THE WORLD

The thing that surprised me most about this album was the atmospheric passages that come and go throughout. In fact a couple of reviewers on this site compare certain sections to PINK FLOYD. PENDRAGON sounding like PINK FLOYD ? Well it's a good comparison actually. I find this music so uplifting and moving at times, I am definitely a fan of this band. It's kind of cool that beside the title of each track they give the year and the place that each song was written.

"Back In The Spotlight" opens with guitar and synths before keys and drums join in. Nick starts to sing before 2 minutes. Love his voice. It's hard not to smile when he sings "...seize the day" , which is followed by a beautiful guitar solo. "The Voyager" I think is my favourite song on here. An atmospheric intro as you can hear the water flowing. Keys a minute in change the mood but not for long as synths come in and wash repeatedly. Vocals 2 1/2 minutes in. It gets quite uplifting 4 minutes in. A nice long guitar solo after 8 minutes. Nice. "Shane" opens with some atmosphere before kicking into gear 1 1/2 minutes in. It's still a releaxing song though, very reflective with a tasteful guitar solo after 3 minutes. "Prayer" opens with keys as reserved vocals and synths follow. Marching-like drums as vocals get passionate. A full sound after 2 minutes. This one is fairly melancholic really with a good vocal performance from Barrett.

"Queen Of Hearts" although being almost 22 minutes long, it's divided into 3 parts with each part being written in a different place. The last part is the oldest song(piece) on the album from 1987. The song opens with keys as sad vocals arrive much like the mood. A change 2 1/2 minutes in as a GENESIS flavour comes in making things brighter. Another change after 4 minutes as vocals and acoustic guitar remind me of MARILLION. Some nice background synths during this passage as well. A nice long guitar solo after 7 minutes. This first part queen of hearts is 8 minutes long. The second part "...a man could die out here..." is also around 8 minutes long. It has an uptempo intro before quickly settling down a minute in. Some more atmosphere before it kicks back in 2 1/2 minutes with guitar and drums leading the way. Synths to end it. The final part "the last waltz" isn't as good as the first two sections in my opinion. Kind of catchy though. "And We'll Go Hunting Deer" opens with keys and synths. Atmosphere ! After 2 1/2 minutes we get a change as drums and reserved vocals arrive. Cool song.

I couldn't agree more with Hibou, these guys are a breath of fresh air. What a lineup as well. Nolan shines on the keyboard, while Fudge Smith is his usual solid self. Barrett is brilliant on vocals and lead guitar. Gee is the only one who seems lost in the mix or something.