Formed in Los Angeles in 1992, Neal Morse- the frontman (incl: lead vocals, keys and acoustic guitar) and his brother Allan (elec. guitar), thought they would create a band. They met Nick D'Virgilio (drums), during a musician jam night. and after bringing in Dave Meros (bass); started a group for an uncommerical project. The last member to join the Beard is Ryo Okumoto (organ, mellotron), who at his first rehearsal, played their first album in it's entirety- perfectly.
Spock's Beard influences include: Yes, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Gentle Giant and Genesis. The individual members have worked with: Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Eric Burdon and Tears For Fears.
Their first release, the classic- `The Light' (1995), gave them a solid foundation and showed they were a talented progressive band to be taken seriously. The `Kindness of Strangers' album was their first to be released nationally.
Prior to 1994, Spock's Beard had an offer from a small prog label, but -after months of negotiations- they chose to make the album themselves. The band went into the studio and recorded their debut album "The Light", which many critics have called the best progressive album of the decade.
After Ryo Okumoto joined `The Beard' (as sometimes the group is called), in 1995 to play keyboards (mainly organ & mellotron), `The Official Bootleg' was released, the year later.
"Beware of Darkness,' continued in a similar style with their first album but compositions were shorter except for the last track. 1997 brought forth their third studio album- `The Kindness of Strangers,' at the end of 1997.
"Writing this music is so much fun because you can follow the music to wherever it seems to want to go," says Morse "On The Kindness of Strangers, we do have a few shorter tunes along with the epics."
During August 2000, the band performed as openers for Dream Theater in the second leg of their Metropolis 2000 US tour.
Neal Morse, who writes most of the compositions with consistently strong hooks, obviously showing a pride in his progressive roots. He is also a talented keyboardist, singer and is heavily involved with Transatlantic, a group with members of : Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, Marillion and Dream Theater which consistently put out epic pieces has released two CDs and a live album. The latest is: ` Bridge Across Forever,' which included two tracks over 25 minutes long.
Spock's Beard is one of the most talented, well-reviewed and well-known of the new Prog bands. Being workaholics, The Beard' have put out almost two dozen group and solo albums, V, (2000), being the last.
D'Virgilio released his first solo offering in August 2001- `Karma.'
Spock's Beard were supposed to record their 6th studio album during September 10-14 of 2001, but Nick D'Virgilio became very ill and recording had to be postponed.
Neal Morse has released his second solo album `It's Not Too Late; and created a Christian music record label- Latter Rain Records, dedicated to and specializing in Christian music. Morse adds- "I certainly hope I don't offend anybody, I just want to make this music available to those who would be touched by it.
Spock's Beard double concept album- `Snow,' was released in fall 2002, which was critically acclaimed, unfortunately, a proposed tour of the mega-album had to be shelved after Neal Morse resigned from Spock's Beard to pursue a spiritual direction (which has been growing in himself thae last few years). The band though devastated by the news, has vowed to continue. Nick D'Virgilio, who has a fine voice is slanted to become SB's new lead vocalist. How the band will deal with losing their talented lead composer and multi-talented musician is an answer that will come forth in the not-too-near future. Best Wishes Neal. We'll miss you.
The band released a great quality DVD of their `Day For Night',' tour of the entire show... it also included the `Making of V,' video that was released on video a couple years back.
`Feel Euphoria,' is the band's 7th studio album and first without Morse (Neal). The Beard sounds edgier, darkeer in spots, but still retain bits and pieces of their familiar sound. Missing is Neal's signature style of playing keys and guitar and of course his strong voice, but Nick V. fills in well, as does Ryo on all the keys. Allan's guitar work has more emphasis on the disk and might show a hint on where the band is heading. From the opening metal rocker, "Onomatopoeia," to the 20 min.+ epic- "A Guy Names Sid, " Spock's Beard has showed us they can create their own style and ideas without their mega-talented frontman... Best luck to both.
2005, brought a harder edged Spock's Beard that seemed a tad Dream Theater-ish. And though a strong album, reviews were good, but not great. The follow-up- SB (Spock's Beard), receive mixed reviews because of the albums strong start and weak finish.
2010 brought the Beard's tenth album- named X. Bassist Dave Meros was the predominate composer on this release and it shines. It seems to have a more retro SB proggy feel and every song works!
Spock's Beard played the Sweden Rock Festival in June and the High Voltage Festival in July 2011. On both occasions Enchant singer Ted Leonard filled in for Nick D'Virgilio, who was unavailable to perform. The High Voltage performance featured an appearance by Neal Morse, who reunited with the band for the end of "The Light" and "June", and was later released as a live album. On November 18, 2011, D'Virgilio announced his departure from the band, citing personal reasons and other commitments. Two days later it was announced on the band's official website that Leonard and touring drummer Jimmy Keegan would be the new singer and drummer of the band, respectively.
On April 2, 2013 the band released Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep, their first studio album with Leonard and Keegan as official members . The recording and mastering of the album was funded using the crowdsourcing site Indiegogo and featured song-writing contributions from Neal Morse. On April 22, 2015 the band announced that their twelfth album would be The Oblivion Particle, and would be released later that year. The album was released on August 21, 2015. Later that year the band released The First Twenty Years, a compilation album spanning the band's entire career. The compilation also included a new song written by Neal Morse, "Falling For Forever", which featured every member of the band to have appeared on previous recordings.
In July 2016 the current line-up of the band reunited with D'Virgilio and Neal Morse for shows at Morsefest in Cross Plains, Tennessee and at the Night of the Prog festival in Lorelei, Germany to perform Snow in its entirety. On October 12, 2016 Keegan announced that he was leaving the band for personal reasons. D'Virgilio filled in on drums and backing vocals for their performance on Cruise to the Edge 2017. On March 25, 2017 it was confirmed that D'Virgilio had agreed to play on their upcoming thirteenth album, with recording expected to begin in May of that year[38] On February 28, 2018 Dave Meros announced that the new album would be titled Noise Floor, and would be released May 25, 2018. The announcement also included the album's track listing and the confirmation of D'Virgilio's involvement in the recording of the album. On June 13, the band announced a tour in support of the album, with former Saga drummer Mike Thorne as a touring drummer.
Updates courtesy of the SB Wiki Page
Discography:
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)
X (2010)
Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep (2013)
The Oblivion Particle (2015)
Noise Floor (2018)
