THE ROAD OF BONES

I own the special edition double CD release of this album, so my review is somewhat slighted by the "overall" impression that this collection of songs has left me. The Road of Bones contains a lot of very polished neoprog. None of it is very sophisticated. Most of it is fairly straightforward and repetitive with the occasional pleasing twist or turn. Peter Nichols' vocals are very clear and easy on the ears yet they lack whatever it takes to get the listener really engaged and excited. I find myself most drawn to the keyboard work--which is most often fairly simple though very lush and fully-filling of the aural landscapes. Mostly, I guess I just like the sounds and tones used by Neil Durant. The album does have a few gems--and, IMHO, they have improved their delivery from Frequency--though many of the "hooks" used effectively on that 2009 album are again used here. From Disc 1, "The Road of Bones" (8:32) (9/10) is great, beautiful, mature. The epic/show piece "Without Walls" (19:16) (8/10) and the Wind and Wuthering-like "Ocean" (5:55) (8/10) are both nice songs but neither leaves me with adrenaline pumping, neither lures me back for the "replay" button push. From Disc 2, "Knucklehead" (8:11) (9/10) is the best--offering the most complex and exciting music of the entire collection. Both "Hardcore" (the first half) (10:53) and "Until the End" (12:00) reminds me too much of Frequency's best song, "Ryker Skies." The rest of Disc 2's songs are a step below the offerings on Disc 1. The instrumental, "1312 Overture" (4:18), is engaging but it makes me feel as if the band is going through a rhythmic warmup exercise. The acoustic guitar play on Disc 2 and use of programmed drums gives the music a cheesy lounge New Age music sound. "Ten Million Demons" (6:10) leads the best of the rest. "Constellations" (12:25) sounds like it came right out of Genesis' And Then There Were Three/Duke era--I mean, straight out, sometimes note and sound-for note and sound.

Overall, The Road of Bones is a pleasant listen even if it doesn't excite me enough to extoll its masterpiece status. Still, I do recommend prog lovers give it a listen.

January 29, 2025 edit: When I joined PA in 2008 there were only a handful of albums in PA's Top Prog Albums (all-time) list that had been created since 1981 (mostly from Marillion, Dream Theater, Änglagård, Opeth, Pain of Salvation, Riverside, and Porcupine Tree). Now there are 26. including this one. Over the ten years since this album was released--where it shook the PA world to its core--I've revisited this poorly recorded and produced album of grossly mediocre songs numerous times, thinking "I must be missing something" due to all of the high ratings and praise this album has received. But, in the end, I have determined that my original assessments stand. This album by no means deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Abraxas, Lateralus, Clutching at Straws, Nonagon Infinity, Plat du Jour, Eros, Ocean, and/or Obscura.

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