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Ryo Okumoto
Ryo Okumoto (奥本亮, born May 24, 1959) is a Japanese rock keyboardist, best known for his work with progressive rock group Spock's Beard. He joined the band in 1996 and has been a member ever since. When singer and keyboardist Neal Morse was in the band, Ryo played Hammond organ and Mellotron on the albums. Since Morse's departure, Okumoto has played all of the band's keyboard parts. He resides in Los Angeles. Aside from his work with Spock's Beard, Okumoto has performed and recorded with numerous other artists and groups, including GPS, K², Phill Collins, Eric Clapton, and Asia featuring John Payne. For three weeks in 1998, Okumoto was a member of Eric Burdon & the New Animals, before being replaced by Martin Gerschwitz. Okumoto was a member of Eric Andre's house band on season 5 of the Eric Andre Show. In 2019, Ryo joined the progressive rock supergroup cover band, ProgJect. Discography Spock's Beard * '' Beware Of Darkness'' (1996) * '' The Kindness Of Stra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 million in the 2020 census, it is also the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan and the 10th largest urban area in the world with more than 19 million inhabitants. Osaka was traditionally considered Japan's economic hub. By the Kofun period (300–538) it had developed into an important regional port, and in the 7th and 8th centuries, it served briefly as the imperial capital. Osaka continued to flourish during the Edo period (1603–1867) and became known as a center of Japanese culture. Following the Meiji Restoration, Osaka greatly expanded in size and underwent rapid industrialization. In 1889, Osaka was officially established as a municipality. The construc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Gerschwitz
Martin Gerschwitz (born 25 June 1952) is a German violinist, keyboardist, singer and composer. Life and career He was born and raised in Solingen, Germany. He began playing piano at the age of five, at the age of twelve he devoted himself exclusively to classical music, in 1969 he founded his first band, the Avengers. In 1972 he got his first big success: He won the "battle of the bands" in Solingen, where he met Dieter Rubach (amongst other members of the popular heavy metal band Accept), but turned down to play with them as he got the opportunity to play with German entertainer Howard Carpendale, from 1974-1977. In 1978 he founded BREAK POINT a band playing rock and roll in the USAF Europe Club Circuit playing in sold out clubs mainly in Germany. The band went into the studio in 1981 and came out with BREAK POINT - First Serving. With original hits composed by Martin and Band members, sales exceeded 5,000 units selling at shows. The CD and album is still available today o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep
''Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep'' is the eleventh studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard released on April 2, 2013. It is their first album with new singer Ted Leonard and drummer Jimmy Keegan in place of Nick D'Virgilio, while former member Neal Morse co-wrote two tracks, including "Waiting for Me", on which he plays guitar. Background and recording In the summer of 2011, Spock's Beard were scheduled to play at the Sweden Rock Festival and High Voltage Festival in Europe. Incumbent singer Nick D'Virgilio was unable to play at the dates, so the band recruited Enchant singer Ted Leonard to fill in for Nick on both shows. On 19 November 2011, Nick officially announced that he had left the band to pursue other projects, including playing for Cirque du Soleil. Later that week, the band announced that Leonard and touring drummer Jimmy Keegan had joined the band full-time as Nick's replacement. On 13 May 2012, the band announced that work had begun on their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
X (Spock's Beard Album)
''X'' is the tenth studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard. Similar to what Marillion did for '' Anoraknophobia'', the album was funded by pre-orders of a limited edition of the album before the album was recorded. Those who ordered the album's "Ultra Package" had their names listed in the CD booklet and included as part of the track "Their Names Escape Me", which is exclusive to the limited edition. The album was released independently in May 2010. A retail and digital release with Mascot Records was released in August 2010. This album is the last studio album recorded with Nick D'Virgilio performing lead vocals, who left the band on November 18, 2011, to focus on other commitments. He rejoined the band in 2017 to play on the ''Noise Floor'' release, however his future in the band remains unknown. Track listing Notes The above track listing is for the special edition. There are a few changes with the standard edition: * "The Emperor's Clothes" and "Kamikaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spock's Beard (album)
''Spock's Beard'' is the eponymous ninth studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard released on November 21, 2006. On September 21, 2006, Dave Meros added the tentative track list to the band's website, and said the following regarding the album's title: "As you probably know by now, we're calling our ninth studio release simply ''Spock's Beard''. No big heavy reasoning behind that, really, it just seemed like a cool thing to do. (Of course, you are more than welcome to help us invent some heavy philosophical or hidden meaning so we'll have something interesting to say in interviews...There are a few cool song titles that could have become the CD title...but we've done that a lot before. Then there is the obvious 'SB9' and its variations, or the clever play on words thing, like 'nein' or 'asinine' or something like that."Spock's Beard's Official WebsitAccessed 30 September 2006 Like its predecessors "A Guy Named Sid" (from ''Feel Euphoria'') and "A Flash Before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Octane (album)
''Octane'' is the eighth studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard, released on 25 January 2005. The first seven tracks form a complete piece of work, "A Flash Before My Eyes", that tells the story of a man involved in a car accident who relives his memories in the moments following the crash. A special edition release contained a second disc which contained five new tracks, outtakes from "A Flash Before My Eyes" and a video documenting the making of the album. Critical reception With ''Octane'', the band continued on a similar path as ''Feel Euphoria'' with a shift from progressive rock to a more straight-ahead rock sound. As a result, ''Octane'' has received generally average reviews since its release. Track listing Sources: Personnel ;Spock's Beard *Nick D'Virgilio – lead vocals, drums, percussion, loops, electric guitar and acoustic guitar *Alan Morse – guitar, theremin, saw, backing vocals *Ryo Okumoto – keyboards *Dave Meros – bass ;Additio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feel Euphoria
''Feel Euphoria'' is the seventh studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard released on July 8, 2003. It was the first album the band recorded following the departure of vocalist/songwriter Neal Morse, also the first full-length album to feature drummer Nick D'Virgilio as lead vocalist. It marked the beginning of a more band-oriented era of songwriting, as before Neal Morse had written the bulk of the band's material, now all of the remaining band members wrote for the band, including bass player Dave Meros, who picked up his first songwriting credit in the history of the band (other than full-group credits) on the song "Ghosts of Autumn". Tracks 7 through 12 comprise the suite "A Guy Named Sid". Track listing ;Special edition bonus tracks # "Moth of Many Flames" (Morse, Boegehold) – 2:49 # "From the Messenger" (Okumoto) – 7:25 Critical reception With the departure of Morse, a change in sound was noted by many critics. Sea of Tranquility reported, "Two, m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snow (Spock's Beard Album)
''Snow'' is the sixth studio album of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard, and the final album with main songwriter and vocalist Neal Morse, who left immediately after the release of the album due to his conversion to Christianity. It was released in 2002 on Radiant Records. A concept album, ''Snow'' follows the story of "Snow", a 17 year old albino with mystical healing powers who goes on a journey through ego and unrequited love and is ultimately redeemed by spirituality in the end. Background and recording Neal Morse began recording ''Snow'' in summer of 2001, when he flew from Tennessee to Los Angeles, California. Upon arrival, he wasn't satisfied with his recording of the album, and decided to re-write it, in order to create a decent concept piece. For that, he needed to fly back. He then returned with an almost completely rewritten version, which Dave Meros was surprised by, because he awaited the revised version. The group then completed recording it overnight, on Sep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
V (Spock's Beard Album)
''V'' is the fifth studio album of progressive rock band Spock's Beard released on August 22, 2000. The release of ''V'' also produced a CD single, this time promoting the track "All on a Sunday". The track itself was re-recorded in 2001 and is slightly different from the album track. Also on the single is an unreleased song called "The Truth", and the music video for "All on a Sunday". This album is available as a limited edition as well, which contains a 32-page booklet that includes an interview with the band and a personal fact-sheet on all the band members, as well as a multimedia track showing the band in the studio. Background and writing "Thoughts" is the second part of a cross-album suite, with other parts being featured on the Spock's Beard albums '' Beware of Darkness'' and ''Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep'', and on the Neal Morse album ''Momentum''. ''The Great Nothing'' is the longest song written to date for the band and is autobiographical for Morse who wrote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Day For Night (Spock's Beard Album)
''Day for Night'' is the fourth studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard released on March 23, 1999. The multi-part epic "The Healing Colors of Sound" comprises tracks 8 through 13 on the album. A CD single promoting the track "Skin" was subsequently released as well. The single contained 3 additional tracks: An edited version of "The Healing Colors of Sound", "Can't Get It Wrong", and also the Neal Morse track "Lost Cause", taken from his self-titled debut solo album. Track listing ;European edition bonus track # "Hurt" – 3:08 ;Japanese edition bonus track # "Urban Noise" – 0:40 # "June" – 6:11 Personnel *Neal Morse – lead vocals, piano, all synths, acoustic guitar *Alan Morse – electric guitar, Mellotron, vocals *Dave Meros – bass, vocals *Nick D'Virgilio – drums, percussion, vocals *Ryo Okumoto – Hammond organ, Mellotron Additional musicians *John Garr - Saxophone (5) *Joy Worland - French horn (7-8) *Eric Brenton, Tom Tally, John Kro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Kindness Of Strangers (album)
''The Kindness of Strangers'' is the third studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard released on May 19, 1998. This was the first full album to be mixed by Rich Mouser, who became the primary mixing engineer for Spock's Beard and later all of Morse's projects. The album has since been remastered and re-released by Radiant Records with 5 bonus tracks consisting of radio edits and demos. Track listing All songs written by Neal Morse except where noted. Personnel *Neal Morse – lead vocals, piano, all synths, acoustic and an occasional electric guitar *Alan Morse – main electric guitar, cello, Mellotron, vocals *Dave Meros – bass guitar, vocals *Nick D'Virgilio – drums, percussion, vocals *Ryo Okumoto – Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beware Of Darkness (album)
''Beware of Darkness'' is the second studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard, released in January 1996. The album was the band's first release following the addition of keyboardist Ryo Okumoto. The album was named after the song of the same name, originally written and performed by George Harrison. The album features several short songs, in contrast to their debut album '' The Light'' which consisted of just four lengthy tracks. "Thoughts", inspired by Gentle Giant, is the first part of a cross-album suite, with follow-up parts being featured on the Spock's Beard albums '' V'' and ''Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep'', as well as the Neal Morse album ''Momentum''. The album has since been remastered and re-released by Radiant Records. Background ''Beware of Darkness'' was Spock's Beard's first album to be written as a group; ''The Light'', its predecessor, featured mostly songs written by vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist Neal Morse while he was stil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
