PASSION

Passion is a very decent album that's fairly dark and serious compared to Not of This World (the only other Pendragon album I've listened to.) It's also very modern sounding. The album flows nicely, with all the songs being equally good; none of them really standing out from the rest. The sound that prevails throughout the whole album is rhythmic, mysterious, and at times hard rocking; nothing overly complex. I especially like the mellotron sounding keyboard strings (whatever they are) which really enhance the album's atmospheric sound. The singing and lyrics are also dark, much less eager and over-the-top than I've heard them to be, which is an improvement.

Overall, this album isn't a groundbreaking prog rock album, but highly enjoyable. Best 2011 album I've heard so far. 4 stars.