Spock's Beard - "Day For Night"

Spock's Beard - Day For Night
1999/2007, Metal Blade

1. Day For Night
2. Gibberish
3. Skin
4. The Distance To The Sun
5. Crack The Big Sky
6. The Gypsy
7. Can't Get It Wrong
8. The Healing Colors of Sound, Pt. 1
9. My Shoes
10. Mommy Comes Back
11. Lay It Down
12. The Healing Colors of Sound
13. My Shoes (Revisited)
Bonus Tracks
14. Day For Night (Demo)
15. Gibberish (Demo)

A friend of mine had me listen to a couple tracks off this album years ago. At the time my reaction was, "Meh" because I was a fool. I went back to check out some samples and for some reason really twigged on to it. I got the CD for Christmas and... whoa. What the heck was my problem back then?! Day For Night is not only a fine album, it's has been one of the best albums I've listened to all year. The one thing that struck me is just how accessible it is. Sure, it's progressive but listening to it isn't challenging at all. It's almost like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes or easing into a warm bath. Songs are immediately engaging and the melodies are infectious. Better yet - the album has staying power. Songs like "Skin," "Lay It Down," and "The Healing Colors of Sound" are simply beautiful. I'm so glad I got this album as it's probably going to be inducted into my mental Hall of Fame as an album that is sewn into my heart. Wow... that was cheesy but totally true. Simply fantastic.

Useless Fact: I have the reissue which has two extra demo tracks. Also, "The Healing Colors of Sound, Pt. 1" begins what is really one big long song, just broken up into different tracks.

Spock's Beard - "The Oblivion Particle"

Spock's Beard - The Oblivion Particle
2015, Inside Out

1. Tides of Time
2. Minion
3. Hell's Not Enough
4. Bennett Built a Time Machine
5. Get Out While You Can
6. A Better Way to Fly
7. The Center Line
8. To Be Free Again
9. Disappear
Bonus Track:
10. Iron Man

The You Tube robot plopped the "Bennett Built a Time Machine" lyric video in my feed awhile back. I was instantly hooked. I love that song. In fact, it's probably one of my favorite progressive songs of all time. No I'm not lying. The rest of the album is good too. I like how the band mixes plenty of progressive virtuoso playing with good hooks and melodies. This is especially apparent on songs like "The Center Line" and "Disappear." The latter is another song I love to death. I'm not sure if this is a concept album or not because the liner notes feature a story about "Bennett"...as in... the one who built the time machine, but the other songs don't seem to make reference to it, so I don't know. It's a good album and I may have to get into more Spock's Beard in the future.

Useless Fact: Um... Neal Morse was in this band? Yeah, I know everyone knows that but I don't know the band well enough for a really good fact.