White Jacket - Herman Melville

White Jacket, or The World in a Man-of-War (Melville, 1850)

Though Melville dismisses this book in the same breath as Redburn as a "job done for money", White Jacket is actually a good book.  It reads more like a non-fiction book than a novel, and I'm sure a lot of it is straight from Melville's experiences, but it has enough recurring characters, connected incidents, and linear continuity to distinguish it from Redburn as a very worthwhile read, perhaps the best of the pre-Moby novels.

A nameless narrator, known merely as White Jacket by virtue of his distinctive overcoat, recounts life as a sailor in a United States Navy ship in peacetime as it makes a homeward voyage from Peru, around Cape Horn, and up the east coast. The level and quality of humor in this book is excellent.  Melville's philosophizing includes a healthy dose of wit, and while somber incidents occur on board, there's some pretty funny stuff too.

One of the best storylines is the "great massacre of the beards," when the captain's edict to the sailors to get their facial hair within Navy regulations almost results in mutiny. If ever there were a No-Shave-November Bible, this vignette would be it: "Were the vile barbers of the gun deck to reap our long, nodding harvests, and expose our innocent chins to the chill air of the Yankee coast? ... Captain Claret! In cutting our beards and our hair, you cut us the unkindest cut of all!"

The narration and prose throughout is straightforward yet eloquent. Melville paints a vivid picture of life on the ship, and he raises more than one outcry at the injustices done to sailors by the officers, particularly at the arbitrary and violent punishment of flogging.  The scene where White Jacket is called before the mast to be flogged for shirking a heretofore unknown duty is gripping and intense.

Throughout the pages of this book, we are treated to bullies, smugglers, saw-happy surgeons, actors, poets, teachers, rogues, and about anyone in between - they are all on board.  Melville effectively uses the ship as a metaphor for the world, constantly at war, pursuing its wilful way regardless of the good doctrines of the Sermon on the Mount.  Ultimately, it's Melville's portrait of the dignity of man mixed with the parsimony of men that makes this an excellent book, and more than just another historical curiousity.

Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 great massacres of the beards

In a Perfect World - Karmakanic

In a Perfect World (Karmakanic, 2011)

1. 1969 - 14:12

2. Turn It Up - 6:53

3. When the World Is Caving In - 8:59

4. Can't Take It With You - 5:43

5. There's Nothing Wrong With the World - 7:24
6. Bite the Grit - 4:57
7. When Fear Came to Town - 9:54

On their fourth album, Karmakanic provide another stirring session of adventurous, exploratory, and exciting music.  Flower Kings bassist Jonas Reingold succeeds where many other great players have failed - while he could have made Karmakanic purely a showcase for his virtuoso bass playing, he takes a back seat to his band, crafting an intricate and satisfying album that stands proudly on its own, not as a mere side project.

Reingold gets songwriting credits, but the whole band shines in the songs and arrangements. It starts out with "1969", a symphonic delight with gorgeous piano, stately electric guitar, and fantastic harmony singing.  Part history lesson, part philosophic musing on idealism versus reality, it incorporates many movements seamlessly and sets the tone for the rest of the album. Indeed, it's almost a concept album about the economic crisis - the sunny rocker "Turn It Up" features sly lyrics against capitalist bigwigs, but "When the World is Caving In" flips it, examining the soul of one of those bigwigs looking for repentance and redemption. Our tendency to ignore or justify problems informs the soaring, melancholy "There's Nothing Wrong With the World", while "Can't Take It With You" is a highlight, juxtaposing Latin piano and percussion against distorted, chugging metal guitar. One minute you're doing the cha-cha, the next you're headbanging. And if features great lines like "Money makes any day sunny" and "Money, money, sweeter than honey", delivered with supreme irony.

The songwriting is high quality throughout, culminating in the restrained, emotive "When Fear Came To Town."  Starting with soulful, bluesy acoustic guitar and the lone lead vocal, it gradually adds calming jazz piano and brushed drums, with some truly sweet fretless bass. This song is all class, no flash - yet another impressive display of Reingold's songwriting ability.

This Swedish band may owe a lot to those other Swedes, The Flower Kings (and to the prog bands of yore - Genesis, Yes, ELP, Kansas...), but they have truly carved out their own identity. Lead vocalist Goran Edman has a very good singing voice (something to be treasured in progressive rock), and at least four other guys in the band contribute superb backing vocals. Guitar, bass, keyboard, drums - all are top notch players that value melody and interplay over show.  Add in some very thoughtful, well-honed lyrics (seriously, is English really their second language? I can't write that well), a strong jazz/fusion leaning, and a general love of excitement, and you have Karmakanic's In a Perfect World.

Arbitrary rating: 5 out of 5 truly sweet fretless basses

Testimony 2 - Neal Morse

Testimony 2 (Neal Morse, 2011)

Disc 1:

1. Mercy Street - 5:12

2. Overture No. 4 - 5:25

3. Time Changer - 6:08

4. Jayda - 6:05

5. Nighttime Collectors - 4:25

6. Time Has Come Today - 4:55
7. Jesus' Blood - 5:26
8. The Truth Will Set You Free - 8:07
9. Chance of a Lifetime - 7:02
10. Jesus Bring Me Home - 4:59
11. Road Dog Blues - 3:06
12. It's For You - 5:42
13. Crossing Over/Mercy Street Reprise - 11:46

Disc 2:
1. Absolute Beginner - 4:41
2. Supernatural - 6:11
3. Seeds of Gold - 25:59

When Neal Morse left progressive rock powerhouse Spock's Beard in 2002, his first solo album was 2003's Testimony, a powerful, diverse, soaring album telling the story of how God found him and saved him from his sin. He has had other great albums since then, but for me, Testimony is his magnum opus. So when I heard he had recorded a continuation, I had to hear it, even though I was sceptical it would be as good.

It is certainly not as moving a portrait.  The narrative here is smaller - Neal strays back to the party life while on the road with Spock's Beard, then he repents and prays for a way to provide for his family off the road, and God gives him... a solo career?  In Testimony 2, the mundane "it's tough on the road" story doesn't pack the emotional punch of its predecessor's "no matter how hard I try my life is still a mess".  It even savors a little of pride - "I was in this band, Spock's Beard, and we were rocking, and my band, Spock's Beard, was touring Europe..."  That could be uncharitable - it may just be he felt the need to explain more fully why he left.

The music is solid, but it suffers from sameness.  Neal is great at crafting driving, upbeat rockers and string-soaked ballads, interlaced with occasional complicated or progressive themes. However, without a band to rein him in, his approach becomes formulaic and a little stifling.  It doesn't help that, since this is Testimony 2, he recycles themes from Testimony, which makes it sound like he has no new musical ideas (which is not true).

That said, there are several gems here.  "Time Changer" has the boys from the Beard guesting on vocals, with a rare and exciting slab of madrigal singing. "Jesus' Blood" is a down-tempo, slow-building blues with a killer guitar solo, and some true prog rock glory comes to the fore in the insistent, dramatic "The Truth Will Set You Free" (with soulful wailing from 2nd Chapter of Acts' Matthew Ward) and the horn-driven "Chance of a Lifetime". The penultimate "It's For You" delivers on an emotional and theological level, figuratively tying the disparate ends of the story together a lot better than "Crossing Over", which does so literally.

Disc 2 forms sort of a bonus EP - two more decent Morse rockers and a 25-minute prog epic "Seeds of Gold", which features some superb six-string work from virtuoso Steve Morse (no relation). It's a good song, with some grand, classically influenced piano themes, adventurous synthesizer, and effective transitions between multiple parts, but it's not on par with Neal's past glories - it seems to be about some sort of soul search, but the lyrics don't really make anything clear (and the oft-repeated "Look away" sounds a little too much like Dixie...).

I love Neal Morse, but I think he might be running out of steam.  He needs a band dynamic to flesh out his song ideas and make them fully breathe.  Maybe Spock's Beard will promise not to take him out drinking anymore? *fingers crossed*

Arbitrary rating: 4 out of 5 soulful wailers