KOWTOW

It's a well known fact that Pendragon played a totally different kind of prog in the eighties compared to the nineties. In the nineties they almost became symphonic but in the eighties Pendragon played accessible music, almost poppy but their huge talent was already shining through and one could almost feel these guys could do better.

Kowtow was actually the last album in this accessible style with (same as on The Jewel) two small epics as precursors of what was to come the next decade. But it has to be said that not both epical tracks are equal in quality. Personally I believe The Haunting is a lot better than Kowtow. I even feel there is one shorter song better than Kowtow and that is 2 AM. The others are very mediocre compositions for Pendragon (Barrett) standard.

If you don't have a problem with Fly high fall far or The Rest of Pendragon you could add this one to your collection. I think this album is much less than The Jewel so I don't mention that one on purpose. But it's still a solid 3 stars for me because the basic level of Pendragon (even of the eighties) is somewhere around that mark.