Neal Morse - Testimony
	Released: 2003 Label: Inside Out / Metal Blade Cat. No.: IOMCD139 / 14451cd Total Time: 132:34
	Reviewed by: Davide Guidone, October 2003 We have spent a year without listening to his music: in fact, his departure lasted only a year. The album contains an autobiographical concept and speaks about his personal life, from the beginning of his career (when he played all night that "tired Eagles song”) in Los Angeles to his conversion to Christianity that permitted him to start a new life, as he says in the last track of the disc. He wants to share with everyone his thoughts and witness what happened in his recent life. The album is a return to a progressive sound, since on his previous solo records he performed pop songs. A new frontier for prog music, I’d dare to define it as Christian prog, either for the lyrics or the music. There are orchestral arrangements, conducted by Chris Carmichael, with strings and gospel choirs; Christian lyrics; and a lot of feeling. Testimony is a very varied release; in fact we can find many genres on it, like melodic pop, blues, country, Latin jazz and gospel. There are some influences from Spock’s Beard and Transatlantic or should I the opposite… To realize Testimony, Neal Morse asked for help from Transatlantic co-hort Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), for the drum parts (even though Neal can play drums, too) and Kerry Livgren (Kansas) for some electric guitar parts. Of the rest, the same Morse is the master of the field. As on Snow, here you can find that some themes repeat themselves on the double CD, and the most of them are shown in the initial overture, as with the suites of classic music. But this one is more enjoyable because of its melodic feeling and complexity. At this moment, in my opinion, this is the best prog release of the year. Highly recommended. Rating: 5/5 [See also Clayton's, Keith's, Eric's, Steph's reviews -ed.] More about Testimony: Track Listing: Disc One: Part One (41:08): The Land Of Beginning Again / Overture No 1 / California Nights / Colder In The Sun / Sleeping Jesus / Interlude / The Prince Of The Power Of The Air / The Promise / Wasted Life / Part Two (31:38): Overture No 2 / Break Of Day / Power In The Air / Somber Days / Long Story / It's All I Can Do Disc Two: Part Three (12:06): Transformation / Ready To Try / Sing It High / Part Four (28:19): Moving In My Heart / I Am Willing / In The Middle / The Storm Before The Calm / Oh To Feel Him / God's Theme / Part Five (10:33): Overture No 3 / Rejoice / Oh Lord My God / God's Theme 2 / The Land Of Beginning Again Musicians: Eric Brenton: Violin, Viola, Electric violin solo at the end of 'Break Of Day', and great hair Chris Carmichael: Violin, Viola, Cello, String arrangements and facial contortions David Henry: Cello and I don't know him well enough to make a joke about him Mike Portnoy: Drums, vocals and the fang Pamela Ward and Erin: All Female Background Vocals and soulful wailing Rick Altizer: Vocals on high parts in the choruses and Beach Boy Backgrounds Extraordinaire Terry White and Gene Miller: Vocals on the "Princes, Principalities" sections, "Oh to Feel Him" and "Rejoice", and they wailed a bit as well. Jim Hoke and Neil Rosengarden: Sax and Trumpet respectively Katie Hagen: French Horn direct from the Nashville Symphony Mark Leniger: Sax solo on "The Storm Before the Calm" Byron House: String Bass and mellowness Glenn Caruba: Percussion and a bunch of stuff I can't spell Johnny Cox: Pedal Steel Guitar Jerry Guidroz: Handclaps, sampling and flying in the tick-tocks in 10 minutes! Kerry Livgren: Guitar solo in "Long Story" Anything not mentioned here performed by Neal Contact: Website: www.nealmorse.com Note: will open new browser window Discography Spock's Beard: The Light (1991) Beware of Darkness (1995) The Beard Is Out There Live (1995) (cd/vid) 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) Solo: Neal Morse (1999) Merry Christmas From The Morse Family (2000) It's Not Too Late (2001) Testimony (2003) One (2004) Lead Me Lord (Worship Sessions Volume One) (2005) ? (2005) Testimony Live (2004) (DVD) with Nick D'Virgilio: Two Separate Gorillas - Live In Europe (2000) Transatlantic: SMPTe (2000) Live In America (2001) (vid) Live In America (2001) (cd) Bridge Across Forever (2001) Bridge Across Forever - Special Edition (2001)
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