Nice one Doug . My Prog and song writing hero for decades. His catalogue of albums is so huge and none are duds. You asked some questions that got answers I did not expect. Get your tickets for a show you will be blown away. I have seen him with Spocks , Transatlantic and with all his incarnations of solo bands and all are superb. If there is not a theme that brings a tear to your eye check your pulse.
Forgot to mention I have seen Flying Colors (American spelling) 3 times too . And have loads of signed posters in my music room. Keep on keeping on love your channel I would like some classical music not a fan as such but I think it would be a nice addition and maybe not de monetised but I get that a load of people probably would not listen. It is a fine line to straddle.
Neal's a great guy. So creative, enthusiastic, and energetic, with seemingly a bottomless well of ideas. I was at a Spock's Beard concert when he was still in the band, and he was walking through the crowd during the encore, while he was singing "The Light." He was right next to me when he called out, "Who wants it?" I grabbed the mic and got to sing the next line of the song. I got to be the lead singer of Spock's for about five seconds. One of my best concert memories!
You seriously need to hear the new Transatlantic and the new NMB albums Doug. Thanks very much for this. Neal has become my #1 favorite artist recently. So diverse. And at this stage in his career, it just feels like every musician hes involved with, is currently peaking with their skill levels
Wow Doug, this is great! I consider Neal and Mike (Portnoy) to be arguably the two single most important people in the landscape of prog rock/metal over the past few decades
Thank you for this interview. Neal is a person with great stories, but above all he is a nice person (as you are). From his days in Spock's Beard I follow Neal and he is never boring. I love his energy and borderless creativity.
What an absolute amazing interview Doug. Neal is such a great guy, loved the casual tone here. Nick is actually pretty active on TH-cam and other SoMe as well, so there may be a good chance to have a talk with him. Guess you have to check out the Spock's tune "June" now as well.. 😉
WOW! Just WOW! He is an amazing and absolutely laid back person. I was lucky enough to meet him in Hungary, he talked to me and my sister for about half an hour. It was an experience for life. Thanks for this talk with him, Doug!
For the record.. U just talked to a Musical genius Doug...I just learned of your channel...and it's in my wheelhouse..but I never in a million years thought you would be Interviewing Sir Neal Morse... Your the real deal Doug... Sincerely Alex. ( Check out Neal Morse One...)
Neal Morse is my favorite musician and I think I haven't heard to all of his music yet, but I'm taking my time to get into everything and enjoy it on the way as well! I really recommend you to react to "the door", it has one of the best guitar solos ever done! It is a hipnotizing song for both the music and the lyrics, simply beautiful!
Shout out to Westminster Choir College! As a graduate of that school, and a student of Dr. Helvering, this interview is such a wonderful melding of worlds for me.
Awesome interview! He brings up the song "June" and that's one of my top favorite Spock's Beard songs. It's a great campfire song. I've been meaning to learn it on guitar for just a plain acoustic version. Fun stuff.
I have met Neal twice and he's been a lovely individual both times. Morsefest 2015 was the best concert experience I've ever had, and I have never cried so hard at music before. All of Neal's stuff is so powerful.
Nice one! Thanks Doug! So cool to see you two nerding out. I myself am soooo looking forward to the Transatlantic Gig in Cologne here in Germany. I hope it won't get canceled! I saw them and the NMB a few times now. Great live bands. Great musicians! Awesome music!
Oh wow, the "I believe in the sun" bit that Neal sings is from a piece called "Even When He Is Silent" written by Kim André Arnesen, who lives in the same city as me (Trondheim, Norway)! Did not expect to hear that. I've sung it with a couple different choirs, it's a lovely piece.
Doug, you loved At the End of the Day. Now, you have to hear The Great Nothing, which ends the album V. The most emotional and epic Prog song Spock's ever did.
Excellent conversation! What a meeting of minds! My favourite (currently alive!) Prog artist and my favourite analysing-my-favourite-music-from-a-classical-perspective TH-camr! :-D Thanks for this, Doug! I hope you do feature a wide range of Neal's collaborations.... I'll be there to hear what you think! :-) Go for Similitude of a Dream on extended at lounge! :-)
Neal Morse is my favorite rock composer of all time. It's just icing on the cake that he's also so ridiculously prolific! You should react to more Neal Morse, Doug! Neal already suggested June by Spock's Beard, that's a great one considering you enjoy Troika! Cool interview :)
Caught both gigs in London NMB and Transatlantic both utter genius. Got talking to a guy in the pub before Transatlantic he had never seen them before. When I saw him after he said the best concert he had ever seen. Not surprised seen them many times and it is so great the audience went nuts from the first chord and that is not an English thing.
This was awesome 👏 I don't think you have done any music from The Neal Morse Band. "Alive Again" is an epic masterpiece that you need to get into. There is a musical theme in the song that they repeat in several different styles - very fascinating. You'll love it.
Wow, I literally just went to TH-cam to take a break from working on my bachelor's thesis about Spock's Beard and the first thing I see is Doug doing an interview with Neal Morse 0.0
Mrs. David Fisher… Turns out my uncle Bob… Bob Fisher… Ran the bell choir… For the Presbyterian Church in Long Beach California… And a relative of mine happened to write a tablature to teach bell choir all around the world I even have 78 LPs in entire set of bell choir music I never realized it until just recently… But this must be my influence my brother John and I have been seeing in the back of the car since we were little boys and we went to a Presbyterian Church in gaged in the choir there love your show
Hey Doug, great vid as always! It's a true challenge to encapsulate Neal Morse's influence on prog rock and music as a whole, but you did a great job! Hey, any chance we could get you to do some more Grateful Dead tunes? If you're looking for their version of prog rock, I'd direct you to listen to a version of Help On The Way / Slipknot! / Franklin's Tower. Every version is different (in true Dead fashion) and there is no wrong choice. Personally, I would recommend the version from August 13, 1975 at The Great American Music Hall. Anyway, thanks for the content and keep up the great work!
Great interview. Neal is amazing. Given your love of vocal harmonies, you should react to some Gentle Giant tunes. They have been an inspiration for Neal as well.
Now that you've interviewed Neal Morse, you really need to react to his Flying Colors band mate Steve Morse, either with his own band or the Dixie Dregs.
@@Doug.Helvering I know, I just feel a Neal Morse Band/solo song is long overdue on the channel after we got some great reactions to Spock's Beard and Transatlantic songs. I hope it's coming soon!
@Doug Helvering, 'June' & 'Gibberish' by Spock's Beard have been recommended often by myself and a handful of other subs. They're short tracks that are a great fit in the midweek slots in the upcoming months. The Great Nothing is a truely great track for a Masterpiece Friday episode. It clocks at just under 30 minutes. It's a song about a resistant performer that is trying to be manipulated by the music industry. This was such a great interview. As an early supporter of your channel and an early recommender of The Beard/Transatlantic/Marillion it's been a joyful experience watching you discover and appreciate these and so many other bands. Thanks for sharing the journey. 😎👍
@@bertrandvessier808, agreed I'd also add Waste Away, All on a Sunday a few other short tracks from the early years. I also firmly believe Doug should add the late great Kevin Gilbert to his musical vocabulary. He was very good friends with all the guys in Spock's Beard. Nick D'Virgilio was his drummer before and during the inception of The Beard. If you're not familiar with him I highly recommend checking out his concept Lp " The Shaming of the True" & his bands Thud, Giraffe & Toy Matinee.
Nice one Doug . My Prog and song writing hero for decades. His catalogue of albums is so huge and none are duds. You asked some questions that got answers I did not expect. Get your tickets for a show you will be blown away. I have seen him with Spocks , Transatlantic and with all his incarnations of solo bands and all are superb. If there is not a theme that brings a tear to your eye check your pulse.
Forgot to mention I have seen Flying Colors (American spelling) 3 times too . And have loads of signed posters in my music room. Keep on keeping on love your channel I would like some classical music not a fan as such but I think it would be a nice addition and maybe not de monetised but I get that a load of people probably would not listen. It is a fine line to straddle.
Yes! And yesterday an interview with Arjen Lucassen - my second top two favorite composer - popped up!
Neal's a great guy. So creative, enthusiastic, and energetic, with seemingly a bottomless well of ideas. I was at a Spock's Beard concert when he was still in the band, and he was walking through the crowd during the encore, while he was singing "The Light." He was right next to me when he called out, "Who wants it?" I grabbed the mic and got to sing the next line of the song. I got to be the lead singer of Spock's for about five seconds. One of my best concert memories!
You seriously need to hear the new Transatlantic and the new NMB albums Doug. Thanks very much for this.
Neal has become my #1 favorite artist recently. So diverse. And at this stage in his career, it just feels like every musician hes involved with, is currently peaking with their skill levels
Wow Doug, this is great! I consider Neal and Mike (Portnoy) to be arguably the two single most important people in the landscape of prog rock/metal over the past few decades
One of the better interviews of Neil. Thank you Sir.
Thank you for this interview. Neal is a person with great stories, but above all he is a nice person (as you are).
From his days in Spock's Beard I follow Neal and he is never boring. I love his energy and borderless creativity.
What an absolute amazing interview Doug. Neal is such a great guy, loved the casual tone here. Nick is actually pretty active on TH-cam and other SoMe as well, so there may be a good chance to have a talk with him. Guess you have to check out the Spock's tune "June" now as well.. 😉
How I love that you found Neal Morse. I'm taking my brother to the Neal Morse Band in Gothenburg Sweden this summer!
It is so cool to have Neal Morse on the channel. He has been my favorite musician, composer for a long time.
Great one Doug! Thx for sharing
WOW! Just WOW! He is an amazing and absolutely laid back person. I was lucky enough to meet him in Hungary, he talked to me and my sister for about half an hour. It was an experience for life. Thanks for this talk with him, Doug!
Love this! Neal is such a great guy and inspiration. Him and Mike Portnoy are the Lennon and McCartney of prog!
Neal Morse is my favorite musician of this century! Never miss a concert when they visit SoCal, exited for the February date in Los Angeles.
Neal Morse is an exceptional overall musician. Love his stuff. Thank you Doug
For the record.. U just talked to a Musical genius Doug...I just learned of your channel...and it's in my wheelhouse..but I never in a million years thought you would be Interviewing Sir Neal Morse... Your the real deal Doug... Sincerely Alex. ( Check out Neal Morse One...)
Oh man, please put the Whirlwind reaction on TH-cam. Its my favorite Transatlantic album.
I was just thinking the other day how cool it would be for Doug to interview Neal Morse. Neal is an absolute genius.
I'm hooked into Neal's music since 2000, after first hearing Transatlantic's SMPTe. Love you, Neal!
Awesome that you connected with Neal. He's THE MAN!!!
Neal Morse is my favorite musician and I think I haven't heard to all of his music yet, but I'm taking my time to get into everything and enjoy it on the way as well! I really recommend you to react to "the door", it has one of the best guitar solos ever done! It is a hipnotizing song for both the music and the lyrics, simply beautiful!
Shout out to Westminster Choir College! As a graduate of that school, and a student of Dr. Helvering, this interview is such a wonderful melding of worlds for me.
Awesome interview. Thank you. Saw Neil in Spocks opening for Dream Theater years ago. Been a fan of his since.
My favorite songwriter interviewed by my favorite music reaction channel. This is gonna be good.
My favorite modern composer. True genius. I have been to every Morsefest and they are beyond what he described. Great episode Doug!
Amazing interview with great details about all the music around Neal, a very nice man! Thank you so much for sharing with us, Doug 👍🏻👍🏻
Awesome interview! He brings up the song "June" and that's one of my top favorite Spock's Beard songs. It's a great campfire song. I've been meaning to learn it on guitar for just a plain acoustic version. Fun stuff.
Wow. That was an awesome interview. Imagine having Neal Morse ask to listen to your stuff. You're a legend Doug.
I have met Neal twice and he's been a lovely individual both times. Morsefest 2015 was the best concert experience I've ever had, and I have never cried so hard at music before. All of Neal's stuff is so powerful.
That was fun! terrific interview.
Fantastic interview!! Learn so much that I didn't know about Neil!!
Man this was awesome. What a cool guy this multifaceted artist is.
Cant be any more inspiring !!
Loved this. Saw SB on the V tour. This dude has endless creative juice.
Nice one! Thanks Doug! So cool to see you two nerding out. I myself am soooo looking forward to the Transatlantic Gig in Cologne here in Germany. I hope it won't get canceled! I saw them and the NMB a few times now. Great live bands. Great musicians! Awesome music!
*settling in to watch*
Great interview! Been a fan of about everything Neal is involved with since 2005. Looking forward to hearing more Morse ;)
U did Doug.. U got Neal Morse on your show...U Rock
Oh wow, the "I believe in the sun" bit that Neal sings is from a piece called "Even When He Is Silent" written by Kim André Arnesen, who lives in the same city as me (Trondheim, Norway)! Did not expect to hear that. I've sung it with a couple different choirs, it's a lovely piece.
I know the piece well. Arnesen is a great writer.
Love the intersection of prog and contemporary choral here! The former is my passion for listening, and the latter is my passion for performing.
Just fantastic
Morse is a hero! Great man! Amazing music player!
Great get, Doug. Neal and Company are the real deal.
That was great! Thanks!
Doug, you loved At the End of the Day. Now, you have to hear The Great Nothing, which ends the album V. The most emotional and epic Prog song Spock's ever did.
Brahms' German Requiem... so hopeful, so triumphant! Love the Gardiner recording.
i wish all of Neal's stuff was on Spotify
Excellent conversation! What a meeting of minds! My favourite (currently alive!) Prog artist and my favourite analysing-my-favourite-music-from-a-classical-perspective TH-camr! :-D
Thanks for this, Doug! I hope you do feature a wide range of Neal's collaborations.... I'll be there to hear what you think! :-)
Go for Similitude of a Dream on extended at lounge! :-)
Neal Morse is my favorite rock composer of all time. It's just icing on the cake that he's also so ridiculously prolific! You should react to more Neal Morse, Doug! Neal already suggested June by Spock's Beard, that's a great one considering you enjoy Troika! Cool interview :)
Never knew you studied with Morten Lauridson. What a Star he is in modern Choral music. I've sang is O Magnam Mysterium so many times now ...
Well now I can't wait for the album. All this talking about music that is not released yet is making me excited.
Caught both gigs in London NMB and Transatlantic both utter genius. Got talking to a guy in the pub before Transatlantic he had never seen them before. When I saw him after he said the best concert he had ever seen. Not surprised seen them many times and it is so great the audience went nuts from the first chord and that is not an English thing.
Great interview!
WE LOVE NEAL!!!
This was awesome 👏 I don't think you have done any music from The Neal Morse Band. "Alive Again" is an epic masterpiece that you need to get into. There is a musical theme in the song that they repeat in several different styles - very fascinating. You'll love it.
I really really love Innocence&Danger, for me is the best 2021 album.
The album spoilers are killing me! I can't wait. The Nick and Neal era Spock's Beard albums are amazing and sadly very hard to get any more.
Wow, I literally just went to TH-cam to take a break from working on my bachelor's thesis about Spock's Beard and the first thing I see is Doug doing an interview with Neal Morse 0.0
I want to read your thesis when it's done. I bet everyone commenting here does too.
Mrs. David Fisher… Turns out my uncle Bob… Bob Fisher… Ran the bell choir… For the Presbyterian Church in Long Beach California… And a relative of mine happened to write a tablature to teach bell choir all around the world I even have 78 LPs in entire set of bell choir music I never realized it until just recently… But this must be my influence my brother John and I have been seeing in the back of the car since we were little boys and we went to a Presbyterian Church in gaged in the choir there love your show
Wow, 2 nice humble talented guys chewing the fat. Loved that.
Hey Doug, great vid as always! It's a true challenge to encapsulate Neal Morse's influence on prog rock and music as a whole, but you did a great job! Hey, any chance we could get you to do some more Grateful Dead tunes? If you're looking for their version of prog rock, I'd direct you to listen to a version of Help On The Way / Slipknot! / Franklin's Tower. Every version is different (in true Dead fashion) and there is no wrong choice. Personally, I would recommend the version from August 13, 1975 at The Great American Music Hall. Anyway, thanks for the content and keep up the great work!
Nick; very informative. Too bad "radio" is So commecialized(same same same songs over & over...
Great interview. Neal is amazing. Given your love of vocal harmonies, you should react to some Gentle Giant tunes. They have been an inspiration for Neal as well.
Doug you need to react to some songs from Innocence and Danger! I suggest one of the 2 EPICS
Great interview! You should try going to Morsefest, Doug. Once in a lifetime experience and this year’s edition could be the last!
Now that you've interviewed Neal Morse, you really need to react to his Flying Colors band mate Steve Morse, either with his own band or the Dixie Dregs.
Woah! Doug, you've got to listen to June! I can't find the right version, but please do.
That's a brave man, interviewing Neal Morse without hearing a single NMB song! Why have you avoided it for so long?
Didn't know him or his music until this past year. I'm catching up!
@@Doug.Helvering I know, I just feel a Neal Morse Band/solo song is long overdue on the channel after we got some great reactions to Spock's Beard and Transatlantic songs. I hope it's coming soon!
At last you come together
Sadly, he only appears in London in the UK so I won't see him live. Still, there are always his albums to buy.
Another awesome interview! Really enjoyed this. I have some new music I need to check out.
O. M. G. yesss
@Doug you should get Symphony X's Russell Allen too. I think you and him would get to talk about a lot of things.
criminal there have only been 2 Spock's Beard songs on the channel...
We'll get to more!
@Doug Helvering, 'June' & 'Gibberish' by Spock's Beard have been recommended often by myself and a handful of other subs.
They're short tracks that are a great fit in the midweek slots in the upcoming months.
The Great Nothing is a truely great track for a Masterpiece Friday episode. It clocks at just under 30 minutes.
It's a song about a resistant performer that is trying to be manipulated by the music industry.
This was such a great interview. As an early supporter of your channel and an early recommender of The Beard/Transatlantic/Marillion it's been a joyful experience watching you discover and appreciate these and so many other bands.
Thanks for sharing the journey. 😎👍
Yes, It baffles me that no reaction channel has done The Great Nothing. Perhaps the best Prog epic produced in the past 25 years.
@@memelordmark7532 I would also had Thoughts ptII for the midweek spot especially since Doug enjoys the vocal harmonies so much.
@@bertrandvessier808, agreed I'd also add Waste Away, All on a Sunday a few other short tracks from the early years.
I also firmly believe Doug should add the late great Kevin Gilbert to his musical vocabulary. He was very good friends with all the guys in Spock's Beard. Nick D'Virgilio was his drummer before and during the inception of The Beard.
If you're not familiar with him I highly recommend checking out his concept Lp " The Shaming of the True" & his bands Thud, Giraffe & Toy Matinee.
From the looks I thought it is Ray Shulman...
Whom it would be so exciting to see here ;)
Doug convinced the vapors that they were turning Japanese.
Doug It's called NEO-PROG.. is the rebirth of 1970s Prog era.. FYI
You must do June on your channel! It's a life-changing song.
Wow this is awesome!!! How did you get in contact with him??
through the record label
Would like to see your reaction to 'Author of Confusion' by Neal Morse. Live version from Morsefest 2014 is best.
Your channel is really exciting, can you please analyze the song deep purple child in time
Living prog hero!
Doug you should interview John petrucci,Mike portnoy,
so bummed, both bands are not going to hit much of the US West coast :(((
🤙🤙🎸🎸