THE WORLD

A great album. Pendragon has distilled and perfected their previous work into a sound that has all features a good neo-prog act should have. Catchy melodies, great high-pitched guitar work on a frame of symphonised keyboards, with plenty of tempo and mood changes. Not to complex, but with great musical skills, a hallmark band within the neo- progressive rock scene. Sounding somewhat similar to Eloy, Marillion, and IQ.

1. Back in the Spotlight (7:39) A great rock song, with some mood and tempo changes a great energetic show opener. 2. The Voyager (12:15) A ballad like epic, with great keyboards and accoustic guitar creating a pallet for the music to evolve around, with a great (electric) guitar solo. A masterpiece. 3. Shane (4:25) some great guitar parts especially near the end, nice melody lines and very well sung. 4. Prayer (5:21) A keyboard based melody evolves into a more rocking sound, but never reaches above mediocre.

5. Queen of Hearts (21:46) A tree part suite, consisting of a) Queen of Hearts, b) ... a Man Could Die Out Here ..., c) The Last Waltz. Queen of Hearts is a keyboard based song with great melodies changing every second, beginning at a slow pace, building up to a more energetic middle and end section. A great song on itself. A man could die out here... The best part of the album, great middle of the road rocker, with a great bass line and ever changing melodie lines, featuring some of Barret's most compelling guitarplay just awsome!! The last Waltz is a fabulous sing-a-long track co-written by Peter Gee (the rest is written by Nick Barret) very energetic with great keyboards, again very melodic. 6. And We'll Go Hunting Deer (7:14) closes the set with some great keyboards by Clive Nolan, though at times cheesy.

Overall a great album, some minor flaws, but that doesn't lessen the experience. It's not consistent enough to be considered a masterpiece, but a very firm 4 stars from me. Recommended to fans of the neoprog subgenre.