PENDRAGON

The overall sound takes advantage of acoustic textures, subtly merged with electric brush-strokes, phantasmagoric choral voices (listen to the end track Fall Away, very much in an Entangled mood), and sensible percussion, being the heavier intervention of the drums in track 2 As Dead as a Dodo.

The album opens with exquisite arpeggiated piano, and then great electric guitar licks paving the way for a delicious vocal melody. After that the guitars take the lead, with Nick Barrett showing stupendous classical-meet-flamenco fingerpicking a la Hackett (listen to the beginning of the last track) and an electric solo crafted for future anthologies in the last couple of minutes of track 3 Phoenician Skies.

I think this will not change anybody's appreciation of the band, but it is a fine new jewell to be cherished in their already established legacy.

"Believe" is the seventh studio album of Pendragon that was released in 2005. After four years of inactivity, in terms of studio albums, Pendragon released this new studio work. It represents, somehow, in my humble opinion, the beginning of a change into the type of their progressive rock sound. It represents, in a certain way, a cut with their previous four studio albums "The World", "The Window Of Life", "The Masquerade Overture" and "Not Of This World". While staying true to the band's melodic roots and progressive orientation, as is usual, it has quite some new elements to offer too.

The line up on the album is the same of their five previous studio albums "Kowtow", released in 1988, "The World", released in 1991, "The Window Of Life", released in 1993, "The Masquerade Overture", released in 1996 and "Not Of This World", released in 2001, their second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth studio albums, respectively. So, the line up on the album is Nick Barrett (vocals and guitars), Clive Nolan (keyboards), Peter Gee (bass) and Fudge Smith (drums).

"Believe" has six tracks. All tracks were written by Nick Barrett. The first track "Believe" is a very unconventional and mysterious way to open the album. It's a prolonged instrumental track that seems to me have the use of some native instruments combined with Celtic vocals sung by a woman in Gaelic, followed by a weird guitar sound. This is the kind of songs that immediately sets the album with a very mysterious and original vague way, holding the listener's attention instantly. The second track "No Place For The Innocent" begins after a very mysterious sentence that closes the previous track "And now everybody to the dance floor". It starts as a very strong contrast with the previous mysterious atmospheric introduction of the album. The album never ceases to amaze me. This is a very powerful rock track that sounds more as a conventional track than a really progressive track. Curiously, sometimes it sounds to my ears as a song very close to REM's music. It's curious and interesting but this song sounds remarkably good, new and refreshing to me. The third track "The Wisdom Of Solomon" is a kind of a mini-epic song that starts with some Arabic sound with some female vocals. It starts fantastically with some vintage keyboard and guitar sounds. This is a song full of great guitar work with some very good guitar solos towards the end. The song is so interesting and nice to hear that we don't realise the time spent, as if the song never takes about its seven minutes long. This song continues the change of the sound of the band as if the group was trying to show the new Pendragon of the 21st century. The fourth track "The Wishing Well" is divided into four parts "For Your Journey", "Sou' By Sou' West", "We Talked" and "Two Roads". This song is the centrepiece of the album with an epic with about twenty-one minutes long. The first part is a largely spoken piece of music, accompanied by a celestial musical atmospheric ambience, extremely beautiful. The second part brings the album back to a more common Pendragon's musical territory. It has an extremely beautiful Genesis' style dual acoustic guitars during the verses and some great guitar electric solos which are played thorough the choruses. The third part is a great rock song filled with some weird vocal effects and some great musical parts very well performed by all band's members. The fourth part starts as an acoustic ballad that soon rocks very strong with an excellent slide guitar solo in the end. The fifth track "Learning Curve" has some organic wind instruments mixed in the very electric arrangement of keyboards and guitars. The instrumental section of the song is simply great with a very impressive bass line, turning it in one of the best instrumental sections the band ever made. The sixth and last track "The Edge Of The World" follows the same formula of their previous four studio albums backing the music in a more familiar Pendragon's territory. Again the song has a long instrumental section, with a great and long guitar solo extremely beautiful. This is, in my humble opinion, an excellent and beautiful way to close this new, strange and very beautiful album from the band.

Conclusion: "Believe" is a strange album, especially for band's fans that are more akin with the traditional music of the band. As I wrote above, with "Believe", Pendragon begins another change in their music and continues progressing on it. "Believe" is, in my humble opinion, a transition album of the band which opens the way to their following two new studio albums "Pure" and "Passion". "Believe" is a very emotional album with a mix of all we knew before inside Pendragon's music, plus some new musical elements added to it. With "Believe", Pendragon proves that the band is still very much alive and kicking, sounding stronger and more powerful than before. Nick Barrett also proves that he can still deliver and that his guitar playing is heavenly as before and that his vocals are stronger and better than in the past. Concluding, "Believe" is, in my humble opinion, an excellent and very beautiful album, too much underrated and misunderstood. Sincerely, I recommend it very strongly. And for those who didn't like it at the first impression, I hope they can give to it a new opportunity and hearing it a couple of more times. Probably it will change their initial opinion.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"The Masquerade Overture" was a great starter with the operatic and symphonic entry into the album. "As Good As Gold" starts out almost sounding a bit like a Marillion's song off "Misplaced Childhood." "Paintbox" has a bit of Genesis sound to it in the keyboard riff in the middle of the song. This song is pretty laid back. "The Pursuit Of Excellence" is filler. "Guardian Of My Soul" is longer song and has some good moments in it. At about the 7 minute mark it starts getting interesting and reminds me of the instrumental part of "Cinema Show" from Genesis "Selling England By The Pound" and I wonder if that was intended.

"The Shadow" has the guitar solo in the middle that once again is a bit Genesis and the background rhythm is almost reminiscent of "Firth Of Fifth". This track is one of the better ones. One of the reasons I do not like this album as much is that it lacks the originality of their previous album which had more freshness to it. "Masters Of Illusion" starts well but sounds a bit like Marillion again especially the keyboard riff. At 4:50 I like the beat shift and the end solo definitely reminds me of a Gilmour one. Barrett's best solos are faster riffs.

I hate to say it but this album struggles as it appears to sound like everyone else they must admire. Between Floyd, Marillion and Genesis this echoes so many other songs.

Bonus Tracks: Mine have the group from the 2013 version. "Bird Of Paradise" is a good track and reminds me more of the unique part of Pendragon, not an imitation of others. This would have been a good track for the album and oddly ranks as one of my favorites. "Midnight Running" plods along well and I like the fullness of the keyboard symphonic elements. This is another track that sounds like Pendragon, not like others and it is one of the stronger ones on the album. "A Million Miles Away" leaves me blank.

If I want a Genesis sound alike I will listen to The Watch who deliberately puts out new music as if Genesis kept going with the classic 5 lineup. I do like some of the parts that sound like the above mentioned bands but it gets low marks for originality. This album gets a 3.

When the 2nd wave or neo wave hit in the early 80's I never even knew it as I had tuned out. Marillion came out but it would be many years before I would even listen to them and while they had promise I was always let down as only a few songs from each album really rocked me. It would not be until about 2014 before I would run into newer prog bands and then I couldn't believe how many there were so for this old dog the second wave of prog while old is still new to me and the number of acts is impressive.

Pendragon was one that I immediately found tickling my ears. This album was the one that got me started. This album has so many tricks and while it has a few sounds like other bands they have their own recipe. They have hints of Comedy Of Errors, Marillion, Genesis, Nektar and Camel.

This album has so many layers of keys and guitars and the production quality is excellent. "The Walls Of Babylon" starts out with a great keyboard / guitar drum less lead-in and then gets to a great guitar harmony section. "Ghosts" will always be one of my absolute favorite tracks by them. It stars with the piano opener and the melody is immediately catchy. I found the instrumental portions brought out an emotional response in me that I cannot explain. Barrett's vocal to start in the song reminds me of the singer of Comedy Of Errors, another band I never realized was out there. 2:25 into the song starts the emotion milking portion that just has such weight to it. His lyrics proclaiming that "her eyes are full of stars" is perfect for the instrumentation. I found it stopped too quickly. About 5:45 minutes in there is a short section that sounds reminiscent of the middle of Genesis "Eleventh Earl Of Mar".

"Breaking the Spell" has a great symphonic sound with the guitar for the first part until the drums kick in and then it comes back in. It's a great instrumental that only has vocals at the end. The guitar solo breaks out and really zings. "Nostradamus" has that great symphonic background. "The Last Man On Earth" Seems a little long as it repeats a few things too many times. The drums once they kick in were in need of being re-recorded as they were a bit sloppy when they first rolled in. The harmonica felt out of place but made it a bit interesting and even sounded a bit Supertrampy. It's still a great track.

"Am I Really Losing You" is a love song and not really much else to say and not a good way to end a prog album.

The bonus tracks on the version I have are good. "The Third World in the UK" is pleasant and the guitar in the first half is a bit Andy Latimer. "Dune" brings back the rhythm from "Ghosts" a bit. This is a mainstream hit wanna be if I ever heard one. My version did not have "Sister Bluebird". "Fallen Dreams and Angels" I liked for its simplicity.

This album is for sure the best if not one of the best new prog albums I have heard. Definitely a 4 but I will give it 4.5 (if it was possible).

"Believe" I believe is a great album. It has its good moments and a few that are more boring. I tend to stay away from albums that are largely acoustic in nature and really dislike "unplugged" albums especially by bands that are extremely electric. I cannot imagine Judas Priest as being a great acoustic band but who know, maybe they have jumped on that wagon as well. However, like others I love the additional acoustic guitar parts and it is interesting to note the sound of the instrument is a little different than what I have heard before so that is a good production technique as it gives the songs a unique sound.

While I know many think they have changed their style a great deal here I still hear plenty that remind me of past albums, just not as keyboard laden. I would not consider myself a Pendragon expert so I do not have a great deal in terms of their history. To be honest I have a few of their albums I have had for a long time that I am just now giving a listen to??.. including this one. I do not review lyrics as I have a hard problem actually understanding them without looking them up. My reviews are mostly about the music behind it and how the vocals enter in as an instrument.

I was pleasantly surprised! The opening number "Believe" was a great ambient opener, but then they tore into "No Place for the Innocent" and I was concerned. The first track was a progressive tune and this one is just straight ahead rock. I hoped this was not a an indicator of great change. It's a good track but??. Then came "The Wisdom of Solomon" and this song I like a lot. It has a great acoustic guitar entry and the song just blazes with shifting about and great guitar work by Barrett.

The long "Wishing Well" is a good song. I had heard the live version and it was very well done. The "Sou' By Sou'" has a taste of Genesis in the sound that I like for the first half and then the Latimer like guitar solo mixes well with the symphonic surround. Then it dives back into another set of acoustic riffs and spoken word that reminds me of old Nektar and Genesis. Then comes the rocking and intense "We Talked" which was attention catching. The ending sequence of the 4 "Two Roads" was not as strong.

"Learning Curve" had some great production in that the various sounds were scattered all over the stereo spectrum and on my headphones it comes across strong. I like the flow of the song and the thick layers of sounds. While the keys are more minimal there is a definite warm blanket in the background. If that was missing it would take something vital from the song. Barrett's guitar work is splendid through this song and on the album in general. The last half is definitely Pendragon of old. The last track "The Edge Of The World" the distortion effect on the guitar solo was interesting. This track was weaker and did not offer much.

I was shocked that I found something in every song that made it at least one I would listen to again. When I hear a prog album they always have tracks I do like and ones I do not care for but on this record I am impressed by all the songs. Weird. Very weird for me. So that is saying something. I give this is a solid 4! Now I need to go hear the other ones I have that I have not touched! Maybe I will come back and reassess this one.

"Not Of This World" is the sixth studio album of Pendragon that was released in 2001. After five years of inactivity, in terms of studio albums, Pendragon released this studio album in the same vein of their last three studio albums. While some may say that the band, especially at the time, never really progressed and that each album was a continuation of the last, the band still puts out well produced and expertly played albums. And "Not Of This World" is no exception too.

The line up on the album is the same of their four previous studio albums "Kowtow" of 1988, "The World" of 1991, "The Window Of Life" of 1993, and "The Masquerade Overture" of 1996, their second, third, fourth and fifth studio albums, respectively. So, the line up on "Not Of This World" is Nick Barrett (vocals and guitars), Clive Nolan (keyboards), Peter Gee (bass) and Fudge Smith (drums). The album has also the participation on the backing vocals of Tina Riley.

"Not Of This World" has five tracks. All tracks were written by Nick Barrett. The first track "If I Were The Wind (And You Were The Rain)" shows an initial very Floydian instrumental part, which makes clear that Nick Barrett remains loyal to one of his main sources of musical inspiration. The song sets the tone for the album with long and great instrumental musical passages, very emotional lyrics and a fantastic symphonic musical composition. The music of this track could hardly be more majestic and warm that it is, and it has also fine backing vocals by Tina Riley. This is the song that opens the album with a spacey musical atmosphere and excellent musical performances by all band's members, turning it on a true classic Pendragon's song. The second track "Dance Of The Seven Veils" is divided into two different parts, "Faithless" and "All Over Now". It's really a gorgeous song divided into two musical parts. The gentle tinkling tones of the part one brings to my mind "Paintbox" from their previous fifth studio album "The Masquerade Overture". Indeed, this song would have fitted perfectly well on that album too. It features a spacey musical atmosphere with great keyboards, sparse guitar work and a nice bass line. The second part has a very nice and captivating choral work and a lovely acoustic middle musical part. This is, without any doubt, a great piece of music, one of my personal favourites of the album. The third track "Not Of This World" is divided into three different parts "Not Of This World", "Give It To Me" and "Green Eyed Angel". However, despite be presented as a three part song, the long instrumental introduction might be counted as a separated part itself. It kicks in with four minutes of lovely keyboard solos and fantastic guitar playing. This is a very typical neo-prog song that shows the musical transition from up tempo music to delicate and sorrowful composition, with some Spanish guitar in the latter musical segment. It flows very naturally to the second part of the song that culminates on the third part, a much slower part with a typical romantic musical atmosphere that delights me. The fourth track "A Man Of Nomadic Traits" is a song with an acoustic musical introduction with some nice vocals, build in the same vein of those typical Pendragon's choruses. It opens with an acoustic guitar musical atmosphere where bass and drums then joined to the backing vocals. This is another great song with a nice keyboard work and a passionate vocal performance. The long instrumental section, driven by acoustic and electric guitar, sounds quite good to me, especially the keyboard solo by Clive Nolan, which is very tasteful, followed by another of those excellent guitar solos, so typical of Nick Barrett. The fifth track "World's End" is divided into two different parts "The Lost Children" and "And Finally?". It's another very atmospheric and spacey lengthy song with another two part track that opens with acoustic guitar. It starts as a very sensitive track with a lovely electric guitar on top of it. After some time, the full band bursts out majestic, with keyboards taking over the guitar theme. In the second part Nick Barrett sings accompanied by piano. This provides a very emotional and intense musical moment until the grand finale that features a very long guitar solo by him. This track closes perfectly this incredible and fantastic album without any kind of musical weaknesses.

My version has two bonus tracks "Paintbox" and "King Of The Castle". Both are featured here as acoustic versions.

Conclusion: "Not Of This World" is perhaps my favourite Pendragon's studio album. It concludes brilliantly the quartet of studio albums "The World", "The Window Of Life", "The Masquerade Overture" and "Not Of This World". I know that, in general, "The Masquerade Overture" is considered their best and most fine studio work. However, I haven't the same opinion. In my opinion, "Not Of This World" is more cohesive and well balanced than "The Masquerade Overture" is. By the other hand, it hasn't any weak points, such as "The Pursuit Of Excellence" of "The Masquerade Overture". Possibly with "The Masquerade Overture" and "Not Of This World" Pendragon reached the highest point on their musical career. In reality, it will happen with all the bands sooner or later. But, not all of them will be able to produce two great masterpieces throughout their career, as Pendragon did. So, "Not Of This World" is an album not to be missed, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"The Masquerade Overture" is the fifth studio album of Pendragon that was released in 1996. It's in general considered Pendragon's best studio album till then, in terms of production, artwork, booklet and especially due to its lyrics and its superb musicianship. Pendragon, at least at this point in their career, played a style of symphonic neo-prog rock. Great layers of symphonic keyboards, nice melodic guitar solos, and the British accented vocals are the main features that characterize "The Masquerade Overture". Despite the influences, their upbeat attitude gives to them a unique sound.

The line up on the album is the same of their three previous studio albums "Kowtow" of 1988, "The World" of 1991 and "The Window Of Life" of 1993, their second, third and fourth studio albums, respectively. So, the line up is Nick Barrett (vocals and guitars), Clive Nolan (keyboards), Peter Gee (bass) and Fudge Smith (drums). The album had also the participation on backing vocals of Tracy Hitchings, Tina Riley, Anthony Plowman, Gwen Ross and Simon Clew.

"The Masquerade Overture" has seven tracks. All tracks were written by Nick Barrett. The first track is the title track song "The Masquerade Overture". It's a classical open to the album, with great keyboard work and the beautiful voice of a female church singer Gwen Ross. It's a fantastic way to open the album that reminds me very much Mozart. A classical overture is often used by progressive rock bands, especially on their live albums, of which Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe, Yes and Marillion used Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky and Antonio Rossini, respectively. The second track "As Good As Gold" is a great atmospheric song with nice melodies and good singing. Despite the very Floydian introduction, Genesis' influences are evident. This is a beautiful song perfectly structured that can keep the total attention of the listeners, from the beginning to the end. It's a song with a nice choral work that shows clearly the influences of the classical music on the group. The third track "Paintbox" is another excellent song with a nice musical atmosphere, great melodies and a superb guitar playing by Nick Barrett. It became truly a classic song on the repertoire of the band. It can be the best song on the album. This is a great symphonic song with good guitar and keyboard works. It has one of the most beautiful and sweetest melodies I've ever heard and the chorus is memorable. This is an amazing song that can keep all its freshness, even in these days. The fourth track "The Pursuit Of Excellence" is the shortest song on the album. It's a keyboard based song, nice and pleasant to hear, but that unfortunately it has very little to do with the great music of the rest of the album. Despite be a good song, it represents the lowest point on the album, really. The fifth track "Guardian Of My Soul" is another excellent piece with great guitar playing and a superb drum work by Fudge Smith, with almost thirteen minutes of full enjoyment. This is the epic song on the album that seems to be a great rock symphonic song. All the typical marks of Pendragon's music are really there. Thus, we have powerful music, tempo changes, great melodies, excellent keyboard and guitar works and some nice backing vocals. The sixth track "The Shadow" is a very relaxing song, almost a ballad with some very nice and sensitive lyrics. After almost five minutes, the song turns into a great progressive song with excellent musicianship. It's a song very calm and beautiful, with nice vocals and very beautiful keyboard and guitar works. The classic influence of Genesis' music is perfectly noticed on it. The seventh track "Masters Of Illusion" is the lengthiest track on the album and represents the second epic on it. This is, undoubtedly, one of the highlights on the album with more than twelve minutes of some very exciting music, from the very quiet beginning till the last moment. It combines perfectly well the old progressive style with the more melodic songs of their latest studio albums. With this track Pendragon closes the album in a great style, indeed.

My version of "The Masquerade Overture" has also an eighth track. This is a special bonus track, which is a live version of the song "The Last Man On Earth". The only thing I can say about the track is that we are in presence of an excellent live version of the song that can only help even further to improve the all musical quality level of the all album, really.

Conclusion: "The Masquerade Overture" is undoubtedly one of Pendragon's best works till now. It follows the same steps of their previous two studio albums "The World" and "The Window Of Life", but in a better way. This is a very consistent and cohesive album with some excellent sounding music and production by Karl Groom and Nick Barrett. The only Achilles' heel on the album is "The Pursuit Of Excellence", which is a little beat weaker than the rest of the songs on it. However it isn't enough to affect the overall the high quality of the all album. "The Masquerade Overture" is probably their magnum opus. This is the epitome of the genre, a classic that can rival the likes of "Script For A Jester's Tear" and "The Wake" for sure, only to mention a few. With "The Masquerade Overture", Pendragon reached the rare status to be one of the best neo-prog bands in nowadays. They joined their name to Marillion, IQ, Pallas and Galahad.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

If there is one obvious I'd like to get out of the way, it is that the sound Pendragon likes to use here on this record is very unoriginal to put it bluntly. The sound found here is definitely reminiscent of styles of Genesis, Yes, and some slight twiddling of Camel and Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Heck, in The Walls of Babylon, after the 2+ minutes of synths and guitars, has a part that sounds very much like the beginning of Watcher Of The Skies from Foxtrot. This isn't a hit on Pendragon as many Neo Prog bands have done these similar heavy inspirations of songs (Supper's Ready sixth part of Apocalypse in 9/8 comes to mind with Marillion's Grendel and IQ's Harvest of Souls taking massive inspiration from such), but it is something to disclose as for anyone interested in a more, I guess, newer sounding Prog Rock album.

Despite the album's less than new sounding elements, Pendragon showcases that they can absolutely make up for that fact by showing off very moving instrumentals in each song. Clive Nolan's keyboards, in tandem with Nick Barrett's guitars, absolutely sells this album in my humble opinion. After 3 albums of developing their sound, Pendragon absolutely masters these moody elements that sound very much like 80s Arena Rock of Journey and Boston, but put through the Progressive Rock ringer to make their more symphonic status into a newer element, and so, whilst the sound may not be "original", the primary acts the band deploys sure makes up for it, at least for me. This is why I love classic Neo Prog like IQ and Marillion; the meshing of old Symphonic Prog with more famous and popular genres like Pop, Punk, and AOR just creates for an interesting, but very rewarding possibility.

I should also talk about Fudge Smith's drumming styles, because they are good, like, really good. I'd say they could rival Phil Collins in his prime, as this expert of a musician just crafts these magical drum beats that work so well within the stratosphere of the album's magic. Really, the best part of the album is just the very magical array of beautiful instrumentals.

I will say though, that I am really not the hugest fan of Nick's singing. I know he is putting his all, but I cannot help but find him a bit monotone and a little lifeless. I think he needs MORE emotion and MORE drive in his vocals. Get more rowdy and raise your voice more, or get more cryptic when the moment shines with lower vocals. Create a varied dynamic to get the listener more pumped up. I think he should try a little more is what I say.

I also think the bass is a little nonexistent. I swear, on my first listen, I didn't even know there was a bass until I looked it up. I am sure Peter Gee's bass is very good, but I never once heard it until I kinda noticed it in some tracks by taking a keen ear. It sounds way too muted, especially in conjunction with Nick's guitars and Nolan's keyboards. It is a bit of a shame to be honest.

Even though I find that this album doesn't always have the highest points of interest in the musical department, Pendragon's 'The Window of Life' is one that is a great showcase of more Neo Prog music. Lots of beautiful workings on the guitar and keyboards, and the really tight drumming just bleeds masterfully. The album is a little imperfect as discussed before, but nevertheless it is still a fantastic showcase of one of Neo Prog's more prolific bands of the 90s through early 2000s.

Pendragon have been around for more than forty years now, coming to the scene a few years after the likes of Marillion and Pallas. Band's leader Nick Barrett has taken care of most of the music all these years, and tied the band together. Starting with music in the line of aforementioned bands, Pendragon has gone through more or less gradual changes in style from album to album, usually with good results. They have almost the same line up ever since 1985, with only some small adjustments, something rather odd in the current music industry. In the early days, they even teamed up with Marillion, as a supporting band in many concerts of Marillion. So, this is a very interesting band with a great career.

'Fallen Dreams And Angels' is a mini album or EP of Pendragon with only four songs and was released in 1994. 'Fallen Dreams And Angels' was released after 'The Window Of Life' Pendragon's live tour. Three of the songs were written during and after their 'The Window Of Life' live tour while the other song was recorded for the second SI compilation disc. Later, all four songs were released on their fourth studio album 'The Window Of Life' as four bonus tracks.

The line up on 'Fallen Dreams And Angels' is the same of their three previous studio albums 'Kowtow', released in 1988, 'The World', released in 1991 and 'The Window Of Life', released in 1993, their second, third and four studio albums, respectively. So, the line up on 'Fallen Dreams And Angels' is Nick Barrett (vocals and guitars), Clive Nolan (keyboards), Peter Gee (bass guitar) and Fudge Smith (drums).

As I mentioned before, 'Fallen Dreams And Angels' has only four tracks. On all tracks the music and lyrics were written by Nick Barrett. The first track 'The Third World In U.K.' is a very rock oriented song, in which the band finds the right balance between the progressive rock and the traditional power rock. It's a track with a real stunning keyboard solo by Clive Nolan, which makes of it truly a great song. This is probably the most elaborated song on this EP with over seven minutes of great music, indeed. It shows clearly and unequivocally the basic musical structure of a Barrett's song. It runs so that first the piano reveals a somewhat ascending chord sequence to encouraging the listener into the mood of the song and on the musical ladder line. This is an excellent true mini epic progressive song, full of rhythmic changes that open the album beautifully. The second track 'Dune' is a great ballad. It's a song written in the Pendragon's best tradition. This is a song with a great and catchy melody full of joy and happiness. On 'Dune', we have an absolute delightfully cute with a keyboard melody that sounds like an accordion, a head of a verse, followed by the chorus, then the same again and again. This is the kind of songs where you can embark in a balloon to fly in the air and you can feel free to travel around the world. So, this a song very enjoyable to listen to and that makes us feel happy and free. The third track 'Sister Bluebird' is a song in the same vein of Genesis' songs, very melodic and with guitars that sound like Steve Hackett. This is a very romantic progressive ballad, with some wonderful guitar performance and nice keyboard work, which soon became as one of the greatest songs on this EP. The song is the smaller brother of 'The Voyager', a song of their third studio album 'The World'. It begins something like that, and that leaves to an almost waiting for the transition to something bigger with new melodic and harmonic changes from the basic musical idea, with several guitar solos and keyboard hymns, where the truly clarity of the music isn't never disturbed. The fourth and last track is the title track of the EP, 'Fallen Dreams And Angels'. This is a song that many of us know from the SI compilation, disc 2. It's a track with great compositional structure, great vocal work and a very nice keyboard sound that makes of this song as one of the highlights in all Pendragon's musical career. This is a fine song, in the romantic vein, which is instantly catchy, pleasant and appealing to any kind of listeners. However, I know that many of you think that we are in presence of a simple and merely commercial and poppish song. I'm sorry, but I must disagree with you. Sincerely, I'm absolutely convinced that we are in presence of a true prog typical Pendragon's song, probably with a small touch of Marillion.

Conclusion: 'Fallen Dreams And Angels' is a very good Pendragon's mini album or EP. Its four songs are more or less equal in their quality level in spite of we may say that they're, somehow, a bit different songs. Clearly, we are dealing here with four leftover songs from 'The Window Of Live' sessions. So, it isn't really surprising that their quality levels are practically at the same level of all other songs of that studio album. Despite this is a mini CD, 'Fallen Dreams And Angels' became as one of my favourite Pendragon's studio albums with 'The World', 'The Window Of Life', 'The Masquerade Overture', 'Not Of This World' and 'Pure'. For some reason, this mini album makes me play it over and over again, with a great pleasure. I don't know why, but maybe the very relaxing compositions and its good lyrics are responsible for that. The fact is that 'Fallen Dreams And Angels' remains as one of my favourite Pendragon's albums.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"The Window Of Life" is the fourth studio album of Pendragon and was released in 1993. With this album Pendragon continued in the same style of their previous third studio album "The World", and due to that, Pendragon established their name worldwide. I think in those days, Pendragon improved with each album. I believe they created some of the best and finest neo-prog on the planet, even today. It's a different piece, and who have little knowledge of the previous albums of Pendragon will probably enjoy it a lot. It keeps on the new path of them that ended with "Not Of This World".

The line up on "The Window Of Life" is the same of their two previous studio albums "Kowtow", released in 1988 and "The World", released in 1991, their second and third studio albums, respectively. So, the line up on "The Window Of Life" is Nick Barrett (vocals and guitars), Clive Nolan (keyboards), Peter Gee (bass guitar) and Fudge Smith (drums).

"The Window Of Life" has six tracks. All tracks were written by Nick Barrett. The first track "The Walls Of Babylon" is a song that begins with a very atmospheric musical ambience that reminds me very strongly the intro on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" of Pink Floyd. It has also, in the beginning, a very impressive keyboard work that also reminds me Tony Banks of Genesis, especially at the times of "A Trick Of The Tail" and "Wind And Wuthering". So, it starts with a very bombastic organ sound before the very typical Barrett's guitar sound. This is a great song with great chorus and a great guitar work that opens the album with a very strong and in a good way. The second track "Ghosts" is another excellent song with a great piano opening by Nolan, with very subtle and constant changes of melody and tempo. The final result is a very good rock piece of music despite hasn't the same splendour of the previous track. This is another song that reminds me, sometimes, "A Trick Of The Tail" too. This is one of those songs that show what Pendragon make, which means, very good musical compositions with emotional vocals and a nice sing choral work. The third track "Breaking The Spell" is the ballad of the album and is also probably one of the best ballads Pendragon has ever written. This is another great track with some nice keyboard and guitar works, a very dynamic bass line and a very nice drum performance. It's a song with a great and hypnotic musical atmosphere that provides perfectly well the ideal ambience to the great solo works performed by Barrett. It represents a very beautiful musical moment, very symphonic, which shows a perfect musical communion between Barrett and Nolan, really. The fourth track "The Last Man On Earth" is divided into two musical parts "Skylight" and "Paradise Road" and represents the epic track on the album. It's a song with a very good musicianship and also very good lyrics for almost its fifteen minutes. This is really a great song and it wasn't by chance that this song is still one of the live favourite songs of the band. It's one of the lengthiest Pendragon's tracks and summarizes perfectly well all the great qualities present on this album and on the group. All instruments are in a perfect harmony, especially the great guitar and keyboard works. The fifth track "Nostradamus (Stargazing)" is another very good song with very touchy chorus, very rocky guitars and some nice keyboard work. It starts with a very nice ballad as an intro and is based on a very simple but effective guitar riff where Barrett shines with the melody line. However, and despite be a good track, this is, in my humble opinion, the weakest of all tracks on the album. The sixth and last track "Am I Really Losing You?" is another ballad on the album, a soft smooth ballad with a nice, emotional and repetitive guitar solo. It's the shortest song on the album, very emotional and poignant and where the final guitar break is extremely melodic and catchy. It represents a very nice way to close this great musical work of this great band. My "The Window Of Life" version is the remastered edition and has plus four bonus tracks. The four bonus tracks make part of their EP "Fallen Dreams And Angels", released in 1994. So, I'm not going now analyse these four songs because I usually don't review bonus tracks, as you know. However, I'm going to review all the four tracks when I review that EP.

Conclusion: With "The Window Of Life" Pendragon continues the same musical line of "The World". In spite of, "The Window Of Life" isn't the best Pendragon's album, it's an excellent and decent musical work with some highlights. It's also, in my humble opinion, probably better than "The World" is, and it represents, for me, a very logical step forward into their musical career. "The Window Of Life" is a very beautiful, soft and melodic progressive album with great guitar and keyboard works. With this album, Pendragon solidified their musical status as one of the best neo- prog bands in the world, and "The Window Of Life" stands, for me, one of their best musical works. However, and despite being better than "The World", it isn't, in my humble opinion, a true masterpiece. Thus, I'm going to rate it with the same 4 stars. To conclude, I have to mention the great musical production by Karl Groom, Nick Barrett and Gavin Greenway that makes of "The Window Of Life" even a better album. So, this is another Pendragon's album not to be missed by all prog fans.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)