Morse, Neal - ?
2005, Metal Blade
1. The Temple of the Living God
2. Another World
3. The Outsider
4. Sweet Elation
5. In The Fire
6. Solid As the Sun
7. The Glory of the Lord
8. Outside Looking In
9. 12
10. Entrance
11. Inside His Presence
12. The Temple of the Living God
I think my expectations were a little too high with this one. I've heard a lot about Neal Morse - about what a progressive rock legend he is. Most of the reviews of this CD are glowingly positive, and deservedly so. The music itself is absolutely stunning. The styles are all over the map. I can't imagine a tried and true prog-head not going ga-ga over this. Seriously. Want epic length songs? The entire album is one single track broken up into twelve movements. I think whoever was in charge of setting the track breaks didn't really know how to separate the movements because sometimes the album will be well into the next section but still listing the last track. Anyway, my problem isn't really with the music. ? just didn't engage me like I thought it would. I expected to be enthralled, enraptured. I expected to really be led into the presence of God - especially since this is a concept album about the Tabernacle, the presence of God, and Christ's fulfillment of the Law. Unfortunately, I found my mind wandering in places. I certainly enjoy what's here but it just didn't grab hold of me like I thought it would. I do plan to revisit this one but right now I'm a little disappointed.
Useless Fact: Jordan Rudess and Mike Portnoy both appear on this album.
Try Sola Scriptura. If you don't like it I'll refund your money. Seriously. I was a big Spock's Beard fan and was kind of tepid on what I'd heard of Morse's solo/post-conversion stuff to the point that I was ready to throw in the towel. Then I heard Sola Scriptura and BANG!
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