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Pendragon - Live In Krakow 1996  CD (album) cover

LIVE IN KRAKOW 1996

Pendragon

 

Neo-Prog

3.88 | 69 ratings

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VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer
4 stars Review Nš 806

Pendragon is a British progressive rock band. The band was founded in 1978 as Zeus Pendragon. The name "Zeus" was dropped before the band started recording, as the members decided it was too long to look good on a T-shirt. The style of the band is closest to Genesis and Marillion (Fish time period). Although Pendragon's name recognition is much lower than those two bands, it's a very big name within the neo-prog genre. Pendragon is one of the founder bands on the neo-prog genre with their compatriots Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Galahad, Twelfth Night, Solstice and Quasar. They became as one of the best and most important neo-prog bands. Pendragon is a band that still exists even today.

"Live In Krakow 1996" is the fourth live album of Pendragon and was released in 1997. It was released from a live show recorded live in Krakow, Poland, when the band made their "The Masquerade Overture Live Tour" in 1996. This live tour even took the band to America which wasn't very usual. This live album has a lot of "The Masquerade Overture" tracks and even played live it's difficult to find great differences with the original album's studio versions. Like some other neo-prog bands like Arena or IQ, Pendragon doesn't sound very different on stage than on studio. However, it's always pleasant to hear and see Nick Barrett and his band with their very emotional and professional live style of playing.

The production and the sound are very good and professional what is usual on all their works with the hand of Karl Groom. This live show also appeared on their video "Live?At Last" also released in 1997. It appears that video was recorded and filmed at a secret concert at Studio Leg in Krakow, Poland, on the band's "The Masquerade Overture Live Tour" in 1996, in front of a TV audience. Still, it's the same recording of the show on the live CD "Live In Krakow 1996".

The line up on "Live In Krakow 1996" is their classic line up. So, we have Nick Barrett (vocals and guitars), Clive Nolan (backing vocals and keyboards), Peter Gee (backing vocals, bass guitar and keyboards) and Fudge Smith (drums).

"Live In Krakov 1996" has eight tracks. The first track "As Good As Gold", the second track "Paintbox" and the third track "Guardian Of My Soul" are three tracks that were originally released on their fifth studio album "The Masquerade Overture" in 1996. The fourth track "Back In The Spotlight" was originally released on their third studio album "The World" in 1991. The fifth track "The Shadow" was also originally released on "The Masquerade Overture". The sixth track "Leviathan" was originally released on their debut studio album "The Jewel" in 1985. The seventh track "Masters Of Illusion" was also originally released on "The Masquerade Overture". The eighth and last track "The Last Waltz" was originally released on "The World" named "Queen Of Hearts". "Queen Of Hearts" is a song divided into three parts "Queen Of Hearts", "?A Man Could Die Out Here?" and "The Last Waltz", which is the part played on this live album.

Since the previously released "The Masquerade Overture", which logically also contains the majority of the songs on this recording, isn't only tailored to the guitar, there are also a few fast keyboard solos by Clive Nolan for a change, which suits the songs quite well. So, the band uses the same procedure as happens usually with Pendragon that also applies in other respects, which is the highly melodic neo-prog which is presented professionally and routinely. So, there's nothing here to complain about in terms of quality, as happens with their compatriots IQ, Pallas and Galahad.

About the live performance, "As Good As Gold" and "Paintbox" are played in a very easy way. On these tracks you can hear that Pendragon has also developed into one of the best live bands in the progressive rock scene nowadays. "Guardian Of My Soul" is a very good live version with very good backing vocals and some extended guitar and keyboard parts. It's probably better than its studio version. "Back In The Spotlight" is a very nice version with a great bass line. "The Shadow" is a good common live version of the song. "Leviathan" is a great live version, one of the best you can hear here. "Masters Of Illusion" is played with even more power than on the studio version because they left off the intro part. The band extended the last minutes instead and it works very well, really. This is a great song in the way they played it live. They end the show in a great way with "The Last Waltz", the third part of "Queen Of Hearts".

Conclusion: On "Live In Krakow 1996" all the songs of "The Masquerade Overture" are present, except its overture song, the title track, and the short track on the album "The Pursuit Of Excellence". Thus, practically all its magical moments are here. Besides that, the band included some other tracks that belong to two of their studio albums that were released at the time, "The Jewel" and "The World". Unfortunately, none of the tracks of "The Window Of Life" were included. Anyway, "Live In Krakow 1996" is a great live album with a great live performance. It's better than "9:15 Live" and slightly better than "Utrecht?The Final Frontier". With this live album, we see a band improving and progressing, which makes of Pendragon one of the leaders in the prog rock music and that can get better as they are getting older.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

VianaProghead | 4/5 |

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