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Many of you will be familiar with the background to this,
the 8th or 9th studio album from (Pendragon), one of the survivors
of the (80's) prog rock revival.
A combination of the Credit Brunch and the rise of illegal
downloading has already seen several bands call it a day,
with the fall in income meaning that being a musician can
no longer be a full time occupation in the prog rock world.
In the face of this, bands have taken differing approaches.
(Fish), for example, made his last album available only thru
his website for six months, while (Marillion) pre sold theirs
to everyone who was going to buy it, and them have it away
free to everyone else in return for an email address and a
shed load of publicity.
(Pendragon) have followed the (Fish) route. The first
200 copies were "given away" to fans who attended Megadaze,
a two day Album Release Party, held in September, a whole
fortnight before the official release date. From then onwards,
it is only available from the website or from the merch desk
on tour. Each copy comes with an open letter from (Nick Barrett)
imploring the purchaser not to upload the album onto the web.***
But enough of the Panorama intro, onto the music.***
First track "Indigo" starts off with the atmospheric
guitar intro before hitting you with one of the chunkiest
riffs you'll have heard from the fingers of (Nick Barrett).
Straight away you can see how the current musical landscape,
and the introduction of drummer (Scott Higham) into the band
have given them a harder and more dangerous sound. When (Joe
Crabappletree) joined after the last album, "Believe", it
gave the rest of them a well needed kick up the arse and freshened
up their sound. Scott's introduction has pushed them forward
once again. The song reminds me of something of (Fish's) "13th
Star" album, "Manchmal" or the song about the turtle perhaps.
It's the hard edge to it all. But it's not all dark, there
is some shady Gilmouresk guitar in there too . Meanwhile (Peter
Gee's) bass guitar combines well with the drums. And the people
who criticized the lack of keyboards on "Believe" are going
to be much happier this time around as (Clive Nolan) puts
in a decent shift throughout. This 13 minute epic, which is
about the "aura" that surrounds us, which starts off Indigo
and changes colour as we lose our innocence, is an excellent
way to open the album.***
The nine minuter "Eraserhead" carries on the heavy path,
starting with some thumping Gee bass. This track should cheer
up "Marillion" fans disillusioned with their recent output.
THIS is modern Progressive Rock. The classic 80's influences
mixed with the harder edge of bands such as (Porcupine Tree).
Nine minutes long with enough twists to stop it feeling like
it's outstayed it's welcome, yet also allowed to breathe,
while it slags off Political Correctness and careless liberalism.
It takes its name from the (David Lynch) film of the same
name.***
"Comatose" comes next, a three part tale of a kid leaving
home and losing his innocence, turning into/ some drug riddled
junkie in New York, before going postal (could it be just
coincidence that just this very week a kid went postal in
Finland? Probably, as I don't think there was anyone from
Finland at Megadaze). He then turns up in some cult, gets
brainwashed, but then breaks free of his conditioning. The
first part, "View From The Seashore", starts off with Clive
tinkling on the ivories while Nick sings, then it descends
/ ascends into a bout of frantic riffery and drum poundery
before chilling out again in a 70's (Genesis) way for the
final section. The second part, "Space Cadet", is a more straightforward
rockier number, apart from the chilling 'going postal' minute.
"Home And Dry" rounds off "Comatose", and features the first
recorded (Pendragon) swearword! In (30) years? Oh what has
Scott brought into this band... Anyway, this track updates
the classic (Pendragon) sound. When you listen to this, you
can hear the melodies from previous times bubbling beneath
the surface, like a stew or thick prog soup, with what sound
like movie soundclips as crispy croutons, floating on the
surface.***
The familiar opening to "The Freakshow" comes next. Familiar,
that is if you've listened to our "Proggy Style Radio Show"
recently, or looked at our YouTube Of The Week. It's heavy,
though not in an (Opeth) way. It does contain the curious
"I touched my hand and thought of my Californian wife" life.
Hmm, this years "We talked muffin" perhaps? Anyway, it's good'n'heavy,
and at four and a half minutes, just the right length.***
"It's Only Me" closes the album in customary (Pendragon)
chilled out style. An emotive harmonica intro from Nick's
neighbour Rod Crisp sets the scene for a laid back track,
finishing off with a long instrumental section featuring an
emotional solo from Nick.***
The "Special Edition" comes in a deluxe booklet along
with an (85) minute DVD progumentary that shows the genesis
of the album, with Nick, Clive and Peter talking their way
thru it all. Some Kinda Monster it ain't, but Nick does go
all Les Dennis in places.***
Nick and the boys have now completely brought their sound
up to date, and, with the help of (Karl Gloom), have produced
an exceptional album.***
If you' ve written off (Pendragon) in the past, then
this is probably the right time to give them another try.***
And show your support for the future of the prog music
we all love by buying the album from www.pendragon.mu
rather than downloading it from some hookey site.***
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