Band : Spock's Beard
Album title : X
Label : Mascot Records
Distributor : PIAS
Release date : 28/09/2010
Release : CD

I got acquainted with this great Los Angeles based American Prog Rock band thanks to having to review their Octane album (review posted 14/01/2005).Barely half a year later came the Gluttons For Punishment – Live In 2005 double disc (review posted 27/09/2005), allowing me a look into the band's musical past, and somewhat more than a year later there was the band's self-titled 9th studio album (review posted 24/11/2006). A live DVD as well as CD (of the same material) was recorded in Holland during 2007 and released in June 2008. But regrettably around that time the band's label got into trouble when their distributor went bankrupt, and promotion around the album was therefore somewhat sketchy. As a result we never got to review 2008's Live.

So, why's it taken so long for the band to release a new album? Well, in the first place the band first took to touring in promotion of the album, and in August 2008 keyboardist Ryo Okumoto gets into a fight with one of his friends over a woman, and finds himself rushed off to the hospital for surgery with a severely broken jaw (it meant him being replaced for a couple of shows, but he soon enough took his rightful place in the band, in spite of the pain caused by his healing jaw....because, that's the kind of music freak he his, you know!). The band meanwhile erected a fund to pay for the real expensive medical intervention. Then, the band became a free agent after the Live album, which effectively concluded their deal with their then current label, and in stead of looking out for a label for the necessary up-front covering fees of recording sessions, they decided in late Spring 2009 to take on Marillion's tactics, asking their die-hard fans to order & pay for their copy of the album in advance. In exchange the fans got a physical copy of a one-time only 5,000 pressing with an extra bonus track, one month in advance to its existence in any other form.

Now usually the band members write music individually, bringing it to the table in time for rehearsals just prior to new recordings...but this time around the band actually found time to throw around some ideas together, work on it as a unit! It's sometimes tiresome to have to get back to it with every new album the foursome releases, but it looks like they've come to a good balance between the material as written in their old days (when Neal Morse was still in the band and writing most of the material) and their more modern sound (the band's first album after Neal's departure was a far more guitar-oriented one). With “Kamikaze” the band brings a Ryo Okumoto written instrumental of high quality, but there's no less than 3 rather long tracks on the album: the album opening Poppy-Bombastic “Edge Of The In-Between”, the real great and 4-part “From The Darkness”, and the somewhat orchestral album closing “Jaws Of Heaven”. Most probably, those are the songs the guys worked on together? Anyway, for you to get acquainted with their new album's material, several samples (at least one of each song, with a total listening time of 26 minutes) were posted at  myspace.com/spocksbeard. The complete album, which counts only 7 tracks, is nevertheless just over 71 minutes long, so you know you get your money's worth.

Those fans who overlooked helping the band by pre-ordering the album's limited first version (you know, the one with the extra track), may be lucky enough to get themselves one of the few remaining copies. Just in case everything's sold out already, the band has put the additional track (“Their Names Escape Me” - a sample also at their MySpace) at iTunes. AS I am writing this, the band is wrapping up a European tour...but console yourself by the fact that they didn't do Belgium...this time! I love this band...it's got everything an ailing heart yearns for : elaborate keyboard and guitar compositions with enough melodies to catch you by the throat the first time you listen to any of their songs, and with enough complexities underneath to make the more experienced listeners wanna return to the album again and again...and I really should start looking out for the band's older material to complete my collection of 'em!

98/100

Tony.