THE WINDOW OF LIFE

This was the first Pendragon cd I bought. And, from the gorgeous Nolan/Barratt, keyboard/guitar intro to 'Walls Of Babylon', to the lovely starry guitar ending to 'Am I Really Losing You?', the album doesn't let up for one minute in quality. As I have stated, 'Walls Of Babylon' is a masterpiece. A long, beautiful intro, in the best Genesis vein, suddenly explodes into an epic, up tempo song, filled with musical passages and time signatures that change at the drop of a hat, but never allow the song to fragment. A wonderful opener. Listen to it lying down in the dark, or through headphones. For some reason, this song matches the cover of the album perfectly. The next track, 'Ghosts' is another beauty, again reminding me somewhat of Anthony Phillips, around his 'Wise After The Event' period. Very nice! Then comes this album's answer to 'The Voyager', off the last album. 'Breaking The Spell' starts off slowly, and makes one hold one's breath, wondering when the tide will break! And when it does...in comes a magical rhythm from Fudge and Peter, overlaid with superb and delicate guitar from Nick, the entire lot washed in the backdrop of Clive's subtle keyboards. An excellent guitar solo dominates this part of the song, before it ends with a fitting climax. Another classic! Next up is the epic 'The Last Man On Earth' another excellent, long, and intricate track, mixing subtlety and passion. I will say no more, listen to it and decide yourself! Nostradamus is the next song, beginning with lovely guitar work again, then turning into another up temp number. Maybe a little repetitive, but still very good. Finally comes 'Am I Really Losing You?' which rounds off the album nicely, a slow, romantic song, with that lovely guitar ending the album. Enough from me, get out there and buy it!