Spock's Beard

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 before leaving the band in 2002 to pursue a solo career. 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 plays a brand of progressive rock with pop music leanings (drawing much influence from Genesis), as opposed to 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."

History

Alan Morse came up with the name after a particularly wild party, where he remarked to his brother, Neal, "It's almost as if we were in an alternate universe, like that one episode of Star Trek where 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. The name refers to a slang expression used mostly by Star Trek fans to indicate a concept that's so outlandish as to belong to another, warped universe. The term originates with the episode "Mirror, Mirror" of the Star Trek original series, where four Enterprise officers are exchanged with their counterparts in an alternate universe; the alternate version of Spock has a goatee.

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. Drummer Nick D'Virgilio took over the lead singing and songwriting role, in a move reminiscent of Genesis's drummer Phil Collins taking over for 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 ninth studio album was released on 21 Nov 2006, simply entitled "Spock's Beard"

A live DVD as well as CD (of the same material) recorded live in Holland in 2007 were released on 13 June 2008 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the remainder of Europe on 16 June, and in North America on 24 June.

On 23 July 2009, the band's website announced that most of the material for a new album has been written, and that their tenth album is to be released independently rather than through a record label. Adopting an approach similar to that taken by the band Marillion, Spock's Beard have decided to take pre-orders of the CD before entering the recording studio, to support the production costs. The band expects the album to be finished and released in late 2009 or early 2010, and will be released first as a limited edition of 5000 CDs to those who pre-ordered the album, and then available on general release a month later.

Members

Current lineup

• Nick D'Virgilio - lead vocals, drums
• Alan Morse - guitar, vocals
• Ryo Okumoto - keyboards
• Dave Meros - bass guitar, vocals

Former members

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

Additional musicians

• Jimmy Keegan - Tour drummer
• John Boegehold - Song co-writer
• Stan Ausmus - Song co-writer

Discography

Studio albums

• The Light (1995)
• Beware of Darkness (1996)
• The Kindness of Strangers (1998)
• Day for Night (1999)
• V (2000)
• Snow (2002)
• Feel Euphoria (2003)
• Octane (2005)
• Spock's Beard (2006)

Singles

• Skin (1999)
• All On A Sunday (2001)

Live albums and compilations

• Official Live Bootleg/The Beard is Out There (1996) (recorded 1995)
• From the Vault (1998) (rarities - From the Vaults, Series 1)
• Live at the Whisky and NEARfest (1999)
• Don't Try This at Home (April 2000) (recorded 1999) (live)
• Nick 'n Neal live in Europe - Two Separate Gorillas (October, 2000) (From the Vaults, Series 2)
• Don't Try This @ Home Either (2000) (recorded 1999) (live - From the Vaults, Series 3)
• There and Here (2000) (live - From the Vaults, Series 4)
• Gluttons for Punishment (2005) (live)
• Live (2008) (live)

Videos

• Spock's Beard Home Movie (Video, 1998)
• Live at the Whisky (Video, (1999)
• The Making of V (Video, May 2001)
• Don't Try This at Home (2 DVD Set, November, 2002)
• The Making of Snow (DVD, 2004)
• Live (DVD, 2008)

External links

• Spock's Beard official site
• Spock's Beard Dot Org
• Ryo Okumoto official site
• Nick D'Virgilio official site
• Neal Morse official site
• Official German-speaking fan community