Noise Floor (Spock's Beard album)

Noise Floor
Studio album by Spock's Beard
Released	May 25, 2018[1]
Recorded	May 2017 – February 2018[2][3]
Studio	The Mouse House, Altadena, California Sweetwater Studios, Fort Wayne, Indiana[4]
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	51:56 (Main album) 17:17 (Bonus disc)
Label	InsideOut Music
Spock's Beard chronology
The Oblivion Particle (2015) 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 Studios 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
Source	Rating
Express	[8]
Keyboard	Positive[9]
MaximumVolumeMusic	8/10[10]
Metal Nation	9/10[11]
The Prog Report	Positive[12]
Rock Hard	7.5/10[13]
Sonic Perspectives	9.1/10[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.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"To Breathe Another Day"	John Boegehold, Ryo Okumoto	5:38
2.	"What Becomes of Me"	Boegehold	6:11
3.	"Somebody's Home"	Ted Leonard, Alan Morse	6:32
4.	"Have We All Gone Crazy Yet"	Leonard, Morse	8:07
5.	"So This Is Life"	Stan Ausmus, Morse	5:36
6.	"One So Wise"	Ausmus	6:58
7.	"Box of Spiders" (instrumental)	Okumoto	5:29
8.	"Beginnings"	Leonard, Okumoto	7:25

Cutting Room Floor

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Days We'll Remember"	Boegehold	4:15
2.	"Bulletproof"	Boegehold	4:41
3.	"Vault"	Leonard	4:49
4.	"Armageddon Nervous" (instrumental)	Boegehold	3:32

Personnel

Spock's Beard

• Ted Leonard – lead vocals
• Alan Morse – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
• Ryo Okumoto – keyboards
• Dave Meros – bass guitar, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Nick D'Virgilio – drums and percussion, backing vocals
• Eric Gorfain – violin
• Leah Katz – viola
• Richard Dodd – cello
• David Robertson – English horn

Production

• Rich Mouser – mastering, mixing

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. Munro, Scott (29 March 2018). "Spock's Beard bring back Nick D'Virgilio for new album". Prog. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
3. "Ryo Okumoto". Facebook. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
4. "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. 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. "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. 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.
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.