THE WEDGE

Pallas has become a favorite prog group of mine and in my search for vinyls I stumbled on a nice copy of their second album 'The Wedge', of which I like the artwork by the way. On this album the band basically sounds like a perfect blend of eighties Marillion and the Top Gun Original Movie Soundtrack. This is the type of eighties music that has aged terribly and requires repeated listening for getting beyond its initial muddy and roomy sonic impact. Perhaps hardcore fans of Saga could dig it on the first spin though, especially 'A Million Miles Away' sounds a lot like that band. Pallas introduces Alan Reed whose otherwise strong vocals suffer from the poppy Toto-like mix on most songs. The band has a crossover neo-prog style on this record, but does manage to pull of some great instrumental sections in most songs. The keyboards don't sound that bad at all and the guitars of Niall Matthewson are always pleasant. The poppy second track 'Throwing Stones at the Wind' - for instance - has a beautiful symphonic middle section. The second side is more progressive and has the longest track 'Ratracing' which combines some fine neo-prog moments with eighties stadion rock pastiche. The verses are quite strong here. The final track 'Just a Memory' has a nice reflective mood to it and could have been a strong Marillion track of that era. My favorite of this record. Pallas would make much better albums later on in their career, but I can imagine this being a nice relic from a depraved decade for those who witnessed it. The second side is quite good actually. Three stars it is then.