BELIEVE

This one is definitely a grower! When I first played it I was a tad disappointed. It is not as immediate as their previous excellent four albums. It starts off rockier and less progressive. Nevertheless, repeated plays have bumped it up in my estimation. 'Believe' is a short piece of atmospheric music to open, keyboard-led, with a voice singing away, ending with a voice saying 'everyone please to the dance floor', this leads into track number 2, 'No Place For The Innocent' which is an uptempo rocker, with nice slide guitar in the chorus. Very straightforward and unPendragon-like! However, the next track, 'Wisdom Of Solomon' is back in more familiar territory, with superb guitar work, as usual, from Barrett. (He is one of the best around today, both on acoustic and electric guitar, sounding sometimes almost Hackett-like, other times Gilmour-like, yet retaining enough of his own personality to be different.) A good track that Pendragon fans will love. 'The Wishing Well' comes in four parts, my favourite being the second, 'sou by souwest', an almost waltz like beat with catchy chorus and nice harmonies, plus understated guitar. 'We Talked' is anothe fave, but the first and last parts have their moments too. 'Learning Curve' is probably my favourite track on the cd; classic Pendragon with good melody and stunning guitar. This track would have sat nicely on either of their last two albums. The album finishes with the ballad, 'The Edge Of The World' which is nice, but not outstanding. All in all, the album is another decent effort, not, in my opinion, up to the standard of their previous three albums, or even 'The World' but it is in no way bad. Fans should like most of it.