Nigel Harris

For anyone who loves Camel, Genesis and early Marillion, this is a must. Pendragon were one of a clutch of bands including IQ, Pallas, Solstice and the aforementioned Marillion, who made up a new wave of British Progressive Rock in the 1980s. By 1985, Pendragon had released an EP, played the Reading Festival and toured with Marillion as well as doing a session for Tommy Vance's legendary Friday Rock Show. Despite that, they were still largely ignored by the mainstream. 'The Jewel', the band's debut album shows a band that has clearly spent a lot of time playing live, as they are extremely proficient and tight musically throughout the record.

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.