It’s always interesting to hear what Neal Morse has in store for 2026. There’s no denying he has been going on this incredible journey since 1992. From forming Spock’s Beard, then sojourning on with Transatlantic, Flying Colors, Cosmic Cathedral, and his own group the Neal Morse Band. He’s always having a card up his sleeve to see what adventures will lay ahead for him in the years to come.
But there’s no stop sign for him when it comes to the band’s next release, L.I.F.T. released on the InsideOut label, this follow-up to 2021’s Innocence & Danger, this has proven to be a true genuine storyteller when it comes to his music. From the inspiration of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress in The Similitude of a Dream and The Great Adventure, to a protagonist who loses their sense of belonging, going to be tormented and shamed, finally finding who he really through grace on the new album.
And with his fellow comrades Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Eric Gillette, and Bill Hubauer leading the way, it is as I’ve mentioned, a movie inside your head. L.I.F.T. is more than just a religious experience, it is powerful, emotional, and raw that Neal pours his heart and soul into the album. Once he hits those notes, you can’t let them go, it stays with you forever.
The instrumental composition of ‘Gravity’s Grip’ sees the powerful Mike’s incredible drum work, leading in the way Gillette’s leading improvisation, and fast-paced organ work, you can’t go wrong to see each of the members taking turns in this celebrated arrangement which speaks volume in this heavy-paced powder keg, waiting to explode at any second.
‘Hurt People’ goes into this metallic roar as Neal lets out his anger and frustration on a bullhorn with all of the taunting and torment the character goes through, finally has had enough of being pushed around and in the words of HUNTR/X from the 2025 movie KPop Demon Hunters on ‘How It’s Done’, “You wanna get wild? Okay, I’ll show you wild!” You mess around that person; you’re going to find out what happens. That’s what the song touches on. Mess around and find out.
But once we get into the tidal-waving arrangements in the last four minutes of the piece, each of the band members go buck wild to go into this metallic sense of mind which not only goes into the Italian direction that speaks of Le Orme, Premiata Forneria Marconi, and Rhapsody of Fire, but the complex changes sparkling like a jolt of electricity coming out of nowhere.
‘Fully Alive’ nearly sounds like a crossover between Kansas, Be-Bop Deluxe, and the Face the Music-era from the Electric Light Orchestra with its mellowing turned AOR (Album-Orientated Rock) genre on finding your true self and walking into the unknown to see where the future will lay ahead for them. But it’s the segueing between ‘Contemplation’ and ‘Shame About my Shame’ which gets you underneath your skin.
Beginning with Morse’s piano arrangements before going into this medieval tour de force, the band are lending each other a helping hand to tackle the wonders of Gentle Giant’s legacy in a romantic leap of faith then walks into the crowd, seeing the artist struggling to find out who he is, but understanding that he isn’t just an outsider, but reaching the path to spread his wings in this gospel-like angelic form with harmonising vocalisations in the background.
‘Reaching’ becomes a synth adventure with an idealistic wonder and heading for a brand-new day that’s waiting for the listener before landing on this acoustic reflection of the spiritual journey we’ve embarked on with ‘Carry You Again’. There are some hints of The Alan Parsons Project’s Eye in the Sky-era, flowing into the background with bits of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Solsbury Hill’ into the mixture the Neal Morse band carry in their grocery bags.
Closing 11-minute epic ‘Love All Along’ is where Morse brings the story to an end. The track where he finally soars across the galaxy and sees his sense of freedom with a ballad, lending out his voice and giving his message of healing in the composition. L.I.F.T. may not be everyone’s cup of tea per se, but it’s quite the ride Neal has given us the ride of a lifetime.
The nature and atmosphere behind the new album are quite extraordinary with its harder rock sounds, gospel, progressive-pop, and insane time signatures to give it that punch in the gut which it needed. And we can imagine there’s more around the corner to see what Neal has up his sleeves in the mid-to-late 2020s.
