While listening to Songs From November by Neal Morse the past week, I realised how much I love his brand of progressive rock. So I decided to feature the album that got me into his music as a classic. And for that we have to go a little back into history until we reach 1997, the year that his former band Spock’s Beard released The Kindness Of Strangers.
And for me it is pretty easy to tell what got me into this music. Just put the disc in the player and hit play. The first song is The Good Don’t Last and this sums the band up perfectly: lush harmonies, various parts sowed seamlessly and effortlessly together, sometimes heavy, sometimes almost classical, sometimes soft. But always rich in ideas and full of vocal and instrumental melodies. And let’s not forget hammond organ and mellotron and guitar solos. And grooves!
But above everything else there is to love about the band is that song that steals your heart and will stay forever: June. Any band or person that can write a song as beautiful as that deserves to be a world wide star as far as I am concerned. The vocal harmonies here are nothing short of stunning and get me in a good mood every time I hear it.
Other songs on here proved future set list classics as well, like In The Mouth Of Madness and Harm’s Way.
To me, anyone that claims to be serious about the genre cannot ignore this masterpiece. As it is a must for anyone serious about quality music.