KOWTOW

Hearing this band trying to imitate A-Ha in Time for A Change is really sad, and so is the unfortunate attempt to make the own Pendragon's version of Dire Straits's Your Latest Trick in 2 a.m... This album is full with this kind of mistakes, specially in the first half. The last half is proggier, evolving from the average "The Jewel", but sadly not very better. Total Recall is a coomendable Fudge Smith's attempt to make a song, and it's one of the few usable tracks. But The Haunting is easily forgettable, just boring, except some little parts where we can hear some of the Barrett's guitars-Nolan's keyboards combinations that would be so good used in albums like "Not of this World".

Solid Heart is again affected for this failed 80's pop-rock Barrett's attempt... The Nick Barrett's voice is not the right one to sing this kind of music, and this song is the perfect example of it. It's too soft and delicate, and it has not enough energy to make this style of music work.

The title song is the other really good track of the album, and a little gem... The oriental melodies are funny, Nick's guitars are creative, and here the band offers another glimpse of the quality and special kind of prog they would offer in the future. I specially like the second part of the song, with a precious guitar melody. This track makes worthy the whole listening (or suffering...) of the rest of the album!

Best tracks: Kowtow, Total Recall and some parts of The Haunting.

Conclusion: if you like "The Jewel", maybe you'll find some interesting moments in "Kowtow", the second Pendragon's full lenght album. Equally, if you are a die hard fan of this band, you'll enjoy the hearing of this freaky Barrett's attempt to introuduce himself into the 80's pop. For the rest of the people, this is a perfectly avoidable album. Nevertheless, the song Kowtow is a very valuable track, and the disc has the virtue of being the first Clive Nolan's album with the band.

My rating: **

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