreciate that there are other prog bands out there, but I don’t know if Gazpacho, for example, would qualify as a “great prog band” – meaning they aren’t popular. Hope that makes sense.