The Light (Spock's Beard album)

The Light
Studio album by Spock's Beard
Released	January 1995
Recorded	1994
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	57:03 (Original) 72:21 (Reissue)
Label	Metal Blade Radiant Records
Producer	Neal Morse and Spock's Beard
Spock's Beard chronology
The Light (1995) Beware of Darkness (1996)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rock Hard	[2]

The Light is the 1995 debut album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard. The album features two different covers—one for its domestic release, and one for its European release.[3] "The Light" has since become Spock's Beard's signature song. The album has since been remastered and re-released by Radiant Records.

Background and writing

In 1991, Morse left the Los Angeles music club life and moved to Nashville, TN. Morse took a motivational weekend course and realized that "I got into music because I loved it and I wanted to do big pieces." Two weeks later, Morse wrote The Light, Go the Way You Go, and The Water. Morse then invited his brother Alan Morse to play along on the demos. The Morse brothers later met drummer Nick D'Virgilio at a bar open jam night and was invited to join the band along with Dave Meros.[4]

The title track, The Light, also signals the birth of the "Neal Morse epic", a signature of his longform songwriting that remains to this day.[4]

Track listing

All songs written by Neal Morse except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Light" I. "The Dream" II. "One Man" (Alan Morse, N. Morse) III. "Garden People" IV. "Looking Straight into the Light" V. "The Man in the Mountain" VI. "Señor Valasco's Mystic Voodoo Love Dance" VII. "The Return of the Horrible Catfish Man" VIII. "The Dream"	15:32
2.	"Go the Way You Go"	12:07
3.	"The Water" I. "Introduction/The Water" II. "When It All Goes to Hell" III. "A Thief in the Night" IV. "FU/I'm Sorry" V. "The Water (Revisited)" VI. "Runnin' the Race" VII. "Reach for the Sky"	23:10
4.	"On the Edge"	6:14
Total length:		57:03

Bonus track on reissues

No.	Title	Length
5.	"The Light" (Home demo)	15:18
Total length:		72:21

Critical reception

In 2017, Prog Sphere ranked The Light as the second best album in the Spock's Beard discography behind V.[5]

The title track, The Light, was ranked as the second best Modern Prog Song of the 1990-2015 period by The Prog Report in 2017.[6]

Personnel

• Neal Morse - lead vocals, mellotron, hammond organ, all other keyboards, acoustic & electric guitar
• Alan Morse - lead electric guitar, cello, mellotron, vocals
• Dave Meros - bass, french horn
• Nick D'Virgilio - drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Molly Pasutti and Wanda Houston - background vocals on "The Water"

Release details

• 1995, USA, SynPhonic, CD
• 1998, USA, Metal Blade ?, Release Date 8 September 1998, CD
• 2001, USA, Giant Electric Pea GEPCD1017, Release Date 30 July 2001, CD
• 2004, UK, SPV Records SPV08528200, Release Date 22 March 2004, CD
• 2004, UK, SPV Records SPV08728208, Release Date 17 May 2004, CD (Cover artwork special edition)

References

1. Jurek, Thom (2011). "The Light - Spock's Beard | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
2. Rensen, Michael. "Rock Hard". issue 115. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
3. Jan-Jaap de Haan. "Counting Out Time: Spock's Beard - The Light". DPRP. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
4. "Spock's Beard debut 'The Light' in Jan of 1995". Retrieved 13 April 2022.
5. "Spock's Beard Albums Ranked". Retrieved 13 April 2022.
6. "Top 50 Modern Prog Songs 1990-2015". Retrieved 13 April 2022.