ACOUSTICALLY CHALLENGED

This album was recorded during a radio show in...Poland of course. Pendragon like this country pretty much and the band is always well received there. I usually am NOT a fan of acoustic sets and this one won't fundamentally change my mind.

Clive and Nick will also record a DVD made of an acoustic set, recorded in ...Poland (called "A Rush Of Adrenaline" and released in 2006). For this set, Peter Gee will play the acoustic guitar as well which adds value.

When you look at the tracklist, very few of the great "Pendragon" songs are featured. A very, very old song is recorded here : "Dark Summer's Day". It was released on the first Pendragon mini-album called "Fly High Fall Far". A song from "Kowtow" : "Two AM". Very quiet and melancholic. It is not the best here.

The best moments of this CD is when the band starts "The Voyager" and "Alsaka". I would have liked to get a bit more of "Masquerade" as well but in this live set only "The Pursuit of Excellence" is featured. Nick will tell that it is the first time that "Pendragon" plays this song live (and you'll know why when you listen to it).

There is an unofficial version of this set which includes "King Of The Castle" (which is very nice) but it is not featured on the official version which is a bit of a shame. But it is included on "Not Of this World" as a bonus track just like an acoustic version of "Paintbox". They should have been featured here IMO.

This recording took place in 2001, so the band will play two songs from their newest album : " A Man of Nomadic Traits" and "World's End" but none of these songs are advantagely converted into acoustic, I'm afraid.

The last song of this set is "Unspoken Words". It is a song from Peter Gee and is featured on his first solo album ("Heart Of David", 1993). Nothing from the other ...World I would say.

Nick is of course pretty much at ease with the audience and even says a few words in Polish. Poland is important for "Pendragon" : there is a full section in Polish available on their web-site (as well as French, Spanish, Dutch, German and Portuguese). I guess that these guys have understood how each band should handle his fans : in their own language. Great job.

This acoustic album can only please die-hard "Pendragon" fans. Therefore, two stars for this peaceful but not essential work.