Radiant Records–the company founded and owned by Neal Morse–is having a three-day sale, with the wonderful tagline, “Prog more, spend less.”
The sales are on cds/DVDs/ and/or blu-rays of MORSEFEST2015, SNOW LIVE, SIMILITUDE OF A DREAM, ALIVE AGAIN, KaLIVEoscope, TESTIMONY 2, MOMENTUM, GOD WON’T GIVE UP, and SO MANY ROADS.
Frankly, all specular releases.
To go to the sale (which ends this Friday), go here: http://www.radiantrecords.com/category/191735-bargain-bin.aspx
A great DJ is just a step below a great producer and sound engineer.
From time to time, I’ve considered joining a streaming service permanently. I’ve toyed around with Spotify, Pandora, and iTUNES.
I just can’t understand the attraction.
There was a time in my life, I really loved radio. From the years between late grade school and the end of high school (class of 1986), I listened faithfully to Wichita’s KICT-95. The station introduced me–rather gloriously–to album rock radio, back when radio actually played entire sides of albums. I got to know the DJs, the music, and their various programs. I knew when to expect a full album side, and when to expect the latest news in the rock world. I knew when T-95 broadcast concerts, and I knew when the radio station sponsored bands to play live in Wichita. It was a golden age of rock. I was always far more taken with prog than I was with acid or hard rock, but T-95 presented all as a rather cohesive whole, thanks to the quality of the DJs.
But, streaming? I just don’t get it. It’s bland. It’s tapioca. There’s no personality, no matter how great the music is.
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Every once in a while, it’s well worth checking out the bargain bin at Radiant Records. Right now, some great stuff–as always.
http://www.radiantrecords.com/products/334-so-many-roads.aspx
As I am sure is true for all of us, albums I love and cherish and listen to, repeatedly, carry with them fond personal memories. For better or worse, almost every single Neal Morse album and Spock’s Beard album comes with a story, and usually more than one. As I’ve mentioned on progarchy before, I’ll never forget the release of the first Spock’s Beard album, THE LIGHT. Being a prog fan since as far back as I can remember, I had no idea about the arrival of neo-Prog in England, and I had to content myself in the early 1990s with jam bands such as Phish and jam pop bands such as the Dave Matthews Band to satisfy my not so easily satisfied prog desires. I had purchased so many CDs and had had so many discussions with the manager of Tracks in Bloomington, Indiana, that she remained on the lookout for me. Anything that even remotely smacked of prog, she let me know. She rather gleefully handed me a copy of THE LIGHT when it first came out. To say I was thrilled would be an understatement. I was just plain elated, inserting that cd in the tray, putting on my Sennheizers, and falling into prog bliss, attempting to follow all the nuances of the album and to figure out all of the lyrics. I mean really, who is the catfish man?
And, why did this guy with such a great voice have to cuss so much?
After what seemed like an eternity (yes, even at age 50, patience is not one of my virtues), my copy of the deluxe edition of SNOW LIVE by Spock’s Beard arrived this afternoon. And, the wait was more than worth it. This thing is just loaded to the max with goodness and beauty. Lots of truth as well. 2 CDs, 2 DVDs, and 2 Blu-ray disks. Additionally, the set comes with a certificate of authenticity. My authentic number is 1,887 out of 2,000, in case you were wondering. And, you were wondering, right? There are also a number of elongated postcards of the band members and a poster.
The best part of it all, though, is the book. The size of a traditional album, the SNOW LIVE book is a thing of glory at 50 pages. Full of liner notes and photos, I found myself quite taken with what Radiant Records has produced. I’ve only begun to explore this all, but I’m thrilled to have it. This is some of the best packaging I’ve seen, and I hope other bands take notice.
I really like, for example, the Rush boxset of 2112, but I think I like this open book format the best. As sturdy as the Rush 2112 box is, I’m always a bit afraid it will get crushed. Not so with the SNOW LIVE deluxe packaging. It just feels solid. As solid as it is beautiful.
Thank you, Radiant! And, thank you, Amy Pippin at Radiant Records for doing the hard work of processing all of the orders and getting these shipped out.
Though Neal Morse’s Radiant Records has become much less friendly (at least to reviewers) over the last year or so, I’m still rather excited about this release.
SNOW has been a masterpiece of prog since it first came out 15 years ago. I’m still kicking myself for not purchasing the deluxe package of Marillion’s last album, so I’m not going to make that mistake for this one.
And, I’ll not so quietly wish that Neal Morse and Radiant become more responsive to their fans in the not so distant future.
To order, go here: http://www.radiantrecords.com/products/692-snow-live.aspx
Over the last several weeks, Neal Morse has announced that his venerable INNER CIRCLE club is going exclusively digital.
To state that this infuriates me would be going way too far. To state that I’m unhappy, however, would not be an exaggeration.
Not only have I been a proud INNER CIRCLE member for years, but I’ve also got my own Neal Morse display in my office–in all of its tangible (yes, TANGIBLE) and technicolor glory.
Do I want downloads? No. I don’t want downloads from Neal Morse or from Glass Hammer or from The Tangent or from Riverside or from NAO or from Big Big Train.
As far as I’m concerned, sadly, Neal Morse’s INNER CIRCLE is done. Whatever it was (and, it was brilliant), it’s over.
I’m so tired of the world moving toward nothing but digital. We (or, at least I) love prog because everything is so well done–the lyrics, the music, the playing, and the art. I want an album or a CD or a DVD or a blu-ray. A down load is just not cheap, but, frankly, tacky.
Mr. Morse, please, please, please reconsider this.
Radiant Records has announced a live release of Morsefest 2015, featuring two concerts covering Sola Scriptura, ?, and selections from the catalogs of Transatlantic and Spock’s Beard. One of the concerts even finds Mike Portnoy and Nick D’Virgilio on the same stage together.
You can pre-order the set now over at Radiant’s website. My only beef with the variety of sets on offer (besides the high price) is the fact that they aren’t offering a 2 Blu-Ray/4CD set. All they have is the 2DVD/4CD set or the 2 Blu-Ray set. Why they aren’t offering a DVD/Blu-Ray/CD set (much like the excellent Transatlantic KaLiveoscope box set from a couple years ago) is anyone’s guess.
Check out the trailer:
A fired-up and ready-to-rock Neal Morse Band kicked off its 2017 Similitude Of A Dream Tour last night at RockeTown in Nashville, TN. They performed the entire album before an ecstatic crowd, most of whom knew every word of the 2-disc magnum opus.
This was a different kind of show than Neal and his band mates have performed before. It’s clear that they want the album as a whole to take center stage, and not the musicians themselves. For instance, Neal did not even address the audience until after Shortcut To Salvation, which was in the second half of the set. Mike spoke briefly before Freedom Song. Other than those breaks, the focus was entirely on the songs.
The performance began with a darkly cowled Neal singing Long Day off to the side, illuminated with a handheld light. Then the entire group exploded into Overture, and we were off on an adventure through all kinds of trials and tribulations. Throughout the show stunning videos complemented the songs, and Neal wore various masks and outfits.
As a group, Neal, Mike, Randy, Bill, and Eric have melded into a mighty musical force. When Randy George and Mike Portnoy lock into their groove, the result is ferocious thunder. Eric Gillette has matured into an extraordinary guitarist and vocalist (give him more lead vocals!), and Bill Hubauer’s keyboards and vocals are always rock-solid. Neal, of course, is the consummate showman – singing, pulling off amazing guitar solos, and mugging for the crowd before every keyboard showcase.
But the real star of the evening was The Similitude of a Dream. Everything was done in service to the tale of a pilgrim on a spiritual journey – one that went from the City Of Destruction through doubt, fear, confusion, sloth, and battle until he reaches the shining city on a hill. When I first heard TSOAD, I liked it, but I wasn’t knocked out – it was just too sprawling a work for me to take in. After last night’s performance, I get it now. It all holds together as a unified work of art, and it is a beautiful allegory.
Highlights of the show were So Far Gone, where everyone takes a turn on lead vocals; a very moving Breath of Angels, which ended the first half; Shortcut to Salvation; a heavy Man in the Iron Cage; an all-acoustic Freedom Song; and the concluding Broken Sky/Long Day. By the end, everyone was wrung out and happy.
For an encore, the band tore through rip-roaring renditions of Momentum, Agenda, and The Call. Lasting nearly three hours, it was a very satisfying evening. The boys travel to Seattle and other parts west before heading up to Canada and then over to Europe and Israel. If there is any way you can catch this show, do it – it’s an amazing visual and musical experience.
Tour details can be found here.
Progarchy 