THE WINDOW OF LIFE

1993 was a fantastic year for neo-prog, with a number of top-flight bands - like IQ and Marillion - releasing absolutely amazing albums which saw them following their progressive instincts and spurn commercial considerations. It even saw eternal second-stringers Pendragon put out what was probably their most accomplished album. For Pendragon's part, The Window of Life is a refinement of the heartwarming feel-good neo-prog sound that was test driven on The World, honed to perfection thanks to superior production, more intricate songwriting, and a bigger emphasis on lengthly progressive epics.

The end result might occasionally tip its hat to prog rockers of the past, Pink Floyd in particular, though I'm inclined to say the opening to Walls of Babylon has to be a conscious and deliberate homage to Shine On You Crazy Diamond as opposed to the plagiarism unkind critics have accused it of being in the past. Pendragon might not have been playing the most technically complex neo-prog out there at this time, but with this they showed themselves masters of creating moving, emotional music.