Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
Group Members: Neal Morse, Alan Morse, Ryo Okumoto
All Music Guide:
Spock's Beard began in 1992 when brothers Neal (lead vocals) and Al Morse (guitar) teamed up with drummer Nick D'Virgilio. After self-financing their first album, bassist Dave Meros joined, and The Light was recorded in 1994. Consisting of four lengthy songs, this debut album was well received by progressive rock fans, but received little public acclaim. Ryo Okumoto joined in 1995 to play keyboards. In 1996, The Official Bootleg was released, a live performance containing the entire first album plus one song from the upcoming second album. 1996 also saw the band sign with various record labels around the world, in addition to releasing Beware of Darkness, which contains the same style of music, but in shorter pieces (all ten minutes or less, except for the 15-plus-minute last track). Spock's Beard's third studio album, The Kindness of Strangers, was released at the end of 1997; Day for Night followed in 1999 and V was issued a year later. Deciding they had the experience and chops to attempt a concept album, they spent the next few years putting together Snow. The double album revolved around the title character, an albino teenager that could possibly be the messiah. Taking a much more detailed approach to the material, the band had a difficult two years writing the album and was rewarded with a strong promotional push from Metal Blade Records. Following Snow, Neal Morse became a born again Christian and left the band. The remaining members quickly regrouped, however, with D'Virgilio assuming the lead vocal duties and managed to release Feeling Euphoria the following year. 2004 saw the rerelease of their first three albums and in 2005 they delivered both a new studio offering (Ocatane) and Live in 2005: Gluttons for Punishment.
Wikipedia:
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. Neal Morse departed in 2002, with D'Virgilio taking over lead vocals until his departure in 2011. The band currently consists of Alan Morse, Dave Meros, Ryo Okumoto, drummer Jimmy Keegan (who has toured with the band since 2002) and vocalist Ted Leonard.
The band plays a brand of progressive rock with pop music leanings (drawing much influence from Genesis). 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 ["Mirror, Mirror"]. 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.
In 2002, the band released the highly acclaimed double-CD concept album 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 8: Their ninth studio album was released on 21 November 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 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.
The band's current album, X, was released in June 2010.
In an interview with Anil Prasad in Guitar Player, SB drummer and lead vocalist and songwriter Nick D'Virgilio says that “From the very beginning, Spock's Beard has been a songwriting-based progressive rock band. [...] In between all the crazy stuff we do, there are always some very memorable melodies that stick in people's heads, and that has helped us cross over into the mainstream a little bit. It's funny—guys sometimes bring their prog-rock-hating girlfriends to our gigs, and our songs will convert them.”
The band played the Sweden Rocks festival in June and the UK High Voltage Festival on Sunday 24 July 2011, with Ted Leonard (Of Enchant) filling in for Nick on vocals on both occasions. They were joined at High Voltage by Neal Morse, who reunited with the band for the end of The Light and June. Concert Live recorded the performance. Nick D'Virgilio announced his departure from the band on November 18, 2011 for personal reasons and other commitments.
On November 21, 2011, it was announced on the bands official website that former touring musicians Ted Leonard and Jimmy Keegan will be the new singer and drummer of the band, respectively. The band also stated they will be releasing their 11th studio album sometime in summer 2012.
