Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History Of Time is a book that many own but few have managed to read cover to cover. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is another. But it’s this 300-plus-year-old Christian allegory which has served as the inspiration for both The Neal Morse Band’s last album, 2016’s The Similitude Of A Dream, and this year’s The Great Adventure. And Morse has now actually finished reading The Pilgrim’s Progress to boot.
Back in 2016, Morse embarked upon recording The Similitude Of A Dream with some reservations, both about the subject material and its form, namely, the fact that it was a double album. His long-time foil, former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, was also nervous about comparisons being made with his old band, given Similitude…’s release was shortly after the emergence of Dream Theater’s The Astonishing double album. Now, however, both feel that making Similitude… really paid off.
