Bar 17 doesn’t call for reviewing, it calls for deconstructing. Anastasio chose last year’s Shine as a platform to communicate overtly to his family, friends and fans as he publicly confronted Phish’s break-up, addiction and identity crises. For the first time in his career, Anastasio chose words over music, conveying specific messages through song. While Bar 17 does have some remnants of that route-such as the resolute “What’s Done” (“What’s done is done / It can’t be undone”) and the disarmingly honest “A Case of Ice and Snow”-it also signifies a return to form for the jam king. Bolstered by horns, strings and thick layers, “Goodbye Head,” “Host Across the Potomac” and “Cincinnati” all achieve epic status. Yes, really. Elsewhere, artfully composed and arranged music, including the stunning title track and the wistful “Let Me Lie” more than make up for the disc’s few low points, most of which are lyrical (“If You’re Walking”).

In some ways, Bar 17 is a synopsis of all the ground Anastasio has already covered, as evidenced by the credits-Anastasio pulled in a who’s who of all the musicians he’s worked with in the past, including members of Phish and personnel from all his solo band incarnations. Significantly, Marco Benevento, Joe Russo and Mike Gordon all play on a number of Bar 17’s best tracks. Stylistically, Anastasio moves forward by looking backward, drawing on his Phish, acoustic, orchestral and big band pasts, merging them all together here in a single file line.

The road to recovery-from broken bands, broken addictions and broken iconography-is a long one. That’s granted. Still, Bar 17 is a remarkable disc and a good indication that Anastasio is almost home again; the king wants his throne back. Benjy Eisen

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