I wasn’t sure what to expect when I put this DVD in my player with all said of Neal’s latest album with it’s preachy Christianity lyrics but after watching the DVD twice, on two different occasions I came up with one conclusion. It doesn’t matter, Neal’s ways may not be for everyone, so if it bothers you then block it out. I felt his lyrics were spiritual based more so than what I was led to believe by some internet hype. So just sit back and just listen to the beautifully played music he has to offer. The music is somewhere between classic rock and progressive rock with a solid song based music.
Disc One has Testimony in it’s entirety with a very nice back-up band that Neal got together, including Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater. Sorry I’m not too familiar with the other musicians. They’re all fantastic and some are multi-instrumentalists like Neal. The music and message of Testimony are both powerful and thought provoking whether you’re a Christian or not.
Disc Two contains songs from Neal’s past and to me this was more enjoyable to watch and listen. The only reason is that they were familiar songs to me. Songs from his former bands, Spock’s Beard and Transatlantic. The musicians of Neal’s current band did those songs perfectly, not saying the originals are bad but these guys rock them out wonderfully.
This is one of the better musical DVDs that I’ve watched recently. Personally, the music on Disc Two are worth the price alone. The whole DVD is very enjoyable to watch and a wonderful testament of a pivotal musical document of Neal’s live called Testimony.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on November 16th, 2004
