Once in awhile you come across an artist whose musical talent and style and message all come together with your own tastes and place in life, and the result is an instant connection. A couple years back, a good friend of mine introduced me to the music of Neal Morse, and this was indeed the case.
Hugely successful in prog rock's Spock's Beard, Neal came to know Christ and left that band to pursue making music that reflected his faith. I can't even begin to list the amazing output from Neal and the various projects he has worked with/on. If you've never heard of him, it is so worth checking out.
The project that got my attention was an epic 2 cd masterpiece retelling the story of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Technically, this one is produced by the entity now known as The Neal Morse Band. Entitled The Similitude of a Dream, it is that aforementioned perfect blend of music and message. It so grabbed my attention that I ended up purchasing nearly all of Neal's prior material.
The follow up, The Great Adventure, follows the story of the Pilgrim's son, and is another nearly perfect epic prog masterpiece. I took my youngest son three hours in an ice storm to see this one live, and it was worth every minute of it.
Anyway, years ago Neal put together a project called the Prog World Orchestra and released a Christmas project. Some really good stuff on there, but of course this will be the Drummer Boy arrangement.
And as a bonus, a year or two ago Neal put out a new, original Christmas song called Worldwide Sleigh Ride. It's an enormously fun song, and the video is mind blowing. As the title of this post suggests, it really is an animated Christmas sweater. Hope you enjoy (And do check out Neal's other work!)
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