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Progland was founded by John Gabbard in 2005. It's purpose has been to provide you, the music community with the latest music and dvd reviews. It will continue to be your link to the most popular music reviews in the progressive world.

 

Spock’s Beard-Octane (Special Edition)

Reviewed by: Tom Beck
Genre: Prog Rock
Country: USA
Language: English
Length: 55:50
Release Date: February 1, 2005
Label:
InsideOut America
Band Members: Nick D'Virgilio / lead vocals, drums, percussion, guitar, bass, programming, keyboards Alan Morse / guitar, theremin, saw, cello, vocals
  Ryo Okumoto / keyboards, vocals Dave Meros / bass, bass pedals, French horn, vocals
  Eric Gorfain – Violin Daphne Chen – Violin Leah Katz – Violin Richard Dodd – Cello
  Gina Ballina- French Horn/ Johnnie Corno – French Horn Ramone Flores – Trumpet
  Molly Pasutti – Voices John Boegehold – ambience, sound, voices
 
TRACK LISTING CD1: (55:55)
Track Listing: 1.)-The Ballet Of The Impact: 5:34 6.)-Letting Go (1:52)
  (I) Prelude To The Past (4:53) 7.)Of The Beauty Of It All (4:53)
  (II) The Ultimate Quiet (I) If I Could Paint A Picture
  III) A Blizzard Of My Memories (II) Into The Great Unknowable
  2.) - I Wouldn't Let It Go 8.) - NWC (4:16)
  3.) - Surfing Down The Avalanche (3:43) 9.)- There Was A Time (4:58)
  4.) - She Is Everything (6:46) 10.)- The Planet's Hum (4:42)
  (I) Strange What You Remember 11.)-Watching The Tide (5:07)
  (II) Words Of Forever 12.)-As Long As We Ride (5:35)
  5. Climbing Up That Hill (3:31)  
     
 
TRACK LISTING CD2:27:10
Video – 34:00
  1.)-When She’s Gone: 5:41 6.)-Someday I’ll Be Found: 1:04 (String Quartet, Flash 2)
  2.)-Follow Me To Sleep: 5:39 7.)- I was Never Lost: 1:09 (Background vocals, Flash 2)
  3.)- Game Face: 4:10 8.)-Paint Me A Picture: 1:29 (Pipe organ outtake from Flash)
  4.)-Broken Promise Land: 4:45 9.)-Formulation of Octane (Quick Time Video MPEG 4): 34:10
  5.)-Listening To The Sky: 3:08
The Review

The first question I must ask myself is: “Is Spock’s Beard still a progressive band?” Part of me says yes, but the larger part says no. Neal Morse is gone so let’s all get over that. He’s gone, outa there, finito, on to doing his own thing. I promise to never mention his name again during this review. When I look at Octane and see one extended piece and five other numbers all ranging in length from four to five minutes,my verdict has to be no; they are no longer a progressive band. I am not saying they are a bad band but no longer a progressive band. They still have the trademark SB sound but seem to be going for a more commercial appeal. And let’s face it, a four minute song that may get some radio air play will probably sell more units than a 30 minute progressive number. I don’t want to be too hard on Spock’s Beard but I can no longer review them as a progressive band. The same as I cannot review Proto Kaw or Asia as a progressive band.****

The first cut on Octane, “A Flash Before My Eyes” may appear to be a prog epic but in reality it is several shorter numbers all grouped together with some musical interludes to attempt to connect them. The entire seven pieces tell the story of an individual who is dying in a car crash and is seeing his life flash before his eyes. Without the brief musical interludes the songs can easily be listened to as separate units. All and all, it’s an enjoyable listen but it is somewhat stretching the definition of a progressive song. They blend much better when heard live (Gluttons For Punishment) but the studio version seems a bit fractured.****

After the song cycle of “A Flash Before My Eyes” they move into the shorter numbers which make up the rest of CD 1. (If you get the “Special Edition” there is a bonus CD, which I’ll talk about later.) The next song “NWC” is an instrumental number. It starts out with some good keyboard work from Ryo. It moves into some experimental stuff that is pretty out there and really shows some creativity. However at just over four minutes as soon as you get into it, it just kind of ends, and leaves the listener hanging.****

“There Was A Time” starts out with a decent acoustic guitar riff and then turns into a fairly standard AOR mid tempo rocker complete with a “middle eight” (excuse my Beatles reference) and an obligatory guitar solo. It’s a good tune but nothing to call your mom about.****

“The Planets Hum” starts out with a less than intriguing bass line and then adds some guitar and flute to bring it around. It has a feel reminiscent of Gentle Giant with a calliope of vocal harmonies. It changes into a pretty decent rocker while continuing the vocal harmonies and then winds down with an acoustic guitar finish. A lot going on in this song and it may have benefited from a longer treatment.****

“Watching The Tide” slows things down with Nick singing a ballad in a falsetto voice against a lone piano. It slowly builds with synth and strings but never really achieves anything spectacular.****

Octane wraps up with “As Long As We Ride”. It seems as though SB is looking for an AOR hit with this one and it is a fairly descent rock number. Nick does a little scat with an acoustic guitar to start an instrumental break carried by Alan Morse. They try to make it somewhat progressive by putting in a few seconds break of some spacey off tempo stuff but then quickly return to the original melody of the song to wrap it up. It is a catchy number and I think worth some air play.****

By reading the accounts of each of the songs above you can see that SB goes little out of their way to be a progressive band on Octane. What is very intriguing however, is what is contained on the second disk of the “special edition” set. While the songs are equally as short, they seam much more inspired to this reviewer, and the second disk is actually better than the first. The bonus songs would have less commercial appeal but better define the versatility of SB.****

“When She’s Gone” is a mid tempo number loaded with keyboards a heavy guitar riff from Alan. Is that Nick sounding like Ozzy?****

“Follow Me To Sleep” is my favorite song on either disk. It contains the signature Spock’s Beard sound, very rich sound, good harmonies and a lot of transitions to keep the song interesting. At only 5:39, this song would have really benefited from an increased length with extended solos and more interplay between Ryo and Alan. I wouldn’t mind seeing them stretch this into a 20 minute jam when playing it live.****

“Same Face” has a funky beat with vocal gymnastics again, reminiscent of Gentle Giant. It has very interesting solos with some great acoustic jazz work from Ryo. Throw in some trumpet and you get this whole “jazzy Gentle Giant” thing going on. A really fun number.****

“Broken Promise Land” wraps up the “songs” on disk two. It is another decent rocker with more good interaction between Ryo and Alan. Nick shows good vocal range going between rough down and dirty vocals and a falsetto.****

The remnants of disk 2 is a slow instrumental synth number by Ryo Okumoto titled “Listen To The Sky” and then just bits and pieces of backing tracks and outtakes from “A Flash Before My Eyes”.****

At the very end of disk 2 is a 34 minute, total waste of time, video titled “The Formulations Of Octane” You get some senseless mugging to the camera, a way too long “cow bell routine”, some pointless instrument noodling, and a few jams This video gives you NO insight as to the making of Octane except to reinforce how mundane, repetitious, and boring studio work can be.****

All and all an OK outing Spock’s Beard but nothing more than just OK. What I think may be important is that we let go of the SB of old and don’t expect them to return to the longer progressive epics of the past. However, mediocre is no way to survive. This is just mediocre stuff here, and they really need to step it up if they are going to survive. They run the risk of loosing what is left of their progressive fan base and, without stronger offerings, may not expect to gather any new fans either.****

GRADE: C

 

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