THE OLD ROAD

A bit f a disappointment, really. Not that The Old Road is a bad record, far from it. It is in fact quite good, but from such prog icon like Martin Orford, I was expecting something a little more progressive. I mean, wouldn´t you want something like IQ or Jadis? I would. But The Old Road leans toward a more AOR/pop/celtic direction then any of his previous works. High quality AOR I should say, but still quite away from such prog masterpieces as The Dark Matter or Ever, to mention only two.

The first few bars from the opening track, Grand Designs (along with the its almost 10 minute length) gives the impression of an IQ outtake, but ithat feeling does not last. when the vocal comes in the impression is that you are hearing something from Asia. The presence of John Wetton singing on some tracks doesn´t exactly help to dissolve this Asia syndrome. Of course the musicians involved are very skilled and the perfomances are spotless. In fact they are, with the production, too clean and slick. Just like an...er, Asia CD.

There are few exceptional moments like the instrumental Power and Speed (great guitar and Hammond licks) and the nice piano piece Prelude (unfortunatly there are only two instrumentals in the whole CD). The celtic side of the album is very well represented in the title track. And still the keys sound too much like Geoff Downes (no kidding!). The remainer tracks are only variations of those themes.

So in the end, after I recover from the initial shock, I found that I like this album. At least is very good AOR/pop with some prog and celtic flavors. If you like this kind of music chances are you´re gonna love The Old Road. But if you want something more in the vein of IQ and Jadis, I suggest you listen before you buy the CD.