SPOCK'S BEARD
''BEWARE OF DARKNESS''
JANUARY 1996
57:55
1 Beware Of Darkness (George Harrison) 05:41
2 Thoughts 07:07
3 The Doorway 11:32
4 Chatauqua 02:48
5 Walking On The Wind 09:06
6 Waste Away 05:19
7 Time Has Come 16:19
Tracks By Neal Morse, Except 1
Neal Morse - lead vocals, piano, synthesizer
Alan Morse - guitars, cello, vocals
Dave Meros - bass guitar
Nick D'Virgilio - drums, percussion, vocals
Ryo Okumoto - hammond organ, mellotron
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek (AMG)
Beware of Darkness, the follow-up to California prog unit Spock's Beard's underground hit debut, The Light, is a complete exercise in MORE. Using George Harrison's beautiful song (but Leon Russell's version of it) as a take-off point, the band uses a full-blown choir, thundering guitars, and Neal Morse's growling vocal to create another valid and moving version of the tune. Beware of Darkness as an album is more "song-oriented" than its predecessor. It contains eight tunes instead of four and the longest, the closing "Time Has Come," is a mere 16 minutes, while the shortest, "Chatauqua," is a mere 2:49! In addition, the band's scope widened here; aside from references to Yes, King Crimson, and early Genesis, listeners can also hear elements of Gentle Giant, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Pat Metheny in the mix, too. However, all of them are subservient to Spock's Beard's tough, aggressively driven rock & roll approach. In many ways it goes beyond The Light, particularly because of its construction-like songwriting approach on "The Doorway," a tune written before anything on the band's debut album, where classically precise pianos give way to monstrously plodding basslines and knotty little synth riffs introduce those propulsive guitars and huge organ swells with a delicate vocal floating above it all. The overall feel of the disc is more abrupt and shape-shifting than violently dreamy like The Light, and it works without a hitch. While the sheer wildness of The Light may be preferable to this set, the overall sophistication in composition and the recording quality are quite noteworthy. This might not be the place to start with Spock's Beard, but it is certainly a place to go once the introduction has been made.
BIOGRAPHY
by David White
Spock's Beard began in 1992 when brothers Neal (lead vocals) and Al Morse (guitar) teamed up with drummer Nick D'Virgilio. After self-financing their first album, bassist Dave Meros joined, and The Light was recorded in 1994. Consisting of four lengthy songs, this debut album was well received by progressive rock fans, but received little public acclaim. Ryo Okumoto joined in 1995 to play keyboards. In 1996, The Official Bootleg was released, a live performance containing the entire first album plus one song from the upcoming second album. 1996 also saw the band sign with various record labels around the world, in addition to releasing Beware of Darkness, which contains the same style of music, but in shorter pieces (all ten minutes or less, except for the 15-plus-minute last track). Spock's Beard's third studio album, The Kindness of Strangers, was released at the end of 1997; Day for Night followed in 1999 and V was issued a year later. Deciding they had the experience and chops to attempt a concept album, they spent the next few years putting together Snow. The double album revolved around the title character, an albino teenager that could possibly be the messiah. Taking a much more detailed approach to the material, the band had a difficult two years writing the album and was rewarded with a strong promotional push from Metal Blade Records. Following Snow, Neal Morse became a born again Christian and left the band. The remaining members quickly regrouped, however, with D'Virgilio assuming the lead vocal duties and managed to release Feeling Euphoria the following year. 2004 saw the rerelease of their first three albums and in 2005 they delivered both a new studio offering (Ocatane) and Live in 2005: Gluttons for Punishment.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
''BEWARE OF DARKNESS''
JANUARY 1996
57:55
1 Beware Of Darkness (George Harrison) 05:41
2 Thoughts 07:07
3 The Doorway 11:32
4 Chatauqua 02:48
5 Walking On The Wind 09:06
6 Waste Away 05:19
7 Time Has Come 16:19
Tracks By Neal Morse, Except 1
Neal Morse - lead vocals, piano, synthesizer
Alan Morse - guitars, cello, vocals
Dave Meros - bass guitar
Nick D'Virgilio - drums, percussion, vocals
Ryo Okumoto - hammond organ, mellotron
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek (AMG)
Beware of Darkness, the follow-up to California prog unit Spock's Beard's underground hit debut, The Light, is a complete exercise in MORE. Using George Harrison's beautiful song (but Leon Russell's version of it) as a take-off point, the band uses a full-blown choir, thundering guitars, and Neal Morse's growling vocal to create another valid and moving version of the tune. Beware of Darkness as an album is more "song-oriented" than its predecessor. It contains eight tunes instead of four and the longest, the closing "Time Has Come," is a mere 16 minutes, while the shortest, "Chatauqua," is a mere 2:49! In addition, the band's scope widened here; aside from references to Yes, King Crimson, and early Genesis, listeners can also hear elements of Gentle Giant, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Pat Metheny in the mix, too. However, all of them are subservient to Spock's Beard's tough, aggressively driven rock & roll approach. In many ways it goes beyond The Light, particularly because of its construction-like songwriting approach on "The Doorway," a tune written before anything on the band's debut album, where classically precise pianos give way to monstrously plodding basslines and knotty little synth riffs introduce those propulsive guitars and huge organ swells with a delicate vocal floating above it all. The overall feel of the disc is more abrupt and shape-shifting than violently dreamy like The Light, and it works without a hitch. While the sheer wildness of The Light may be preferable to this set, the overall sophistication in composition and the recording quality are quite noteworthy. This might not be the place to start with Spock's Beard, but it is certainly a place to go once the introduction has been made.
BIOGRAPHY
by David White
Spock's Beard began in 1992 when brothers Neal (lead vocals) and Al Morse (guitar) teamed up with drummer Nick D'Virgilio. After self-financing their first album, bassist Dave Meros joined, and The Light was recorded in 1994. Consisting of four lengthy songs, this debut album was well received by progressive rock fans, but received little public acclaim. Ryo Okumoto joined in 1995 to play keyboards. In 1996, The Official Bootleg was released, a live performance containing the entire first album plus one song from the upcoming second album. 1996 also saw the band sign with various record labels around the world, in addition to releasing Beware of Darkness, which contains the same style of music, but in shorter pieces (all ten minutes or less, except for the 15-plus-minute last track). Spock's Beard's third studio album, The Kindness of Strangers, was released at the end of 1997; Day for Night followed in 1999 and V was issued a year later. Deciding they had the experience and chops to attempt a concept album, they spent the next few years putting together Snow. The double album revolved around the title character, an albino teenager that could possibly be the messiah. Taking a much more detailed approach to the material, the band had a difficult two years writing the album and was rewarded with a strong promotional push from Metal Blade Records. Following Snow, Neal Morse became a born again Christian and left the band. The remaining members quickly regrouped, however, with D'Virgilio assuming the lead vocal duties and managed to release Feeling Euphoria the following year. 2004 saw the rerelease of their first three albums and in 2005 they delivered both a new studio offering (Ocatane) and Live in 2005: Gluttons for Punishment.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
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