Search - Steve Morse Band :: Split Decision

Take it all - hook, line & sinker

spiral_mind | Pennsylvania | 04/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Insane. When I normally pick up a new album, I'll give it a few listens over the next week and put it in the rotation for a while. Occasionally something comes along that makes me want to keep playing it over and over like a lab rat hitting the pleasure button. Usually an album like this will wear out its welcome after a week or two and reveal itself as little more than catchy fluff. But sometimes.. sometimes such an album will not only stand up to those repeated listenings, but stay just as strong and vital as before.I've had a month and a half to live with Split Decision.. and I'm still spinning this one like crazy. "Great Mountain Spirits" is full of the sweetest guitar tone you'll hear from anyone this side of Eric Johnson. Let's not forget the usual top-notch sidemen either - the three weave around each other in a graceful dance starting with the first few seconds of "Heightened Awareness" and never lose the beat. Dave LaRue keeps his place as one of the most underrated bass players in the business; if you still don't know why, take a listen to the Celtic-tinged "Marching Orders." Van Romaine is the perfect anchor on drums, adding touches all over the place yet keeping the beat rock-steady. The only thing I can imagine anyone not liking about the album is its higher-than-usual proportion of slow quiet tunes, hence the title. It's something of a mix between Stressfest and High Tension Wires, along with some touches of everything from classical to Celtic to ambient to heavy metal.If you like substance over flash, buy this album. It doesn't matter if you worship great guitar playing or if you couldn't tell a fretboard from a washboard. Anything Steve puts out is true music - not shred-fests, not flash playing, but a wonder that'll touch anyone with a pulse."

Very different...but still solid

southqwerty | West Paducah, KY United States | 03/29/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For someone of Morse's stature in the industry, you'd think he'd be content to just rest on his laurels and crank out sound-alike albums until he retires. Steve shows us again with this record that it ain't gonna happen! This record is much different than anything I have heard out of him. Overall the record is much simpler than the rest of his work, emphasizing his melodic blues chops when not displaying his softer side with lush acoustic layers and layering of clean guitars - few do this better, by the way. About half the album is mid-tempo or slower ballads, immediately bringing to mind his 1989 solo effort, "High Tension Wires". But this is Steve Morse, so you can expect that most of the songs rock out pretty well at one point or another...it's just that it's a little more subtle. A good thing? I think probably so.There's a ton a variety on this album, from the hooky opening track which sort of had me waiting for the vocals to come in (HA HA just kidding Steve!), to the one tune where he decides to knock your socks completely off from start to finish, "Mechanical Frenzy". Most of the songs on the first half of the record start with a softer intro part and then morph into something that really moves. The aptly named "Gentle flower, Hidden Beast", for instance, starts out with a Santana feel to it and then rocks into a classic Morse anthem.It's interesting to note that the album he did before this was Major Impacts - which for the uninitiated, was an album of original music written in the vein of several different infulential artists. That record definitely left a mark on this one, with some of the influences on that record shining through loud and clear - like the Leslie West/Mountain parts in the title track.There was some things that I had never really heard him do before, like a Shrapnel Records-sounding electric duet in "Busybodies". He uses a LOT of different tones on the record, too; much more than I've ever heard.One of the great things about Morse as a musician (and a person in general) is that he loves to learn new things and adapt them to what he is doing. This record shows that he really wants to keep changing and improving...so even if the record wasn't really good, which it is, it would be a lot of fun to listen to someone of his compositional and playing ability explore a lot of new and different things.I guess the record missed the fifth star -heresy!- due to the simple fact that I'd prefer a little less of the softer, more lush stuff and acoustic blues. That boils down to my preferences; I guess I just don't "get it" so much. Having said that, I do think that nobody-and I mean nobody!-does emotive instrumental ballads better ("Four Minutes to Live" from Stressfest still brings tears to my eyes)...but perhaps it's too much of one thing. Your mileage may vary, though, you know?All in all, a great album with lots of cool stuff to explore. Bottom line: Get this one - especially if you have High Tension Wires and/or Major Impacts."

Morse continues to redefine the power trio

Thelonious | 06/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Steve Morse has been a brilliant and innovative musician for so long that his formidable talents are taken for granted. On "Split Decision", Morse explores a variety of tones, textures, and styles. Morse has continually redefined the power trio in the last 10 years or so, exploring such musical forms as bluegrass, jazz, rock, and classical music within this musical form. Only Rush has stretched the musical boundaries of the power trio as much as Morse. "Split Decision" is somewhat of a departure for Morse, incorporating more ethereal textures than his previous work. His collaborators, drummer Van Romaine and bassist Dave LaRue are just about the best rhythm section working, and they ably execute Morse's multifaceted musical visions. This CD is a cross between his early solo work on "The Introduction" and later solo works such as "High Tension Wires" and "Stressfest." The first half of the CD contains the heavy-hitting, finger twisting lines that we have come to expect from Morse. The second half contains more atmospheric, but no less stunning, music. Morse continues to grow as a musician, a rare and admirable trait."