Spock's Beard
Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

In the end, Spock's Beard found themselves without Nick D'Virgilio, the band's drummer since the dawn of the brand and, after Neal Morse's departure, also their singer. This choice was mainly due to his parallel work with Cirque Du Soleil. However, they succeeded in finding very suitable people to replace him both as a drummer and as a singer without any trouble.

In truth, they already had a new drummer in their stable; it was just a matter of making him an "official member": the drummer is James "Jimmy" Keegan, who over the years played along with D'Virgilio in the dual role of drummer/singer, accompanying the band on tour, allowing D'Virgilio to stand at the microphone in front of his audience. As for the singer replacement, they chose Enchant's vocalist Ted Leonard. Another important announcement made by the band was the return to collaboration with the historic vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Neal Morse, who does not rejoin the band (thus continuing with his solo career and various side-projects) but contributes to the creation of two tracks.

The band then entered the studio for a new album without too many problems and produced the excellent "Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep." It is an album that, while not adding anything particularly new, manages to meld the band's past and present very well. The album can be said to be structured in this way: there are 7 songs, 3 of which lean towards hard-progressive, 3 towards more classic symphonic prog, plus one piece almost oriented towards pop-rock. The opener "Hiding Out" is penned directly by the new vocalist and is heavily driven by a rather hard guitar, but it also offers more symphonic breaks that temper its aggressiveness. Quite hard is also the following "I Know Your Secret," characterized by a compelling rhythm, an energetic bass that dominates the verses before making way for the guitar in the chorus, but also a quieter part; a track that might somehow remind you of "Onomatopoeia" from the album "Feel Euphoria." And to close the hard trilogy is "Afterthoughts," again with Leonard's hand but also that of Neal Morse: a track also guided by robust guitar riffs but offers interesting synth inserts and vocal counterpoints in full Gentle Giant style that have often appeared here and there in the band's albums. The tracks over 8 minutes, on the other hand, show the more symphonic side, closer to old-school prog, with a greater predominance of keyboards. "A Treasure Abandoned" is a clear example, although it adds a rather linear and catchy melody; beautiful acoustic guitar and mellotron parts.

But above all "Something Very Strange," where among other things, one witnesses pleasant interactions between instruments, particularly organ, acoustic guitar, and bass, and there is a rather significant instrumental section featuring keyboardist Ryo Okumoto in great shape, especially with the synth. And finally, the even longer "Waiting For Me," penned directly by the Morse brothers and characterized by a decidedly fresh and lively rhythm and melody and a good slow central part. "Submerged" deserves a special mention. Written by Leonard, it is a track that can be comfortably described as pop-rock. There is nothing surprising about this because in all the Spock's Beard albums, except for the debut, there has always been at least one simpler and more catchy track far from the complexity of the others. However, this track tends to leave a mark: after the calm and relaxed verse, in fact, it breaks into an incredibly sunny chorus, with a rather energetic guitar. A track with an almost alternative-rock flavor, it might recall songs by Alanis Morissette or the softer ones of Hoobastank (it wouldn't be hard to remember a "If I Were You"), even those by Nickelback, in short, an unusual track for the band, which shows how Ted Leonard, although in this debut he has limited himself to marrying the band's style, can truly bring a breath of fresh air to the band and open up a new direction if he is given more space as a composer. Moreover, there is quite an anticipation for the release of the new album by his main band, Enchant, who finally seem determined to return almost ten years after the last release "Tug Of War." As for the other new addition, drummer Jimmy Keegan, his performance proves to be on par with that of the departing Nick D'Virgilio, although he might seem a bit overshadowed, but in the future, it is hoped that he will make himself more heard. The other musicians, particularly keyboardist Ryo Okumoto, confirm the excellent performances already provided in the past.

Coming to the final judgment, I would say that perhaps I expected a more decisive and daring step forward, but even by merely harmonizing past and present, they have produced an excellent album that serves as a good soundtrack for this spring of 2013.