Noise Floor
Studio album by
Spock's Beard
ReleasedMay 25, 2018[1]
RecordedMay 2017 – February 2018[2][3]
StudioThe Mouse House in Altadena, California and Sweetwater in Fort Wayne, Indiana[4]
GenreProgressive rock
Length51:56 (Main album)
17:17 (Bonus disc)
LabelInsideOut Music
Spock's Beard chronology
Snow Live
(2017)		 Noise Floor
(2018)

Noise Floor is the thirteenth studio album by American progressive rock band Spock's Beard. It is the band's first full album of original material to feature original drummer Nick D'Virgilio since X in 2010, although this time D'Virgilio is only as a session musician. D'Virgilio had previously recorded a new song with the band for the compilation album The First Twenty Years and a bonus track for the band's previous album The Oblivion Particle, both released in 2015. Noise Floor was released on 25 May 2018.

Background and recording

In October 2016, drummer Jimmy Keegan announced that he had left Spock's Beard in order to pursue other interests and the band's original drummer, Nick D'Virgilio, was drafted in to fulfill concert commitments. In March 2017, the band confirmed that they had begun writing for their next album, with plans to begin recording in May with D'Virgilio as studio drummer.[2][5]

As with their previous three albums, recording and mixing for the then untitled thirteenth album was conducted at The Mouse House in Altadena, California, with additional drum tracking at Sweetwater in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Mixing was completed by Rich Mouser in February 2018.[3][4][6]

In March 2018, the album title and release date were revealed. It was also announced that the album would be released with a bonus EP of material from the same recording sessions, titled Cutting Room Floor.[7] It was released on 25 May 2018.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Express[8]
KeyboardPositive[9]
MaximumVolumeMusic8/10[10]
Metal Nation9/10[11]
The Prog ReportPositive[12]
Rock Hard7.5/10[13]
Sonic Perspectives9.1/10[14]

The album received generally favourable reviews. In his review for Sonic Perspectives, Scott Medina praised Rich Mouser's production and the band members' musicianship, stating that "none of the material here may reach the Top 10 Spock's songs of all time, but they all hover within a good to excellent range".[14] Reviews for Keyboard magazine and The Prog Report both singled out Ryo Okumoto's contribution as particularly noteworthy.[12][9]

Track listing

Noise Floor[15]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."To Breathe Another Day"John Boegehold, Ryo Okumoto5:38
2."What Becomes of Me"Boegehold6:11
3."Somebody's Home"Ted Leonard, Alan Morse6:32
4."Have We All Gone Crazy Yet"Leonard, Morse8:07
5."So This Is Life"Stan Ausmus, Morse5:36
6."One So Wise"Ausmus6:58
7."Box of Spiders" (instrumental)Okumoto5:29
8."Beginnings"Leonard, Okumoto7:25
Cutting Room Floor
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Days We'll Remember"Boegehold4:15
2."Bulletproof"Boegehold4:41
3."Vault"Leonard4:49
4."Armageddon Nervous" (instrumental)Boegehold3:32

Personnel

Spock's Beard

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 47
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 110
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 101
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 23
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 24

References

  1. ↑ "Spock's Beard: : Announce 13th studio album 'Noise Floor'". InsideOut Music. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 Munro, Scott (29 March 2018). "Spock's Beard bring back Nick D'Virgilio for new album". Prog. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Ryo Okumoto". Facebook. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Spock's Beard". Facebook. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  5. ↑ Lach, Stef (12 October 2016). "Spock's Beard drummer Jimmy Keegan quits". Prog. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Spock's Beard To Release 'Noise Floor' Album In May". Blabbermouth. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  7. ↑ Munro, Scott (1 March 2018). "Spock's Beard announce new album Noise Floor". Prog. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  8. ↑ Davies, Paul (29 May 2018). "REVIEW: The week's best Rock and Metal albums from Black Sabbath to Saxon and more". Express. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  9. 1 2 Beaudoin, Jedd (1 May 2018). "ALBUM REVIEW - Spock's Beard's "Noise Floor"". Keyboard. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  10. ↑ Thorley, Andy (24 May 2018). "REVIEW: SPOCK'S BEARD - NOISE FLOOR (2018)". MaximumVolumeMusic. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  11. ↑ Canatan, Oganalp (23 May 2018). "Album Review: SPOCK'S BEARD - Noise Floor". Metal Nation. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Spock's Beard - Noise Floor (Album Review)". The Prog Report. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  13. ↑ Rensen, Michael. "RockHard: Review review". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  14. 1 2 Medina, Scott (24 April 2018). "Spock's Beard - Noise Floor (Album Review)". Sonic Perspectives. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  15. ↑ Noise Floor (booklet). Spock's Beard. InsideOut Music. 2018. IOMSESCD 506.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Spock's Beard – Noise Floor" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Spock's Beard – Noise Floor" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Spock's Beard – Noise Floor" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Spock's Beard – Noise Floor" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Spock's Beard – Noise Floor". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
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