Third studio release from "The Beard", featuring Neal Morse in the main role as songwriter/singer/keyboards. The band in general impressed me already with Beware of Darkness, so getting this album seemed like a natural thing. This album is the one that I had most problems with in the beginning, which was more like an adaption problem. I really didn't see much interesting stuff on it, for a start that is, and I looked upon debut album The Light as a much better release. Don't know how to answer that one today, but I know now that The Kindness of Strangers is at least not a bad album.

Actually, nowadays I wonder how I culd've seen this one as such a not-good-album. Introducing "The Good Don't Last" is a wonderful piece filled with all attributes a Spock song should have. Cool and psychadelic phrases and melodies, Neal's calm and sensitive vocals, Ryo Okumoto's dominion mellotron hammond organ and in general great performance from the whole band. The album feeds you with this kind of jam all thru it actually, so that's why I can't understand my previous thought of it.

Favorite track is without doubt the extremely perfect song "Harms' Way", and then I mostly refer to the vocals of Neal. He about to enter my top singers list, I tell you. But this song has such cool band fell, heaviness and depth. Hard to explain.

Another great one is the last tune "Flow" which holds three parts. This song has more to offer on the instrumental ground, since the organ, guitars and the whole orchestra goes along with the stream of superbness. And that's what Spocks Beard is about. They offer the listener a mature and honest piece of music. With influences from bands such as Beatles, YES, Genesis, this band has come to stay.

1. The Good Don't Last
 a) Introduction
 b) The Good Don't Last
 c) The Radiant Is

2. In The Mouth of Madness
3. Cakewalk On Easy Street
4. June
5. Strange World
6. Harm's Way
7. Flow
 a) True Believer
 b) A Constant Flow of Sound
 c) Into the Source