Innocence & Danger

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Innocence & Danger
Nmb innocence danger.jpg
Studio album by
The Neal Morse Band
ReleasedAugust 27, 2021
RecordedEarly 2021 [1]
Genre Progressive rock [2] [3] [1] , progressive metal
Length99:40 [1]
Label Inside Out/Sony Music [1]
Producer NMB
The Neal Morse Band chronology
The Great Adventure
(2019)		Innocence & Danger
(2021)
Neal Morse solo chronology
Sola Gratia
(2020)		Innocence & Danger
(2021)
CD 1 (Innocence) [4] [1]
No.TitleLength
1."Do It All Again"8:55
2."Bird on a Wire"7:22
3."Your Place in the Sun"4:12
4."Another Story to Tell"4:50
5."The Way It Had to Be"7:14
6."Emergence"3:12
7."Not Afraid Pt. 1"4:53
8."Bridge over Troubled Water" (music: Paul Simon)8:08
Total length:48:46 [4] [1]
CD 2 (Danger) [4] [1]
No.TitleLength
1."Not Afraid Pt. 2"19:32
2."Beyond the Years"31:22
Total length:50:54 [4] [1]

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Prog RadioStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [13]
laut.de Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Dangerdog Music Reviews4.5/5 [3]
RAMzineStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [14]
Proghurstfavorable [15]
Sonic Perspectives9.5/10 [1]
Classic Rock [16] Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg
Prog Star empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [17]

Yan Vogel from laut.de defined the eight songs that make up the first CD as "rather short exhibits, each with different stylistic expressions". He picked the opener "Do It All Again" as an example of the band's group spirit, in that three members share the lead vocals. When comparing the two songs of the second CD, however, he thought "Not Afraid Pt. 2" was "excessively long", but praised "Beyond the Years" as the album's highlight. [2]

Dangerdog's Craig Hartranft concluded that "with Innocence & Danger, NMB (the band formerly known as the Neal Morse Band) delivers another terrific, dramatic, and creative album of melodic progressive with plenty of twists, turns, and superb guitar work." [3]

Writing for RAMzine, Laurence Todd praised the songs and congratulated Morse for the "consistent run of creativity" that he's been displaying since 2015, when he started a streak of several albums with NMB, Flying Colors, Transatlantic and his solo career. [14]

Writing for her website Proghurst, Grace Hayhurst said that "in conclusion, it's easy to call this yet another Neal Morse album – because it does follow a long list of his similar tropes, compositional techniques, collaborators, and harmonic ideas. However as always, the musicianship is unbelievable, and the music is full of memorable moments." [15]

On Sonic Perspectives, Scott Medina noted the album's lyrics as rather "secular" and the fact that for the first time Morse arrived in the studio without any demoed ideas. He was unsure if placing the two longest tracks together on the same disc was the best decision and noted that "Bridge over Troubled Water" and "Not Afraid, Pt 2" had very similar endings (combining "symphonic fanfare" with Portnoy's drum rolls), but concluded that "with 'Innocence & Danger' they have delivered something for everyone and perhaps even nudged the bar a little higher". [1]

Classic Rock 's Rich Davenport commented that "tapping into the genre's early sense of musical adventure, without the stale indulgence of the mid-70s, [NMB's] latest album Innocence & Danger contrasts epics and concise tracks." [16]

Writing for Prog , Gary MacKenzie also noted the limited presence of religious messages in the album and said "Innocence & Danger adds to his [Morse's] enviable high quality catalogue, but it would be wrong to ignore the contributions of his bandmates here. There are some twists and turns that move beyond the expected Morse formulae and, [...] Innocence & Danger [...] certainly delivers those big themes, mellifluous vocal lines, instrumental gorgeousness and more one has come to expect from this accomplished band." [17]

Commercial reception

Charts

Chart (2021)Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [18] 187
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [19] 63
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [20] 18
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [21] 5
UK Albums (OCC) [22] 26 [23]

Personnel

NMB

Additional musicians

Technical personal

Awards and recognition

The album was honored as "Album of the Year" for 2021 by ProgCharts.com. [24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Medina, Scott (August 3, 2021). "Neal Morse Band – Innocence & Danger (Album Review)". Sonic Perspectives. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Vogel, Yan. "Das dritte Dopelalbum in fünf Jahren". laut.de (in German). Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Hartranft, Craig (August 18, 2021). "NMB (Neal Morse Band) - Innocence & Danger". Dangerdog Music Reviews. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bauer, Simon (June 26, 2021). "THE NEAL MORSE BAND - "An Evening Of Innocence & Danger"-Tour angekündigt". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  5. ↑ Turner, James (July 14, 2021). "The Neal Morse Band's Eric Gillette counts down his top 5 favorite guitar solos". Guitar World . Future plc . Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Portnoy, Mike (August 11, 2021). "NMB - Innocence & Danger Track Commentary Pt.1 with Mike Portnoy". InsideOutMusic TV. YouTube . Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  7. ↑ Morey, Bryan (July 27, 2021). "The Neal Morse Band's Randy George: The Progarchy Interview". Progarchy. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  8. ↑ Michels, Alexandra (June 26, 2021). "THE NEAL MORSE BAND - 'Do It All Again'-Video veröffentlicht". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  9. ↑ Michels, Alexandra (July 27, 2021). "THE NEAL MORSE BAND - 'Bird On A Wire'-Single im Video". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  10. ↑ Michels, Alexandra (August 18, 2021). "NMB - 'Your Place In The Sun'-Clip online gestellt". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Portnoy, Mike (August 25, 2021). "NMB - Innocence & Danger Track Commentary Pt.2 with Mike Portnoy". InsideOutMusic TV. YouTube . Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  12. ↑ Portnoy, Mike (September 1, 2021). "NMB - Innocence & Danger Track Commentary Pt.3 with Mike Portnoy". InsideOutMusic TV. YouTube . Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  13. ↑ The Prog Yak (September 4, 2021). "The Neal Morse Band – 'Innocence & Danger' (Album Review)". www.progradio.com.
  14. 1 2 Todd, Laurence (August 9, 2021). "Neal Morse Band play with Innocence And Danger". RAMzine. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  15. 1 2 Hayhurst, Grace (August 20, 2021). "NMB (The Neal Morse Band): 'Innocence & Danger'". Proghurst. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  16. 1 2 Davenport, Rich (August 26, 2021). "Neal Morse Band contrast the epic with the concise on Innocence & Danger". Classic Rock . Future plc . Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  17. 1 2 MacKenzie, Gary (August 26, 2021). "NMB - Innocence & Danger: "Delivers big themes..."". Prog . Future plc . Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Neal Morse Band – Innocence & Danger" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Neal Morse Band – Innocence & Danger" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Neal Morse Band – Innocence & Danger" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Neal Morse Band – Innocence & Danger". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Neal Morse Band | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Official Albums Sales Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company".
  24. ↑ Yak, Prog (August 27, 2021). "Top 25 Prog Rock Albums for 2021". ProgCharts.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
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