"Octa" is a Greek prefix meaning "eight" and "octane" is a measurement of the quality of gasoline (representing the actual 8 carbon octane molecule content for the chemists out there!!) The fact that Octane is also the name of the new Spock's Beard album seems fitting as it's the band's eighth studio album (the second one without long-time front man Neal Morse) and it shows that clearly, they're not about to "run out of gas" any time soon. With a more straight ahead hard rock/pop edge to their music and a little less "proggy" than previous releases, Spock's Beard has once again delivered another solid album that's significantly better than their last effort, Feel Euphoria. More of a worthy successor to the band's magnum opus Snow, some are heralding this new album to be one of the best Spock's Beard albums ever. Drummer Nick D'Virgilio has taken over vocal duties for the band and long-time members Alan Morse (guitar), Ryo Okumoto (keyboards) and Dave Meros (bass) round out the line-up. Much like Genesis did with the departure of Peter Gabriel in the mid 70's, they're employing a touring drummer to give Nick D'Virgilio the lead vocal role in a live situation.

The "Octane" name and it's reference to fuel and automobiles comes into play again with the first opus on this album; a 7 part epic entitled A Flash Before My Eyes that is about a man who gets into a car accident on the way home from work one day. The whole seven-part song deals with the emotions and life images that pass before his eyes just after the initial impact. Combining the best elements of such great progressive bands such as Genesis, Pink Floyd and Camel, flashback sequences are used between tracks to add coherency and drama to the story; carrying the listener effortlessly throughout the entire 28 minutes of this track. After a very Camel -like intro with lead guitar and ultra-cool mellotron synthesizer, Part one, Ballet Of The Impact uses a mix of quieter piano passages with flute (very reminiscent of Genesis' Selling England By The Pound era). A track that gradually builds in intensity, it's the perfect opening for this epic and sets the stage for the rest of the story. Part two, I Wouldn't Let It Go is a wonderful acoustic guitar based track that is spirited vocally with a great chorus and has an almost country-rock quality with some progressive rock flavors and solid lead guitar work by Alan Morse. Surfing Down The Avalanche is a bit of a surprise.....it's as hard hitting and heavy a track as I've ever heard from "The Beard". With pounding bass lines, booming heavy guitar, it has a wilder and crazier arrangement than is the norm for this band and Nick D'Vigilio manages a pretty decent Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) screaming but emotional vocal style. She Is Everything has a dreamy Genesis, Marillion tone the use of choir orchestrations and mellotron synth add an eerie yet very emotional quality to the track. Climbing Up That Hill is an up tempo yet richly melodic track that has a more "typical" Spock's Beard style and it leads into a short instrumental Letting Go that once again uses dreamy mellotron synth passages. Of The Beauty Of It All, the closing track of this seven part epic, reprises some of the melodies used in the intro section of Ballet Of The Impact. A little more "proggy" than the rest of the song, it has some "jamming" style instrumental interludes and some big orchestrated effects using mellotron synth and french horn blended in; giving that track a Who - Quadrophenia flavor.

The remaining five tracks are not related to the concept of the opening suite with NWC being an instrumental that uses more mellotron as well as heavy guitar and some great abstract lead guitar riffs. There Was A Time uses a blend of acoustic and electric guitars and "borrows" a couple of licks from Steve Earle's Copperhead Road and Bad Company's Feel Like Makin' Love. A mix of quiet and heavier sections, it has a great spirited vocal by Nick. The Planet's Hum gets back to business as far as the heavier progressive rock that we're used to from this band and with the melodic vocal style, it has a very 70's era Yes sound. The 70's style of progressive rock also permeates the next track Watching The Tide. With a laid back intro with piano and voice, it slowly builds and gets heavier with more soaring emotional vocals by Nick. The album closer, As Long As We Ride is a more standard "pop" flavored tune but with the progressive elements and more amazing vocals.

Die-hard Spock's Beard fans may be a bit taken back by the band's gradual departure from the "true" progressive rock that this band laid down for so many years after the departure of Neal Morse but I like the new more melodic and "catchy" edge that they have to their music. Sure the progressive elements surface occasionally during the course of this album but much more attention has been paid to writing great songs that have catchy melodic hooks and some almost Beatle-like vocal melodies. The occasional heavy guitar-laced track reminds you that you are in fact, listening to a progressive hard rock band. A rather varied album, this album may not be their best but it's one that is quite worthy of bearing the Spock's Beard name. It takes a few listens to really get into this album but once you do, the quality in songwriting, the vocal melodies and overall arrangements confirm why Spock's Beard is considered to be one of the premier progressive rock bands in existence today. This album is available as a special edition and contains a bonus CD with over 27 minutes of extra music. There's four left over tracks from the recording sessions for this album as well as three short interludes that were originally intended to be used for the Flash Before My Eyes epic that opens the album. Along with this, there's a video section that shows some behind the scenes footage in the making of Octane. The fact that they can still carry on producing great music after losing long time front man Neal Morse is testament to the depth of talent that's within this band. Spock's Beard running out of gas??? not likely.....sounds like they still have a full tank to me!