Nothing if not prolific, Neal Morse has amassed a huge catalogue which, whilst always tethered to the progressive genre, has proven to be surprisingly diverse. Following on from a stunning 2014 which saw Neal heavily involved with Flying colours and transatlantic, as well as releasing his own, acclaimed ‘songs from November’, Neal is back, alongside Mike Portnoy (drums), Randy George (bass), Eric Gillette (guitar and vocals) and Bill Hubauer (keyboards and vocals) for a five song, forty-five minute ride that encompasses both Neal Morse’s gentler, melodic sensibilities and the wilder excesses more akin to Yes and Genesis. Typically dense, it is an album that benefits from repeated and careful listening and overall ‘the grand experiment’ sees Neal’s recent inspired form continue apace.
The album opens with a typically grand display with ‘following the call’. With an introduction that would not sound out of place at a church meeting, the song quickly segues into a selection of dense guitar passages powered by Mike Portnoy’s impressive percussion. The mood is relaxed yet adventurous, and you can imagine the band really enjoying the opportunity to flex their artistic muscles on this lengthy opener. Taking its cue from Gabriel-era Genesis, the listener is reminded of the likes of ‘the music box’ with Neal sharing Peter Gabriel’s knack for mixing mellifluous melodies with exquisite musical workouts and, somehow, making the whole thing sound easy. It is a reflection upon both Neal himself and the quality of the musicians with whom he has chosen to work, that the record comes across as the result of a natural dynamic between musicians and not an exercise in complexity, despite the technical prowess clearly on display, and the ten minutes pass in a blink of an eye as riffs are traded and Neal’s rich voice floats above it all. The title track is up next and it offers up a heavier opening riff than you might expect, with hints of the Von Hertzen brothers unexpectedly appearing in the chunky, syncopated riff and gritty vocals. It is a pleasure to hear Neal rocking out in this manner, and while the song could hardly be called conventional, it offers up hard hitting riffs and a melody to die for, suggesting that, were Neal Morse the type to released singles, this would be a fine choice. In contrast to its blazing predecessor, ‘Waterfall’ is a beautiful, acoustic-led piece of music that provides plenty of sun-dappled light to the previous track’s shade. Drawing upon the likes of early Queen for inspiration, ‘waterfall’ is unassailably gorgeous as Neal sings “here by the waterfall, sweep my troubles all downstream”, as universal a sentiment as you could hope for from such a wonderful piece of music. Another hard-hitting track, ‘agenda’ is a synth-enhanced and refreshing blast of hard rock that sounds like Def Leppard filtered through Suede, if you can imagine such a thing. It’s a track that neatly matches hard rock grit and whimsy in equal measure and it’s simply good fun.
Up until now it’s been fun and games, but the moment the Neal Morse fan has been waiting for is finally upon us with ‘alive again’, the twenty five minute epic that sees Neal pulling off a ‘Meddle’ (four short songs on one side of vinyl, one side-hogging marathon on the other) with aplomb. Carefully exploring multiple genres from ambient to hard rock, ‘alive again’ is exactly the sort of soul-stirring anthem that Neal Morse fans have come to expect and it does not disappoint. With so much time at his disposal, Neal spends the first five minutes building atmosphere via a series of beautifully fluid riffs before finally settling into the pastoral verse, paring back the instrumentation to allow his voice to shine. With a wonderful sense of dynamic that shares common ground with ‘foxtrot’ and ‘selling England by the pound’, aching guitar work that recalls the very best of David Gilmour and Steve Hackett and a wonderful sense of exploring the unknown, ‘alive again’ truly is a wonderful piece of music that eclipses the already fine first half of the album and demonstrates just what a wonderful talent Neal Morse is.
Overall you could not ask for a better balanced record than ‘the grand experiment’. Harking back to the golden era of progressive rock, the album references Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes and yet takes those influences and makes them its own. Here you’ll find whimsy and grit, beauty and occasional frenetic workouts but you’ll always find music made from the heart by a musician who is deeply passionate about his craft. Admittedly this is not music that readily lends itself to a quick hit (although the title track comes close) and it is very much an album best enjoyed as an album because it flows so beautifully. Neal Morse, of late, has been enjoying something of a golden streak and long may that continue, for ‘The grand experiment’ is a wonderful, varied, life-affirming record that stands proudly in an already impressive catalogue.
