''Snow'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Spock's Beard Spock's Beard is an American progressive rock band formed in Los Angeles. The band was formed in 1992 by brothers Neal (lead vocals, keyboards) and Alan Morse (vocals, guitars), John Ballard (bass) and Nick D'Virgilio (drums). Ballard was r ...

, and the final album with main songwriter and vocalist

Neal Morse Neal Morse (born August 2, 1960) is an American singer, musician and composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful. ...

, who left immediately after the release of the album due to his conversion to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. It was released in 2002 on Radiant Records. A

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, ''Snow'' follows the story of "Snow", a 17 year old

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 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 Dave Meros (born 8 February 1956), is an American bass guitar player, best known as the bass player for progressive rock band Spock's Beard. Meros has also played or recorded with such artists as Gary Myrick, Bobby Kimball of Toto, Simon Phil ...

was surprised by, because he awaited the revised version. The group then completed recording it overnight, on September 10, 2001. The next day, Spock's Beard was scheduled to fly back to Tennessee, but due to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, ended up stranded in the airport. Spock's Beard decided to rent a car so they could get safely home. During that time, while the group listened to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and

God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version was notably recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature s ...

(which was sung by Congress over the radio), Neal Morse got an idea for the album's concept. It will become a mysterious Albino psychic and healer. Upon returning to Tennessee, Neal spent months polishing the concept and writing more songs, but upon returning to LA, he suffered an emotional wreck, and decided to quit the band, the announcement of which came nine months after the first recording of the album. He told his band members that he was a devoted Christian, and viewed the songs "Open Wide the Flood Gates," "Love Beyond Words," and Wind at My Back" as prayers. He then had a hard time deciding whether to go with the band's ideology, or create his own solo album, with a focus on Christianity as its base. After the recording was complete, Neal said his farewells to the former band. Due to Neal's departure, the ''Snow'' tour was cancelled. Neal Morse and Nick D'Virgilio returned to the band in 2016 for the ''Snow Live'' concert at Morsefest in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. ''Snow Live'' was also performed once more in 2016 at the Night of the Prog festival in Loreley, Germany.

Live Release

On November 10, 2017, Spock's Beard released a live

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

version of the album via

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distri ...

and Radiant Records. The DVD version contains both parts of the album, as well as encores "June" and "Falling for Forever", and behind the scenes featurette "The Making of Snow Live".

Track listing

All songs written by

except where noted.

Disc one

Disc two

Disc three

The Special Limited Edition of this album contains a third disc, made of acoustic tracks, work-in-progress and a cover ("

South Side of the Sky "South Side of the Sky" is a song by progressive rock band Yes from their album ''Fragile''. Description It opens with the sound of a howling wind, then the song starts after a thunder-strike, bursting into a heavy, riff-dominated rock song. ...

", originally on the Yes album ''Fragile'') #"South Side of the Sky" (

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes. He was the longest-serving original member, having r ...

) – 9:11 #"The Good Don't Last/Open Wide the Flood Gates" (Live acoustic) – 11:26 #"Working on 'Devil/Fiddly/Disco" – 4:41 #"Looking for Answers" (Live acoustic) – 4:59 #"Stranger in a Strange Land (

Demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

)" – 2:34 #"4 O'Clock" – 0:24 #"Working on Ryo's Solo" – 7:42 #"Lost Bass Solo" – 2:01 #"The Light" (Live acoustic) – 6:08 #"Working on I Will Go" – 2:10

Personnel

– lead vocals, piano, synths, acoustic guitar *

Alan Morse Alan Morse (born August 22, 1958) is an American guitarist of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He is the brother of co-founder Neal Morse, who left the band in 2002. Morse is married to Kathryn Morse and has two children, Julia and John. ...

– electric guitars, vocals, cello *

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 wa ...

– hammond organ, mellotron, jupiter 8, minimoog, vocoder *

– bass, vocals, French horn *

Nick D'Virgilio Nicholas D'Virgilio (born November 12, 1968), often referred to as NDV, is an American drummer, singer and guitarist, best known as a member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil Col ...

– drums, percussion, vocals, lead vocals on "Carie" and "Looking for Answers" Production * Chris Carmichael – violin, viola, cello *Jim Hoke – saxophone, clarinet, autoharp *Neil Rosengarden – flugelhorn, trumpet *Molly Pasutti – backing vocals on "Open the Gates Part 2" * Rich Mouser - mixing

References

External links

Official websiteInsideOut Music
{{Authority control 2002 albums Concept albums Spock's Beard albums Rock operas Inside Out Music albums