The brand new video from the Neal Morse Band,‘City of Destruction’ is released today and was premiered on GuitarWorld.com. The song is from the band’s new double-disc concept album, “The Similitude of a Dream”, which is due out November 11 on Radiant Records. The album is based on the story “The Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan. The video can be watched below.
This will be the eighth studio album with Morse, Portnoy and George, and the second as a true collaboration with this current lineup. A lyric video for the song “Overture” is now available below.
Clocking in at over a hundred minutes, this amazing piece of prog storytelling will leave you breathless, exhilarated, amused and fulfilled in a way that only inspired music can. It will be available in various formats: a two CD package, a special edition with the two CDs and “The Making Of A Dream” DVD, or as three vinyl records along with two CDs.
Together, Morse and Portnoy have launched four bands, but the one that has endured the longest and thus with the most musical output has been The Neal Morse Band. Over the years, Morse, along with Portnoy and George, always assembled musicians as needed to support Neal‘s solo music. In 2012, they held auditions to find the musicians needed to fill out the band as a permanent lineup that would write music collectively. Hubauer and Gillette joined the band after three days of auditions. The fivesome went on to release “The Grand Experiment” in 2014 followed by the “Alive Again” live DVD/2 CD package in 2015.
As Neal Morse explains: “‘The Similitude Of A Dream’ is loosely and sometimes directly based on the book ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ by John Bunyan. The book’s original title was ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ from this world to the that which is to come, delivered under the similitude of a dream, and it was originally published in 1678. The book chronicles the spiritual journey of a man from the City of Destruction to the place of Deliverance. Someone had suggested to me that I do a concept album based on this book, but I kind of forgot about it. Then when I began writing new songs last December, the suggestion came to my mind. I had never read the book, so I Googled the SparkNotes story outline and began to write some little song bits and instrumentals based on what I had read. Those bits combined with the ideas that the other guys brought to the table then miraculously exploded into this double concept album. Funny thing is, this album only really covers about the first 75 or 80 pages. Maybe we should’ve made a five disc collection! Well, we’ll save that for later. Ha.”
He continues: “At the conclusion of the grueling recording sessions, I remember Mike saying rather prophetically, ‘Boys, I think we just made the album of our careers.'”
“I honestly think this is the album of my career,” declares Portnoy. “Neal and I have now made 18 studio albums together, and I consider ‘The Similitude Of A Dream’ the absolute creative pinnacle of our collaborations together. I’ve always had a soft spot for double concept albums such as Pink Floyd‘s ‘The Wall’ and The Who‘s ‘Tommy’, and I can bravely say that I think we’ve created an album here that can sit side by side with those masterpieces. Bold words, I know, but after a career of almost 50 albums, I honestly consider this to be one of the defining works of my career.”
“We weren’t sure we had enough music to make a double CD, and yet it seemed as though the concept and the music wanted to go there,” bassist Randy George continues. “Ultimately, we created so much great music in the sessions that it just had to be a double album! To cap that off, we worked with a pre-imminent classic album cover artist to create painted illustrations of our concept which will grace the booklet!”
Track listing:
Disc 1:
01. Long Day
02. Overture
03. The Dream
04. City Of Destruction
05. We Have Got To Go
06. Makes No Sense
07. Draw The Line
08. The Slough
09. Back To The City
10. The Ways Of A Fool
11. So Far Gone
12. Breath Of Angels
Disc 2:
01. Slave To Your Mind
02. Shortcut to Salvation
03. The Man in The Iron Cage
04. The Road Called Home
05. Sloth
06. Freedom Song
07. I’m Running
08. The Mask
09. Confrontation
10. The Battle
11. Broken Sky / Long Day (Reprise)
Upcoming Shows
North America:
Jan 15 Nashville – Venue TBA
Jan 17 Seattle – Triple Door
Jan 18 San Francisco – Regency Ballroom
Jan 21 LA – Center Theater, Whittier
Jan 22 Phoenix – Nesbitt-Elliott Playhouse Theater
Jan 24 Denver – Oriental Theater
Jan 25 Dallas – Curtain Club
Jan 27 Chicago – Arcada Theater
Jan 28 Cleveland – Beachland Ballroom
Jan 29 Toronto – Mod Room
Jan 31 Montreal – Club Soda
Feb 01 Quebec City – Salle Jean Paul Tardif
Feb 02 NYC – Highline Ballroom
Feb 03 Washington DC – State Theater
Feb 07 – 11 CTTE (Cruise To the Edge… leaving from Tampa FL)
Europe:
March 22 Barcelona – Apolo
March 23 Milan – Venue TBA
March 24 Zurich – Z7
March 25 Aschaffenburg – Colo-Saal
March 26 Berlin – Lido
March 28 Warsaw – Progresja Music Zone
March 29 Hamburg – Markthalle
March 30 Verviers – Spirit of 66
March 31 Cologne – Stollwerck
April 01 Malmo – KB
April 02 Tilburg – 013
April 04 Luxembourg – Rockhal
April 05 Paris – Divan Du Monde
April 06 Birmingham – O2 Academy 2
April 07 Glasgow – O2 Ritz
April 08 Manchester – O2 ABC 1
April 09 London – O2 Islington Academy
April 12 Tel Aviv – Havana Club
May 6th RosFest – Gettysburg PA (Saturday Night Headliner)
The Neal Morse Band tours worldwide almost yearly and continues to grow in popularity, attracting new listeners everywhere they go. The band has toured in North America, Central America, Europe, Israel, Mexico and India. The shows are filled with excited and extremely loyal fans, some which have regularly traveled very long distances to see the band. The band has an extensive catalog of live shows on Blu-ray and DVD as well.
Their latest round of worldwide tour dates start January 15, 2017 in Morse‘s current hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Twitter
Video below: ‘City of Destruction’
Lyric video: ‘Long Day/Overture’