Song of the Day: “Hurt People” by The Neal Morse Band
The Neal Morse Band (now officially rebranded as NMB) has spent the last decade functioning like a high-performance steam engine releasing and touring heavily behind 4 double-disc concept albums that were, in aggregate, roughly as long as a standard legal education. Their Feb. 27, 2026 release, L.I.F.T. (an acronym for Let It Fully Transcend), finds the quintet finally entering the fray once again after nealneal forced three-ish year hiatus due to Mike Portnoy rejoining Dream Theater for their most recent Parasomnia album and subsequent 40th Anniversary and Parasomnia tours. This time, the band has opted for a leaner, more song-oriented approach, proving that you don’t actually need to include a 25-minute suite about a grand spiritual pilgrimage to justify playing a five-string bass.
In the evolution of the band, L.I.F.T. represents the “Refinement Era.” If The Grand Experiment was the first date and The Similitude of a Dream was the wedding, this record is the comfortable middle age where the band stops trying to impress everyone with their grand vision and starts focusing on the songs. The technical wizardry of the band (featuring, in addition to Neal, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Bill Hubauer, and Eric Gillette) is still very much present—proving that it’s not impossible for these men to play “simple,” but when they do, the virtuosity is still there, if tucked neatly into the corners rather than being the centerpiece of the room.
Side Note: To understand the “pedigree” of Neal Morse is to realize that the man essentially functions as the frantic, polyphonic heart of modern progressive rock. Before he was the leader of NMB, he was the primary architect behind some of the most influential prog of the 90s and early 2000s. Neal founded Spock’s Beard in Los Angeles with his brother Alan Morse. Between his time in Spock’s Beard and the formation of NMB, he helped anchor several “supergroups” that define the modern prog landscape, like Transatlantic (Formed in 1999 with Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings), and Pete Trewavas (Marillion) and Flying Colors, a more “pop-prog” venture alongside Mike Portnoy, Steve Morse (Deep Purple), Dave Larue, and vocalist Casey McPherson showed Neal could flourish in a supporting role, focusing on tighter, more radio-friendly hooks.
While L.I.F.T. offers plenty of the usual uplifting anthems with plenty of notes flying back and forth, “Hurt People” stands out as something special as it manages to do something rare in the Morse-verse: it trades the sunshine-and-rainbows optimism for a bit of minor-key realism. It features a gritty and heavily distorted vocal performance from Eric Gillette that anchors the band’s loftier tendencies. It’s a sobering look at the cycle of pain, with the lyrics offering a moment of depth that feels more “street level” than their usual lofty metaphysical journeys. “Hurt people hurt people” is a heavy concept and the instrumental back-half of the song gives the band time to interpret the message musically, and listener space to process that message rather than immediately jumping to the next track.
The Song
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/song/hurt-people/1854513138
The Album
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/l-i-f-t/1854512647
The Band
Neal Morse: Lead vocals, keyboards, and guitars
Mike Portnoy: Drums and backing vocals
Randy George: Bass and bass pedals
Eric Gillette: Lead guitar and lead/backing vocals
Bill Hubauer: Keyboards, organ, and lead/backing vocals
Be sure to check out the Audio Toxicity 2026 Bad Music Detox Protocol (AKA a playlist of songs covered so far…)