THE JEWEL

The Pendragon studio début album. Released two years after Marillion's and IQ's brilliant first studio albums - similar in style and sound to those bands which both had their roots in early Genesis music (Gabriel era). None of the bands though are Genesis copycats as they take the sound and they further it, adding to it - turning the dramatic side of Genesis into a genre and entire spectrum of its own. That, for me, can never be a bad thing as I love dramatic and theatrical music and, not least, I love melody.

Vocalist wise in comparison to Marillion and IQ at the time Pendragon has the weakest vocalist (Nick Barrett) although you do get used to his voice after a few listens to the band. The strongest vocalist out of the three bands is Fish who's voice is a musical instrument on its own able to infuse anger, angst, joy and just about any other emotion into the music effortlessly.

Pendragon's strength is in the melody where they are particularly strong, Barrett is no slouch when it comes to the lead guitar where he effortlessly weaves melody into the music - very reminiscent of Andy Latimer in that regard. Keyboard work here is very good as is the case with both Marillion and IQ and this spectrum of music is very keyboard driven. Carter would very soon be replaced by Nolan in the band but there is nothing wrong with Carter's contribution here. The rhythm side of all three bands is strong with no holes on the drum or bass side.

In comparison to "Script for a Jester's Tear" and "Tales from a Lush Attic" as début albums this is the weakest of the three however it isn't by any means a weak album - it is in fact very strong (perhaps the most melodious of the three).

Relating to this album there are no weak tracks on it - it is an adventure in melody and in "neo-prog". A track by track rating here would be pointless as they are all of a high standard and they are all packed with musical goodness. The band goes on to mature and to refine their sound further with following albums but that doesn't cause a down rating from me in that when rating I compare music to music of the time and not to the band with itself. A bands weakest album can still be miles ahead of the competition in the music world at a given point in time - this is not miles ahead of Marillion or of IQ at the time but it does demand a place standing shoulder to shoulder with the competition. A 3.7 or so rating from me pushed to 4 as it is essential if you are a neo-prog or a melody lover. At a time when prog rock was really stagnating Pendragon, along with IQ and Marillion held the flame up high and we have them and those like them to thank to a large extent for the continuance of what we love in music. Lovers of Gabriel era Genesis lost that when Gabriel left the band however they gained some very powerful entrants into the musical world that they started who took that style of music further. A musical world without what we term "neo-prog" would be a much darker place today.