CD Review: Spock's Beard -The Oblivion Particle(Available August 21)Inside Out Music

Founded in 1992

Genre

Progressive Rock

Band Members

Alan Morse, Dave Meros, Ryo Okumoto, Ted Leonard and Jimmy Keegan

Hometown

Los Angeles, CA

Record Label

Inside Out Records

Short Description

The Official Spock's Beard FaceBook Page.

Bio

Spock’s Beard were formed in 1992 in Los Angeles by brothers Neal Morse and Alan Morse. Neal (keyboards/guitars/lead vocals) and Alan (lead guitars/vocals) were joined by Nick D'Virgilio (drums/ vocals), Dave Meros (bass/vocals), and keyboardist Ryo Okumoto. Spock's Beard have released eleven studio CDs to date, including the highly regarded The Kindness Of Strangers and V. The epic concept album, Snow, released in 2002, also marked the departure of leader and main composer, Neal Morse, in favor of a solo career as a Christian Progressive Rock artist. After his departure, the frontman role was taken on by D'Virgilio. This Spock's Beard v 2.0 released four more studio albums, Feel Euphoria, Octane, Spock's Beard, all on InsideOut Music, and X, released on Mascot Records.

With a touring schedule that has covered much of Europe and the US, they have delighted their legions of fans at major festivals around the world. Their live shows have been well documented on DVDs and CDs, including 2005's Gluttons For Punishment, recorded during the Octane Tour, Spock's Beard Live, recorded in Holland during 2007's Spock's Beard Tour and released the following year, a live DVD of the X Tour was filmed in Los Angeles and released in the fall of 2011 as-well-as Live at Sea, which captures the band’s stellar second performance on the Progressive Nation at Sea Cruise on the Norwegian Pearl on February 21, 2014, also featuring Neal Morse.

D'Virgilio departed from the band in 2011 to become a musical director and performer with Cirque du Soleil. Subsequently, the band added their touring drummer, Jimmy Keegan (Santana) and singer/ guitarist, Ted Leonard (Enchant) to their regular lineup. The addition of Ted and Jimmy has brought a fresh new energy to The Beard. Ted is also contributing his formidable writing skill, which has resulted in a much more soulful and diverse mix of material with this incarnation of the band.

The year 2013 and 2014 have been significantly good ones for Spock’s Beard. While the band was busy promoting their highly critically endorsed new collection, Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep, officially released in May of 2013 on InsideOut Music, they also completed two ambitious tours to promote the new release, as international audiences reveled in the complex wave of musicality in live performances. This latest effort brings the fusion, rock, and classical influences strongly to the forefront and appeared on countless “best of 2013” charts worldwide. As 2014 soon sees its close, the band are currently tracking and recording material for their twelfth studio album which release date is anticipated to be sometime in 2015.

With this fantastic lineup and exciting live performances, Spock's Beard are poised to excite audience members new and old throughout 2015 and beyond!!

Some more fantastic music coming from another great band I have heard this band before and was quite excited to hear them again.

As you can see by my rating I was not disappointed at all.

With such structure and great musicianship all around fans of Yes and Genesis will be fond of the music here and for good reason -there is some great stuff here , exciting range of skills played here.

Have a listen below the reason I share the videos here is to give you an idea of what the band is all about and to hear their music.

I can never tire of music like this another band that writes from experience and for the fans of their previous work I believe you will also enjoy this album, but will be able to hear it soon.

Consistency is important from a band such as this --the broad range and incredible song structure cannot be ignored and it should not be this is a treat of an album for the eardrums enjoy the harmonies and many sounds through out the album.