NEAL MORSE & THE RESONANCE – No Hill For A Climber (2024) *HQ*

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The new album by NEAL MORSE & THE RESONANCE – entitled ”No Hill For A Climber” finds Morse working with new, talented musicians. One of the benefits – Morse soon realised – of working with local young talent was a sense of newness and immediacy: “These guys brought a lot to the table. There is a freshness that comes from working with new and younger people. There are some musical ideas they brought that would NEVER have occurred to me: there is lots of new stuff here.”
Nevertheless, faithful to any Neal Morse prog album, ”No Hill For A Climber” features two long epics, as well as three shorter songs, of melodic progressive rock.
All these players are local Nashville lads, and not particularly well-known in international circles. But this ‘local acquaintance’ dynamic in no way detracts from these musicians’ abilities or the professionalism on display. It goes without saying that even to appear on a Neal Morse Progressive Rock record is of itself a recognition of achievement, and in truth, every one of these players lives up to the lofty expectations demanded by ‘No Hill For a Climber’. These are very fine musicians indeed, being directed by one of the finest composers and producers in the game.
And the result is Proggy – very Proggy. In places, the album sounds like early Spock’s Beard, in other places like NMB, and in yet others, like Devin Townsend. But over that winding stylistic thread, the album constantly engages the listener with Morse’s own guru-like ability to come up with new hooks, new melodies and new arrangements that will warm your soul.

Morse has a proclivity like no-one else to hit that very rare spot of combining the familiar and the novel at the same time. His melodies and hooks feel like close life-long companions that you have loved for years, yet they are brand-new. It is an astounding gift.
There are two long epics on the album. The first, ‘Eternity In Your Eyes’, announces with an immediacy that this album will be grandiose Melodic Prog, the likes of which you last heard from Transatlantic. It is detailed, majestic, and flowing, and it contains every element that one would expect, from overtures to grand soundscapes, from orchestral sweeps to bluesy guitars.

Second track ‘Thief’ sees Morse getting his Crimson on and showing his most experimental side. It is a song quite unlike any other that Morse has previously written. It starts with a sinister dual-vocal harmony and immediately delves into some pretty dark Crimson-esque territory. It is a brave foray by Morse into a direction diametrically opposed to the positivity that has featured so prominently in his other recent work. One might think that this would make it a risky venture, but, on the contrary, it succeeds greatly, with Morse providing the dark story with conviction, and the band delivering the complex backing with purpose and direction.

‘All The Rage’ returns us to more familiar territory with glorious positive melodies and ascendant chord progressions. Quite triumphant in its sound, it harkens back to Morse-era Spock’s Beard and his more direct solo offerings such as ‘Momentum’. The song has crashing chords and riffs in major keys that allow us just the right amount of nostalgia for the moment. It rocks, but it has Beard-like quirkiness.
At this point it must be mentioned that Morse’s lead vocals are as pleasing as ever. He stretches his voice on this song and pulls it off with aplomb. When in harmony with Bisaha, as in the second verse, Morse’s voice reveals that it still has plenty of vigor and can be used very effectively within this new aspect.

‘Ever Interceding’ is without doubt, one of the finest melodies that Morse, assisted here by no-one, has ever written. With the other singer enlisted for this recording – Johnny Bisaha – magnificent voice soaring like an angel over the melodies, one feels that Morse must have been keeping this one aside until he found just the right time and the right vocalist to release it. Its pre-chorus is beautiful enough, but the resolution to the ultimate ‘Road to Damascus’ moment is beyond magnificent. It is absolutely one of the highest points in Morse’s career as a songwriter. There are no fancy arrangements and no odd time signatures – just pure emotion and melodic brilliance.

The second epic, ‘No Hill For A Climber’ was written by Morse and tthe new guys and comprises 29 minutes of Prog adventure not unrelated to the style of several NMB epics. Drummer Philip Martin is allowed to flex his impressive chops in this one. He is a very fine musician and clearly up to the task, not tyring to emulate anyone, but playing parts that are perfect for Morse’s arrangements in his own style.
The title track allows the guitar to take center stage alongside Bisaha’s and Morse’s voices. They interplay for a while in a chunky verse that is anchored by granite-like bass, and then the band resolves into the song’s very melodic main chorus theme, sung by Bisaha.

Neal Morse is a musical Svengali. In this album, you can hear him relishing in the prospect of working with new personnel, and in particular, in the vocal direction of Bisaha, who has a voice with a very high range not un-reminiscent of Eric Gillette’s, though somewhat raunchier.
The compositions and production are obviously geared to the new opportunities presented by Bisaha’s fine voice, as well as the musical skills of the rest of the band, and Morse takes full advantage. I was surprised to find that there were so many co-compositions on the album, but this shows nothing but Morse’s true wish to collaborate, as opposed to simply replacing the intimidating names that appeared in his past collaborations.
These guys are fine musicians, but the not-so-secret weapon that is Neal Morse proves to be the common denominator that delivers all that is good in this brand of melodic Progressive Rock.
Highly Recommended

01 – Eternity in Your Eyes
02 – Thief
03 – All the Rage
04 – Ever Interceding
05 – No Hill for a Climber

Chris Riley – Keyboards, Guitars, Bass, Lead Vocals
Andre Madatian – Guitars and Orchestration
Johnny Bisaha – Lead Vocals
Philip Martin – Drums on tracks 2, 3, 4 & 5
Joe Ganzelli – Drums on tracks 1, 2 & 5
Chris Carmichael – Violin, Viola, Cello
Amy Pippin and Julie Harrison – Background Vocals
Chris West – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Desmond Ng – Trombone and Euphonium
Neal Morse – Lead and Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Guitars, Bass, Percussion

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