| The
Review |
This disc finds Scottish neo icons
Pallas in an energetic mood and hot to trot at the Camden
Palace in 1985, in support of their then-current EP 'KNIGHTMOVES'
. Here, Pallas- with "new" singer Alan Reed taking over from
original vocalist Euan Lowson- performs all of the EP, as
well some bits from the two previous albums THE SENTINEL and
ARRIVE ALIVE, as well as an abridged version of 'IMAGINATION'
from the next album 'THE WEDGE'. There's really nothing here
in terms of extras or interviews, but the performance itself
is fun and cozy to watch. This film kinda has the feel of
the sort of thing they used to play at 2:45 in the morning
on some rock program or MTV or something back in the mid 80's,
when you're still tired but too interested in the program
to go back to sleep. It's a vibrant and alive set, though
short. Enough to fill one disc of a CD. The stage looks very
television, though I like that. Dry ice and theatre lights
everywhere. Lots of decent angles for each band member.
Best songs include 'Crown Of Thorns',
'Sanctuary/Atlantis' , an early version of 'Imagination' and
'Arrive Alive'. Reed lacks the edge of original singer Euan
Lowson on 'Cut & Run', but he makes 'Atlantis' and 'Crown...'
his own. Another high point is the Deep Purple-esque 'Dinosaurs',
which never made it to THE WEDGE album in 1986. It's striking
to see how young and intense Pallas were at this stage- Graeme
Murray is rocking and feelin' the power, and Reed probably
wasn't too hard for the girls to look at. I'm sure that if
Pallas had gotten a better deal, or if they had opened for
Rush on their 'Power Windows' tour or something, then they
probably would have been in the rock magazines for a little
while at least. If you don't mind dated footage from the colorful
'80's, then this is the stuff for you. For best effect, watch
it at three in the morning when half tired and cozy. If you
want the more extensive set with interviews and more songs,
go for THE BLINDING DARKNESS.
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