After being around for twenty years British Progressive Rock group
Pendragon has unleashed a new offering of powerful technical melodies and pop synthesis that gives prog-rock a good name, without the often pretentious overtones, no no, this is not complete NEARFest Fodder, well then again it sort of is in a way, but it's music that appeals to the masses and goes beyond the realm of art-rock followers.
Featuring frontman/guitarist Nick Barret, Peter Gee on Bass and Guitar, Fudge Smith on drums, and Arena Keyboardist Clive Nolan,
Pendragon make up a technical pop sound that encompasses the sound of bands such as
IQ and Marillion, where the songwriting is king, while incorporating sophisticated hard rock elements of Arena (no surprise), Enchant, Spock's Beard, and Kino portraying a classic prog rock sound with contemporary overtones.
Their knack for the more straightforward song approach is found within "
No Place for the Innocent," and "
Learning Curve;" but it is with the "
Wishing Well" suite where the element of artful progressions and passages take place, not to mention tracks such as "
The Wisdom of Solomon" and "
The Edge of the World" where the soundscapes meet the undulated musical marksmanship and melodic alchemy come together for an appropriate mix of heaviness and procedural gusto to create such refined power on this record.
While the music itself has the headroom for jam sessions, they tend to be subdued, where the listening factor does not get lost in that sort of often schizophrenic jarring sound, plus
Believe does not trap the listener too much into that critical listening state; all in all it has a catchiness that is often missing from records of this caliber, but then again, more bands in the prog-rock genre are becoming more song oriented and it's all for the better, and who better to add fuel to this sound than
Pendragon.
Written by
Hashman Thursday, October 6, 2005
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