THE WORLD

During the 80s and 90s I wasn't too much concerned about the so-called neo- progressive, even the label was odd for me until years after the genre erupted - those infamous bands like MARILLION, ARENA, IQ, etc, meant few to me and haven't touched my heart. Well, all changed the day I took contact with PENDRAGON and it happened due to "The World".

In fact, all resumed more or less by the beginning of the new century when PENDRAGON existed for more than 20 years and "The World" had completed an entire decade. I don't know what caught me initially, maybe the beautiful cover or the need to explore something different. I cannot even remember if someone gave me a tip about the band or the album - what I'm really sure is that something clicked on me when I first heard it (was I older and more tolerant?).

'Back in the spotlight', the typical neo-prog song that opens the album is powerful enough to grab your attention and make you to wait for new vibrations, which came through the lengthy "The voyager", a fine mini-epic with nice symphonic atmosphere, but anyway here and there it's possible to discern some Floydian tunes and folk spices. 'Shane' and 'Prayer', the next tracks keep the album in a fair mood even not being spectacular - again the same direction heard previously is present for both songs: good vocals and instrumentation, extra-high musicianship - there's a clear line followed steadily by the band in pursuing their goal to show the concept behind the songs.

'Queen of hearts', a piece divided into 3 independent segments, is the ultimate album epic and what an awesome and pleasant moment we are gifted: voices and instruments work in harmony but they still can be spotted individually and it's great. Album closes with the soft 'And we'll go hunting deer', and I cannot think of a better song to end this output.

After "The World" my view about neo-prog changed totally and the genre is now pretty acceptable as part of my personal taste. This is a good album, bordering the masterpiece realm and a recommended work for prog beginners. Final rating: 4.