Neal Morse - "One" - Page 2

Most of "One" is long prog epics in various movements, including "The Creation", "The Separated Man" and "Reunion". This is a long album, and has apparently been edited down to fit on a single disc; some songs which were dropped from the running order are on a bonus disc (on the special limited edition of "One" only available directly from Radiant Records). Morse's long-time collaborator Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) is on drums (and a bit less thudding than he was on "Yellow Matter Custard") and guitar legend Phil Keaggy guests on "The Creation", "The Man's Gone" and "Cradle To The Grave". The music ranges from straight-ahead prog to acoustic flatpicking epics ("The Man's Gone" and its reprise in "The Separated Man" are particularly tasty).

The strings and horns are very tastefully done, reminding me of George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" era. Morse gets great tones on the guitars (a Parker, an ES-335 and a Strat), with a very eclectic set of amps (I caught at least one Orange head and a tweed Bassman in the studio photos). Keaggy of course is playing his Zion and gets that amazing tone on his wild solo on "The Creation" (I would've liked to have heard him with the Les Paul as well, but I guess he reserves that for Glass Harp).

On the bonus disc on the special edition of One, George Harrison's "What Is Life" is covered beautifully with the added bonus of Phil Keaggy playing and singing on the track. I suppose Badfinger qualifies as Beatle-related, and there's a great cover of "Day After Day" (Keaggy did a great cover of "Baby Blue" on Crimson and Blue, or was it just Blue - I can't make sense out of what they did with that album; IMHO, Keaggy's version beats Badfinger's by a country mile). A dandy cover of "Where The Streets Have No Name" follows, a bit unusual to hear a U2 cover, and it's very close to the original, but it works in the context of the CD. The covers finish up with "I'm Free" segued into "Sparks", the former not being one of my favorites from "Tommy", but the latter works quite well. I would've liked to have heard this lineup tackle "Overture", "Eyesight To The Blind", "Pinball Wizard" and "We're Not Gonna Take It", but I guess that's an exercise in wishful thinking ("The Seeker" would've been cool also....).

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