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Spock's Beard

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Spock's Beard

Spock's Beard is a progressive rock band formed in 1992 in Los Angeles by brothers Neal and Alan Morse. Neal played keyboards and was the lead vocalist, as well as being the primary songwriter; Alan plays electric guitar. The pair teamed with fellow musicians Nick D'Virgilio (drums) and Dave Meros (bass) and released their debut album, The Light, in 1995. The quartet were later joined by veteran keyboardist Ryo Okumoto.

The band played a brand of progressive rock with pop music leanings (drawing much influence from Genesis), as opposed to the hard rock approach of The Flower Kings or the metal feel of Dream Theater. The band is also well known for their intricate multi-part vocal harmonies (such as those found on certain Gentle Giant songs) and use of counterpoint on cuts such as "Gibberish," "Thoughts (Parts I and II)," "June," " A Guy Named Sid Pt.5: Sid's Boy Choir", and "Devil's Got My Throat."

In 2002, the band released the highly acclaimed double-cd concept album entitled Snow, which tells a story of an albino psychic who acquires a messianic following, who spiritually falls and loses the direction of his calling, then to be rescued with new chance to live in harmony. Many listeners and critics have noted the parallels between the storyline of Snow and Neal Morse's own highly-publicized conversion to Christianity.

Following the release of Snow, Neal Morse left the band for a solo career as a Christian-Progressive artist, this career becoming highly acclaimed by the progressive world. Drummer Nick D'Virgilio took over the lead singing and songwriting role, in a move reminiscent of Genesis's drummer Phil Collins taking over from Peter Gabriel. Their first album, Feel Euphoria, has a harder-rocking and more experimental sound than the Neal Morse-led band, relying on Alan Morse's guitar to a greater extent.

In early 2005, after a long writing and recording process, Spock's Beard released Octane, their second album after the departure of Neal Morse. This was seen by many fans as a return to a more bright and epic sound after the previous songwriting differences in Feel Euphoria.

As posted on their website on November 8th: Their 9th studio album was released on Nov 21st, 2006, simply entitled "Spock's Beard"

Alan Morse came up with the name after a particularly wild party, where he remarked to his brother, Neal, "It's almost as if Spock had a beard. Wouldn't that be a cool name for a band? Spock's Beard." Then, when it came time to choose a name for the band, Alan made a list of over 100 names and threw Spock's Beard on the end as a joke, and the band chose it. (In fact, the name may be a reference to the episode Mirror, Mirror of the Star Trek original series. In that episode, four Enterprise officers are exchanged with their counterparts in an alternate universe; the alternate version of Spock has a beard.)

Members

Current lineup

  • Nick D'Virgilio - Lead Vocals, Drums
  • Alan Morse - Guitar, Vocals
  • Ryo Okumoto - Keyboards
  • Dave Meros - Bass, Vocals

Former members

  • Neal Morse (1992 - 2002) - Lead Vocals, Synths, Acoustic Guitar

Additional musicians

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Live albums and compilations

Videos

External links

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