Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Spock's Beard
Label: Inside Out Records
Released: 1995
Running time: 56:54
Rating: 4.5/5
The story of Spock’s Beard is the tale of one of the most important bands of the so-called third wave of progressive rock, which bloomed in the mid-nineties, when the push to revive interest in an experimental genre that had once seen far better days was taken up mainly by Americans and Swedes. Spock’s Beard were founded in Los Angeles by the Morse brothers, singer/multi-instrumentalist Neal and guitarist Alan. The band’s odd name was actually a by-product of a joke. After some party, Alan declared ‘that during the bash he felt like he’d stumbled into some parallel dimension, like the one where Mr. Spock wore a beard’ (the famous Star Trek character met his bearded, evil double in the episode ‘Mirror, Mirror’). The guitarist added, half-joking, that Spock’s Beard would make a really good name for a new band.
Some time later, when Alan, brother Neal, bassist Dave Meros and drummer Nick D’Virgilio put together a list of potential names for the new group, he scribbled ‘Spock’s Beard’ at the very end, more as a gag than anything. All the band members agreed it was the best name on the table, and a new group was born, one that drew most of its inspiration from seventies prog classics like Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Gentle Giant and Kansas, with classic/hard rockers led by Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin worth a mention too. This lineup headed into the studio and recorded the Spock’s Beard debut, »The Light«, which rightfully stands as one of the most important and high-quality progressive rock albums of the nineties, even though they went on to record a few more interesting and ambitious records later in their career.
Besides a polished knack for building mighty symphonic rock arrangements and complex rhythmic nuances, the Beard crew had a special feel for melodic sensibility right from the start, one that bordered on pop and in which the influence of the legendary The Beatles was impossible to miss. Even Morse’s vocal approach was at times reminiscent of John Lennon, if you really had to look for some vocal kinship. That meant the geeks could bring their girlfriends to the gigs and more easily ‘indoctrinate’ them into the world of progressive rock, which they otherwise didn’t want to hear a thing about.
The use of counterpoint and multi-part vocal melodies (Alan and especially drummer D’Virgilio were also more than decent singers with their backing vocals), under a noticeable influence from the cult heroes Gentle Giant, was another of the band’s main trademarks, and you can hear it nicely in some moments on »The Light«. The lyrics weren’t exactly among the album’s strong points, since the title track, for instance, is full of absurd nonsense, and the religious messages that became important later in Neal’s creative path are impossible to miss, while on a song like »Go The Way You Go« you can also feel a touch of typical American pathos, which became even more obvious on later albums.
Spock’s Beard, much like their Swedish prog-revivalist peers The Flower Kings, were never exactly guarantors of experimental innovation, but they knew how to resurrect some of the best and most beloved elements of classic prog rock and present them in an ‘updated’ version, with their own vocal and instrumental chops, breathing a pleasant freshness into them. On top of that, these big virtuosos and music enthusiasts were the best thing to happen to the American prog scene since Kansas, a scene that until their arrival couldn’t even remotely measure up to the European one. Another fun fact: the original release of »The Light« came with two different covers, one for the American and one for the European market. All the keyboards on the album were played by Neal, who also wrote all the music and lyrics, except for the »One Man« section, which he co-wrote with Alan.
With the 15-minute opening suite »The Light«, spanning a full eight parts, the Beard crew signaled serious ambition and created their first classic, one they still play at their shows to this day. You can feel plenty of the influences listed above, while the individual players’ virtuoso touches and Neal’s recognizable vocal approach are unique enough to stamp each section with a completely distinctive Spock’s Beard sonic seal. Just how charismatic a singer Neal was even in his younger years is already audible in the piano-driven opening section, »The Dream«, which he delivers with almost religious fervor.
The remarkable virtuoso fluidity, and above all Alan’s weaving of jazz-leaning guitar improvisations and Neal’s dynamic laying down of epic synth textures, is already palpable in the pompous »One Man« section. Alan was already swearing by a ton of guitar effects back then, and in his playing you can hear that the biggest influences were legendary names like Steve Howe, David Gilmour, Steve Hackett and Allan Holdsworth. Dave Meros thrills with melodic bass lines on his Rickenbacker bass, while D’Virigilio’s jazz-spiced approach to drumming is a chapter of its own. Neal, meanwhile, delights at every turn with his theatrical vocal performance, switching chameleon-style between the ‘roles’ of the various characters appearing in this epic suite.
Some of the symphonic arrangements will remind many of classic Genesis, who may have been the single biggest influence on the making of this album. Among the best moments of the »The Light« suite, where the band vividly demonstrates its stylistic range, is definitely the wonderfully witty Latin section »Senor Valasco’s Mystic Voodoo Love Dance«, where you can even hear a flamenco guitar. The main »The Light« theme comes back several times throughout and finally delivers a triumphant finish to this colorful symphonic merry-go-round.
»Go The Way You Go«, which also became a fan-favorite live standard, features dramatic piano arrangements, a pleasant pastoral melody on acoustic guitar, witty percussion bits with a noticeable Gentle Giant influence, and an epic chorus that instantly lodged itself in the hearts of the band’s followers. The subtle vocal harmonies once again prove to be one of the Beard’s main strengths. The middle section, with its interplay of ‘supersonic’ guitar soloing and wild electric piano improvisations, will still go down well with fans of Kansas and Dream Theater. With »Go The Way You Go«, Spock’s Beard managed to fuse proverbial prog-rock complexity with pop sensibility, creating an incredibly effective blend that’s accessible even to those who aren’t regular prog listeners.
The best and most ambitious piece on »The Light« is the whopping 23-minute symphonic super-epic »The Water«, which is still the best thing the Beard crew have created in their entire career. Unlike the at times cheerful and playful »The Light« sections, this is a much more serious composition, in places carrying a dark atmosphere that’s unusual for Spock’s Beard. The opening piano section, for instance, is a bit reminiscent of early Queen, but in the next moment improvisational chaos erupts that any King Crimson fan will love, and just an instant later the ceremonial symphonic arrangements recall classic Yes. A varied array of jazz fusion rhythmic nuances keeps the melodic nature of this grand composition intact despite all the twists and turns, with Neal once again proving himself an exceptionally charismatic vocal chameleon. As this epic suite continues, full of surprises and unpredictable rhythmic swerves, female backing vocal harmonies join in, which of course instantly brings Pink Floyd at their best to mind.
A big surprise is the chaotic section in the middle, where Neal, over relatively punchy guitar passages, turns mid-song into a boorish lout and more than once drops the well-known offensive word starting with ‘f’. Right after the tempo change comes the big turnaround, as the uncouth misfit suddenly realizes his vulgar deeds and starts apologizing profusely and a bit melodramatically for his reckless behavior, which is slightly reminiscent of the typical American (quasi)religious conversion of former alcoholics.
The peak of the seven-part »The Water« suite comes in the closing section, when the Beard crew, right after a sly jazz section, make extensive use of the mellotron to build a mysterious, rather dark yet also solemn motif, which will still appeal above all to those who swear by the legacy of King Crimson (mellotron melancholy), ELP (Neal’s vocal approach here is a bit like Greg Lake, and the main symphonic arrangement is pompous enough to please Keith Emerson) and Pink Floyd (mighty female vocal harmonies and the closing slide guitar solo).
The closing symphonic triumph, »On The Edge«, opens with a piano motif reminiscent of the one from the Genesis classic »The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway«, after which the Beard crew build wholly their own symphonic arrangements, steered by Meros’s thick bass lines and D’Virigilio’s hefty drum crashes. Alan meanwhile once again delights with sensitive guitar passages that blend in an incredibly harmonious way with Neal’s lively keyboard textures. Eventually they shape a mighty melody with a rousing chorus, with Neal this time striking a ‘middle’ vocal balance between the beautiful, calm approach and the rowdy, irritated one.
»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’ and become leaders in their musical craft. They found that missing piece with the arrival of the experienced Japanese keyboard virtuoso Ryo Okumoto, who completed the classic Spock’s Beard lineup, still the most revered to this day. »The Light« was thus one of those albums that, in the mid-nineties, after the end of the neo prog era/second wave, ‘saved’ progressive rock and won back at least a sliver of its former commercial interest, something only Porcupine Tree, The Flower Kings and Dream Theater managed to pull off in that period.
Lineup
Neal Morse – vocals, keyboards
Alan Morse – guitar, cello, backing vocals
Dave Meros – bass guitar
Nick D’Virgilio – drums, backing vocals
GUEST SINGERS:
Molly Pasutti and Wanda Houston – backing vocals on “The Water”
Production
Spock’s Beard and Neal Morse
Tracklist
1. The Light (15:32)
I. The Dream
II. One Man
III. Garden People
IV. Looking Straight into the Light
V. The Man in the Mountain
VI. Señor Valasco’s Mystic Voodoo Love Dance
VII. The Return of the Horrible Catfish Man
VIII. The Dream
2. Go the Way You Go (12:07)
3. The Water (23:10)
I. Introduction/The Water
II. When It All Goes to Hell
III. A Thief in the Night
IV. FU/I’m Sorry
V. The Water (Revisited)
VI. Runnin’ the Race
VII. Reach for the Sky
4. On the Edge (6:14)
