THE JEWEL

Pendragon's first album is a pretty decent effort, its qualities having been overlooked at the time - it had the bad luck to come out at around the time Misplaced Childhood by Marillion left all the other neo-prog acts firmly overshadowed in the public eye, and early CD issues were somewhat hampered by a muddy production which the 2005 remaster does a reasonable job of fixing. Earlier versions of the album failed to capture the spirit and energy of the band's early live performances, though the new version now teases that out.

At this point in time the band were a regular feature of the UK neo-prog scene, and alongside IQ frequently supported the likes of Marillion, Pallas, and Twelfth Night at the Marquee and on tour. In seven years the band had managed to craft a solid live show, as documented on 9:15 Live, which The Jewel represents the cream of, albeit with less of the harder-edged side they shared with Trilogy that was showcased on the Fly High, Fall Far EP.

The songs on here all have their merits, provided that you're willing to accept some 1980s synthesiser sounds; they range from poppy, catchy numbers like Higher Circles - clearly intended to be the radio anthem this time around - to full-on progressive numbers like Leviathan and the album closer The Black Knight. The Black Knight deserves a closer look, in fact, because it is easily the best song on the album - and at the same time, it's also the odd man out. Most of the songs here put a strong emphasis on the keyboards - Nick Barrett's lead guitar work plays an important role, but mainly provides fairly middle-of-the-road guitar breaks to support the keys, Nick's main focus being on his singing. The Black Knight, by contrast, is all about the guitar - and it's the first sustained glimpse we have of Nick's incredible David Gilmour/Andrew Latimer-inspired soloing given a central spotlight. It's breathtaking and epic, and it's a first sign of the style the band would adopt and perfect from The World to Not of This World.

Shave half a star off if you are dealing with any of the pre-2005 issues of the album and go for the remaster, which really brings out the best of the album.