Neal Morse is pleased to announce the release of ‘Sola Gratia’, his new solo progressive rock concept album, on September 11th, 2020. Originating from a seed planted in his mind about writing a record based on the apostle Paul, ‘Sola Gratia’ quickly came together at the beginning of 2020. The album sees Neal working with long-time collaborators Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer and Gideon Klein.
The title ‘Sola Gratia’ of course has echoes of Morse’s 2007 epic ‘Sola Scriptura’, about the life of Martin Luther, but was in fact originally the result of a simple marital misunderstanding: “I was talking to my wife Cherie about debuting this new piece at Morsefest 2020 (Morse’s annual fan convention in Nashville) and she said she thought it would be good for me to do a solo album. However, I thought she said ‘Sola album’ and – because some of the new ideas involved Paul’s aggressive pursuit of the early Christians, I could see a link to some of the themes of persecution in ‘Sola Scriptura’.”
The music was recorded ‘virtually’ in April 2020 at the height of the Coronavirus lockdown with long term collaborators Mike Portnoy (drums) and Randy George (bass): “It’s the first album we have ever made remotely: I sent them the basic tracks and asked if they wanted to rearrange things, but they just said ‘No, it’s great!’, so they just played to it and sent their parts back over. It wasn’t an easy way to make an album, but creating always has its challenges, no matter how you do it.”
As Morse explains, it was this process that decided that ‘Sola Gratia’ was to be a Neal Morse album, rather than being credited to The Neal Morse Band: “With the Neal Morse Band, the whole band works together on the writing, and while Eric Gillette plays some guitar and Bill Hubauer has added some keyboards on this one, neither of them wrote – or is singing – on this album.”
Scary man with the scythe is the winter snow.
‘Sola Gratia’ will be released as a limited CD/DVD Digipak (featuring a ‘Making-Of’ documentary), Gatefold 2LP + CD, Standard CD Jewel Case and as a Digital Album. The cover art was created by another longtime collaborator, Thomas Ewerhard.
The full track-listing is as follows:
1.Preface 2.Overture 3.In The Name Of The Lord 4.Ballyhoo (The Chosen Ones) 5.March Of The Pharisees 6.Building A Wall 7.Sola Intermezzo 8.Overflow 9.Warmer Than The Sunshine 10.Never Change 11.Seemingly Sincere 12.The Light On The Road To Damascus 13.The Glory Of The Lord 14.Now I Can See/The Great Commission Neal Morse will debut ‘Sola Gratia’ live at his annual Morsefest convention on the 18th and 19th September 2020. A very limited number of people will be able to attend in person, with the event also being streamed online. More details and tickets are available here: https://nealmorse.com/tc-events/morsefest-2020/
Look out for the first track release and pre-order opportunities starting on July 17th.
Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Randy George recently announced their return to the Cover To Cover series of albums with ‘Cov3r To Cov3r’, the brand new third instalment. Featuring their renditions of classic tracks by the likes of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Gerry Rafferty, David Bowie & more (including their cover of ‘No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed’ featuring vocals from Yes singer Jon Davison), the album will be released on July 24th, as CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album.
Today they are pleased to reveal a video for their cover of ‘Baker Street’, originally by Gerry Rafferty, and you can watch it now here:
Randy George comments: “Baker Street’ is one of the songs that is instantly recognizable. When I first mentioned the idea of doing ‘Baker Street,’ Neal said that it was funny because he and Mike had just been discussing that one as well.“
Neal Morse adds: “To be honest I was never that big of a fan of this song. It’s one that Mike really wanted to do as I recall. But as we dove into it and I began singing it, I really felt it. Lyrics about thinking that it’s going to be really easy to succeed and then hitting walls and becoming disillusioned are very relatable to me. I found myself really digging into it and taking a kind of “The Who” approach to the song really works well!”
As well as this, the ‘Cover To Cover Anthology (Vol. 1 – 3)’ will be released on the same day, collecting all 3 installments together over 3 discs. The first two albums have also been newly re-sequenced and remastered, and will also be available on all digital services. All the albums have also been given brand new artwork, created by Thomas Ewerhard (Sons of Apollo, The Neal Morse Band, Avantasia).
‘Cov3r to Cov3r’ on Jewelcase CD & Gatefold 2LP + CD, and ‘Cover to Cover Anthology (Vol.1-3) on Limited 3CD Digipak is now available to pre-order here: https://MorsePortnoyGeorge.lnk.to/Cov3rtoCov3r
LP 1:
No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (cover version)
Hymn 43 (cover version)
Life On Mars (cover version)
Baker Street (cover version)
It Don’t Come Easy (cover version)
Baby Blue (cover version)
LP 2:
One More Red Nightmare (cover version)
Black Coffee In Bed (cover version)
Tempted (cover version)
Runnin’ Down A Dream (cover version)
Let Love Rule (cover version)
CD:
No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (cover version)
1.Where The Streets Have No Name (U2) 2.I’m The Man (Joe Jackson) 3.What Is Life? (George Harrison) 4.Badge (Cream) 4.Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCartney) 5.Day After Day (Badfinger) 6.Pleasant Valley Sunday (The Monkees) 7.Tuesday Afternoon (The Moody Blues) 8.Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith) 9.I’m Free / Sparks (The Who) 10.Where Do The Children Play (Cat Stevens) 11.Feelin’ Stronger Everyday (Chicago) 12.Rock N Roll Suicide (David Bowie)
CD 2 (Cover 2 Cover):
1.(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding (Elvis Costello) 2.Lido Shuffle (Boz Scaggs) 3.Crazy Horses (The Osmonds) 4.Driven To Tears (The Police) 5.Come Sail Away (Styx) 6.Rikki Don’t Lose That Number (Steely Dan) 7.Lemons Never Forget (The Bee Gees) 8.The Letter (Joe Cocker) 9.I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren) 10.Teacher (Jethro Tull) 11.Southern Man/Needle And The Damage Done/Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young) 12.Starless (King Crimson)
CD 3 (Cov3r To Cov3r):
1.No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Yes) 2.Hymn 43 (Jethro Tull) 3.Life On Mars (David Bowie) 4.Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty) 5.It Don’t Come Easy (Ringo Starr) 6.Baby Blue (Badfinger) 7.One More Red Nightmare (King Crimson) 8.Black Coffee In Bed (Squeeze) 9.Tempted (Squeeze) 10.Runnin’ Down A Dream (Tom Petty) 11.Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz)
Morse, Portnoy & George first worked together on Neal Morse’s Testimony Live project back in 2003, and since then they have devised and recorded countless Neal Morse albums, including three with The Neal Morse Band.
The three friends have also released music as Morse, Portnoy & George: so far, two Cover to Cover albums have been produced, each being a collection of covers of their favorite songs. As Portnoy explains: “One of the first things myself, Neal and Randy usually start talking about what we can cover when we gather for one of Neal’s solo albums, should we have some leftover time at the end of the session. Most of the songs are rooted in the 60s and 70s and are songs / bands we grew up with.” Explains George, “We all share an attachment for this era of music, so we each throw out song ideas, see what sticks, and record the ones we like the most!”
The trio has covered songs from such greats as, Paul McCartney, Cream, The Who, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, and many more. They also have also covered some prog classics from the likes of King Crimson and Yes.
Listening to the introduction had me checking I had put on the right album, as the first minute of this 109-minute-long epic had me convinced I was listening to a news release by Clive Nolan. In recent years Clive has moved away from his more overtly progressive releases into musical theatre, and now Neal has followed the same trend. I grew up in a Christian household, one of my favorite albums as a child was ‘ Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’, the first musical I ever saw was ‘Godspell’, and still enjoy ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ to this day (I thought the recent all-star cast was excellent, Alice Cooper as King Herod? Inspired). So, this is a musical and lyrical style I am comfortable with, and I was intrigued to see how Neal would approach this. The first thing which struck me was just how little we hear from the man himself, in that he has given himself a few minor parts but that is all. In the two main roles of Jesus and Judas we have his fellow Spock’s Beard lead vocalists Ted Leonard and Nick D’Virgilio respectively, and as one would expect they do a mighty fine job indeed, but the biggest change for me is the writing style, which is not what I would expect from Neal at all. Although there are bits and pieces such as the acoustic “Gather The People” and the dramatic “The Madman of the Gadarenes” which does remind listeners of his roots and normal approach, overall there has been a dramatic change in how Neal approaches things. Literally.
This is an album that is designed to appeal to people who wouldn’t normally know who Neal is, and instead, this is a rock musical to be viewed as a logical updated version of ‘Superstar’. Consequently, we have music which flows and ebbs, taking the listener with them. Songs such as “Get Behind Me Satan” are out and out rockers, while others are designed to get the audience clapping in time, others more prosaic and gentler in style. By now Neal has become a dab hand at producing the odd concept album, and this isn’t the first time he has approached a Christian story either, but here he has moved further in both directions. This is bound to be listened to by progheads and White Metal fans alike, but really this is aimed at a new audience altogether, namely Broadway as opposed to the Garden.
In 2002 Morse was responsible for what is undoubtedly one of the finest concept albums of all time, ‘Snow’. He followed it up the next year with his first solo release since leaving the Beard, with ‘Testimony’, which is still my favorite solo album. That told his personal story, and I don’t think anyone who saw him performs it in London and hears him talk about his daughter Jayda could fail to be moved. She is referenced again in this album, just briefly, but it shows again just how personal this for him and just what it means. Regarding the idea behind the musical, Neal explains, “Sometimes providence comes with a whisper; sometimes it comes with an unexpected phone call. A friend of mine who works in the music business called me from New York one day in 2008 and said, “Hey man, a friend and I were listening to Jesus Christ Superstar last night and were saying, ‘Man, somebody ought to do a new rock opera based on the Jesus story’. I told my friend, ‘I know the guy!’ He went on to tell me I ought to write an epic prog piece based on the gospels. With a New York accent, he said, ‘Ya gotta do it!’ I laughed and said, ‘Well, I’m busy right now, but I’ll think about it.’ Over the next couple of months, I began to feel that “yes” inside and spent a few months writing the first draft. The strong sense that I was onto something continued to grow and the people that sang on the original version were really into it.” For me, this is an interesting idea, and there are undoubtedly some good songs on it. But there are times when it feels clunky, something I never expected from him. The story is pushed very hard, as one would expect, but sometimes this is to the detriment of the music. On a personal level, I have always enjoyed his vocals, but here he is asking to be judged as a songwriter and arranger as
opposed to a performer. The result is something which is probably going to gain him a much wider audience than normal for his work and is a very good album indeed, but from a personal perspective I think I’m just going to go back to ‘Testimony’ and pass on this for now. 8/10 Kev Rowland
Neal Morse will perform a private show for Inner Circle members this Saturday morning, August 31st at Morsefest 2019.
The Morsefest IC shows are never to be repeated experiences. From a Spock’s Beard jam session, to Sing One with Neal, these exclusive shows are usually the exact opposite of the Friday and Saturday night shows – more stripped back, slightly off the cuff and full of magical moments.
This year is once again going to be a unique and unmissable experience. The concept this time is “A Year in Neal’s Life,” and Neal will take the Inner Circle members on a journey through the period from Morsefest 2018 to Morsefest 2019. It was a year or many changes for the Morse family, some joyous and some sad. Neal also spent time on the road away from home as well as traveling with his family.
If you know Neal, a cheap guitar or keyboard is never too far away for when inspiration strikes. So this year’s Inner Circle show will largely consist of the songs he wrote during the year, most of which are unheard and still unrecorded. Come and hear the stories and some great brand new music.
It’s not too late to join the Inner Circle to secure your ticket (you and an accompanying person can attend the IC show on Saturday AM). And remember Inner Circle members can take advantage of a 10% merch discount only on Saturday morning!
Would you like to spend a week learning music composition, arranging, and audio recording with NEAL MORSE? The Radiant School is your opportunity to do just that! Neal says: “I am super excited to have another Radiant School as it’s always a great musical adventure, as well as chance to get to know some very talented people. I am very happy to have Jerry Guidroz on board again for this one which should be better than ever! We aren’t taking that many students this year so I hope one of them is you.” Each student will have a small space to set up their music workstations. Neal will demonstrate an example of how he composes and records. Then he will be listening to the participants and giving ideas as they compose and work together. Students will take turns coming into the tracking room with Neal and working on their music. Then we will spend some time recording some of the best music that is written. This will be determined by Neal. On the last day we will mix as much of the music as we can. (You are free to use any recordings from this class as you wish.) When: Monday, November 4th – Friday, November 8thWhere: Radiant Studios in Cross Plains, TN Click here for more information on pricing and logistics. SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED! We are only accepting a small number of students, so secure your spot today.
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