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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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