Posted by Jim Dittman on March 29, 2002 at 23:25:56:
In Reply to: Split Decision, Steve's weakest effort yet. posted by Rich Vincent on March 29, 2002 at 11:48:02:
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: Please let me preface this by saying this IS NOT A FLAME meant to start a war up here. These are my honest feelings as a HUGE Steve Morse fan for the last 19 or 20 years.
: It brings me no satisfaction to have to say this, but this is the worst offering from Steve yet. I've been a fan of Steve's since 1983, and have been one to this day, and was deeply saddened to hear the stuff on this CD.
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: To me most of it sounds like re-hashed Zepplin. The complexity of Steve's compositions on his solos albums has continued to spiral downward since after he released High Tension Wires. At the time I wasn't absolutely thrilled with Coast To Coast or Southern Steel, but this album make those two seem like Bach.
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: I know a lot of Steve's fans want him to "rock it out," but this is getting absurd. What happened to the complex, layered composition that he used to employ?
: After reading the liner notes, I'm convinced that Steve Morse must be suffering from some sort of memory loss. In the liner notes he says, "'Clear Memories' (track 9) has a feeling that I've never recorded before, but am very glad to have done it."
: Weird, because to me that tracks sounds like something he would have put on High Tension Wires. Apparently Steve has entirely forgotten what it's like to have written cool music like that before.
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: The other track that to me sounds like it's from that era, is track number 12, "Natural Flow."
: A shame.
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: This is not unlike the recent disappointments that I've been witness to when I've seen the SMB perform at a club in VA called "The Birchmere."
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: I haven't gone in 2 or 3 years (don't even know if he's played there). But I did go for four years in a row, and the show was basically the same show every year, with one or two songs changed. THAT was a disappointment. The added shock of having to see Michael Fath (I think that was his name) as the opening act every time was enough to make me want to scream.
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: I know this is going to upset a lot of Steve Fans who like to hear him ROCK OUT, but I'm one of the people (and so are my friends) who like to hear his more complex, layered side. I hope Steve reads this, takes it as the constructive criticism it is, and makes an attempt to write something interesting next time.
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: This is the FIRST time in my life that I actually wish I had pirated the music from online, than actually having paid for it.
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: Rich...
You've got to be kidding! This is an excellent effort by Steve that clearly shows his artistic talent! He is complimenting all of his influences (and mine, too) by making this CD. I applaud Steve for having the courage and wisdom to make such a project - and make it work! What an outstanding CD!!!!!