THE MASQUERADE OVERTURE

Since its inception by Nick Barrett and Peter Gee in 1977, PENDRAGON weathered the storm of the turbulent 80s as the neo-prog scene was gaining steam but it wasn't until the arrival of keyboardist Clive Nolan in in 1987 however the band would have to experience the utmost humiliation with the load of crap called "Kowtow" before it realized that trying to copy pop bands from the 80s was going nowhere. Luckily the band didn't need to repeat this mistake and totally turned their fortunes around beginning with 1991's "The World" which found PENDRAGON hitting its stride with a stellar mix of Pink Floydian space rock, symphonic prog a la 70s Genesis and a touch of Marillion inspired neo-prog that found a tight-knit delivery of emotive guitars, pounding bass and synthesizer-drenched atmospheres.

Having established its sound PENDRAGON wasn't content to rest on its laurels but rather took things even further and that's where the following album "The Window Of Life" came in with even stronger melodic flows in the compositional department and stronger displays of instrumental interplay and outstanding vocals. But PENDRAGON was still hungry for more and followed it up with an even more outstanding album! THE MASQUERADE ORCHESTRA appeared three years later in 1996 and displayed a band that had reached full artistic maturity with Nick Barrett's songwriting also reaching new highs and the chemistry between Clive Nolan (keys), Peter Gee (bass) and Fudge Smith (drums) attaining sheer perfection.

The artistic nature of THE MASQUERADE ORCHESTRA takes things to the next level with lush choirs offering beautifully rendered classical influences including the outlandish opening title track which crafts a mini-opera in Italian and sets a tone for a larger than life concept album that tackles the subject matter of the eternal battle between good and evil with album cover art to match. The album was originally released with six tracks that clocked in at 57 minutes but the neo-prog bands were learning that having a tiered system for hardcore fans was commercially viable therefore this album was also re-released with bonus tracks on mult-CD editions. While i personally don't care about such extras, this album still stands as one of PENDRAGON's crowning achievements that took the promise of Genesis' 1976 album "Wind & Wuthering" and brought it all into the modern era with crisp clean production values and a vibrant new slant.

After the operatic intro, the album begins the classic PENDRAGON neo-prog touches with "As Good As Gold" that finds rich dreamy atmospheric oozing from Nolan's keyboards as Floydian guitar lines weep as bantering bass bombast and crafty drum rolls conspire to craft irresistible melodic hooks that take for a ride that doesn't let up until the album ends as the tracks all conjointly pass on the rhythmic charm that delivers ample doses of prog bliss. While all the tracks are equally impressive, the lengthier final three are the creme of the crop which take the PENDRAGON sound into the larger league of compositional sophistication. "Guardian Of My Soul" for example starts out with a rather strange energetic tribal drumming sequence before generating an infinite supply of keyboards arpeggios, guitar-gone-sailing mojo and off-kilter bass / drum interactions and effortlessly jumps from sing-songy happy pastoral sections to heavy bombastic rock til you drop gusto.

"The Shadow" only reinforces the juxtaposition of dreamy lullaby melodies and angelic choir symphonic backdrops only punctuated by the tight rhythm drive of bass, drums and the wailing guitars. The inclusion of backing vocals offers Barrett's passionate vocal style the perfect harmonic cohesion. The closing "Masters Of Illusion" offers a dramatic finale with busy keyboard sections, excellent guitar dynamics and Barrett in competition with the choir. The beefy bass bleats come right out of the 80s Marillion playbook but are forgivable as the musical flow generates enough diverse artistic stylistic changes to give the album utterly engaging to the very last note. PENDRAGON perfected the tightrope act of sustaining interest as the track drags on for almost 13 minutes but keeps you hooked all the way.

It can be extremely difficult to explain how some of these neo-prog albums work so well in words considering the formula is pretty straight forward and by the books so to speak. While THE MASQUERADE OVERTURE doesn't deviate from the likes of IQ, Arena or even its own previous albums in approach, it simply takes all the possibilities of every aspect of the music and lights them on fire. Every melody is painstakingly nurtured through the slight variations of the instruments playing in tandem and the emotive lyrical score is highlighted with instrumental tugs to match. Nolan's assortment of vintage and modern keyboard technologies is unprecedented as he makes full use of the full spectrum range of sounds available and tames them to suit the overarching themes. THE MASQUERADE OVERTURE found PENDRAGON hitting one of its highest notes ever which succeeded on multiple levels but basically is just an extremely engaging listening experience. For me this album marks the highlight of the band's 90s run.