Artist : Neal Morse

Album : Jesus Christ the Exorcist

Release Date : 14-06-2019

Added : 05-10-2019






No need to present 'Neal Morse' to any amateur of progressive music, since the American has participated for thirty years in many projects including the best known are 'Spock's Beard', 'Transatlantic' and 'Flying Colors' (an album should be released soon). This time, he released from his cartoons a rock opera written about ten years ago and was born thanks to his friend and musical director 'Michael Caplan'. Also known for his Christian faith, this time he attacked the life of Jesus in an astonishing 'Jesus Christ the Exorcist' which takes us between musical comedy and rock opera, in the atmosphere of the great productions of the 70s, with, of course, The 'Jesus Christ Superstar' of 'Andrew Lloyd Webber's' and 'Tim Rice' which has been long played on Broadway. Given the history, it was necessary to have a cast to the height and, on this side, we are not disappointed since a dozen singers of the international progressive scene are present with leading singers 'Ted Leonard' and 'Nick D'Virgilio' who are respectively part of the bands of 'Spock's Beard' (see their last album here) and 'Big Big Train' (see their last album here) and the instrumental section is also well supplied as strings, wood and brass complete the electric instruments of progressive rock (see list below). On the style side, we find here and there the 'Neal Morse' touch but, very difficult to find a particular style because we jump from the atmosphere of American musicals to muscled hard-rock through pop, rock symphony, blues, folk and jazzy or gospel moods. Indeed, in a hard-rock style we can cite such titles as the energetic 'Get Behind Me Satan' reminiscent of the 70s and 'Huriah Heep', or 'He Must Go to the Cross' that 'Queen' would not have denied or the very progressive 'Gethsemane' in which the powerful parts can recall 'Deep Purple'. For musical comedy side, compositions like 'Jesus' Baptism' and his grandiose choruses or 'Hearts Full of Holes' or 'The Greatest Love of All' are reminiscent of major American musical productions. The compositional strength of 'Neal Morse' was to bring for each composition an atmosphere in adequacy with the subject told a bit like ‘Christofer Johnsson’ did in his opera 'Beloved Antichrist' (see here). Moreover, the instrumentations are of a great richness and always very just and the vocal work is also impressive with multiple choirs which makes that there is never dead time and that one remains glued to the history without any weariness. With that, we must not forget that the American is a talented composer of progressive rock and, in this opera, we fullfill by the frequent changes of atmosphere within the titles themselves as in 'Jesus' Temptation' which in 10 minutes embarks us in a magnificent composition with multiple drawers. Special mention for 'Talon David' who offers us an exceptional voice demonstration in the role of the 'Mary Magdalene' whether she is possessed in 'The Woman of Seven Devils' or when she is at the foot of the cross in' Mary at the Tomb' where her voice is airy and crystalline transmitting all the emotion of the moment. In short, 'Jesus Christ the Exorcist' is something that goes far beyond a single album and will certainly be remembered in the same way as 'Tommy' from 'Who' or 'Jesus Christ Superstar' to stay in the same theme and, even if the almost 2 hours require several plays to appropriate the whole and that musical diversity may confuse some, 'Neal Morse' has certainly released the most ambitious recording of his career and, inevitably, in this case, we wait impatiently for him to create a show to the measure of this exceptional work...

Line Up / Musicians

Neal Morse (Guitar, Bass, Keybords, Vocal, Choirs), Randy George (Bass), Bill Hubauer (Keybords), Amy Pippin (Choirs), April Zachary (Choirs), David Cooper (Trombone), Dominique Caster (Trumpet), Debbie Bressee (Choirs), Eric Gillette (Guitar, Drums), Gabe Klein (Vocal), Gabriel Collins (Saxophone, Flute), Gideon Klein (Vocal, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Cor), Grace Laminack (Viola), Holly Smith (Cor), Jake Livgren (Vocal, Choirs), Jake Tudor (Violin), Julie Harrison (Vocal, Choirs), Mark Pogue (Vocal, Choirs), Matt Smith (Vocal), Michael Jackson (Choirs), Nick D'Virgilio (Vocal), Paul Bielatowicz (Guitar), Rick Florian (Vocal), Steve Patrick (Trumpet),Talon David (Vocal), Ted Leonard (Vocal), Wil Morse (Keybords, Vocal, Choirs)