Review Nº 843

The story of Pendragon began in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England in 1978. Four very young musicians got together and decided to form a rock band named Zeus Pendragon consisting of Nick Barrett, Julian Baker, Stan Cox and Nigel Harris. Soon, Zeus Pendragon started to play cover versions of some classic rock tunes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and Santana. The Zeus, a part of their name was dropped when Baker decided it was far too long to fit across a T shirt. There were some personnel changes in the early days, but since 1986 the line up has remained almost stable. The band is active in the progressive rock revival since the 80's and belong to the founders of the neo-prog sub-genre with Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Galahad and Twelfth Night. Like their pairs, they often appeared as a support acts to Marillion and other major progressive bands. However and gradually, Pendragon was able to achieve a solid status as one of the greatest progressive acts nowadays, performing alone or as headliners in many places of many countries.

'In Introducing Pendragon' is a compilation of Pendragon and that was released in 2013. It has fourteen tracks. The first track 'Kowtow' is from 'Kowtow'. It has an intricate structure and a good guitar work. This is a nice track with a first part calm, with a great melody and a good rocking style in the second part. It has nice lyrics about war that proves that Barrett can write good lyrics. The second track 'The Voyager' is from 'The World'. It's an epic ballad with great keyboards and beautiful acoustic guitar work creating a harmonic and engaging colourful pallet of sounds. Barrett's guitar work is good, with Nolan's keyboards producing lush textures of sounds, providing a great harmony. The third track 'Breaking The Spell' is from 'The Window Of Life'. It's one of the best ballads of Pendragon. It has nice keyboard and great guitar work, a dynamic bass line and good drumming. It has a beautiful symphonic and hypnotic atmosphere that shows the perfect communion between Barrett and Nolan. The fourth track 'Paintbox' is from 'The Masquerade Overture'. It's a great track with a nice atmosphere, great melodies and a memorable chorus. It has a good keyboard work and a superb guitar playing by Barrett. The fifth track 'Masters Of Illusion' is from 'The Masquerade Overture'. It's an epic, one of the highlights on that album with more than twelve minutes. It's exciting from the quiet beginning till the last moment. It combines perfectly well the old progressive rock style with the more melodic tracks of their latest albums. The sixth track 'If I Were The Wind (And You Were The Rain)' is from 'Not Of This World'. It has long great instrumental passages, emotional lyrics and is a fantastic symphonic composition. It could hardly be more majestic and warm. It has fine backing vocals by Tina Riley too and a spacey atmosphere and excellent performances by all band's members. The seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth tracks 'For Your Journey', 'Sou' By Sou' West', 'We Talked' and 'Two Roads', respectively, are four parts of the track 'The Wishing Well' from 'Believe'. It's an epic with about twenty-one minutes. The first part is a largely spoken piece with a celestial atmospheric ambience, extremely beautiful. The second part is beautiful with dual acoustic guitar playing during the verses and great electric guitar solos played thorough the choruses. The third part is a great rock song filled with some weird vocal effects and great musical parts well performed by all band's members. The fourth part starts as an acoustic ballad that soon rocks strong with an excellent slide guitar solo in the end. The eleventh track 'Indigo' is from 'Pure'. This is a dark epic track played in two parts of over thirteen absorbing minutes. It starts with a metallic guitar riff and the song evolves into its main theme through a barrage of guitar accompanied by ferocious drum work. It's one of Pendragon's finest tracks. The twelfth track 'It's Only Me' is from 'Pure'. It starts with piano, guitar and harmonica. It's an emotional ballad with lyrics about how resilient we are as a child. It's a slow and sad lament that ends with a superb and memorable extended Barrett's guitar solo. The thirteenth track 'Empathy' is from 'Passion'. It starts with a powerful heavy rhythm. It's full of constant changes. It's a complete song with a gentle vocal work, a nice guitar solo, a beautiful piano performance that ends with a magnificent orchestral sound. The fourteenth track 'This Green And Pleasant Land' is from 'Passion'. It's a lengthy epic, a beautiful track more in the taste of the old fashion Pendragon's fans. It's an emotional, beautiful and intelligent track with Barrett telling us the story of his homeland and where we can see him providing those dreamy and beautiful guitar passages.

Conclusion: 'In Introducing Pendragon' is a very interesting compilation album of Pendragon. When it was released, Pendragon had already released eight studio albums and almost all have tracks represented here. The only exception is their debut studio album 'The Jewel' with none of its tracks chosen to be part of it, which seems to be a bit strange to me. 'The Jewel' is good enough to can be represented here. For instance 'Leviathan', 'Alaska' and 'The Black Night' are all great tracks that could fit perfectly well here. Besides, 'The Jewel' is a better album than 'Kowtow' is. Thus, 'In Introducing Pendragon' is an interesting and good compilation album of Pendragon but isn't really an essential item.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Definitily, Christian Vander is the most creative people in this world, i cant believe that someone in a nice day, just start to think, maybe i can make an zheul album, for children. if i live a hundred years ill never make some ideia like this

But now about the album, It is a nice album, nothing really important, but have really good moments, like Hymne Aux Enfants, but dont expect something like a powerfull or a dark zheul(this is a album for children, to make them happy, not to make them cry).

it is something interesting, if you have a lot of free time, give a chance.

1. Step Inside intro intriguing, from the FRIPP period 'Discipline' inside, from the TALKING HEADS for a heady musical mantra; it becomes jazzy, it rises, it gallops and it is finally catchy on an explosive, fruity bossa nova rhythm 2. La Quatrième Mort/La Vie Lumineuse starts on a melancholic nursery rhyme... of all beauty, amplified by the suave voice of Carla from SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM. Scattered notes that flow like an endless torrent; the variation both jazzy and on the bucolic territories of the GENESIS of yesteryear with the plaintive voice and the archaic piano, 3. Concretion with this guitar, the sound of inimitable Frédéric, flirting on a frippian riff that sends on warm and dark progressive territories, musical dichotomy of having thus two opposites that associate pleasantly; the sound becomes more fluid on a hackettian arpeggio, yes we are surfing on the reminiscences of the great Dinos there; in short the surprise is big given their heavy prog label not updated! 4. Get Lost is the song that stuck me, word written at random; a fusion between the voice and the instrument, a mantra, a catchy melody that transports you right away. A musical Nirvana, yes I dare; there is a zest of the best BJORK, hints of recent MEER, there is this divine rise that escapes the drawers of comparison; it is beautiful, captivating 5. Fire and Ashes for the cinematic intro, the current fashion; as if we were entering a recording studio at the time of the adjustments; the discordant sound goes on a heavy rock vocal, ah finally there; the hint of MAGMA in the distance; the sound juggles while descending on a minimal tempo, hypnotic before resuming its desperate cry; the final variation on an aggressive sound out of tune again with cello, imaginary or real, which tenses, yes the wink with the mythical piece of KING CRIMSON comes back to me in full face, polyrhythmic string pinches. The dreamlike crescendo soft and violent at the same time, oxymoronic 6. Entanglement not that of GENESIS; the voice in French surprises positively, soft, plaintive, evocative; the handover with the language of Albion did not mark me, I understand English now? The guitar wants to be playful, the tribal, medieval percussions add to the folk climate; strange and admirable. Think about taking a break.

7. Light as a Cloud arrives, softness of syncopated notes accompanied by a crystal guitar arpeggio; an innocuous piece which unrolls and rests the ear 8. Rejoice! and the return of the voice, and the sounds again aggressive, crimsonian in the search for the avant- garde not necessarily taken at its best; jazzy drift, zappaesque, a bit of RIO, everything goes in this strange piece where the raw side of the voice floats near the shadow of frippian guitar 9. Berceuse for the Guilty latent intro, dark, chamber music where the percussions come to the fore; air of wandering on the typical guitar, relaxing 10. Strange Particles ah yes the riff of a simple and effective KING CRIMSON is not far, metronomic. The idea of ​​a journey on jazzy lands, electric gypsy, on redundant notes, moment when the length of the album begins to become clear; do not hesitate to cut the listening in fact; note the effective work of Nico which allows to weld the framework and prevent the sound from going a little too much in all directions. 11. Surrender with a male voice, which one? A RIO track with repetitive frippian guitar with a bit of ART ZOYD in the distance, I'll have to listen to it again 12. We are Heralds bis répétita, 'Discipline' era we agree with the work of David SYLVIAN; the sound becomes heady if not mantranic like at the beginning of the album; come on a bit of South America to make you dream in the final climb 13. The Final Day ah for the end and a long vocal mantra to close, a long orchestral variation rhythmic like potpourri and fireworks; it's soft then aggressive, never metal or heavy, just syncopated with guitar arpeggio beaches to rest the ears. The finale with the Charisma sound and the captivating organ gives a spice that was starting to be missing on the previous tracks; a long track that allows you to come back from this singular musical maze. Originally on Planète Prog.

Without a shadow of doubt we can say that The Dillinger Escape Plan reinvented metal music with the release of their second studio album 'Miss Machine' in 2004, a scorchingly heavy release that dared to experiment with a variety of influences from industrial to fusion, and while traditional prog fans might recoil in horror at the sounds of the grizzly vocals and manic, dissonant instrumental playing, 'Miss Machine' is truly a brilliant piece of heavy music that has influenced virtually all subsequent movements in the genre, including the likes of djent and necessarily the currently quite popular metalcore. The blatant aggression and fiery rage of the music of Dillinger is here counterbalanced by a very daringly experimental approach and the inclusion of several intriguing passages that would easily resonate with jazz fans is an additional flavor to the otherwise cathartic playing; there is also an apparent use of electronics and programming that add another layer to the music, one that possibly pertains to the influence of Nine Inch Nails. It is important to say that this album saw a lineup change in the addition of Greg Puciato on vocals (coming from an industrial band) and bassist Liam Wilson, and that it serves as a follow-up to a now-legendary 2002 EP with Mike Patton on vocals.

Dense and chaotic, 'Miss Machine' is really out there to challenge the common ideas about heavy music with its vigorous rage and technical proficiency, the album meanders between scorchingly heavy riffs and more controlled, experimental passages full of feel and a desire to expand the scope of the band's sound. An intense and demanding listen that sits at about forty minutes, at the root of its sounds one would necessarily find the spirit of progressive, much like a contemporary Gentle Giant, each release by Dillinger is full of exploration, power and ingenious approaches to writing music. Look no further than the angular album opener 'Panasonic Youth', a dangling and unhinged piece of metalcore whose shattering sounds set a menacing tone for the entirety of the record. The more acceptable chorus of 'Highway Robbery' is followed by a beautiful fusion instrumental part, while the engineered soundscapes of the gloomy 'Phone Home' reminisce a lot about what Nine Inch Nails had been doing some years prior, with the singing voice of Puciato lying somewhere between an enraged Trent Reznor and a ludicrous metalcore version of Mike Patton. Other really strong examples of the band's capabilities and fusion of styles are the menacing tracks 'Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants' and 'Unretrofied', virtually the most reasonably constructed song on the album, and the one with the most accessible direction. 'Miss Machine' is among the groundbreaking metalcore albums of the early 2000s, one that has a truly progressive underlying spirit, marking a shift in the band's style towards more experimental territories.

Porcupine Tree is one of if not THE king of the second wave of Progressive Rock, the band has worked it's way to this title, starting off as zany psychedelia to more mature art rock/alternative progressive metal, key word is zany because OTSOF is definitely that, you could easily compare this Pink Floyd's Piper At The Gates Of Dawn well at least in the context of the bands discography, (Piper is much more... English) The songs here are storys of wacky characters and places, it's like listening to a Saturday morning cartoon, the album has sort of because the butt of jokes within the Porcupine Tree fandom, from my understanding Steven Wilson started PT as a joke project trying to mimick Prog bands of the 70s trying to make PT look like one of those relics, (and it works for the most part) there's definitely influences of Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, Eloy and some Krautrock touches here and there, one of my favorite moments on the album is the track "Third Eye Surfer" it reminds me a bit of Alice Coltrane but without the harp, I think my biggest problem would be some of the sounds here sound kinda stock, especially the drums at times but really it's no big deal. Really I like this album even compared to other PT albums I honestly think it stacks up, sonically it can sound very beautiful yet trippy, "Radioactive Toy" and "It Will Rain For A Million Years" are fan favorites because of that, this album while not essential, is an interesting addition to any prog rock collection

SUB were a five piece out of Germany who managed to release this one studio album before vanishing. They all had a background in beat music, but were all gung-ho about being part of the German underground scene that would become known as Krautrock eventually. So yes naming yourself SUB certainly connects well with that psychedelic underground movement in Germany in the early seventies. I like the name. And yes it's deceiving to call this "In Concert" given it's a studio album. Adding fake crowd noise etc. on that opening 18 plus minute track to make it sound live does take away from my enjoyment knowing it's not live.

But no behind the scenes trickery will take away my admiration for this album. My music right here. These guys know how to play and they loved to jam. And they have an amazing singer who can bring it, very entertaining. He has character in those vocals, and even sounds like Bryan Ferry at times when he slows it down. The drumming also stood out, and he would go on to play with AMOS KEY a more Symphonic band from Germany that released an album back in 1973. And while the vocals and drumming impress the most here, the solo instruments of guitar and organ are also very good.

They clearly were fans of THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP as they cover "Gimme Some Lovin'" and then add "I'm A Man" as a bonus track. And there is, as others have mentioned, a non-German vibe to their music with American and British bands coming to mind. That over 18 minute opener is the one to hear. They sure like to jam and experiment.Lots of feedback from that guitar and after the guitar and organ have had their way, the piano takes a turn. I do like that cover "Gimme Some Lovin'" especially the bass.

The opener which is called "Sub Theme I" has a second part "Sub Theme II", and at 2 1/2 minutes it sounds nothing like the first part. Same with the two final tracks "Match I" and "Match II" as they have nothing in common(haha). That leaves "Off" and "Ma-Mari-Huana", and the latter was released as a single with "Off" the b-side. Yes a song about weed, and it was their most popular song. Weed has been legal here in Canada for 6 years but it seems way longer. But acceptable now to the point that people bring weed products as gifts for Christmas events at work etc. We have all gone to pot here.

Those stories my Accountant teacher told us in High School were so cool about The Netherlands and weed. This teacher had "Close To The Edge" and other Prog vinyl albums at the back of the class. Yeah cool guy. Actually a couple of classes back then in the second half of the seventies had record players in their class. My Art teacher only specified one band he would not allow anyone to spin, and that was RUSH. Yeah "2112" was pretty extreme back then.

I feel this is well worth picking up for those wanting to check out some of the more rare Krautrock albums from back in the early seventies. Garden Of Delights as usual did a real nice re-issue with this one.

Stephan Thelen and David Torn did it again and in just 3 movements they delivered a concise, solid and surprising work in which the best of the latest King Crimson floats in the air while we hear basses as if taken from the most harmful Zeuhl and a permanent feeling that things can suddenly become electronic.

Irregular metrics coexist with riffs of deep mysticism and phenomenal guitars that appear in the form of grandiose solos as well as in the textures and layers that are added to the songs to add thickness to the general mood of an album that can be enjoyed enormously from beginning to end, whether in moments of modern darkness or in calm and reflective passages. all with a futuristic and novel air.

Excellent work by these Swiss band, highly recommended!

I didn't know about the existence of this character until I saw a certain review on Youtube and I have been very pleasantly surprised with the very particular style and history of this Mexican composer.

Like an industrial blender, Greco seems to want to tell us so many things in such a short time that the result is overwhelming in the best of ways (at least for those of us who love the school of Rock In Opposition, Zeuhl and Avant).

It is noteworthy that, even with the participation of so many renowned musicians, the album stands out for its uniformity and cohesion. The pieces sound connected by an invisible thread that is undoubtedly Greco's composition, weaving with careful care the instruments of at least 30 human beings from different parts of the world who somehow manage to sound like a single band, song after song.

The man achieves what he seems to want in the listener: a permanent feeling of unease and power that very few bands achieve in this genre today. Magnificent!

The group with possibly the highest average IQ's playing together, created in this album an authentic manifesto of what it means to take the most learned and complex music to the fields of Rock, marking a before and after in the conception of the term Avant-Prog and having to this day the cult deserved for it.

At times chaotic and Dadaist, "Western Culture" was precisely that: to make it clear that they could have fun and have a good time together, taking the rules of music conservatories to the extreme, creating songs that hide behind their intricate elements precious passages of the purest beauty, for those of us who like RIO as much as contemporary classical music. It's hard to say if it's his best work, but easy to say it's one of his perfect works and touchstone of the genre. Huge job!

Ok, we know it's one of those experiments in which an advanced group decides to create a non-existent soundtrack for a movie from 50 years ago or more (well, maybe they invented this macabre experiment themselves).

The reality is that I have never seen the homonymous film from 1921 and it is something that I am not sure I need in my life, since I feel more than satisfied with the majesty of the album created by these Belgians in 1997.

Dark, gloomy, threatening, cinematic, histrionic and intimidating are some of the words that describe the mood of the songs well. Abundant in passages that change each other (as if they were scenes from a movie), the album offers a beautiful experience of unpredictability and amazement every couple of minutes. It is worth highlighting the fact that the music is from 1997 but sounds, at least, 25 years older which I consider a detail of excellent taste on the part of this cult band of the darkest rock in opposition ever made.