Pendragon Appreciation Thread

least · Passion

   Can't post in the old one, so though I'd start a new one.
I've been doing a "Pendragon marathon" in my car, and I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the band.
My first exposure to Pendragon was in the early 90s.  Specifically, the song "Shane".  I hated it.  It seemed to have everything that was hated about neo-prog.  So I avoided them for about 20 years.  

Last year I saw Passion in the "new releases" section at my local record store, and I figured I'd give them a shot.  Very glad I did!  Took me a couple of listens, but I fell in love with it.  Lovely melodies, emotional guitar, great atmosphere, nice bit of heavyness without going all "metal".

The the Madfish label reissued Pure.  Wow!  "Indigo" blew my mind on first listen, and its now my favorite song from them.  Whenever I see the "what are you listening to now...in your head" thread, I can very often say it is this song.  The entire album is so great.

Madflsh reissued Believe next.  I was less impressed.  Seemed to have a bit of what turned me off all those years ago.  But listening to it yesterday I realize it is for the most part a very good album.  Not as good as the last two, but still very nice.  Really love "The Edge of the World".

Madfish then jumped back to reissue The Window of Life.  Not sure why they didn't continue the reverse chronological order I had thought they'd been following, but anyway...  Again, not so impressed on first listen.  Love the guitar, as always, but the songwriting is a bit too "neo-prog standard", I guess you might say.  As of now this is by far my least favorite of their albums.

Finally, Not Of This World.  Much better than TWoL.  Still has the classic "neo-prog" sound, but the songs are much stronger.  Not sure what else to say here.

Curious question...  All five of these albums end (sans any bonus tracks) with a relatively light ballad, containing a wonderfully emotional guitar solo.  Is this common for all of their albums?  I love the songs, but it seems a bit formulaic.  

I'm hoping that Madfish reissues The Masquerade Overture next, as that appears to be their mostly agreed upon classic.

So what are your thoughts?  Are you a classic Pendy fan that doesn't like their new "heavier" direction?  Are you a fan of the new and find the older ones a bit lacking?  Or are you just a fan of all of their work?  (If you are not a fan at all you probably need not post.)