BELIEVE

Let me preface this review by saying that Pendragon is my favorite contemporary band. Or should I say was? 4 long years of waiting only made the disappointment of this album greater. Call it tough love, but don't call it Pendragon. I could ask what took you so long Nick? yet I'm thinking why did you rush into this? I could have waited 4 more years for a quality product or just remembered the good old days. This album is NOT Pendragon. Not the Pendragon I know and love. It is a Nick Barrett experiment and a poor one at that. Was Clive Nolan a part of this? I couldn't tell. It could have been Nick B. and some session musicians for all I care. Seems like Nick re-discovered the acoustic guitar and decided to practice playing on record. Must have been all the unplugged tours of "Masquerade". I read some rave reviews of "believe" and I can only wonder if I got the wrong disc, what are they listening to? I judge music, any music by how it moves me. Good lyrics are just the icing on the cake, not a deciding factor. If I want good lyrics, I'll go to a poetry reading. "believe" did not give me goose bumps. I tried to like it, believe me I did (no pun intended). l can only hope this was a temporary setback. Nick, I know you can do better, you did it before!!!