Spock's Beard - Spock's Beard

Year of Release: 2006
Label: InsideOut
Catalog Number: IOMCD 260/SPV 79222 CD
Format: CD
Total Time: 77:12:00

My feeling on this CD is this: the best post-Morse album they've done so far. It certainly is my favorite Spock's Beard album in a long time. I truly dig this. One may well wonder why this late into their career they've released a self-titled album. I'm sure they had their reasons - I think I remember reading it was something like "because we hadn't," but don't hold me to that. I think it's because they knew this album would be the definitive statement of Spock's Beard Mark II, the one that says "this is who we are." There are reflections of SB past in the epic length or multipart tracks combined with the more "straight-ahead" rock approach of Spock?s Beard today. On this CD, this sounds like a band comfortable with itself, each other, and whatever legacy they have. Perhaps that's putting a hyperbolic point on it, but?

In brief terms, you could say that the rocking pieces are the Nick D'Virgilio written (or co-written) pieces, the bluesy pieces are Alan Morse (co-)written and the mid-tempo to mellow pieces are either Dave Meros or Ryo Okumoto (co-)written pieces, though we find a Meros co-written fusiony piece as well. But that shouldn't suggest that each member only seems "present" in the pieces they (co-)wrote. No, this has a complete band sound - and great production, which only serves to make a great album that much greater. All that texture being hidden would be a shame. Most of the lyrics deal with interpersonal relationships, but there are few that more? existential?

I have many favourite moments, but one of them is the drumming in "With Your Kiss" beginning at the 6:32-ish mark through 9:00. It's tribal and rhythmic and, to these ears, totally cool! (I thought of "Tusk") While each section isn't subtitled, it is a multipart piece. It begins mellow (following on from the piece that comes before) and has a West Coast-like feeling. Maybe it's in the shimmery-watery guitar phrases of Alan Morse, maybe it's in the vague Beach Boys feel to the piece (think "God Only Knows," "In My Room," that kind of feel). Somewhere in there is tucked a particular guitar phrase from Morse that sounds very Steve Rothery-ey (it comes at the 4:54 mark to be exact, a certain throttling of the guitar), but I also think this piece, during it's mellow parts, recall late 90s-early 00's Marillion ? just a bit. (Guess I'm thinking of Afraid Of Sunlight ?"Beautiful," "Afraid Of Sunrise" ?). It ends in that true SB style - epic, expansive, soaring.

Another favorite is the mellower "All That's Left" - a warm-toned, romantically arranged, Midwestern-ish, dusty ballad? It has the feel of a classic. Not quite as "soft" as saying "a soft-rock piece" might suggest, but? by mere definition, I'd say its soft-rock in the singer/songwriter tradition. Compare it with "June," I'd say? and you'll see that starts a pattern? Another mellow piece I quite like is "The Slow Crash Landing Man" (dig the cathedral-size church-like keyboards that suggests some divine intervention at work). I'm not sure what the song is about exactly, though I'm sure it's rife with metaphor -- I thought of Snow, the last Morse-led album, the novel Stranger In A Strange Land, and the films The Man Who Fell To Earth and Starman? This track, and the epic "As Far As The Mind Can See," recall "classic" Spock's Beard ? say the Kindness Of Strangers-period? which is the pattern I mentioned. Which is a win for me, since KOS has remained my favourite Spock's Beard album to this point. D'Virgilo delivers vocally on these just perfectly.

In the first section of "As Far As?" called "Dreaming In The Age Of Answers," it begins - after a lush, gauzy keyboard passage -- in a way that reminds me "Galvanize" by The Chemical Brothers (a little research reveals; it's used in a Budweiser commercial). Harmonized, hazy vocals, backing vocals, all create a nice, easy toe-tapper. It's sing-along-able with some really nice, tart guitar work from Morse. A soft-jazzy interlude of brushed percussion and fretless bass, bridges us between the first and second parts, the second being "Here's A Man" ? the intro to this section recalls Steely Dan musically, though vocally, D'Virgilio whisper-sings unSteely-like. The chorus is a bit heavier. "They Know We Know" has a marching chorus and soaring verses. In a small way, it might remind of a not-well-regarded Genesis piece "Who Dunnit?" even as it doesn't really sound like it. I mean on the surface, it bears no relation? you know, thinking about it? "He Knows You Know" might be a better reference? And with the final section, the mostly instrumental "Stream Of Consciousness" we get rock a bit before things slowly spin down to where we began? with added horns and strings to lead us into that final push and a reprise of the chorus. Cathartic.

Delicate piano begins "Hereafter," a piece on which D'Virgilio does his best 70s Billy Joel-like performance. It's the sparsest of their ballads - and lyrically, is more elegy -- and wouldn't seem out of place in a, well, piano bar, I guess. Well, no, classier than just a bar, a nightclub. Okumoto, who co-wrote the piece with Boegehold, plays beautifully. It is a sad, yet hopeful piece.

Joel comes to mind in "Rearranged" as well, the album's closer; maybe it's the Rhodes that, like "Hereafter," recalls The Stranger-period. Yet, unlike "Hereafter" this mellow beginning is just that, as things kick into a higher gear.

So? this isn't all mellow pieces. There's the radio-ready, rollicking "Is This Love?" is probably the purest rock track here. It's got the octane I found missing from Octane, frankly. And, of course, with Okumoto's organ that opens "A Perfect Day," the track that starts the album, you know right away that this is Spock's Beard - the tone, the phrasing. In fact, thinking about it now, my mind's ear recalls KOS again, and "Mouth Of Madness."

The instrumental "Skeletons At The Feast" is a fusiony rollercoaster ride, though you don't see it coming right at first. This was co-written by Meros and John Boegehold, so it's not surprising to know that bass is very prominent in the mix, even as Morse plays fiery leads (a taster for his own solo album). It goes from light to dark easily, giving opportunities for each instrumentalist to strut their stuff, including some very "proggy" keyboards from Okumoto -- I'll say, I thought at times of Emerson, not just because of the tone. The dark grinding section (bass and guitar mixed with organ) at the 4-5 minute mark really recalls Tarkus period ELP, even as it has smoother edges and that more fusion feel. Cool stuff through and through. Whew!

"Sometimes They Stay, Sometimes They Go" is a bluesy rock that reminds be of ZZ Top, esp. the treated vocals. It's not a southern boogie piece, but more of a slow-burn, acidic blues - one of the Stan Ausmus/Alan Morse penned pieces. Similiarly, we also get in this vein, "Wherever You Stand," a D'Virgilio/Okumoto piece with churning, driving Hammond, searing guitar, and jumpy bass and percussion. Actually, it's a ZZ Top mixed with Aerosmith, if you have to apply a "sounds like" (and we don't have to, but?). There a parpy, proggy keyboard passage towards the end, the is mere interlude before we get back into the screamin' main rhythm.

And then there's "A Perfect Day," a mid-tempo piece falling in between the rocking "Is This Love?" and the mellow "All That's Left." It also begins with a guitar solo from Morse, and then washes of keys from Okumoto before everything drops to the background for the understated vocals of D'Virgilio. Something epic is on the horizon. Nice acoustic guitar touches here from Morse, including some Spanish-flavored passages, and pastoral keyboard passages that almost make you think you hear flutes or other winds - well, horns and strings are credited here. Sublime.

While I'm not yet ready to say this is my #1 album for 2007, it definitely on the list of top picks. Is it better than any Morse-era material? It's both a fair and unfair question to ask. Fair because it's 4/5 the same musicians involved (with a few extra personnel) and so there'd be some continuity. But unfair because this isn't the same Spock's Beard - the balance in many areas has shifted. The fair comparison is really to the past releases of this edition of Spock's Beard and this, in my opinion, blows 'em away.

Tracklisting:
On A Perfect Day (7:47) / Skeletons At The Feast (6:33) / Is This Love (2:51) / All That's Left (4:45) / With Your Kiss (11:46) / Sometimes They Say, Sometimes They Go (4:31) / The Slow Crash Landing Man (5:47) / Wherever You Stand (5:09) / Hereafter (5:01) / As Far As The Mind Can See: Dreaming In The Age Of Answers (4:49) - Here's A Man (3:28) - They Know We Know (3:18) - Stream Of Unconsciousness (5:23) / Rearranged (6:07)

Musicians:
Nick d'Virgilio - vocals, drums, guitar
Ryo Okumoto - keyboards
Alan Morse - guitar, vocals
Dave Meros - bass

Discography:
The Light (1991)
Beware of Darkness (1995)
The Beard Is Out There Live (1995)
Official Live Bootleg (1996)
The Kindness of Strangers (1997)
From The Vault - 1995-1998 (1998)
Day For Night (1999)
Live At The Whiskey and NEARfest (1999)
Don't Try This At Home (2000)
V (2000)
Snow (2002)
Feel Euphoria (2003)
The Light - The Artwork Collector's Series (2004)
Octane (2005)
Gluttons For Punishment (2005)
Spock's Beard (2006)
Live (2008)
X (2010)
Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep (2013)
The Oblivion Particle (2015)
Noise Floor (2018)

The Beard Is Out There Live (VID) (1995)
Spock's Beard's Home Movie (VID) (1998)
Live At The Whisky (VID) (1999)
Making Of V (VID) (2001)
Don't Try This At Home & The Making Of V (DVD) (2002)
The Making Of Snow (DVD) (2004)
Live (DVD) (2008)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin US

Added: May 29th 2007
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: www.spocksbeard.com
Hits: 3092
Language: english