Track Listing

1. Made Alive/Overture
2. Stranger In A Strange Land
3. Long Time Suffering
4. Welcome To NYC
5. Love Beyond Words
6. I'm Sick
7. Devil's Got My Throat
8. Open Wide The Flood Gates
9. Open The Gates
10. Solitary Soul
11. Wind At My Back
12. 2nd Overture
13. 4th Of July
14. I'm The Guy
15. Reflection
16. Carie
17. Looking For Answers
18. Freak Boy
19. All Is Vanity
20. I'm Dying
21. Freak Boy
22. Devil's Got My Throat
23. Snow's Night Out
24. Ladies And Gentleman Mr Ryo Okumoto
25. I Will Go
26. Made Alive/Wind At My Back

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99127 in Music
• Released on: 2002-08-02
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .30 pounds

Customer Reviews

Best Album of All Time?
I bought my first album in 1961 and have been through Beatles, Hendrix, Simon & Garfunkel, Dylan, Floyd, Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Van der Graaf etc., and classical music too but I rate 'Snow' as a candidate for the title of 'Greatest Album of all time by anybody'. If I played you a few odd tracks from this album you may wonder why? Although some of the tracks, especially 'Open up the floodgates', 'Solitary soul' and the wondrously simple but beautiful 'Wind at my back' to name but a few, are very strong in their own right. The magic of this concept album spanning 2 CDs is revealed when listened to as a single piece of work when the cliche 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts' was never more applicable. The story line, concerning an albino, with mystic powers to feel other people's emotions, who rises to greatness from shunned obscurity only to be brought down again when rejected by a girl, is not especially exceptional - a variation on a common theme. It is the way the music handles the story, using a variety of styles expertly perfomed by this talented band, that tears at the heart strings, of even a grumpy old man like me, leaving you feeling emotionally drained but immensely satisfied by the time it ends. The only tiny criticism is that in the reprise of 'Wind at my back' (the final track), as it concludes Neal Morse goes over the top with his final ad-libbed vocals which grates a bit but I supposed that's to be expected of an American. Wouldn't do for a reserved Englishman!!

Almost Perfect except for.......
The reprisal of "Wind at my back" which is a wonderfully emotional track but the "I love you all" emotions expressed by Neal Morse to a live audience spoil what is a wonderfully uplifting album. It is however full of quite obvious Christian analogy in much the same way as the Narnia series of books. Please do not let this put you off as the concept stands up by itself musically

For those that do not know of this group they are wonderfully talented musicians and this is evident throughout the songs which range from the melodious to hard rock.

For those who are prog lovers from the 1970s like myself it is satisfying to see that there are still some boring old farts left in the world!

Modern masterpiece? Just give it time!
This album was my introduction to Neal Morse and Spock's Beard. I bought it because a lot of other Genesis and Yes fans seemed to be trying it. It took me a while to get into it, because the music changes a lot (prog/hard rock/ballads/jazz etc) and it throws too much information at you to digest straightaway. But I persevered, and boy was it worth it! The concept may be straight out of Tommy and the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, but musically SNOW piles up one stunning melody after another. Also, every riff rivals Led Zep at their very best. It's like listening to all your favourite bands from the last 30 years in one go! The Wind At My Back finale is one of the great knock-out blows in rock, audacious, stupendous and tear-inducing in equal measure. Along with Tommy and Hey Jude, it must rank as one of the greatest album endings of all time. I'm in my forties, brought up listening to The Beatles, Genesis, Yes, Floyd, Led Zep, Mike Oldfield - got over 2,000 records! For me, SNOW must be pretty awesome to make an impression amongst that lot! Since discovering Spock's Beard, I've bought everything Morse has done. I'm not a Christian, but I even love the recent religious epics because, musically, they reflect his ongoing zenith.