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50 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
~Interesting Dichotomy~, May 24, 2004
Not in the music, in the reviews. [Pay attention]Is artistic merit really based upon personal belief? How many Neal Morse fans suddenly bolted when the message changed? How many of you are willing to bemoan the lyrics because you may not relate to the driving force behind the inspiration? How many of you are no longer Neal Morse fans?I am spinning the CD as I write this, "The Land of Beginning Again" is resonating around my apartment, and I wonder, why? Now, far be it from me to judge anyone, but if you are going to scream, placards raised above your heads, "This is NOT progressive, this is NOT Spock's Beard, this is...well, this is crap." Shame on you. Is the entire idea that "music is about personal experience, music is expression, music is passion"....is this idea gone? Is it lost on this generation? Can you honestly say that, regardless of your "religious, or non-religious" proclivites, this album is not absolutely astounding? Can you honestly say that this "journey" was not well worth taking? I don't know Neal Morse. I have never met him. Funny thing is, I took this walk with him as I listened to this album initially. And I relished every step. Neal Morse is a mastermind, a child let loose in the proverbial candy store. A wunderkind unleashed. Christian? OH NO...forget the musical merit...leave it behind. I see bias in these reviews. I see personal preference and levels of comfort weighed above artisic merit. Can you [gentle listener] really tell me that because the lyrics my lean toward the spiritual, the entire experience is lost? I beg to differ. Looking back over my collection of progressive music, I can say that this album ranks in the top ten, not just musically but emotionally. _Testimony_ moves me. It motivates me, and it makes me understand what music is. I will continue to be a staunch supporter of Neal Morse, and will purchase ANYTHING that this gifted man touches, regardless. You should too.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why did I wait?, February 25, 2007
You know, it's almost impossible to not address this as a Christian work - but don't jump down my throat until you read the next paragraph:
I truly feel like an IDIOT because I let my Agnosticism keep me from purchasing any of Neal's Christian albums. Truthfully, that was absolutely THE DUMBEST REASON ON EARTH not to buy this. (And I not only bought this disc, I bought "?" and "One," which I also love.)
As a fan of Neal-era Spock's Beard, and Transatlantic, I should have gotten this MUCH sooner than I did. If one is to look at religion as an intellectual topic rather than a spiritual one, then you really should have no problem with this album. Consider also that Mr. Portnoy is Jewish, and apparently could put his own religious beliefs aside to play on Neal's Christian works. So, really, if he can get over it, why can't you?
Now that we've gotten that out of the way ... this is perhaps Neal's masterwork, and one that should be in any progressive rock fan's library. This isn't too far off of the Spock's Beard path, nor the Transatlantic path - it's just more epic in scope. The orchestrations and arrangements are nothing short of brilliant. Neal's sense of melody and thematic development have always been what drew me to all of his work - that, and the amount of sonic diversity that you get, both within an album as a whole, and very often within the context of a single track. If this is what you like about Neal's work, then you will not be disappointed in the least. The playing here is top notch as well - when have you heard Mike Portnoy not turn in a jaw dropping performance on the drums? - and lyrically, I don't suppose you can get much more personal than this; Whether or not you care about Jesus or God or any of that, this is Neal's story. And if you respect the man and his work, you can put your personal hangups aside to listen to him.
My only regret is that I didn't get over mine sooner. And while this album has not affected my views on Christianity, it certainly made me consider the amount of cynicism and hypocrisy in my life had reached ridiculous levels when I let something like religious beliefs (or lack thereof) get in the way of listening to something that is so compositionally brilliant and truly a work of genius.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Deeply personal effort not for everyone., September 26, 2003
There is no doubt that Neal Morse is an incredible musical talent and I have been a huge fan. His work with Spock's Beard, Transatlantic resulted in some of the most refreshing contemporary music in the past decade. With that said, you must understand that this is a deeply personal cd for Morse, and also very Christian, which may or may not turn off some listeners. On a personal level I'm glad that Morse found something that has helped him anchor his life and provide it with more meaning and happiness. It's obvious from that he's a changed man and that he credits Jesus, for his turnaround. This was obviously profound for him. So understand that this 2 cd set is the musical autobiography of Neal Morses' journey from sinning and struggling as an artist, through to his redemption through Christ. I must admit that when Morse left the band last year I was distraught. I felt an incredible connection to his music, his lyrics and its departure from the mainstream garbage that the music industry serves up to the mindless masses. Spock's Beard was that rare band able to put together a consistent string of incredible albums, each equally original and as good as the last. The music was new, fresh and upbeat. By comparison this is not, and that, in a nutshell is where I think Testimony strays. Lyrics aside the music on these disks is full of incredible effort and talent. Morse pulled out all of the stops with layer upon layer of orchestrations, harmonies, instrumentation and reoccurring themes and melodies. His musicianship is quite impressive and his weakness is covered superbly by drum ace Mike Portnoy. However, despite all of the emotion, grandiose themes and theatrics, the music itself is, in this listener's opinion, a far cry from his best work. It appears that Morse is so determined to tell his story that he sometimes forces the lyrics or molds the songs around them to send a message. In its entirety the resulting product is impressive and has many beautiful moments, whether melodic such as "Wasted Life" or the emotionally charged "It's all I can do". However, intermittent songs lack the spontaneity and originality of his work with both Spock's and Transatlantic. As I listened to each new song, I found my mind wandering back to the triumphant finale of "The Great Nothing", or "The Healing Colors of Sound." There's simply nothing on this album that matches the originality of those creative moments musically. And, while some of his more melodic and slower songs are touching, they simply lack the magic of "June", "The Distance to the Sun" or "We All Need Some Light." The disk opens with "The Land of Beginning Again" which kind of sets the tone, dripping with meaning for Morse, but lacking the songwriting his followers have come to expect. The inner struggle of the album seems to be whether it should be a more subdued Christian piece or a progressive masterpiece, or both? He tries to cross both bridges, and in many cases he comes close. "Overture No. 1" followed by "California Nights" and "Colder in the Sun" seem to pick up right where Spock's last effort "Snow" left off, sometimes sounding too much the same. But then "Sleeping Jesus" kind of knocks the whole groove down with one of the worst songs in the set. The music picks up with heavy prog on "Interlude". And that's how the entire effort goes, good moments followed by let downs with forced lyrics into songs that musically never would have made a Spock's or Transatlantic disk. The second cd is full of majestic songs with full and sweeping orchestrations, but it starts off dry with "Transformation." The second disk just oozes with emotional Morse's passion which is really quite touching, but the content gets simply too "churchy" for this listener. But, once wasn't enough... so, after the second listen to Testimony I thought to myself what an incredible accomplishment this is for Neal Morse. He put his heart and soul into the music. And, while I'm glad he made it and I hope it brings him the peace and comfort he so badly craves, I also hope he got it out of his system. There are other ways to musically deliver spiritual messages without forcing songs or beating listeners over the head with religious lyrics. Morse may never be able to out "produce" or perform this album, but there is no doubt that he is capable of writing better and more appealing music. The question remains, does he want to?
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