Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep is the eleventh studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard.[2] It is their first album with new singer Ted Leonard and drummer Jimmy Keegan in place of Nick D'Virgilio, while former member Neal Morse co-wrote two tracks,[3] including "Waiting for Me", on which he plays guitar.[4]

Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep
Studio album by Spock's Beard
Released	April 2, 2013 (International edition) March 25, 2013 (German and Russian edition)
Recorded	2011-2012
Studio	The Mouse House, Atladena, California, US
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	55:50 (Main album) 25:44 (Special edition bonus disc)
Label	InsideOut Music and Century Media[1] (International edition) Arcangelo (Japanese edition)
Producer	Rich Mouser Alan Morse John Boegehold
Spock's Beard chronology
Live at High Voltage Festival (2011) Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep (2013) The Oblivion Particle (2015)

Background and recording

In the summer of 2011, Spock's Beard were scheduled to play at the Sweden Rock Festival and High Voltage Festival in Europe. Incumbent singer Nick D'Virgilio was unable to play at the dates, so the band recruited Enchant singer Ted Leonard to fill in for Nick on both shows.[5] On 19 November 2011, Nick officially announced that he had left the band to pursue other projects, including playing for Cirque du Soleil.[6] Later that week, the band announced that Leonard and touring drummer Jimmy Keegan had joined the band full-time as Nick's replacement.[7][8]

On 13 May 2012, the band announced that work had begun on their 11th studio album, tentatively due in the fall of that year.[7] On 1 December 2012, the title of the album was revealed as Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep and would be released in April 2013. As with previous albums, a preorder campaign was launched, this time on crowdfunding site Indiegogo, to fund the recording of the album. Contributors to the campaign were entitled to preorder a limited edition of the album that would include a bonus track not present on any other releases.[7][9] The track listing was announced on the band's Facebook page on 18 January 2013.[10]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Classic Rock	Positive[11]
Sea of Tranquility	[12]
Sputnik Music	[13]
Rock Hard	[14]

The album has received positive reviews from music critics.

Track listing

Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hiding Out"	Ted Leonard	7:13
2.	"I Know Your Secret"	Dave Meros, John Boegehold	7:40
3.	"A Treasure Abandoned"	Boegehold, Alan Morse	8:53
4.	"Submerged"	Leonard	4:57
5.	"Afterthoughts"	A. Morse, Neal Morse, Leonard	6:08
6.	"Something Very Strange"	Boegehold	8:23
7.	"Waiting for Me"	A. Morse, N. Morse	12:36
Total length:			55:50

Special Edition Bonus Disc

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Man You're Afraid You Are"	A. Morse, Stan Ausmus	7:11
2.	"Down a Burning Road"	Boegehold, A. Morse	6:51
3.	"Wish I Were Here"	A. Morse	6:33
4.	"Something Very Strange" (Sanctified remix)	Boegehold	5:09
5.	"Postcards from Perdition" (Limited Edition bonus track)	Boegehold	4:27
Total length:			25:44

Sources:[4]

Personnel

Spock's Beard

• Ted Leonard — lead and backing vocals, guitar
• Alan Morse — electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, pedal & lap steel guitar, mandolin, autoharp
• Ryo Okumoto — organ, mellotron, piano, synths, clavinet, vocoder
• Dave Meros — bass guitar, backing vocals
• Jimmy Keegan — drums and percussion, timpani, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Stan Ausmus — song co-writer, additional guitar ("The Man You’re Afraid You Are")
• John Boegehold — song co-writer, vocoder ("Something Very Strange")
• Craig Eastman — violin, viola, hurdy-gurdy ("Waiting for Me", "Down a Burning Road")
• Neal Morse — song co-writer, additional guitar ("Waiting for Me")

Production

• Produced by Rich Mouser, Alan Morse and John Boegehold
• Engineered, mixed and mastered by Rich Mouser at The Mouse House, Altadena, CA

Additional personnel

• Thomas Ewerhard - graphic design
• Alex Solca - photography
• John Boegehold - Candid photos
• Stan Ausmus - Candid photos

Charts

Chart (2013)	Peak position
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[15]	47

References

1. "Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep - Spock's Beard - Releases". allmusic. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
2. "Spock's Beard Trail Eleventh Album". Prog Rock magazine. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
3. "Spock's Beard Premiere: Something Very Strange". Prog Rock magazine. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
4. Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep (booklet). Spock's Beard. InsideOut Music. 2013. ASIN B00BC0JI6O.CS1 maint: others (link)
5. "Spock's Beard welcome Ted Leonard". DPRP. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
6. "SPOCK'S BEARD singer quits". Brave Words. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
7. "Spock's Beard News Archive". SpocksBeard.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
8. "Announcing: SPOCK'S BEARD has a NEW Recording & Touring Lineup!". Facebook. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
9. "Spocks Beard - 11th studio CD". Indiegogo. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
10. "Track listing for Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep". Facebook. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
11. Dome, Malcolm. "Spock's Beard: Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep". Classic Rock. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
12. Reid, Stephen. "Review: "Spock's Beard: Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep"". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
13. "Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep (album review)". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
14. Rensen, Michael. "Rock Hard". issue 311. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
15. "Spock's Beard Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 March 2014.