siLLy puPPy The second edition of the metallic neo-prog phase of PENDRAGON’s career, PURE followed the band’s previous album “Believe’s” sudden leap into a brave new musical world where the band’s classic beloved neo-prog sound had suddenly been infiltrated by screaming metallic fury which was not appreciated by the entire fanbase. The band stood resolute in its determined approach to evolve PENDRAGON’s sound into the new expanding frontiers of cross-pollinating musical genres while staying faithful to its neo-prog roots and continued on course with a new set of seven tracks as well as a new drummer in the form of Scott Higham who replaced long time member Fudge Smith.

Similarly structured to “Believe,” PURE features several shorter tracks, a few longer and a multi-suite midsection that showcases the band’s new found freedom in diversifying its explorations however PURE delves even further into the realms of progressive metal with more frequent excursions into raucous guitar riffing and heavy angsty tempo build ups. Laced with the same passional vocal performances of Nick Barrett and the band’s classic neo-prog arpeggiated guitar majesty, PENDRAGON jettisoned none of classic trademarks but rather simply turned their straw house into one of more durable bricks as if the band suddenly merged with Porcupine Tree as the metal is more in line with it’s chug heavy space prog than anything else.

“Indigo” starts off confidently in an upbeat mode as the album deftly balances the atmospheric keyboard swirlies of neo-prog with psychedelic guitar lead before bursting into a melodic rock explosiveness that PENDRAGON tames into a melodic circus act. Despite the heavy musical backdrop, Barrett’s vocals remain as tender and controlled as ever without ever jumping into any sort of metal vocal style. The near 15-minute track sets the tone for the entire album by not only showcasing a greater expansiveness into beefier rock performances but also a newfound creative touch in keyboard dexterity and sound effects without sacrificing the fundamental neo-prog touches that band had made its own. While “Believe” was only an occasional metal dabbler, PURE proves to incorporate a more aggressive guitar heft into almost every track with the following 9-minute “Eraserhead” following suit with the now established rotisserie effect of proggy metal, slowed down space rock and neo-prog underpinnings.

The three part “Comatose” which collectively adds up to about 17 minutes of the album’s 53 minute run features some of the most dynamic and dramatic moments starting with a retro PENDRAGON neo-prog sound of piano led vocal narrations with heavy synthesized atmospheres but proves itself a shapeshifter of varying musical motifs that slowly ratchet up the tension in suitable chord progressions, keyboard programming dynamics and thundering heavy metal uproar. Higham’s drum contributions are notable as it propels the more relaxed approach of yore into a more energetic rock proficiency with clever drum rolls and percussive ingenuity. Likewise these three tracks flow luxuriantly through various creative passages that allow all kinds of art rock possibilities to flutter in and out of the scene with the most outlandish resulting at the end of “I - View From The Seashore” which ends with a classical musical addition that would make Mozart proud.

“The Freak Show” follows the suite with another round of grungy metal heft accompanied by electric atmospheres and Pink Floydian space rock techniques cementing PURE as the heaviest overall album experience PENDRAGON had engaged in up to this point. The closing track “It’s Only Me’” is really the only track that seems a bit too saccharine for its own good with a guest harmonica performance and the least heavy track of the album. It feels a bit out of place amidst the ballsier tunes that precede but demonstrating that PENDRAGON has lost none of its melancholic balladry in the midst of turning up all the amps to full deciblage. While many simply write off the period from “Believe” to “Passion” as a bad turn for the band, if you accept these albums on their own terms they are cleverly crafted quite brilliantly actually with PURE being my favorite of the lot. While many are adverse to change i relish in it and find this unusual new rendition of PENDRAGON to be quite satisfying.

siLLy puPPy After three albums of what many consider neo-prog paradise, PENDRAGON shocked their fans after the release of “Not Of This World” with the 2005 followup BELIEVE. Gone were the saturated layers of synthesizers that crafted unthinkably dense atmospheres and major key exercises in happy songs that delivered crisp melodic constructs that were taken through subtle variations that climaxed in rock fueled upbeat tempos. For whatever reason many of the better known neo-prog acts underwent a metamorphosis in the early 2000s with some flirting with full-fledged progressive metal and others just taking their signature sounds to ever increasing complexities.

While PENDRAGON would wait until the next album “Pure” to ratchet up the metal qualities, BELIEVE took a completely different turn from what the fanbase was used to. While Clive Nolan was taming his keyboard passions, lead vocalist and guitarist Nick Barrett was rockin’ his acoustic skills. This album focuses primarily on the guitar unlike any previous PENDRAGON album where the synthesizers have always dominated and then some. Starting with a beautiful acoustic guitar title track that begins the album more like a folk album rather than neo-prog. The guitar oriented songs continue for awhile with only Nick Barrett’s vocal style simulating the neo-prog singing style of previous works.

Yeah the album still starts out with some Floydian production tricks and maintains that space rock pace throughout much of the album but this time around the space part is often left behind for more serious rockin’ out with more attention to varying aspects of the guitar rather than the typical Steve Hackett guitar sweeps or the David GIlmor twang-a-thon. The space rock and traditional neo-prog sounds though are fairly well integrated into this new approach which makes this quite recognizable as a PENDRAGON release despite the radical new shift in the band’s direction and perspective as the lyrics have become more sombre, melancholic and downright conspiratorial.

The album in many ways almost sounds like a completely different band until the 21-minute suite “The Wishing Well” kicks in and then it offers some moments of business as usual albeit with subdued synthesizer sounds in the background and acoustic guitars never out of range. The electric guitar parts are more prominent and in addition to the dreamy sweeps of classical neo-prog, they also invoke the dirtier bluesy rock styles of classic rock. The album also took on a noticeably darker sound as the dreamy tapestries of yore had suddenly become a bit more gloomy. While this is still basically neo-prog at its core it’s not exactly depressive black metal but for PENDRAGON a different style indeed.

The gist of the album is to usher in melodic hooks through the folky guitar strumming with Nick Barrett narrating his usual poetic prose however the songs tend to stick to the rock paradigm rather than get too wrapped up in the atmospheric dominance that excelled on “Not Of This World.” The album is also noticeably shorter than previous offerings with a mere 51 1/2 minutes of playing time. It seems very succinct in comparison. PENDRAGON goes through its usual shtick of nurturing a melodic hook and then crafting myriad variations to keep the musical flow humming along in that regard they do quite a decent job even though this was new territory for them.

The album has a more intimate feel to it as it’s not smothered in layers of keyboards and focuses on a more stripped down approach. Despite a change in direction the basic formula of starting slowly and ratcheting up the tension to a thundering crescendo and then a soft coming down moment is still intact. The production is damn near perfect as usual and Barrett’s acoustic guitar tones are phenomenal. Overall the album sounds really great and i actually like the direction they took the new sound even if most fans don’t. The album seemed to boost the band’s confidence and far as rockin’ out because next time around they would unleash their inner metalheads and merge the once metal-free neo-prog zone with the more feisty guitar heft of the metal universe. Perhaps not as perfect as what came before but to my ears an experiment that worked out quite well and one i love to play from time to time.

siLLy puPPy PENDRAGON had a slow start releasing some of the worst neo-prog albums the 80s had to offer but then almost like magic was propelled into the top ranks of the subgenre with 1991’s “The World” in pretty much every way. Led by the indefatigable Clive Nolan who was juggling two top tier neo-prog bands in the 90s with Arena being his other baby, PENDRAGON delivered a trilogy of amazingly exquisite albums that started with “The World” and then was followed by “The Masquerade Overture.” The third installment was NOT OF THIS WORLD which features one of my all time favorite fantasy album covers of any genre and delivered all the symphonic prog bombast you could possibly hope for in a space rock influenced neo-prog style.

This would be the last album the band would release before jumping into heavy borderline metal material but at this point NOT OF THIS WORLD was all about layers of sizzling synthesizers with oscillating arpeggios, dreamy atmospheres and droning sustain keeping the band high in the clouds for the 67 minute duration that includes three parts, two of which were multi-track suites. The opening “If I Were The Wind (and Your Were The Rain) opens with an outa this world synthesizer run that makes you think you’ve died and gone to synthesizer paradise with wind sounds and chimes slowly ratcheting up the tension much like classic Pink Floyd along with reverberating guitar riffs that slowly drift away from the Floydian connections and take you into the world of PENDRAGON.

Beautiful guitar sweeps dance in the breezy synthesizer party and the bass slowly grooves along. The intro is just magical and then one of my favorite singers in the world of neo-prog jumps in: Nick Barrett commences to sing a song written to his son and his fatherly advice in navigating the world at hand. The instrumentation is so lush and produced to the perfection made all the better by the divine backing vocals of Tina Riley simulating the female backing sounds of Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” True the band has no shame in wearing its influences on its sleeves and the album has rightfully been criticized for a lack of originality but NOT OF THIS WORLD delivers a magical journey into a synthesized soul soothing world of neo-prog like no other except of course the band’s previous two releases that this one follows.

A fairly laid back and slower tempo album, this one is a true mellow out type of musical experience that takes you through a never-ending series of arpeggiated guitar parts, beautiful piano rolls, bass grooves and a million and one ways to create an orchestral effect out of spacey synthesizer sounds. The tracks pretty much run together seamlessly and although it takes a while for the album to really jump into any real rock aspects by the time “Dance Of The Seven Veils Part 2” kicks in, the music becomes a guitar-driven rocker with thumping bass and hefty percussive drive. Of course PENDRAGON excels in alternating heavier passages with lush acoustic guitar moments with all those atmospheric excesses but that’s what makes them so unique and even more dreamy and atmospheric than bands like Arena and IQ.

Add to the dreamy musical processions that never wear me out in the over hour’s experience, Nick Barrett is a gifted poet whose precise and clearly enunciated lyrical deliveries offers the perfect prose for the musical accompaniment and it all comes together so well with alternating segments that range from dreamy to fast tempo rock at key moments but not quite into metal yet at this stage of their career. As always this band crafts the most sensual and addictive melodies on NOT OF THIS WORLD with captivating emotive guitar sweeps and a contrasting bass groove that work perfectly in tandem and of course all those layers of synth sounds that frost this cake a thousand times over making it ever sweeter! The diversity of the tracks really keeps this one from stagnating. Each one ratchets up the tension a little bit more with clever creative subtitles seeping into the recurring themes.

This was one of those growers that kept drawing me back in. While it started out as a strong 4 star album in my world, the recurring visits have made this one of my all time favorite neo-prog albums and on par with the band’s previous “The Masquerade Overature.” Sure it can sound a little cheesy at times as can a lot of neo-prog but if you’re in the mood for this kind of melodic synthesizer overload then there’s nothing like it. Something you just want to soothe your soul with over-the-top melodic constructs that offer a gazillion variations. There are even moments of amazing virtuosity such as the guitar and keyboard works on “Not Of This World Part 1.” When investigated further this album will reveal an amazing detail that matches the outstanding cover art. It’s bright, colorful and bursting with life. Definitely one of the band’s best and although they would continue to deliver some interesting albums, this particular trilogy is one of the highlights of the neo-prog branch of the world prog. True it’s not the most original album ever released but the delivery is so impeccable i am the fish that got hooked!

Warthur Concerto Maximo captures a Pendragon concert in Poland - where they've enjoyed strong support since the early 1990s, and so could be assured of a friendly crowd - which happened hot on the heels of the release of Pure. So fresh was the Pure material, in fact, that despite wanting to play Indigo the band decided to leave it off the set this time because they simply hadn't had time to rehearse a live performance of it.

Still, the new album is well-represented by Eraserhead, Freak Show, and It's Only Me: the real question here is how the Pure cuts end up slotting in alongside earlier material, given the shift in sound that album presented. As it happens, it works out fine. It helps that this is new drummer Scott Higham's first live album with the band, and his more forceful style already helps give a new twist to the old songs, and the band show good taste in where to tweak their older material to better fit the new style (the version of Walls of Babylon here teases out a disquiet not evident in the original, for instance) and where to keep things true to their former approach (The Voyager being a good example of the latter).

The end result is a set which skillfully interweaves old and new material to more clearly reveal the Pure material as an evolution of what came before, and to tease something new out of the well-worn songs. With each studio album from as far back as Kowtow represented, plus a deep cut in the form of Sister Bluebird from the Fallen Dreams and Angels EP, it packs in a wide variety of material, and with a running time of some two and a half hours you get a nice substantial concert for your money. Indeed, it feels a little long - had it been trimmed back a bit more you'd have an amazing two hours here, but I find myself flagging partway through.

Warthur If you liked the first volume you'll like the second one in this series; if you haven't heard it, then be aware that this is an archival release which was originally compiled with the Pendragon fan club in mind. The production is not brilliant on some of the tracks, there's the occasional tape error, and there's the occasional odd decision when it comes to the running order (why isn't The Black Knight at the end?), but if you're keen on Pendragon and want early, unreleased material then you're in luck. That said, anyone interested in exploring Pendragon's output prior to "The World" should get The Jewel or 9:15 Live before they resort to this.

Warthur Pendragon's Past and Presence captures a very special concert put on by Pendragon in celebration of the band's history. Recorded in Poland as a special treat for their very appreciative Polish fanbase, the concert saw a host of past members of the band making special guest appearances - with all the current and ex-Pendragon members present taking to the stage for show closer Stan and Ollie (a good call, since the song was essentially written as a goof-off piece to round off the band's sets with a happy party number, much like Marillion's Margaret).

Aside from 2AM from Kowtow (present as one of several encores), the songs here are all vintage Pendragon from their very earliest days - you have all the tracks from The Jewel and the Fly High Fall Far EP here, plus some delicious rarities otherwise only available in inferior versions on the Once Upon a Time In England compilations. Two decades have come and gone since the band recorded the versions of the songs we're most familiar with, and the additional experience really does show. Many of the songs here blow the original studio versions out of the water - even songs which sounded pretty decent on the original recordings, such as The Black Knight.

I'd go so far as to say that this show is, perhaps, the best way to experience Pendragon's material from before The World came out. Certainly, I would strongly encourage people to pick up the limited edition version which comes with a 2CD audio version of the show, because the audio stands up really well on there and I actually find I listen to the CD more than I watch the actual show. The main limitation here is that the material in question is a bit rough and naive, but the band couldn't really fix that without abandoning the idea of a nostalgia show.