Pendragon

Neo-prog band Pendragon formed in London during the heady days of punk, but didn't coalesce until 1983, when the band began playing around London and earned a small spot at that year's Reading Festival. The lineup stabilized, after the 1985 album Jewel, around vocalist/guitarist Nick Barrett, bassist Peter Gee, drummer Fudge Smith and keyboard player Clive Nolan. Pendragon recorded the live album 9:15 in 1986 and began to establish a continental fan base the following year. European audiences proved enthusiastic, spawning a contract with the French M.S.I. label; nevertheless, the group was forced to form its own Toff label just to release material in England.

Neo-prog band Pendragon formed in London during the heady days of punk, but didn't coalesce until 1983, when the band began playing around London and earned a small spot at that year's Reading Festival. The lineup stabilized, after the 1985 album Jewel, around vocalist/guitarist Nick Barrett, bassist Peter Gee, drummer Fudge Smith and keyboard player Clive Nolan. Pendragon recorded the live album 9:15 in 1986 and began to establish a continental fan base the following year. European audiences proved enthusiastic, spawning a contract with the French M.S.I. label; nevertheless, the group was forced to form its own Toff label just to release material in England.

Although progressive rock reached its commercial peak in the '70s, it certainly didn't disappear after the '70s. Progressive rock, after all these years, continues to be recorded, and this late 2010/early 2011 recording finds Pendragon still plugging away after 32 years. Pendragon have experienced some lineup changes along the way; the 21st century edition of the band heard on Passion unites two members of the original 1978 lineup (lead singer/guitarist Nick Barrett and bassist Peter Gee) with 1986 arrival Clive Nolan (keyboards) and 2008 arrival Scott Higham (drums). And stylistically, these prog veterans have definitely evolved; Pendragon still draw on old-school influences like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Jethro Tull, and King Crimson, but there are also post-'80s influences that range from Porcupine Tree to Radiohead.

A treasure trove of previously unreleased West Coast guitar psychedelia, 1966-1975. "Uther Pendragon was more than just a band, it was a family. Closer than brothers, they lived together, made music together, worked, played, laughed, cried and dreamed together…

After being dropped by EMI Records Pendragon decided to go for an own record label, called Toff records. After a few years this was the first (studio) CD with Clive Nolan and Fudge Smith. This album indicates a slight difference with the earlier albums. Nick Barrett tries to write some shorter, more single orientated songs, but he doesn't forget the long epics !
KowTow opens with Saved By You, a very simple track, and very poppy ! The Mask, Time For A Change and I Walk The Rope are a little "best of both worlds": very good compositions but a little shorter (4-5 minutes) than the songs on previous albums. An indication that Pendragon goes a little more song-orientated.
2.AM starts with a saxophone and is a very sad, melancholic ballad. Next tracks Total Recall and The Haunting are long, progressive songs which make me think of the "old" classical Pendragon songs. Especially The Haunting is a FANTASTIC song (by far the best on this album); Pendragon at it's best ! Solid Heart is a very nice sing-along song while KowTow is a statement about war in which Nick Barrett proves he can write good lyrics.

A great (re)start for Pendragon at this stage of their career. Especially the nice keyboard sound of Clive Nolan and the aggressive and subtile drum sound of Fudge Smith makes it a very good album. But you have to like the song orientated direction Pendragon shows on this album.

Pendragon - Pure (2008)
FLAC/MP3 cbr 320 | 384/133 MB (party 100 MB) | covers | log, cue | EAC rip

Pendragon are an English neo-progressive rock band established in 1978 in Stroud, Gloucestershire as Zeus Pendragon by guitarist Nick Barrett. The Zeus was dropped before the band started recording as the members decided it was too long to look good on a t-shirt. There were a few personnel changes in the early days, but since 1986 the lineup has remained stable (apart from two changes on the drummer's stool) and the band is still active as of 2009.

In Pendragon: The Merchant of Death, D.J. MacHale, the creator of several popular television series and Afterschool Specials, transplants the Pendragon name from Arthurian legend to modern-day junior high school. Fourteen- year-old Bobby Pendragon has it all; he's smart, popular, and a star basketball player in quiet Stony Brook, Connecticut. But a visit from Uncle Press soon topples all of that as Bobby learns that he is a Traveler, someone who can ride "flumes" through time and space. Bobby lands in Denduron, a medieval world where the gentle Milago are enslaved by the Bedoowan, and it's Bobby's job to free them. He reluctantly teams up with Loor–a girl his age from the warrior-territory of Zadaa–and other Travelers, recounting his adventures in journals that are magically transported back to his friends Mark and Courtney in Stony Brook. These first-person journals at times feel contrived–they're riddled with terms like "coolio" and "bizarro" and gnarly descriptions of vile sights and smells–but the book's thumping story soon scrubs away all such concern. The Merchant of Death keeps the pages flipping with steady action and near-constant mortal peril for its heroes, promising that both this and future volumes in the Pendragon series should be eagerly devoured. (Ages 10 and older) –D.J. Morel –