SPOCK'S BEARD — The Official Live Bootleg

MetalMusicArchives.com — the ultimate metal music online community, from the creators of progarchives.com

SPOCK'S BEARD - The Official Live Bootleg cover
4.28 | 3 ratings | 1 review
Buy this album from MMA partners

Live album · 1996

Filed under Non-Metal
By SPOCK'S BEARD

Tracklist

1. The Light (16:19)
2. Go the Way You Go (12:40)
3. Thoughts (7:05)
4. The Water (23:12)
5. On the Edge (7:01)

Total Time: 67:07

Bonus Track:

6. Waste Away / Fire (6:07)

Line-up/Musicians

- Neal Morse / Vocals, Synth, Piano, Guitars
- Alan Morse / Guitars, Vocals
- Dave Meros / Bass, Vocals
- Nick D'Virgilio / Drums, Vocals
- Ryo Okumoto / Mellotron, Hammond Organ, ARP Pdyssey

About this release

Release date: 1996
Label: Radiant

A.K.A. The Beard is Out There on reissues. One bonus track.

Thanks to adg211288 for the addition

Buy SPOCK'S BEARD - THE OFFICIAL LIVE BOOTLEG music

More places to buy metal & SPOCK'S BEARD music

SPOCK'S BEARD THE OFFICIAL LIVE BOOTLEG reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

Warthur
Spock's Beard's first live album comes in two distinct configurations and - confusingly - under two different titles, though in terms of the actual music you get the versions are almost identical. To keep them straight: The Official Live Bootleg is what the release was called when it came out on Radiant Records, the independent label Neal Morse originally set up to put out the band's own works on, whilst The Beard Is Out There is what the album was retitled as when InsideOut gave it a wider release.

Either way, the basis of the album is the band's set at Progfest 1995, in support of The Light, and includes performances of all the tracks from that album, plus Thoughts from Beware of Darkness. The Beard Is Out There version adds on to the end the finale - a performance of Waste Away, also from Beware of Darkness, intertwined with Jimi Hendrix's Fire to bring the set to a rocking conclusion.

Whichever release you are dealing with, you're getting into an interesting spot in the band's history. They're riding high from the warm reception The Light received in prog circles, and they've just added Ryo Okumoto on keyboards, but they've not yet gone into the studio to complete Beware of Darkness. Okumoto slides seamlessly into the lineup, making it possible to perform live renditions of the complex epics from The Light in the first place (Neal wouldn't have enough arms otherwise!), the band's ability to bring those studio marathons alive in tight, energetic versions is impressive, and the previews of Beyond of Darkness are welcome. Thoughts, in particular, is about as unabashed a tribute to Gentle Giant as any 1990s band would produce.

The recording quality is broadly fine - a little shaky towards the start of the album, perhaps, but this may well be down to the live mixing desk not quite being right until a little way into the performance; such is often the case at festivals, after all. Either way, in whichever configuration, this is a decidedly solid live album which really shows how well Spock's Beard's early material translates to the stage. If you'd only heard The Light at this point in time, you might have wondered whether the Beard could really pull this off, or whether they were relying on studio wizardry; this is where they prove they could tackle the stage right from their earliest days.

Members reviews

No SPOCK'S BEARD THE OFFICIAL LIVE BOOTLEG reviews posted by members yet.

Ratings only

  • stefanbedna
  • Nightfly

Write/edit review

You must be logged in to write or edit review

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Antibeauty Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mana Earth Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Intimate Isolation Hardcore Punk
GOOD FALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Dark Future Sludge Metal
PAIN CHEMISTRY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Violent Delights Hardcore Punk
GALLEONS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us