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Neal Morse - The Grand Experiment review



Reviewer:
N/A

33 users:
7.85
Band: Neal Morse
Album: The Grand Experiment
Release date: February 2015


Disc I
01. The Call
02. The Grand Experiment
03. Waterfall
04. Agenda
05. Alive Again

Disc II [Bonus CD]
01. New Jerusalem (Freedom Is Coming)
02. Doomsday Destiny
03. MacArthur Park [Richard Harris cover]
04. The Creation [Live At MorseFest]
05. Reunion [Live At MorseFest]

Disc III [Bonus DVD]
+ The Making Of The Grand Experiment

It's a well-balanced meal. These are not my words. They are Mike Portnoy's. Now, bare with me as I try to explain what's not entirely right with this statement and probably contradict myself along the way.

First things first, however. After a mellow - and frankly totally uninteresting - singer-songwriterish Songs From November, a preview glimpse of The Grand Experiment promised a return to some biting action. Neal's stuff can swing either way but there's no denying that he can create some very interesting music as a matter of fact. To me, testimony to that (see what I did there?) is Sola Scriptura. It's some stellar prog despite his disposition towards religious topics.

As per preview, this album does indeed contain action aplenty. Here's the thing, though. Contrary to what Mike says, it's far from being balanced and suffers from a flaw quite a number of Dream Theater albums used to bear, with or without him. There's a huge anchor piece at the tail end, a Counterweight Continent if you will (rest in peace, Terry Pratchett), an epic "Alive Again" that pulls the weight of the album with the rest being neither here nor there while also everywhere. (All right, this Discworld analogy is flawed in that the song also takes up about half of the album's allotted time, but I said I'm going to contradict myself, so let me be.)

So, there's an epic at the tail end, and a good one at that, I might add. The first two songs of the quintet, "The Call" and "The Grand Experiment," quite live up to this epic to balance it. The next two are total misfits, though. "Waterfall" is something to which you go out to take a break when there's a need, or even if there isn't a one. "Agenda," while in and of itself a curious tune, following the "sleeper" and preceding the epic, raises a question befitting the moment - is there really an agenda to this album or not?

Mike's idea of balance is having variety, and is something I'll gladly sign to. The previous album didn't have enough of it to be interesting. However, Mike's idea of variety also means a bit of everything. Sometimes it works and sometimes, like this particular time, it doesn't. This album would look a lot more coherent if two misfits were swapped with "Doomsday Destiny" and Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park" on the bonus disc. As a minor afterthought, I'd also swap some excess vocal harmonies for, I don't know, more cowbell, for example. Other than that, and excepting the fade out ending of the epic (I mean, really?), some of the stuff on the album is really exciting. It just appears to be in a shuffle mode or something.





Written on 15.03.2015 by I shoot people.

Sometimes, I also write about it.

And one day I'm going to start a band. We're going to be playing pun-rock.


Comments

Comments: 4   Visited by: 108 users
16.03.2015 - 10:20
K✞ulu
Seeker of Truth
Good one. I felt similarly. I cannot say I have processed the album fully, but it is tedious because of all the "balance."
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Savor what you feel and what you see
Things that may not seem important now
But may be tomorrow

R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner

Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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16.03.2015 - 12:56
BloodTears
ANA-thema
I thought I would enjoy this, but I've heard a few stuff and it wasn't as great as I expected, seemed just competent. Now this review makes me question it even more.

I'll just have to give it time and listen to the whole thing. Who knows, maybe it will surprise me in the end.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


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20.03.2015 - 10:39
Symphony Ex

I always feel a bit uncomfortable listening to Neal Morse as he constantly bangs on about God. But this does seem like a pretty solid piece of prog - so I'm trying not to listen too closely to the lyrics. I think it might get to like it.
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21.06.2016 - 11:38
Rating: 10
Andreas

Neal gave Portnoy a lot of freedom to decide about the tracklist. A pity the only thing he really pushed through against the will of Portnoy, was placing Agenda on the main disc.
And I have to say that of the bonus tracks, New Jerusalem also deserves attention. It might be one of my favourites of this album.
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