Customer Reviews

Live in 2005: Gluttons for Punishment

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Rumours have it that the new Spock's Beard double live album, Gluttons for Punishment, got its name from an obscure Deep Purple bootleg recrorded in the 70's. I'm sure we'll find out soon if this is true, when the guys start giving interviews regarding their new work. Gluttons for Punishment is the first live disc of Spock's Beard in the post-Neal Morse period, and having been recorded on the band's Octane tour, it features mostly songs on their last two studio releases, obviously focusing on the Octane pieces, and rightfully so. This is a good package for those who have been doubtful about the future of Spock's Beard, and never got around to checking out Feel Euphoria and Octane due to the absence of original vocalist and songwriter Neal Morse. Let me assure you all that if you pick this collection of songs up, it will not only restore your faith in the band, but also you will have the chance to form a solid opinion on their newer material.

The first disc begins with the band successfully performing their A Flash Before My Eyes epic in its entirety, all seven parts of it. In some moments, their rendition surpasses the original versions of the tracks, thanks to Rob Aubrey's great mix and recording. The band is tight as a unit and touring drummer Jimmy Keegan is doing a fantastic job, as Nick D'Virgilio is centre-stage, confidently delivering the tunes. Each track has its own apex. The sweeping guitar, piano, and bass combination on "The Ballet of the Impact" offers a warm, slick songmanship with an effective vocal performance - a great piece to get things going. Alan Morse's guitar tone on the acoustic ballad "I Wouldn't Let It Go" is rich, enabling each note to have a more lasting effect. Ryo Okumoto's Mellotron is also on display, but I'm particularly impressed by the organ sound that he employs in the last minute of the track. "Surfing Down the Avalanche", together with "Climbing Up That Hill", is the hard-hitting, groovy rock number, containing ferocious bass (what a sound!), powerful drumming, flowing guitar melodies, and washes of Mellotron. The chorus on "Climbing Up That Hill" is infectious and filled with incredible drum fills. "She Is Everything" is the heart-breaking ballad, punctuated by a swirling guitar intro, nice synth sounds, and an inspired blues solo. Nick D'Virgilio's voice has a great pitch, and he is at its emotional best. The epic is wrapped up by "Of the Beauty of It All", kicking in after Okumoto's sweet synth intro, only to once again show how amazing his synth 'chorus' on this cut is. It is continously repeated, giving the song more than one highlight moment, as memorable guitar hooks and wild drumming also make themselves an important part of the tune.

The band, finally convinced they've had a good first impression on the audience, briefly interacts with them and dives into The Kindness of Strangers number "Harm's Way", introducing a more complex song structure accented by sweet Moog sounds, thick guitar chords, bluesy solos, jazz piano, and great rhythmic anchor. The first disc is closed by "NWC" and finds the band straying away from the song's original format, playing it almost twice as long (about 10 minutes) and enriching its substance through spooky electronic samples, thick bass bottom, and a brilliant interplay between guitars and keyboards. That's not all, however. We're taken back to earlier Genesis where Chester Thompson and Phil Collins would duel on drums - as Nick D'Virgilio and Jimmy Keegan sport a phenomal drum solo spanning perhaps three minutes, none of which are wasted. Yes, it's long, but it is so professionally framed into the song, you just don't want them to stop.

The second disc is longer, despite its smaller tracklisting. Nick D'Virgilio does an outstanding job on the ambitious V opener "At the End of the Day". The song is played true to its original version, except for its end, where Dave Meros plays a nice bass solo. The unison of the acoustic break and flamenco guitar, backed by symphonic keys is still one of the most beautiful things Spock's Beard have written. This one is followed by two Feel Euphoria numbers with a an instrumental sandwiched in between. The rocky, groovy, multiple vocal and percussion-friendly "The Bottom Line" leads into Ryo Okumoto's minimalistic solo spot. This one has a great intro, some electric piano that harmonizes with segments of acoustic guitar and its last note deftly bleeds into "Ghosts of Autumn", a personal favourite of mine from their not-so-good album Feel Euphoria. Once again Nick's voice is dramatic and emotional, but this is more the shining moment of keyboardist Ryo Okumoto and guitarist Alan Morse. Especially Morse's solo sends shivers down the spine, once again impressing me with the otherworldly tone of his instrument. "As Long As We Ride" exceeds its original length by three minutes and is the band's most fun-having track as Nick continously harmonizes with blues licks. The debut album's title track, a 19-minute monster, seals Gluttons for Punishment, perhaps rendering it their most focused live album, with everything the song has in store. Not a very big live album fan, I tend to listen to them several times only to shelf them, I think this one is quite different, and should please even the non-Morse Spock's Beard fans, if they can keep an open mind.

First off, I am not a big fan of "live" CD's (fan noise, poor production quality, etc.) This is the EXCEPTION. Excellent production combined with great performances by the Beard make this an essential buy! Both NEW Beard fans an the loyal "old timers" will be pleased by the selections performed. The entire "Flash Before My Eyes" suite opens disc 1 in GRAND fashion, not straying too far from the Octane version. Alan , Ryo, Dave, Nick and tour drummer Jimmy Keegan are all in great form! Most of the Octane CD matterial is performed on GFP to please the NEW fans. For the old, the Beard play such jewels as "Harm's Way", "The Light" and "At The End Of The Day" and pull them off quite well despite Neal's absence. The highlight of this CD is definately Jimmy Keegan's BRILLIANT drum work on "NWC". His solo contains the perfect mix of taste, flash, and passion. Jimmy is the perfect compliment to the rest of the crew...Nick D stepping up front does a fine job as the lead vocalist. Please don't be a "glutton for punishment"- buy this CD. At the end of the day, you'll be "fine".....

Spock's Beard has survived the exit of Neal Morse pretty well. But unlike Genesis, it has taken the remaining members a little time to get up to speed. The new songs are often really good and sometimes just ok. I do prefer them with Neal Morse more, as I think they are a little more one dimensional. So that's where I'm coming from.

So what do I think of the CD? I think they play really tight and the recording is a very good one. They wisely avoid playing all but a few of the older numbers.

If you're a fan you need this album.

Gotta admit this is one helluva live album.

I love the reviews that say "blah blah Neil" if you were a fan you would know its Neal ;-)

Yes Spock's 2.0 took some time getting used to afer all the years with NEAL at the helm. But I gotta admit my ears like what the boys are doing.

I've seen S.B. this week 5th of october at "Theater de Groene Engel" in Oss the Netherlands. The CD is for 90 % a copy of what we saw an heard there. An Excellent live registration. Especially the parts of their last studio album Octane are superbe!

I know Neal Morse has moved on and SB is attempting to move on without him but this recording only emphasizes just how much he is missed. It reminds me of the Genesis live recording "Second's Out". The music was good but they really missed Peter Gabriel and seemed to struggle finding their place without him. Which they eventually did.

In the case of this recording, the songs performed from their last two recordings come off much better than the older SB tunes. The old tunes just have a hole where Neal should be. Neal wrote those songs taking into consideration his own keyboard and guitar parts. The songs sound hollow without them. By contrast, the newer songs were writen for a four piece band and sound very good recorded live.I wish they would have performed "A Guy named Sid" and left off "The Light".

Granted, Ryo does an outstanding job playing all the keyboard parts but on songs like "Harms Way" and "At the End of the Day" the layering of multiple keyboards and guitars is really missing.I am a bit disappointed by his solo. It puts you to sleep. Granted, it is very nice but come on Ryo, it's not a recital!

I'm not all that happy with the mix either. The vocals sound flat and lifeless. They should have added a "sweetening" and reverb to give the vocals a more live sound. The kick drum is too pervasive and the keyboards sound thin, when they really need to fill them out to make up for Neal.

While not a real barn burner, I am not heaving this CD entirely.It is a good snapshot of where the band is now. I am hoping the band continues to produce and perhaps the next live CD will be able to say goodbye to the old SB all together.

Spock's Beard. The mere name of the band will entice either shivers of awe, or angry spite. For only short years ago, they were at the top of the progressive rock genre. Then, the creative engine behind them - as well as vocalist, part-guitarist, and vocalist - Neal Morse decided to leave the band to persue his solo projects. As a side note, said projects are amazing pieces of music in their own right. But with Morse's absence, the Beard ventured into the rock cauldron and its essentially synth-laden rock, as opposed to progressive.

Back to here. Back to the Gluttons For Punishment. I must first get out of the way, I am, will be, and have been critical of the new Spock's Beard. I'm not even remotely a fan of Feeling Enphoria or Octane. That said, I always preferred what Morse wrote, and his very voice, over the current Spock's Beard.

That said, this is a very, very good live album. I can't comment too much on the material from Octane, but the old Beard tracks, and Ghost of Autumn, are very well done. Nick's voice does it some justice. The Light is very good - and, as with any live progressive recording, I enjoy the improv pieces thrown into the songs. It is those that truely separate a live concert to listening to the album woth a CD player. You don't want to know whats next. Needless to say, this album has that.

I'm not going to go through all the songs, because you shouldn't know when one of these unique add-ons occur, but if you're a fan of Spock's Beard, at all, I recommend you pick this album up. It'll never live up to Neal Morse's days, but it's certainly a fitting tribute to the glorious days of Spock's Beard.