HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD

To me an essential element of a great prog album is it's longevity and depth. I feel that some of the reviewers so far have either reviewed it after the first couple of plays or based their opinion on listening to a downloaded version.

Having pre-ordered the album I had a listen and it didn't immediately grab me at all. Much of it was pretty indistinguishable at first. However I felt obliged to listen to it more and more. So worthwhile - I played disc 2 over and over in the background and then disc 1. It's so really grown on me. It's a fantastic album of varying soundscapes and ideas - i'm still learning about this album. There are a few tunes on the album that may never completely get me but many that will be a pleasure to listen to fo many years to come and (having heard them sung in Manchester last night) know that will also be great tunes to see and hear live. (Steve Hogarth is a genius at work when watching him live)

Given the level of patience that some reviewers seem to have I would have passed over Script and Duke and Foxtrot and would never have been a fan of prog for the past 20+ years.

Also surely by now if you've decided that you only liked Marillion with Fish in it then don't bother buying albums 20 years down the line expecting some kind of return to this and then being disappointed. They're a fantastic band - they were back then and they are now but musically they've moved on so much - which by definition makes them a great prog band.