THE DREAMS OF MEN

When I began REALLY getting into prog, people always suggested Pallas. I ordered The Cross And The Crucible and was truly blown away by it. So, when I heard that a follow up was quickly approaching, I would think, "How are they going to top The Cross?" Asked and answered!

The first go around didn't really hit me; however, subsesquent spins started to really make an impact and was convinced that The Dreams Of Men matched and surpassed it's predecessor. I'm really impressed by emotional singers (Hogarth of Marillion is my favorite), and Alan Reed expels all energies in the studio on this one.

The first track that really hits me is "Warriors", which (from what I can surmise) is an open letter resulting from 9/11 to suicide killers. Reed just pours out his soul while the rest of the band just slashes through the song. Brilliant!

Then there's the softer side of Pallas. "Northern Star" is an instrumental that is very hypnotic. I'm not sure if it's simply an album filler, but it's a nice little section until it gives way to the sinister "Mr. Wolfe". The album ends with "The Last Angel", wich is 11 minutes of shear beauty, puncuated by opera singer Pandy Arthur bringing the song (and the disc) to a conclusion.

The musicianship seems to be a bit bolder on Dreams than on Cross. Most notably is drummer Colin Fraser. I'll have to go back and listen, but I don't recall his drumming really making a statement like it does on Dreams.

Overall, this was in the top 5 discs I bought last year. Pallas really outdid themselves on this disc. Very much worth the money!