Album Review: Neal Morse Band - The Great Adventure

At this point, there isn't anything left to say about the course of Neal Morse's career. Over the last twenty years or so, he has proven himself to be one of the best, and most important, figures in modern prog. People can disagree one which of his records, or bands/projects, are the best, but few people who know anything about prog will deny his stature as being well-deserved. But here's the thing; while I am a big fan of Neals, and have several of his albums in my collection, I have a very hard time with double albums. "The Similitude Of A Dream", which this album is the sequel to, was another great prog epic from Neal and his band.... that I haven't listened to in full in more than a year. Look, there's a lot of great music on it, and I wrote very highly of it when it came out, but I don't know how I'm supposed to regularly find almost two hours of uninterrupted time to listen to the entirety.

That is a concern here as well, with this double album clocking in an an hour and forty-three minutes. Even if you are a fan of the music, which I certainly am, it's a lot to take in all at once. I'm not sure how often I will have the requisite block of time to revisit the album as it is intended.

As you would expect from an album like this, we start out by setting the scene with an overture, which this time stretches ten minutes as it introduces us to some of the sounds and themes of the record. We revisit a melody from "Similitude", and then get thrown into some of the heaviest music to come from Neal since "Sola Scriptura". That feeling continues on in the first single, "Welcome To The World", where a thread of anger (from the character) is prevalent through the verses, which gives an interesting tinge to the huge layers of overlaps and harmonies that make up the melodic hook. It sounds like a less scattered version of one of Neal's "Thoughts" songs, and it makes a stirring first impression.

The first disc flows between these heavy moments and softer, more narrative passages. Both are highlighted by Eric Gillette's guitar work, which gives the band a huge dose of crunch, but also solos that can either shred or play huge melodic phrases, depending on what's needed. He continues to assert himself as a vital cog to the band, and it's his playing that most sets The Neal Morse Band apart from Neal's solo albums.

"I Got To Run" packs a lot of prog into six minutes, ebbing and flowing enough for an entire epic. It's one of the more unusual numbers for a Neal album, with musical and vocal phrasings that I wouldn't have expected. The construction of the album can leave the songs sounding a bit odd if you aren't listening to the whole record at once. "To The River" sits in the middle of Disc 1, and serves as an intermezzo, re-interpreting the hook from "Welcome To The World". It's a nice moment, but the repetition makes the song on its own a bit unimportant. Considering the amount of time asked of us, I feel like every minute should be vital to the story.

As Disc 2 begins, we are treated to a second overture, followed by "Long Ago", a more acoustic song where I finally put my finger on a feeling I had. The swirling keys sparked my memory, as the main melody Neal sings about "a love that never dies" brings me right back to "World Without End", where there is a section that sounds very similar. I'm not sure if the recurring themes in the album are only supposed to call back to "Similitude", or if they go further back through all of Neal's career. I didn't hear any others that stood out so clearly.

"Fighting With Destiny" is among the darkest pieces Neal has ever put on record, with his vocals in the chorus as close to sinister as he is going to get. His usual melodic stock-in-trade is replaced with something very much different than the norm, and that helps to make this adventure feel like one. This isn't simply another Neal Morse album doing what all Neal Morse albums do. There are new shades and colors in here, and they open up new possibilities for where the band can go in the future.

Then we get "Welcome To The World 2", where the song is built on a truly dark and heavy riff that would have sounded right in place on Dream Theater's "Train Of Thought", that once again gives way to the single's main hook. For those keeping count, that is three times now a song has centered on that hook across the two discs. I agree it's a great melody, but I don't think I'm analytic enough when it comes to music to dissect the entire 103 minutes to see how the jigsaw pieces connect to form a complete image when the puzzle is complete. In other words, if there's a pattern to how the callbacks are presented, I didn't see it.

So what are the main takeways from "The Great Adventure"? Like the previous album, it is a sprawling double album filled with plenty of great songs and musical motifs. And like the previous album, it is also so lengthy listening to it in total will not be a common occurrence. When it's on, it's classic Neal Morse with a twist to it. "The Great Adventure" shows all the reasons why Neal's career is continuing to grow with this band. Neal has never put out an album that wasn't at least close to great, and that doesn't end here. "The Great Adventure" is a fitting companion to "The Similitude Of A Dream", and is a fine path to travel on its own.