For the last two decades, the Californian quintet has been one of the most popular and unanimously praised bands in the Progressive Rock scene; nonetheless I wasn't an unconditional admirer of SPOCK'S BEARD, that I usually listen with moderation. I have to admit that since the departure of Neal Morse, I was even less interested by the band, but the announce of the arriving of a new frontman in the person of Ted Leornard in 2011, turns me on again immediately, because I truly loved the Leonard's vocal works for XEN, the old ENCHANT albums but mostly because I always cherished the great album "Angular Perceptions", which he did in 2007, with the short lived Supergroup project, that includes guitar hero Michael Harris and called THOUGHT CHAMBER.

So beside recording the promotional "Live at High Voltage Festival" available with Classic Rock magazine , and for his studio experience debut with Alan MORSE & co, it was time for Leonard to face the Ultimate test trek : he nailed it perfectly , his vocal power and his energetic input, not only had revitalized the band, but also provides a youthfulness to their Progressive Rock music, but his songwriting talent is revealed and confirmed here with two jewels "Submerged" (a nicely recycled track from his rare 2007 solo CD "Way Home") & the great opening song "Hiding Out", my two favorites tracks of the whole album. His voice that fit perfectly with the stylistic range of the Progressive hairy Vulcanian combo, a band that takes full advantage of this new stamina shaft that came along with the new generation recruits to rejuvenate surprisingly.

Indeed the Beard is in fine form, the loss of Nick D'Virgilio (BIG BIG TRAIN / MYSTERY / GENESIS) could have been insuperable but with the magic that holds Leonard, the suspense doesn't last long, his absence behind the kit was also compensated by the new official addition of great drummer Jimmy Keegan (SANTANA / JOHN WAITE / AGENTS OF MERCY) (already their stage skin-basher since 2008) who is also an high-harmony singer, I think the brand new Starship Enterprise crew will delight even the most demanding fans...Engage.

Some external writers talent were also used such as John Boegehold (ORPHAN MOON), a regular collaborator since "Snow" or and it's another good news: the returning Neal Morse that share his stellar melodic skills with his old partners, and it's great to heard again a cut, the longest one titled "Waiting For Me", based on the collaboration of the two Morse brothers, which even include a short Guitar cameo by Neal.

The numerous Harmonized layers of backing vocals are as always very pertinent and quite unique, each member is a very good vocalist, this particularity remains a big force for them, maybe it's the SPOCK'S BEARD's strongest asset and their most obvious signature trick. The special edition contains a bonus disc, but it seems there is an even better edition with five tracks instead, where there is an instrumental, "Postcards From Perdition", featuring some ambient textures and keyboards solos spot by Ryo Okumoto, another hardcore collector must have item.

Modern YES meets KANSAS with fine counterpoint backing vocals formula out of the GENTLE GIANT recipe book; this is what you can expect: In my very humble opinion, what we have here is nothing less than the best album in the post-Neal Morse era.