HEAVEN ON HIS MIND
There’s only one person who can write a near-two hour prog rock opera double album about the story of Jesus and get away with it, and that person is Neal Morse.
Twenty-five songs, myriad guest musicians and a multitude of genres, Jesus Christ: The Exorcist is either a zap of divine inspiration or just the latest piece of prolificacy from the ever-busy mind of the former Spock’s Beard man.
Regardless of which side of the theological fence you may sit on, the rock opera is pretty much what you would expect – Broadway splendour intersected with moments of gung-ho prog adventurism, with plenty of Biblical messages slathered over the top.
“In the same way with a lot of the concept albums that I’ve written, it started off with a suggestion somewhere,” Morse says down the line from his home in Nashville, cheerful and chirpy.
No, not a suggestion from the Heavens above, but perhaps the next best thing – multi-instrumentalist friend and music business man Michael Caplan.
“He and his friend had been listening to one night,” Morse explains. “He
