In my opinion, Steve Morse is the best thing that could have ever happened to Deep Purple. Not only is he an incredibly gifted musician, he's also extremely intelligent, well-spoken, well-rounded (he's both a licensed pilot and a farmer), humble and affable... the true embodiment of a nice guy. He brought stability to a group not exactly known for being able to hold themselves together. Since he joined Purple, the guys are having FUN, and it's obvious. They are making the music they want, in the way they want. Egos appear to be in check and everyone seems to genuinely enjoy each other's company. Steve's stabilizing presence is proof that one member can really make all the difference in the world. Thank you, Steve, for breathing new life into my beloved Deep Purple!! 💜
Absolutely agree with all of that & yet when having to choose which Purple record to listen to I'll either go to classic Purple or Bolin Purple over the newer stuff. But yeah, what a great addition for them to inject new life into the band, and a HUGE improvement over Satriani
Well done Pete. My top 3. 1. Coast to Coast 2. Split Decision 3. Stressfest but absolutely no bad albums and Dave LaRue is my favourite bassist and I've now seen him with Flying Colors AND John Petrucci. Steve I've seen 4 times with Purple and once with FC and always enjoyable.
Man oh man, had no idea that Steve Morse had such a rich solo career. I just got my kid (6 yo) started with guitar lessons and have been getting him inspired by Gary Moore and David Gilmour, but will play some of this albums for him too!
Thanks for doing this ranking Pete! I am going to check these out and I was waiting for your ranking for a trustworthy guide for where to start. Sorry Lynne could not participate but great video.
I got to stand at the side of the stage for a SMB show at a nightclub. He shook my hand after concluding with Tumeni Notes. Actually he did not play enough notes, in my eye. LOL. Steve is clearly one of the finest guitarists ever. So enjoyable !
Thank you Pete for the albums review. I will need to check these out soon. Was fortunate to see the Dixie Dregs back in the 80s at a free San Jose State University concert. They were on fire that day.
...been waiting on this one. Peek was a perfect player for Morse (after Andy West). Larue is also great & one helluva educator. Damn, I had forgotten that Van Temple of The Producers was singing on the lead track of STAND UP...the Atlanta connection, right? "Tumeni Notes" kicks! Great show! Thank you.
Top four would be mine. Love them dearly like you. I haven’t heard of enough after Coast to Coast, so this is a good guide for checking those out. Yes, Jerry Peek was great, but then in came Dave LaRue just as great. Van Romaine up to Rod Morgansteen level and the band kept rolling. Also, Endless Waves is a beauty.
Thanks Pete, I'll be checking out Coast to Coast soon. I've been getting into the Dregs stuff lately for the first time. I've been warming up to the Deep Purple Morse stuff with recent listens because of SOT!
Love it! My first experience with Steve Morse's albums was at a time of being disappointed with the direction of metal music. I started to explore Jazz, and fusion. Steve Morse was a guest on one of the late night talk shows and me and my friend were blown away. Went out and purchased a cassette of High Tension Wires and bought everything that was available. Amazing composer. I rank his albums I know best in this order. 1.)High Tension Wires 2.)Coast to Coast 3.)The Introduction 4.)Southern Steel 5.)Stand Up 6.)Stressfest
Cheers Pete! I met Steve in 1989 and talk about the nicest guys ever. I work at Boeing and we talked planes and music for 30 minutes. Your ranking pretty much the same as mine except my top two would be High Tension Wires and The Introduction. Besides being my favorite guitar player Steve is a great producer.
...and band leader/composer. The nice guy angle can't be overstated, Morse has no problem giving his time to fans. I remember him spending a good 5 minutes talking to me about his setup & sound after a solo show in the early 90's, and I wasn't the only one either. Wonder how much later he actually ended up leaving that club...
Steve Morse makes up one third of my personal “holy guitar trio”, along with Gary Moore & Jeff Beck…My Steve Morse Band album ranking (excluding the 3 “Steve Morse” solo records, Angelfire, the Prime Cuts compilations & various other Morse collaborations - see below. Also excluding Morse’s work with Flying Colors). Honestly some of these could change places depending on the day: #1 Southern Steel - “Southern Steel” sounds exactly like you’d think. “Cut To The Chase” & “Sleaze Factor” are probably my 2 fave tunes from this record.” Vista Grande” builds nicely, reminds me of The Dregs’ “Hereafter” in that respect. “Weekend Overdrive” - this guy has a knack for naming his songs with just the right titles. This is a really great record #2 Out Standing In Their Field - Really nice diversity, harder stuff mixed with mellow tunes, also sounds like Dregs at times. My Out Standing (get it?) track = “Name Dropping”. The live “Rising Power” really cooks. The acoustic “Baroque 'N Dreams” takes you back to another time #3 Stressfest (tied with Structural Damage) - The title track is a real rocker - Tumeni Notes? NO! “Live To Ride” is another master class in controlling your guitar, very tasty playing. “Brave New World” sounds like it could be straight out of What If #3 Structural Damage (tied with Stressfest) - Fave track = “Smokey Mtn. Drive”, a Dregs-like country-influenced number. “Slice Of Time” is another really nice acoustic tune #4 Coast To Coast - “Runaway Train” is another Dregs-ish number a la “Pride O’ The Farm”. “User Friendly” burns it down. “Flat Baroque” is an intricate acoustic composition #5 Split Decision - “Gentle Flower, Hidden Beast” is a study in guitar playing, great control & tone on this one. “Mechanical Fenzy” again sounds exactly like you’d think. “Majorly Up” is Morse weaving his intricate guitar lines in & out like only he can #6 The Introduction - The first record but not the best. 6 cool tracks. “Huron River Blues” is the epic, in three parts. Great wah guitar. “Mountain Waltz” is another nice Southern ditty. “On The Pipe” is another supercharged country pickin’ tune that only Morse knows how to play. Love the name “V.H.F. (Vertical Hair Factor)” #7 Stand Up - The weakest of the albums I own (maybe it’s the vocals). Still maybe 5 really good tunes, so not a “bad” record at all. “Pick Your Poison” is a picker’s delight. “English Rancher” once again features Morse’s machine gun guitar licks. Note: Eric Johnson, Albert Lee & Peter Frampton play on three of the tracks on this album #8 Cruise Control Live In New York 1992 - At the bottom just because I don’t have it For other Steve Morse solo records (versus “Steve Morse Band” releases): Major Impacts 2 is a great record & for me would probably slot in pretty highly among the Morse album ranking (maybe between #4 & #5 above). Same for Major Impacts (I), I’d put that one just below Major Impacts 2. Never heard Angelfire so can’t comment on that one. I’d put High Tension Wires in the above list slightly above Major Impacts, maybe tied for the #4 spot. “Tumeni Notes” from that album is probably my single favorite solo Morse track, if you asked me to play you one song of his to show off his chops I’d play you that one (BTW he also plays this live basically note-for-note). Prime Cuts Vol 1 & 2 are compilations so they probably don’t count here, but if they did I’d probably put them at the bottom of this list (Vol 2 is the better record, Morse’s “Mood For A Day” is VERY cool). Same for “The Sessions” which feature vocalists on most of the tracks & are mostly covers. There are standouts for me though like ”The Allmans’ “Whipping Post” & George Harrison’s “Here Comes The Sun” (talk about Morse showing a different side). On Supertramp’s “The Logical Song” Morse’s rapid-fire guitar lines seem out of place. If you wanna hear Morse play Rush then check out the album Working Man (A Tribute To Rush). Special shoutout for School Of The Arts, a band Morse played in with T. Lavitz (and Frank Gambale & Jerry Goodman) in 2007. Very Dregs-ish, Morse on acoustic. Worth a listen. Also Morse on T. Lavitz solo record Storytime. “Sparkle Plenty” is vintage Dregs, and “I'm Callin' You” alone is worth the price of the cd with the great Paul Barrere (Little Feat) on vocals, who also wrote this song. Really good record. For Kansas fans, there’s Morse playing on Steve Walsh’s “Wait Until Tomorrow” from Schemer Dreamer, he contributes his usual fiery solo. Also 3 tunes off Kansas’ In The Spirit Of Things including The Dregs’ “T.O. Witcher” (though The Dregs’ version is better IMO). Morse plays on “Parisienne Walkways” from the Gary Moore tribute album Moore Blues For Gary (with Bob Daisley), showing a totally different blues side of his immense talent - but you can still tell it’s him. Then there’s the Mahavishnu cover of ”Celestial Terrestrial Commuters” from Visions Of An Inner Mounting Apocalypse, appropriate since The Dregs basically started as a Mahavishnu cover band. Finally, Morse’s contributions to Jordan Rudess’ (Dream Theater/LTE) Feeding The Wheel & Rhythm Of Time. These are more proggy outings, still very good
Yes. I am about like you as Jeff Beck, Steve Morse and Alex Lifeson are 3 guitarist's that I can't listen to without continuously thinking about how much I love their style, tone and music.
@@holliskeith1571 Check out the new Lifeson signature Les Paul Axcess Standard guitar & related new instrumental tunes, posted to Alex's web site (YT deleted my prior post containing a link to it). John Bolinger over at Premier Guitar does a demo video on it
Coast To Coast at number 1 🥹 My absolute favorite album of his, & I feel like I (we) are in the minority on that 😆 So good! Thank you for this excellent list!
My first one was Stressfest (got it after Purpendicular), probably my fav one. So many great records. The one thing I'd say is that they aren't really different one from another. Love them all!
@@sotdude7 - yes I’ve seen that one. I suppose I should have realised that in a way you did rank all of the Morse era albums 😂 not my finest moment haha
I saw steve morse live only once, it was at 2008 with deep purple, i went to the show especially to see steve morse but in the end all the members of the band were on fire and the whole show was hot, the best part of the show was steve morse's guitar solo, he played a few minutes music of his own with a few tapping tech, i was younger and i was with a beautiful woman, all in all, a perfect night, thanks steve morse, thanks deep purple, thanks karin ( the beautiful woman ) and thank you mr. pete pardo.
I've never seen Purple with Morse but I did see both The Dregs (early 80's) & solo Morse (early 90's). Judging from the Purple albums you'd be in for a very different experience seeing him live solo. If you were impressed with that couple of minutes of soloing you'd probably leave his solo live show either: 1) wanting to quit playing guitar (if you do) or 2) wanting to practice non-stop 24 hours a day. At least that's how I felt each time - I felt both ways
As a huge fan of the Steve Morse Band I am NOT happy that Steve is in Deep Purple. But, as a equally huge fan of Steve Morse the person I am happy that Steve is in Deep Purple as I am sure he is doing very well financially. But I really miss that magic that he and Dave created together. My list would almost mirror yours Pete but I may have placed Stressfest a little higher. 😁🎸👍
I feel the same way about Deep Purple. He basically saved the band but if I had a choice of him doing Purple or continuing to do The Steve Morse Band or especially record with the Dregs then I would've picked the latter. I also think enough of Morse as a person that I don't think he did Purple for the money (at least not solely), but I'm sure the $'s he's making from being in that band don't hurt. Maybe there's still more to come from SMB...
GREAT LIST! Flawless ranking! I with you 100% with Coast to Coast! I always felt is was another Dregs album! I might have put Structural damage at #3. Just because if Just Out of Reach. I can't tell you how good it does my soul to see him celebrated!
Question for everyone: Which of all Steve Morses projects / different bands do you prefer? Steve Morse / Steve Morse Band The Dixie Dregs Deep Purple Kansas Flying Colors Anything else?
The Dregs has to be #1 followed by SMB, then probably Flying Colors (I think that band's still kinda finding their way a little bit but it'll really click very soon I think). I'm not a big Kansas fan. The stuff with Lynyrd Skynyrd is OK, the tracks with Triumph are a little better but none of those 3 are as good as the Deep Purple stuff. But the couple of tunes he did on Working Man (A Tribute To Rush) are very cool, unexpected plus it's Rush (and Mike Portnoy's involved)! There are some other one-off projects Morse did like the Mahavishnu cover, the Gary Moore tribute, there's a track he recorded called "Adding Fuel To The Fire" with Fee Waybill & Jordan Rudess plus the work on a couple of Rudess' solo records. His cover of Steely Dan's Bodhisattva on The Royal Dan. The one record with T. Lavitz' School Of The Arts & his contributions to his solo Storytime (I'd rank that pretty highly, but not above Purple). He recorded a song called "Wait Until Tomorrow" with Steve Walsh. As to stuff I don't have: He did a couple of records with Bob Daisley's project called Living Loud (the Gary Moore tribute record was pretty good so I suspect that band wasn't bad either). He recorded E-thnik with Ian Paice & Don Airey in 2005. Angelfire's supposedly pretty good. There's 1983's Art In America. Mark O'Connor's 1987 Stone From Which The Arch Was Made. The Rossington Band's 1988 Love Your Man. 3 records with finger picker Marcel Dadi. Jeff Watson's 1992 Lone Ranger. CPR by Coven, Pitrelli, O'Reilly from '93. Michael Manring's 1994 Thonk. Carmine Appice's 1995 Guitar Zeus. Supposedly Dick Pimple Present Music From Turtle Island from '96 is really Deep Purple. The Seventh Key/self-titled from 2001. '05's Guitar Farm/Steve Woolverton. Gillan's Inn by Ian Gillan from 2006. Porta San Gennaro Napoli with Ian Paice, Don Airey & Rob Townsend from 2008. Trading 8s/Carl Verheyen Band from 09. Raised in Captivity/John Wetton & Forth/Proto-Kaw, both from 2011. The Fusion Syndicate/self-titled from 2012. Concerto For Group And Orchestra/Jon Lord - 2012. Citizen/Billy Sherwood - 2015. Triumphant Hearts/Jason Becker - 2018. 1000 Hands/Jon Anderson & All Blues/Peter Frampton - 2019. There are probably other minor or one-off Morse projects like that, especially on compilations
Structural Damage holds a special place in my heart since it's the first SMB album I experienced; however, I have to agree with you that Coast to Coast is probably peak SMB.
Mine: 8. Stressfest 7. Structural Damage 6. Stand Up 5. Split Decision 4. Out Standing in Their Field 3. The Introduction 2. Coast to Coast 1. Southern Steel
You pretty much nailed it Pete. I agree with most of your rankings here. Morse’s latest material has changed somewhat. It is more laid back and mellow. You would be hard pressed to find a more well rounded guitarist who can pretty much do it all. Not to mention how compositionally great he is. He is a master. And he is also John Petrucci, Jeff Watson, Bill Leverty, and Jimmy Herring’s favorite guitarist. A true genius of the instrument.
@@wolf1977 Yes correct. Lane was also heavily influenced by Morse, even though you really didn’t hear Morse in his playing. Lane’s talent was off the charts. Both under appreciated guitarists IMO. Two musical geniuses!
I’m a little shocked you didn’t have Roy Orbison ready to go with “You Got It” lol. I need to sit down with these, as I can’t recall listening to them ever. Thanks Pete.
BTW the Bela shirt makes this episode! There's an internet company called "Creepy Co" that used to sell them (maybe not that particular shirt though). I think they used to take movie posters of Lugosi's flicks & put them on shirts. I never did get into the whole music t-shirt thing but I did own the obligatory Led Zep shirt with the angel on it, plus a Boston shirt (cover of the 1st album) & I think a shirt from a 90's-era Steely Dan show (plus a hat). None of them fit any longer of course (except the hat)...I have a plain grey sweatshirt hanging on the wall but that's because it's got Steve Morse's signature on it (he signed that after a solo early 90's show). That's about it for my rock shirts...If he hasn't already, Pete should do a whole episode on his shirt collection. Actually that might turn into a whole series...😎
...and didn't even notice this before but that Lugosi shirt is a repeat from the Tokyo Blade episode. Are we finally getting to the end of the Pardo t-shirt collection?
Good luck, I think it helps if you can finger-pick with all 5 fingers. Many just use the thumb and 1 or 2 fingers (like me, I tend to use the "claw" method). I never tried playing that one
I listened to Kansas album Power (one of the two with Steve Morse on guitar) recently. It is a 80's AOR album. Some songs doesn't seem very original or great but the songs where Steve Morse takes lead and the guitar unleashes are pretty cool. Not the first or second thing I would search for with Steve Morse on but actually a decent listen. I have more than half of the albums Pete ranks and.. It's not easy to rank. They are mostly instrumental, Steve Morse is on the front and only a few seperates themselves in their theme. The only record I probably won't revisit very often is Petes lowest ranking Major Impacts 2. It's not bad per se but when having all the others.. I am not sure how much it actually offers. The first one (Major Impacts 1) I definitely prefer. Hope more get their ears up for Steve Morse with this video. Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band, Kansas, Deep Purple or the rest. He has done PLENTY!
I agree with you on the Kansas stuff, Morse makes that record...I like Major Impacts a lot more than you do (or even Pete). I'm not a huge Purple/with Morse fan, not because Morse isn't fantastic playing that stuff but more because I just prefer "classic" Purple (or even the Bolin Purple) more, so in my head I'm always comparing that newer stuff to the older albums. I think that's probably also what causes many to pan those newer records - probably unfairly. On their own they're fine albums. The Dregs are a stone-cold lock for all-time great fusion (or rock/country/prog/whatever)
IMO the Morse solo catalog is much stronger than Howe's. I do like his playing in Yes a lot (but generally he's got lousy guitar tone esp compared to Morse). I do have a bunch of Howe's solo stuff, my fave albums are probably Anthology 2 & Love Is (which is a "different" record for him). Neither are really "fusion" though. I always saw his playing as progressive more than fusion. Some call Morse a prog player but for me he's the opposite, more fusion than prog
@@ovidiudumitrescu5898 "Dude", same right back at ya. You typed "Great Howe" not Greg or Steve so I assumed you meant Steve. Pay attention, spelling counts! 😜
...and Greg Howe's good, I've got like 12 of his albums. First heard him on the 1989 Fretboard Frenzy sampler & then Howe II. My faves are probably Introspection (a different record for him), Five, Parallax & Sound Proof. Wheelhouse & Uncertain Terms are not bad either. There's certainly enough here for a review episode
It could be just me to say this but Steve M. is a one man band of Kansas throughout his playing styles since the Dixie Drags 1st album. I'm just saying jejejeje.
@@johansoderberg6546 TMV is a relatively recent acquisition for me, they're not bad. I think I always considered them to be something other than a prog band (not even sure exactly what I thought)...My fave album is probably De - Loused In The Comatorium (what a creative album title)...Rodrigo Y Gabriela's Mettavolution Live & Live In France are really good records
It's weird - I own his solo stuff through 1996, and then... nothing. So my list will not be complete. 7) Stand Up (I like the instrumental stuff better. This is good, though!) 6) Structural Damage 5) StressFest 4) High Tension Wires 3) The Introduction 2) Southern Steel 1) Coast to Coast (My first of his and still my favorite.) Thanks, Pete!
First time I saw Dixie Dreggs was in Tampa, FL in the late 70s at a tiny bar. They absolutely blew me away. Have loved all his discography. Thanks for reminding me how much I like Steve's music.
![Steve Morse/David Grisman/Rob Wasserman Trio • 1985 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WLYzPqdDVpk/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for spotlighting Morse. He was a major influence. Always one of the very best guitarists. Seen him 58 times
High Tension Wires was always my favorite of his.
Coast to coast is my fav as well...love Steve, great video...user friendly just blows my mind!!
I saw the Dixie Dregs in 1981 and soon realized that I was seeing the best guitar player I had ever (of ever will) see.
Yay thanks Pete, love Steve Morse👌
Jerry Peek is an outstanding bass player. Saw the Steve Morse band twice in the 80"s and Jerry , Steve, and Rod were jaw dropping good.
In my opinion, Steve Morse is the best thing that could have ever happened to Deep Purple. Not only is he an incredibly gifted musician, he's also extremely intelligent, well-spoken, well-rounded (he's both a licensed pilot and a farmer), humble and affable... the true embodiment of a nice guy. He brought stability to a group not exactly known for being able to hold themselves together. Since he joined Purple, the guys are having FUN, and it's obvious. They are making the music they want, in the way they want. Egos appear to be in check and everyone seems to genuinely enjoy each other's company. Steve's stabilizing presence is proof that one member can really make all the difference in the world.
Thank you, Steve, for breathing new life into my beloved Deep Purple!! 💜
Absolutely agree with all of that & yet when having to choose which Purple record to listen to I'll either go to classic Purple or Bolin Purple over the newer stuff. But yeah, what a great addition for them to inject new life into the band, and a HUGE improvement over Satriani
Love all these albums. The Introduction has gotta be #1 for me.
HUGE Morse fan!!!
I love Steve Morse for being such a steady soldier for Purple for so many years.
Love Steve Morse. His work with the Dixie Dregs, solo band and Deep Purple guitarist since 1993 are Legendary.
1-Coast To Coast
2- High Tension Wires
3- Stand Up : I think Unity Gain is the best tune he has ever written.
Golden Quest might be my fav
Well done Pete. My top 3. 1. Coast to Coast 2. Split Decision 3. Stressfest but absolutely no bad albums and Dave LaRue is my favourite bassist and I've now seen him with Flying Colors AND John Petrucci. Steve I've seen 4 times with Purple and once with FC and always enjoyable.
Man oh man, had no idea that Steve Morse had such a rich solo career. I just got my kid (6 yo) started with guitar lessons and have been getting him inspired by Gary Moore and David Gilmour, but will play some of this albums for him too!
Been lucky enough to see Steve play live 3 times. Him and Trevor Rabin are without a doubt the two most jaw-dropping guitarists I've ever seen.
Thanks for doing this ranking Pete! I am going to check these out and I was waiting for your ranking for a trustworthy guide for where to start. Sorry Lynne could not participate but great video.
I got to stand at the side of the stage for a SMB show at a nightclub. He shook my hand after concluding with Tumeni Notes. Actually he did not play enough notes, in my eye. LOL. Steve is clearly one of the finest guitarists ever. So enjoyable !
Thank you Pete for the albums review. I will need to check these out soon. Was fortunate to see the Dixie Dregs back in the 80s at a free San Jose State University concert. They were on fire that day.
I was at the same show. Right up front.
@@carlsalazar4490 That is cool. I forgot what year that was ... in the mid 80s?... Regards, Sal.
@@sdrandazzo I saw the Dregs at a free college show in '81 or '82, awesome
...been waiting on this one. Peek was a perfect player for Morse (after Andy West). Larue is also great & one helluva educator.
Damn, I had forgotten that Van Temple of The Producers was singing on the lead track of STAND UP...the Atlanta connection, right?
"Tumeni Notes" kicks!
Great show! Thank you.
Loved the show
Top four would be mine. Love them dearly like you. I haven’t heard of enough after Coast to Coast, so this is a good guide for checking those out. Yes, Jerry Peek was great, but then in came Dave LaRue just as great. Van Romaine up to Rod Morgansteen level and the band kept rolling. Also, Endless Waves is a beauty.
Top 5
1. The Introduction
2. Coast to Coast
3. Southern Steel
4. High Tension Wires
5. Split Decision
Thanks Pete, I'll be checking out Coast to Coast soon. I've been getting into the Dregs stuff lately for the first time. I've been warming up to the Deep Purple Morse stuff with recent listens because of SOT!
Good stuff!
Love it! My first experience with Steve Morse's albums was at a time of being disappointed with the direction of metal music. I started to explore Jazz, and fusion. Steve Morse was a guest on one of the late night talk shows and me and my friend were blown away. Went out and purchased a cassette of High Tension Wires and bought everything that was available. Amazing composer. I rank his albums I know best in this order.
1.)High Tension Wires
2.)Coast to Coast
3.)The Introduction
4.)Southern Steel
5.)Stand Up
6.)Stressfest
"there are simply too many notes, that's all" - Nah!
Cheers Pete! I met Steve in 1989 and talk about the nicest guys ever. I work at Boeing and we talked planes and music for 30 minutes. Your ranking pretty much the same as mine except my top two would be High Tension Wires and The Introduction. Besides being my favorite guitar player Steve is a great producer.
...and band leader/composer. The nice guy angle can't be overstated, Morse has no problem giving his time to fans. I remember him spending a good 5 minutes talking to me about his setup & sound after a solo show in the early 90's, and I wasn't the only one either. Wonder how much later he actually ended up leaving that club...
Steve Morse makes up one third of my personal “holy guitar trio”, along with Gary Moore & Jeff Beck…My Steve Morse Band album ranking (excluding the 3 “Steve Morse” solo records, Angelfire, the Prime Cuts compilations & various other Morse collaborations - see below. Also excluding Morse’s work with Flying Colors). Honestly some of these could change places depending on the day:
#1 Southern Steel - “Southern Steel” sounds exactly like you’d think. “Cut To The Chase” & “Sleaze Factor” are probably my 2 fave tunes from this record.” Vista Grande” builds nicely, reminds me of The Dregs’ “Hereafter” in that respect. “Weekend Overdrive” - this guy has a knack for naming his songs with just the right titles. This is a really great record
#2 Out Standing In Their Field - Really nice diversity, harder stuff mixed with mellow tunes, also sounds like Dregs at times. My Out Standing (get it?) track = “Name Dropping”. The live “Rising Power” really cooks. The acoustic “Baroque 'N Dreams” takes you back to another time
#3 Stressfest (tied with Structural Damage) - The title track is a real rocker - Tumeni Notes? NO! “Live To Ride” is another master class in controlling your guitar, very tasty playing. “Brave New World” sounds like it could be straight out of What If
#3 Structural Damage (tied with Stressfest) - Fave track = “Smokey Mtn. Drive”, a Dregs-like country-influenced number. “Slice Of Time” is another really nice acoustic tune
#4 Coast To Coast - “Runaway Train” is another Dregs-ish number a la “Pride O’ The Farm”. “User Friendly” burns it down. “Flat Baroque” is an intricate acoustic composition
#5 Split Decision - “Gentle Flower, Hidden Beast” is a study in guitar playing, great control & tone on this one. “Mechanical Fenzy” again sounds exactly like you’d think. “Majorly Up” is Morse weaving his intricate guitar lines in & out like only he can
#6 The Introduction - The first record but not the best. 6 cool tracks. “Huron River Blues” is the epic, in three parts. Great wah guitar. “Mountain Waltz” is another nice Southern ditty. “On The Pipe” is another supercharged country pickin’ tune that only Morse knows how to play. Love the name “V.H.F. (Vertical Hair Factor)”
#7 Stand Up - The weakest of the albums I own (maybe it’s the vocals). Still maybe 5 really good tunes, so not a “bad” record at all. “Pick Your Poison” is a picker’s delight. “English Rancher” once again features Morse’s machine gun guitar licks. Note: Eric Johnson, Albert Lee & Peter Frampton play on three of the tracks on this album
#8 Cruise Control Live In New York 1992 - At the bottom just because I don’t have it
For other Steve Morse solo records (versus “Steve Morse Band” releases):
Major Impacts 2 is a great record & for me would probably slot in pretty highly among the Morse album ranking (maybe between #4 & #5 above). Same for Major Impacts (I), I’d put that one just below Major Impacts 2.
Never heard Angelfire so can’t comment on that one.
I’d put High Tension Wires in the above list slightly above Major Impacts, maybe tied for the #4 spot. “Tumeni Notes” from that album is probably my single favorite solo Morse track, if you asked me to play you one song of his to show off his chops I’d play you that one (BTW he also plays this live basically note-for-note).
Prime Cuts Vol 1 & 2 are compilations so they probably don’t count here, but if they did I’d probably put them at the bottom of this list (Vol 2 is the better record, Morse’s “Mood For A Day” is VERY cool). Same for “The Sessions” which feature vocalists on most of the tracks & are mostly covers. There are standouts for me though like ”The Allmans’ “Whipping Post” & George Harrison’s “Here Comes The Sun” (talk about Morse showing a different side). On Supertramp’s “The Logical Song” Morse’s rapid-fire guitar lines seem out of place. If you wanna hear Morse play Rush then check out the album Working Man (A Tribute To Rush).
Special shoutout for School Of The Arts, a band Morse played in with T. Lavitz (and Frank Gambale & Jerry Goodman) in 2007. Very Dregs-ish, Morse on acoustic. Worth a listen. Also Morse on T. Lavitz solo record Storytime. “Sparkle Plenty” is vintage Dregs, and “I'm Callin' You” alone is worth the price of the cd with the great Paul Barrere (Little Feat) on vocals, who also wrote this song. Really good record. For Kansas fans, there’s Morse playing on Steve Walsh’s “Wait Until Tomorrow” from Schemer Dreamer, he contributes his usual fiery solo. Also 3 tunes off Kansas’ In The Spirit Of Things including The Dregs’ “T.O. Witcher” (though The Dregs’ version is better IMO).
Morse plays on “Parisienne Walkways” from the Gary Moore tribute album Moore Blues For Gary (with Bob Daisley), showing a totally different blues side of his immense talent - but you can still tell it’s him. Then there’s the Mahavishnu cover of ”Celestial Terrestrial Commuters” from Visions Of An Inner Mounting Apocalypse, appropriate since The Dregs basically started as a Mahavishnu cover band. Finally, Morse’s contributions to Jordan Rudess’ (Dream Theater/LTE) Feeding The Wheel & Rhythm Of Time. These are more proggy outings, still very good
Yes. I am about like you as Jeff Beck, Steve Morse and Alex Lifeson are 3 guitarist's that I can't listen to without continuously thinking about how much I love their style, tone and music.
Also somewhat Morse-related, Mark O'Connor just announced a new acoustic guitar album, his first in 20+ years (due to bursitis in his right elbow)
@@holliskeith1571 Check out the new Lifeson signature Les Paul Axcess Standard guitar & related new instrumental tunes, posted to Alex's web site (YT deleted my prior post containing a link to it). John Bolinger over at Premier Guitar does a demo video on it
Coast To Coast at number 1 🥹
My absolute favorite album of his, & I feel like I (we) are in the minority on that 😆 So good!
Thank you for this excellent list!
My first one was Stressfest (got it after Purpendicular), probably my fav one. So many great records. The one thing I'd say is that they aren't really different one from another. Love them all!
Yes, not really that different = consistently very-good-to-great
Pete, you should also do a ranking of Deep Purples albums with Steve Morse! 7 albums is plenty for a ranking video 🤟🤟
I’ve already done a Deep Purple album ranking of their entire catalog.
@@sotdude7 - yes I’ve seen that one. I suppose I should have realised that in a way you did rank all of the Morse era albums 😂 not my finest moment haha
I saw steve morse live only once, it was at 2008 with deep purple, i went to the show especially to see steve morse but in the end all the members of the band were on fire and the whole show was hot, the best part of the show was steve morse's guitar solo, he played a few minutes music of his own with a few tapping tech, i was younger and i was with a beautiful woman, all in all, a perfect night, thanks steve morse, thanks deep purple, thanks karin ( the beautiful woman ) and thank you mr. pete pardo.
I've never seen Purple with Morse but I did see both The Dregs (early 80's) & solo Morse (early 90's). Judging from the Purple albums you'd be in for a very different experience seeing him live solo. If you were impressed with that couple of minutes of soloing you'd probably leave his solo live show either: 1) wanting to quit playing guitar (if you do) or 2) wanting to practice non-stop 24 hours a day. At least that's how I felt each time - I felt both ways
As a huge fan of the Steve Morse Band I am NOT happy that Steve is in Deep Purple.
But, as a equally huge fan of Steve Morse the person I am happy that Steve is in Deep Purple as I am sure he is doing very well financially. But I really miss that magic that he and Dave created together. My list would almost mirror yours Pete but I may have placed Stressfest a little higher. 😁🎸👍
I feel the same way about Deep Purple. He basically saved the band but if I had a choice of him doing Purple or continuing to do The Steve Morse Band or especially record with the Dregs then I would've picked the latter. I also think enough of Morse as a person that I don't think he did Purple for the money (at least not solely), but I'm sure the $'s he's making from being in that band don't hurt. Maybe there's still more to come from SMB...
GREAT LIST! Flawless ranking! I with you 100% with Coast to Coast! I always felt is was another Dregs album! I might have put Structural damage at #3. Just because if Just Out of Reach. I can't tell you how good it does my soul to see him celebrated!
Question for everyone:
Which of all Steve Morses projects / different bands do you prefer?
Steve Morse / Steve Morse Band
The Dixie Dregs
Deep Purple
Kansas
Flying Colors
Anything else?
The Dregs has to be #1 followed by SMB, then probably Flying Colors (I think that band's still kinda finding their way a little bit but it'll really click very soon I think). I'm not a big Kansas fan. The stuff with Lynyrd Skynyrd is OK, the tracks with Triumph are a little better but none of those 3 are as good as the Deep Purple stuff. But the couple of tunes he did on Working Man (A Tribute To Rush) are very cool, unexpected plus it's Rush (and Mike Portnoy's involved)!
There are some other one-off projects Morse did like the Mahavishnu cover, the Gary Moore tribute, there's a track he recorded called "Adding Fuel To The Fire" with Fee Waybill & Jordan Rudess plus the work on a couple of Rudess' solo records. His cover of Steely Dan's Bodhisattva on The Royal Dan. The one record with T. Lavitz' School Of The Arts & his contributions to his solo Storytime (I'd rank that pretty highly, but not above Purple). He recorded a song called "Wait Until Tomorrow" with Steve Walsh.
As to stuff I don't have: He did a couple of records with Bob Daisley's project called Living Loud (the Gary Moore tribute record was pretty good so I suspect that band wasn't bad either). He recorded E-thnik with Ian Paice & Don Airey in 2005. Angelfire's supposedly pretty good. There's 1983's Art In America. Mark O'Connor's 1987 Stone From Which The Arch Was Made. The Rossington Band's 1988 Love Your Man. 3 records with finger picker Marcel Dadi. Jeff Watson's 1992 Lone Ranger. CPR by Coven, Pitrelli, O'Reilly from '93. Michael Manring's 1994 Thonk. Carmine Appice's 1995 Guitar Zeus. Supposedly Dick Pimple Present Music From Turtle Island from '96 is really Deep Purple. The Seventh Key/self-titled from 2001. '05's Guitar Farm/Steve Woolverton. Gillan's Inn by Ian Gillan from 2006. Porta San Gennaro Napoli with Ian Paice, Don Airey & Rob Townsend from 2008. Trading 8s/Carl Verheyen Band from 09. Raised in Captivity/John Wetton & Forth/Proto-Kaw, both from 2011. The Fusion Syndicate/self-titled from 2012. Concerto For Group And Orchestra/Jon Lord - 2012. Citizen/Billy Sherwood - 2015. Triumphant Hearts/Jason Becker - 2018. 1000 Hands/Jon Anderson & All Blues/Peter Frampton - 2019.
There are probably other minor or one-off Morse projects like that, especially on compilations
The solo in The Z could be my all time fave :)
Structural Damage holds a special place in my heart since it's the first SMB album I experienced; however, I have to agree with you that Coast to Coast is probably peak SMB.
Mine:
8. Stressfest
7. Structural Damage
6. Stand Up
5. Split Decision
4. Out Standing in Their Field
3. The Introduction
2. Coast to Coast
1. Southern Steel
We almost match George
@@ericporter344 I always said you had good taste. :D
You pretty much nailed it Pete. I agree with most of your rankings here. Morse’s latest material has changed somewhat. It is more laid back and mellow. You would be hard pressed to find a more well rounded guitarist who can pretty much do it all. Not to mention how compositionally great he is. He is a master. And he is also John Petrucci, Jeff Watson, Bill Leverty, and Jimmy Herring’s favorite guitarist. A true genius of the instrument.
...and just to bring this full circle, Shawn Lane considered Morse to be one of the most talented guitarists of his time
@@wolf1977 Yes correct. Lane was also heavily influenced by Morse, even though you really didn’t hear Morse in his playing. Lane’s talent was off the charts. Both under appreciated guitarists IMO. Two musical geniuses!
I’m a little shocked you didn’t have Roy Orbison ready to go with “You Got It” lol. I need to sit down with these, as I can’t recall listening to them ever. Thanks Pete.
One more SMB album would be amazing! But I think Steve has pretty much confirmed it’s not happening.
Love the Bela Lugosi shirt!
I have to find me one! 👹👹👹
The only I owned was,High tension wires
Wore the Vinyl out!
BTW the Bela shirt makes this episode! There's an internet company called "Creepy Co" that used to sell them (maybe not that particular shirt though). I think they used to take movie posters of Lugosi's flicks & put them on shirts.
I never did get into the whole music t-shirt thing but I did own the obligatory Led Zep shirt with the angel on it, plus a Boston shirt (cover of the 1st album) & I think a shirt from a 90's-era Steely Dan show (plus a hat). None of them fit any longer of course (except the hat)...I have a plain grey sweatshirt hanging on the wall but that's because it's got Steve Morse's signature on it (he signed that after a solo early 90's show). That's about it for my rock shirts...If he hasn't already, Pete should do a whole episode on his shirt collection. Actually that might turn into a whole series...😎
...and didn't even notice this before but that Lugosi shirt is a repeat from the Tokyo Blade episode. Are we finally getting to the end of the Pardo t-shirt collection?
'Stand Up' is my favorite 👍🏻
I agree with the top 4. Still trying to learn to play Highland Wedding.
Good luck, I think it helps if you can finger-pick with all 5 fingers. Many just use the thumb and 1 or 2 fingers (like me, I tend to use the "claw" method). I never tried playing that one
I listened to Kansas album Power (one of the two with Steve Morse on guitar) recently. It is a 80's AOR album. Some songs doesn't seem very original or great but the songs where Steve Morse takes lead and the guitar unleashes are pretty cool. Not the first or second thing I would search for with Steve Morse on but actually a decent listen.
I have more than half of the albums Pete ranks and.. It's not easy to rank. They are mostly instrumental, Steve Morse is on the front and only a few seperates themselves in their theme. The only record I probably won't revisit very often is Petes lowest ranking Major Impacts 2. It's not bad per se but when having all the others.. I am not sure how much it actually offers. The first one (Major Impacts 1) I definitely prefer.
Hope more get their ears up for Steve Morse with this video. Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band, Kansas, Deep Purple or the rest. He has done PLENTY!
I agree with you on the Kansas stuff, Morse makes that record...I like Major Impacts a lot more than you do (or even Pete). I'm not a huge Purple/with Morse fan, not because Morse isn't fantastic playing that stuff but more because I just prefer "classic" Purple (or even the Bolin Purple) more, so in my head I'm always comparing that newer stuff to the older albums. I think that's probably also what causes many to pan those newer records - probably unfairly. On their own they're fine albums. The Dregs are a stone-cold lock for all-time great fusion (or rock/country/prog/whatever)
Structural Damage is easily a top 3 for me
What about a Great Howe albums show? He is an absolute monster fusion guitar player?
IMO the Morse solo catalog is much stronger than Howe's. I do like his playing in Yes a lot (but generally he's got lousy guitar tone esp compared to Morse). I do have a bunch of Howe's solo stuff, my fave albums are probably Anthology 2 & Love Is (which is a "different" record for him). Neither are really "fusion" though. I always saw his playing as progressive more than fusion. Some call Morse a prog player but for me he's the opposite, more fusion than prog
@@wolf1977 Dude...It s GREG HOWE ..not STEVE HOWE from YES. Pay attention.please...don t be superficial. Greg îs a fabulos fusion guitar hero...
@@ovidiudumitrescu5898 "Dude", same right back at ya. You typed "Great Howe" not Greg or Steve so I assumed you meant Steve. Pay attention, spelling counts! 😜
...and Greg Howe's good, I've got like 12 of his albums. First heard him on the 1989 Fretboard Frenzy sampler & then Howe II. My faves are probably Introspection (a different record for him), Five, Parallax & Sound Proof. Wheelhouse & Uncertain Terms are not bad either. There's certainly enough here for a review episode
@@wolf1977 You re right.Mea culpa.Sorry.
My lp of Stand Up is colorful not washed out like the cd.
I bought _Steve Morse - High Tension Wires_ and _Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare_ the same day, guessing 91-92.
Still don't which one I like most...
It could be just me to say this but Steve M. is a one man band of Kansas throughout his playing styles since the Dixie Drags 1st album. I'm just saying jejejeje.
Reminder: please do a Mars Volta Ranking (w/Popoff) and why not one with Rodrigo Y Gabriela.
I’m not a fan of TMV so won’t be doing that.
@@sotdude7 Fine, I can understand that, as I have seen enough SoQ vids to be acquainted with your tastes.
@@johansoderberg6546 TMV is a relatively recent acquisition for me, they're not bad. I think I always considered them to be something other than a prog band (not even sure exactly what I thought)...My fave album is probably De - Loused In The Comatorium (what a creative album title)...Rodrigo Y Gabriela's Mettavolution Live & Live In France are really good records
The Introduction,Coast to Coast, Southern Steel, Stressfest and Stand Up would be my picks.
It's weird - I own his solo stuff through 1996, and then... nothing. So my list will not be complete.
7) Stand Up (I like the instrumental stuff better. This is good, though!)
6) Structural Damage
5) StressFest
4) High Tension Wires
3) The Introduction
2) Southern Steel
1) Coast to Coast (My first of his and still my favorite.)
Thanks, Pete!
Stressfest is cream of the crop
high tension wires
How isn't Power from Kansas on this list? Amateurish.
First time I saw Dixie Dreggs was in Tampa, FL in the late 70s at a tiny bar. They absolutely blew me away. Have loved all his discography. Thanks for reminding me how much I like Steve's music.