Been listening to SB's Octane. Someone on another board made mention that Spock's Beard seems to be turning into the American version of h-era Marillion. Not really a prog band anymore, but more a pop/rock band with occasional prog elements. Another one called SB " a group of very talented musicians unable to write interesting music". I tend to think the same goes for both bands. Octane's not a bad album, but there's really nothing that grabs a hold of me and won't let go like the old SB did.
hell I'm starting to think that Octane is the best album the Beard has put out. I've been extremly bored with Neal Morse material over the past couple months so maybe this explains it. But regardless, kick ass album by a 'prog band' that's not trying to sound traditionally prog anymore. love it.
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-Adam See- Overnight Sensation --- Wednesday Nights 10-1 Pacific Time Beyond And Before --- Thursday Nights 7-8 Pacific Time
"Well Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one"
Well lets not go overboard! The best beard album ever?? I think it's the best album since Neal left. There's a lot of great prog on it no doubt.. but I too believe that it will never be as magical as when Neal was writing the tunes. ahhhh.
It's such a shame really, all those guys were the most powerful when they played together imo. None of what they're doing now holds a candle to the power of the previous music.
i find that the newer music has more hooks than the original beard material, probably explains why I'm really liking it right now. No doubt every SB album is really good it's just I find it a little tiresome looking back at some of the material and noticing how similar it all sounds album to album. You could take basically any Spocks Beard song and place it on another album of theirs it would fit right in. It's a great formula...but I'm getting a little tired of it. These two latest beard albums have a lot more diversity in music on them I find, certainly not amazing by any means but cool music non the less. A lot (not all) of my favorite bands seem to exhibit a different feeling album to album - Rush, King Crimson, Yes, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, among others... I'm not saying I don't like the Beard, not at all, i think they're a great band, I'm just bored of it for a while perhaps. But hell theres tons of great bands that stick to their formula and continue(d) to crank out great albums - Opeth, Jethro Tull, ELP, Genesis, Iron Maiden, Marillion, Porcupine Tree, The Flower Kings...I just feel like the Beard's style is so recognizable that their music was becoming even more predicatable to me than most popular music.
I used to think Neal Morse was somewhat of a musical mastermind to make all that great music...but now I'm not so sure. Testimony and One are good albums...but again it's just the same old thing recycled - I wish the guy could do something else for a change. It is 'progressive' rock after all.
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-Adam See- Overnight Sensation --- Wednesday Nights 10-1 Pacific Time Beyond And Before --- Thursday Nights 7-8 Pacific Time
"Well Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one"
Now Playing: A Trace Of Blood from Remedy Lane. I've always said that I have to be in a particular mood to listen to PoS. Seems that servers dying and intense pressure at work puts me in that mood
As for Octane; I like it alot. I think A Flash Before My Eyes is an incredibly good suite of songs and the album as a whole is significanty better than Snow, Testimony or One.
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There's a lot of great prog on it no doubt.. but I too believe that it will never be as magical as when Neal was writing the tunes. ahhhh. 
