THE WEDGE

I may be in a minority, but I actually think that The Wedge was a step up from The Sentinel. This second studio album by the Scottish band Pallas is usually regarded as their weakest, but for me The Wedge was actually an improvement over their previous two full length releases and an important step towards the greatness they had yet to achieve. Not only was The Wedge the first Pallas album to be properly recorded and produced, but it was also the first album to feature Alan Reed on vocals. Reed's voice is much more distinctive than that of Euan Lowson, who sang on the band's previous releases, and Reed is, after all, the voice of Pallas. As such, The Wedge was actually the first real glimpse of the greatness they would achieve later on with Beat The Drum, The Cross And The Crucible and The Dreams Of Men. While comparing The Sentinel or Arrive Alive with those 90's and 00's albums it is not at all obvious that it is at all the same band, but on The Wedge it is indeed very clear.

While sonically The Wedge is more similar to the recent albums, the quality of the material is, however, not up to par with the great trio of recent Pallas albums mentioned above. Still, this is a good album and keeping that in mind that this was released in 1986 it is even notable. The last three tracks of the CD were originally released separately on an EP, but tagged onto the album on later releases. It is great that these tracks are included as particularly the nearly ten minute long Sanctuary and also Nightmare are better than most of the songs that actually made it onto the original album. Other standout tracks include Rat Racing and The Executioner.

The Wedge was a step in the right direction for Pallas, but they still had a long way to go before they reached their musical peak. It would be 12 years (!) until their next album, Beat The Drum, and the band would reach altogether new heights in the new millennium.

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