THE JEWEL

3.5 stars. PENDRAGON's first full length album is a good record that may be poppy at times but there are some good songs with obvious references to MARILLION, in fact they thank MARILLION and Andy Latimer in the liner notes.

They kick things off with "Higher Circles" an upbeat poppy tune with lots of guitar. "The Pleasure Of Hope" is all about the keyboards, that are at times spacey. "Leviathan" features more agressive vocals, with lots of guitar and keyboard melodies. I like the pastoral sections in this song.

"Alaska" has a relaxed, dreamy feel to it with an angry atmosphere bubbling underneath the surface.The song closes with an uptempo instrumental. "Circus" and "Oh Divineo" are both so-so. "The Black Knight" really picks up after 3 minutes and is a good song with lots of time changes. The first two bonus tracks are from their first release, a four track EP and are both ok. "Armageddon" is surprisingly heavy with lots of guitar, good tune. "Insomnia" is another good one with soaring guitar, and is fast paced.

The best would be yet to come, but this is worth checking out.