Spock’s Beard

Label: Giant Electric PeaRelease date: May 19, 1998Production: Spock's BeardAlbum length: 56.22 minGenre: Progressive RockRating: 9.0/10 "The Kindness of Strangers" was the third studio outing from the American prog revivalists…

Pattern-Seeking Animals are a band you'll definitely be hearing a lot more about among prog rock fans in the coming years. Their debut will naturally delight all the Spock's Beard fans out there, who, while waiting for the new album from…

It probably won't surprise many people following the modern prog-rock scene that Spock's Beard have created yet another masterpiece with "Noise Floor", which is also their most interesting achievement so far with Leonard on lead vocals.

Spock's Beard fans need this brilliant double live recording in their collection, if only for its historical value. Who knows when the 'past and present' of this cult band, in the form of two incredibly charismatic former members, will…

Unbelievable but true: the masterpiece "The Oblivion Particle" proves that Spock's Beard's sonic evolution is far from over, despite their move into the 'golden years' and all that mileage, and that the band can still surprise us with…

»Live at Sea« is easily the best official live recording of the current Spock's Beard lineup so far, peaking with the unexpected and emotional stage appearance of Neal Morse.

With »Beware of Darkness«, Spock's Beard cemented their status as the leading revivalists of the so-called third wave of progressive rock and proved that they would keep growing as songwriters and arrangers from one album to the next.

»The Light«, an remarkably mature work from a young band, was one of the best debuts in the story of third-wave progressive rock, even though the Beard crew were still missing one piece of the puzzle at the time to rise to the 'next level'…

Strip away the influences of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century classical music and the early twentieth, and the roots of progressive rock reach back to the first half of the sixties, to what is now the United Kingdom.

"Even though both Beardfish and Sound of Contact lived up to the big expectations, the Spock's Beard guys proved in the end who the 'main men' were, more than justified their status as the evening's headliners, and above all confirmed once…

The eternal optimists from San Francisco blew us away all over again, just like ten years ago, with their remarkable onstage spontaneity and tight interplay, plus a sparkling sense of humor that's usually pretty thin on the ground in…

Infused with a rush of fresh energy, Spock's Beard have successfully kicked off a whole new phase of their career with »Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep«, delivering yet another prog rock masterpiece that stands shoulder to…

There are only two good reasons to buy this live release, marked by weak production and the relatively stage-bound reserve of the individual instrumentalists: Ted Leonard's successful debut as lead singer of the 'Beardsmen' and Neal Morse…

»The X Tour – Live« is a quality live album and a fitting farewell to Nick D'Virgilio, captured at the moment when the Spock's Beard lineup under his vocal leadership, riding high on the masterpiece »X«, was at its creative peak and seemed…

Just when it seemed they'd struggle to match their excellent previous album, Spock's Beard went and made "X", one of their most mature records ever, one that stands comfortably next to the best work of the Neal Morse era.

Despite their well-earned reputation as modern masters of blending classic symphonic prog rock, jazz fusion, pop rock and a few other genres, Spock's Beard were long seen as a band that loves to play around with

Sure, Spock's Beard don't change so drastically over the course of their career that old material wouldn't interest them live anymore (unlike, say, the chameleonic King Crimson), but they clearly still can't hide their excitement about the…

Let's get to the heart of it right away. The Neal Morse case! The man who left the band at a moment when nobody saw it coming. Was that a good thing? Yes and no. Not for those of you who won't be able to live without his way of sin

"Octane" confirms the trend the guys hinted at with "Feel Euphoria" (2003), after the charismatic mastermind Neal Morse left the band following "Snow" (2002). There are fewer and fewer solo-fests, keyboard-vs-guitar duels, psychedelic…

The band's first concept album has the classic prog-band "quirk", a reminder that nobody has yet been hero enough to invent a format roomy enough to hold everything groups like this want to pour into our ears.

Location: Munich (Germany), New BackstageConcert date: 14.10.2003Attendance: 500Ticket price: 25,00€ We rolled into Munich at five in the afternoon. And of course we got lost right away. We pulled over in a part of town that looked…