THE VERY VERY BOOTLEG LIVE IN LILLE FRANCE 1992

Just as I said in my review of Kowtow that the basic (=minimal) level of Pendragon is 3 stars I have to contradict myself with this live issue. Because however talented these guys are and however good their level is, with a live album it can always go wrong. When I bought and heard it I remember I was very disappointed with the overall sound. This really sounds like a bootleg though officially it isn't one.

One of the reasons I bought it was the presence of Excalibur, a song I didn't know yet and also Queen of Hearts, one of my very favourite songs at the time. And it even appeared to be the entire version so I thought, well, let's take it.

Even though the sound is poor, when you play this on a higher volume, it's not that bad. But I discovered another disappointment, one I hadn't expected. In some of the songs Nick Barrett is a little bit off tune, something I never heard before by this guitar master. It's just a few notes but it's detectable. In other live issues I never heard this and I have seen Pendragon about 4 times live and Nick Barrett is a flawless player.

Anyway, all in all this isn't exactly the best purchase I ever did so I'm afraid it will have to be shown in the rating, 2 stars (2,3).