http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RHYBGEQ/?tag=imwan-20

So far the only Amazon link is for the 3 disc edition.

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For the first time ever prog icon Neal Morse came into a recording session with his long time friend and collaborator Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Bill Hubauer and Eric Gillette...with NOTHING! He had no prepared material at all. Neal comments, "I wanted to see what it would be like to create freely in the room with no preconceived notions. It was quite a risk!" On previous albums, like the Testimony album for example, Morse had the entire album written in advance. "I used to be rather paranoid about whether things would turn out in the short space of time we had available...so I would fill all the space in advance!" This album was totally different. "I made a lot of room for the other guys to create and express themselves and the result is outstanding! We wanted to experiment, do something a bit different, and see what everyone is capable of...we found out...in SPADES!" The results are obvious! This was a "grand experiment" that produced something far beyond anyone's expectations!

The Grand Experiment will be released in 3 formats:
-Single Disc
-3 Disc Special Edition Digipak (containing the main disc, bonus audio disc featuring 3 unreleased studio tracks and 2 live tracks from the phenominal [Morse]fest weekend, and a "making of" documentary DVD in special packaging)
-LP + 2CD Set (containing main disc, and bonus audio disc)

The main disc, contains 5 tracks, including 2 long prog epics that are sure to be favorites for years to come, as well as 3 shorter songs including the catchy title track "The Grand Experiment." Mixed by Rich Mouser.

Track Listing:

Main Disc:
1. The Call
2. The Grand Experiment
3. Waterfall
4. Agenda
5. Alive Again

Bonus Disc:
1. New Jerusalem (Freedom Is Coming)
2. Doomsday Destiny
3. MacArthur Park
4. The Creation (Live from Morsefest)
5. Reunion (Live from Morsefest)

This will be Neal's fourth studio album in the past 13 months if you include the Transatlantic and Flying Colors albums. I'll look forward to this one as I do with all of Neal's work.

I'm just wrapping up my first listen of Disc 1 and it's a winner. I've been a Morse fan since the first time I heard Spock's Beard in 1996 and have gotten everything he's released since (other than his Inner Circle religious albums), including all of his side projects. His solo albums were starting to get a little repetitive even though they all contained great material, but this one is fresh from start to finish. It combines the best of his prog epics with the concise nature of his pop-oriented material, and is closest in feel to his work with Flying Colors. Very highly recommended.

This is a great album and I'd probably say Neal's best work since Testimony 2. I like it much better than the last Flying Colors album which disappointed me. The last Transatlantic album was great but IMO this one is better. Pretty close in overall quality to Testimony 2, but I'd give Testimony 2 the nod because of Seeds of Gold which is just an awesome piece of music.

Songwriting on this is great as with all of Neal's work but the vocal harmonies are really special. About the only knock is that the main album seems one song too short...but that's what the bonus disc is for!

Fan-made video for the album's mellow track, Waterfall:

After all these great reviews, I just ordered one!

You're in for a treat, John. I assume you bought the 2CD-DVD version, right? I've played it a few times now and it's definitely among the best things he's ever recorded. The in-studio footage on the DVD is fun & interesting, and it shows how important the other guys were to the songwriting & arrangements this time. Not just Mike Portnoy and Randy George but the other two as well. Hope it lives up to the hype.

Yep I got the deluxe version!