Band:	Neal Morse
Album:	Sola Scriptura
Style:	Progressive metal, Progressive rock
Release date:	February 26, 2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. The Door
    1 - Introduction
    2 - In The Name Of God
    3 - All I Ask For
    4 - Mercy For Sale
    5 - Keep Silent
    6 - Upon The Door
02. The Conflict
    1 - Do You know My Name?
    2 - Party To The Lie
    3 - Underground
    4 - Two Down, One To Go
    5 - The Vineyard
    6 - Already Home
03. Heaven In My Heart
04. The Conclusion
    1 - Randy's Jam
    2 - Long Night's Journey
    3 - Re-Introduction
    4 - Come Out Of Her
    5 - Clothed With The Sun
    6 - In Closing...

"Sola Scriptura" is the last release of Mr Neal Morse. Since that he left Spock's Beard, the Prog Rock maestro released some good solo albums but actually I really think that this one will become his best without any problems. I like Progressive Rock and Metal and when I see the line up of the album (Portnoy, Gilbert, George and Morse), when I see the quality of the compositions I can only say that we're in front of an amazing release. If you like cool Progressive Music and if you're not afraid of religious topics, you'll have to check this release as soon as possible.

"Sola Scriptura" means "Only By Scripture" in Latin and as you can already understand, we're in front of a good old "Christian Rock" release. If we forget the lyrics two minutes, we're also in front of a great Progressive album. With ballads, like fast and technical tracks full of amazing guitars and keyboards soli and of course amazing rhythms played by Portnoy himself, "Sola Scriptura" is a pleasant release full of great melodies and good ideas. The fours long songs are never linear. As an example, you'll be able to find a great break in "The Conflict" which is a nice acoustic (and super technical) cover of the Latin hit "Chan Chan" (watch Buena Vista Social Club if you don't understand what I mean). It's great really because you can pass from something which is a pure Progressive Rock/Metal to something a lot more original and all the time and during all the length of the album it's well done, with a perfect performance of the musicians. "Sola Scriptura" is just a classy album of Progressive music.

My only problem with this album comes from the lyrics. I have nothing against religions but I'm not a believer and really it was hard for me to listen to, during more than an hour, stuff about God and Martin Luther. Of course, we all know that Neal Morse is now a bit like a musical preacher or something like that, so after all nobody force you to listen to his stuff but really you have to know that it can be boring at the end if you're not into this kind of topics. Evidently on the other hand, it's so good musically speaking that you'll still have to check this album even if you cannot stand religious lyrics or really you'll miss something.

If you're not disturbed by the controversial religious concept of this release or if you just want to listen to good music, "Sola Scriptura" is a must. This album is a really beautiful piece of music and all the ones who like Neal Morse or regret his departure of Spock's Beard will clearly have to have a look on this new album, his best out to date.