Best New Music of 2018

Also, cheating a little...

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It came out this March, but the recording is from 2015 and it's a live rendition of an album from 2005 and another one from 2007 + some other tracks.

But still, these two albums are probably my favourite of the whole Morse output (not counting TSOAD, which is out for much too short a time to be really sure) and the performance is really good as always. Including Mike Portnoy and Eric Gillette.

Also, if we counted ? as one song (as we really should, as it's definitely a hundred times more connected than SDOIT), this would make it a live quadruple album with average song length of >18 mins. That must be some kind of a record, right there. :D
 
Morse puts out so many live albums it's impossible to keep up with. I'm looking forward to Morsefest 2016 though, because it had a reunited Spock's Beard performance of Snow.

Still haven't listened to his last studio album.
 
Mosh said:
Still haven't listened to his last studio album.
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You mean Similitude? If you do, just go and listen to it. I agree with most that it's a stellar album and I would actually probably recommend Neal to a newbie through ?, Scriptura (a Catholic endorsing an album called Sola Scriptura means there must be something really right with that record otherwise :D ), Similitude and probably only then One and Testimony. In this order, I guess. Then again, what do I know, I like Systematic Chaos. :p

If you mean To God Be the Glory (I don't really know the chronology myself, so I'm not sure which one came out earlier), then I wouldn't really bother. Not unless you're a real fan.

However, I wrote down 2017 albums that caught my attention. I will probably try these out soon

Labyrinth - Architecture of a God
Signum Regis - Decennium Primum
Blaze - Endure and Survive
Pain of Salvation - In he Passing Light of Day
Hackett - The Night Siren
Procol Harum - Novum
Retrospective - Re-Search
Pyramaze - Contingent
 
Yea Similitude, I don't care about his non-prog albums. The problem is that it's so long and I have to be in the right mood to enjoy Neal's music, otherwise it'll just irritate me. I would like to try it when I can give it a fair chance. I go through phases with Neal's music, sometimes I can't stand it and sometimes it's the only thing I want to listen to.

I would not recommend any of his solo albums to a new fan, I would point them to V, recommend that they work backwards from there and then finish with Snow. If they still haven't had enough by then (and after the Transatlantic stuff), they can probably go through Neal's solo albums in order.
 
I personally find some of his solo stuff both better and more accessible at the same time than SB. Again, I'm talking primarily about ? and SS, but I actually got my wife interested in Neal through these two, while she still doesn't really appreciate most of SB except for The Light and most of Snow. But it used to be the same with me, once, so we'll see.

I guess I should really do the commented Neal discography thread. It would also make me revisit Flying Colors and Transatlantic again. As well as Worship Sessions Nos 4 & 5 and both the cover albums. :D
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I guess I should really do the commented Neal discography thread. It would also make me revisit Flying Colors and Transatlantic again. As well as Worship Sessions Nos 4 & 5 and both the cover albums. :D
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I will follow that religiously (pun intended). Seriously though, I'm really looking forward to that thread. I also have a sealed copy of Lifeline that I've yet to get to.
 
I have already made some notes and stuff, but I'm afraid to start it, because all my long-term projects somewhat failed (the Rush discography - I stopped listening to them completely since / the Steven Wilson survivor etc.).
Also, because of the very nature of the artist, it would seem only logical to include the religious view as well, but I'm not that sure about that. On one hand, it's completely logical, but on the other, there are mostly atheists here and I don't want to be too... you know. I think I've already overdone that point of view with my reviews of DT's 12 Step Suite (since it actually fits very much a religious conversion as well as the AA process) and some more comments here. I kinda think that Flash and jazz from hell already kinda think I'm this alt-right televangelist without a shred of sanity left in me... :D Also, I will only start my true college theology education this fall, so I'm probably not the right bloke to discuss that properly. But if you're really interested...
 
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Mostly waiting for albums due to be released some time after the summer, but so far two albums have been good enough to be considered album of the year contenders for me:

Blaze Bayley - Endure and Survive (Infinite Engtanglement Part II)
Crazy Lixx - Ruff Justice
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I have already made some notes and stuff, but I'm afraid to start it, because all my long-term projects somewhat failed (the Rush discography - I stopped listening to them completely since / the Steven Wilson survivor etc.).
Also, because of the very nature of the artist, it would seem only logical to include the religious view as well, but I'm not that sure about that. On one hand, it's completely logical, but on the other, there are mostly atheists here and I don't want to be too... you know. I think I've already overdone that point of view with my reviews of DT's 12 Step Suite (since it actually fits very much a religious conversion as well as the AA process) and some more comments here. I kinda think that Flash and jazz from hell already kinda think I'm this alt-right televangelist without a shred of sanity left in me... :D Also, I will only start my true college theology education this fall, so I'm probably not the right bloke to discuss that properly. But if you're really interested...
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It really depends on how you approach it. There's no getting around that Neal's solo albums are straight up preachy at times, but you don't have to spend all the focus on the lyrics. Personally I'm more interested in the historical content; who played on the album, what the writing process was like, etc. Also the musical content. Like why did he decide to make Sola Scriptura 4 very long songs as opposed to ? which is like one continuous piece broken up into small parts. With the lyrics, I'd rather just get a general description of what the album is about and then dissect it for myself. But again, Neal's lyrics are so important to his solo work that it would make sense to talk about them extensively. I also think Neal is capable of writing lyrics with religious overtones without being in-your-face about it.

Also, in the grand scheme of things, only 4 or 5 of his albums are overtly religious. His recent solo albums have moved away from that some. Obviously that's still his favorite thing to write about, but he's gotten less blunt about it.

I also suggest not doing any of his non-prog solo albums (excluding maybe the first solo album). I would stick to all Spock's Beard albums, Transatlantic, Flying Colors, and his prog solo albums. That's already about 20 albums, more than enough IMO.

I can do some of the write ups if you need help.
 
Eh, probably not right now. Even with only the prog albums included (which I think would also misrepresent him, somewhat), it's too much to do now for me. I'd feel more ready to do an Elton John discography thread. :D

Anyway, has anyone heard the new Pain of Salvation? Is it good?
 
JudasMyGuide said:
Anyway, has anyone heard the new Pain of Salvation? Is it good?
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I listened to the entire new album after I randomly came across a song off it on spotify. I really dug it, but I'm not all that familiar with them overall. I also listened to The Perfect Element and Remedy Lane based off Mosh's suggestion. I can't say that the new album is better than either of those, but it's at least comparable in my opinion.


This is the song that initially grabbed my interest:
 
I finally listened to the new Mastodon. Very impressive on first listen. Seems like they went back to their roots a bit, sounded like a cross between Once More and Blood Mountain to me. Definitely going to be on regular rotation this summer.
 
Lynch Mob's got a really good new album out, called Brotherhood. Other albums I'm currently listening too are Absolva's Defiance, Inglorious' second album II and Accept's The Rise of Chaos. Awaiting albums by The Darkness, Europe, Sweet & Lynch and Revolution Saints, who all got fantastic singles out.

Recommended listening: Lynch Mob - Main Offender.

 
Maturin said:
Lynch Mob's got a really good new album out, called Brotherhood. Other albums I'm currently listening too are Absolva's Defiance, Inglorious' second album II and Accept's The Rise of Chaos. Awaiting albums by The Darkness, Europe, Sweet & Lynch and Revolution Saints, who all got fantastic singles out.

Recommended listening: Lynch Mob - Main Offender.

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The Europe single is pretty sweet. I didn't realise The Darkness had a new one out; there's tonights listening sorted...
 
I think I would actually like Prophets of Rage quite a bit if it wasn't for B Real. Chuck D sounds great, but I just can't handle the other dude's whiny rap voice.
 
Oh, this one came out two weeks ago or so

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Considering all their albums in the last 17 years (at the very least) have been nothing short of awesome, I'm gonna have to give it a spin ASAP.
 
Threshold - never heard of them. Just checked them out on Amazon. Sound pretty good. Just checked their setlist history and they rarely play the US. Must be why I had not heard of them. Thanks for the intro to them @JudasMyGuide
 
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