Spock's Beard frontman Neal Morse has been a busy man lately. So far this year, he's released a solo album, collaborated on discs by Ayreon and prog supergroup Transatlantic. On top of all that, there's been a live Spock's Beard album. As if that wasn't enough, the band has just released its fifth studio album, cleverly entitled V. There's nothing here that Beard fans haven't heard before, but the songwriting has improved over the years and they seem to have truly found their musical niche. They move seamlessly between 'pop' songs like "All on a Sunday" with its sweet harmonies to 27-minute epics like this CD's centerpiece, "The Great Nothing." You won't find many groups who can do that.

The album kicks off with "At the End of the Day." The song is 16 minutes of sheer brilliance and one of the best things the band has ever done. It's got great melodies, and the musicianship is outstanding--particularly in the last section. Dave Meros' bass lines are enough to make Geddy Lee stand up and take notice. "Revelation" is another great song with a killer melody. It starts off quiet and unassuming, then rocks out on the choruses. Alan Morse's solos after the bridge are the epitome of power guitar leads. For me, the low point on the CD is "Thoughts (Part II)." Vocally, it's the most complex thing on the disc, but unless you're a Gentle Giant fan, you probably won't truly appreciate it. But you don't have to be a Gentle Giant fan to get into Meros' manic bass solo on the cut.

Inspired by the late Kevin Gilbert, "The Great Nothing" covers an enormous amount of musical ground. From the beautiful acoustic guitar and piano passages to textbook prog-rock chord progressions, and the techno/electronic samples to the classically oriented crescendos scattered throughout, this one's got all the bases covered. One thing you'll notice as you listen to this CD is that there are several instances where you'll swear you've heard parts of these songs before--yet they never sound derivative. The fact that they sound as familiar as they do is a perfect indication of Neal Morse's songwriting skills. And like any great album, you gain a better appreciation of the tracks with each listen as you discover all the nuances --especially on "The Great Nothing."

Spock's Beard has really come into their own with their latest album. Each member of the group gets the chance to shine, but you never get the feeling that any one of them is 'stealing the show.' The band considers this to be the definitive Spock's Beard album. Although I'm not sure that I agree with that (my personal favorite is the group's second album, Beware of Darkness), it's right up there and keeps getting better with every listen.

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A rather nice release by Spock's Beard. Jun 12 2004

By Nathan M.

Format:Audio CD

V is a great progressive album ( I mean that in the way that it changes a lot). "At the End of the day" is a very nice piece that covers just about everything you will hear on the album, one of the best songs on the album. "Revelation" is a bit of a harder piece but it's quite an excellent song. "Thoughts (Part II)" is almost a childish song but it is rather funny to listen too. 'All on a Sunday" is a good track, it might be my least favorite but it's still solid. It's soft and up beat a bit. "Good Bye to Yesterday" is another soft track but it has an almost eeire sound to it that is really awesome. "The Great Nothing" is one of the greatest epics I've heard. I would put it behind the work from Transatlantic's album "Bridge across Forever" (more Neal Morse work). It changes many times through the entire track and really is an amazing way to close a great album such as this one. I would gladly recommend this album to any fan of Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater and (of course) Spock's Beard (if they don't ahve it already). This will make a great addition to any music collection.

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A 'V' for the ages! Jun 10 2004

By Michael Laimo

Format:Audio CD

V by Spock's Beard is perhaps one of the best modern Progressive Rock CD's ever recorded. There's nary a dull moment here, and a bit of everything that makes it such a winner. The album starts out with the sixteen-minute anthem "At The End Of The Day". The title is the only cliché here, as the song shows how efficient these guys are at making some of the best progressive music today. Melodies abound in this song, and amazingly, the guys adeptly turn a flamenco guitar riff into some of the heaviest rocking beats you're bound to hear. You've got a pop-like tune in All On A Sunday, that will force you to press that repeat button on the CD player. It's a tuneful rocker. Thoughts Part 2 continues off, even better, than when Thoughts Part 1 left off on a recent release. Goodbye to Yesterday, perhaps the CD's weakest song, is a light melodic vocal driven tune, that, although pretty good, doesn't live up to the rest of the songs. And then....drum roll please...The Great Nothing. 30 minutes of pure bliss. It's so good, it hurts. The melodies just keep coming on this song, and the thirty minutes go by like lightning, as though you were watching a great movie. This is a great CD. Enjoy!

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