PENDRAGON / Fallen Dreams and Angels - and all the loose ends.

[LarryD]

So there I was bitching about marketing weirdness with Within Temptation, and then Pendragon releases this disc. So THIS is how you release something already done.

Let's take 15 songs - some of which are bonus tracks from really old Pendragon discs.... let's take some demos, unreleased tracks, and leftover tracks ...... let's have Karl Groom (Threshold) re-master them, we will have Simon Williams do the artworok and create a gorgeous booklet for the disc complete with lyrics......

BINGO !!!! And we have a winner for Pendragon fans. Kudos to Nick Barrett for coming up with this. This is how you market something when you don't have anything to release just yet..... the songs are from the past ages of Pendragon, they sound fantastic re-mastered, and if you don't have any of the earlier PD discs, it might inspire you to check them out. Some of the songs are on the "happier" side, and I do sometimes FF thru them, but I imagine these songs were written during a time when life was good, compared to the darker outlook sound of current Pendragon......

Nevertheless - it's a great disc, sounds great, and it feels like a new Pendragon release......

https://www.pendragon.mu/fallen-dreams- ... oose-ends/

[Random Axe]

I've never gone down the Pendragon path. I vaguely know of them and have probably heard a song or two. I might be mixing them up with Galahad. British neo prog is not my strong suit.

Knowing my tastes for more than 20 years, Larry, or anyone, where would I best start with them? I could just randomly pull some YouTube vids but I'd rather have a listening strategy.

[Sir Exar Kun]

My point of entry was "The World" (found a couple copies with MidKnight in the discount bins at used CD stores back in the late 90s), but probably their highlight album is "The Masquerade Overture". If those two don't work for you, I wouldn't dig much further. The biggest hurdle will be the vocals. He has a VERY distinct, VERY British voice. Works perfectly within the confines of the music they create, but it's unique nonetheless.

If I had to guess, I would say this will probably not move the needle too much for you, but check Masquerade on YouTube as a starting point. Their newer albums venture out into left field a bit more (much lighter musically, much darker lyrically) and are more polarizing, so would not start there as its not very representative of the whole.

[LarryD]

I've never gone down the Pendragon path. I vaguely know of them and have probably heard a song or two. I might be mixing them up with Galahad. British neo prog is not my strong suit.

Knowing my tastes for more than 20 years, Larry, or anyone, where would I best start with them? I could just randomly pull some YouTube vids but I'd rather have a listening strategy.

***Scott - start with either PURE or Love Over Fear ....... they should give you a pretty good idea of what they are all about. In your case, I would start with PURE first.

[Sir Exar Kun]

***Scott - start with either PURE or Love Over Fear ....... they should give you a pretty good idea of what they are all about. In your case, I would start with PURE first.

Funny how we just went in two completely opposite directions on this one.....

[LarryD]

***Scott - start with either PURE or Love Over Fear ....... they should give you a pretty good idea of what they are all about. In your case, I would start with PURE first.

Funny how we just went in two completely opposite directions on this one.....

***Yeah I saw that ..... I went that route as I don't think Scott is into "classic" Neo-Prog ..... I think he likes a more modern sound to draw him in and if he likes Pure, then we can direct him better .......

Personally, I'm with you on The Masquerade Overture or Not of This World for those who are already into Neo-Prog ..... but for Scott, I think the more modern sound of Pure or the emotional delivery of Love Over Fear is a better fit for him .......now if he was talking Arena, that would be interesting to see what everyone would recommend ...

[Sir Exar Kun]

.......now if he was talking Arena, that would be interesting to see what everyone would recommend ...

I'd expect a fairly universal "The Visitor" consensus there, but then after that.... Could be chaotic!

[Norén]

This was my number one band for many years. I also started with "The world". Found it in the good old days in a record store and the cover artwork just sold it for me. And when I FINALLY was going to see them live for the firt time Covid came and killed that chance. Hopefully it's not too late yet.

[Locust0311]

I tend to think of Pendragon as having 3, maybe 4, distinct eras. Era 1 is the 80s stuff (The Jewel, Kowtow and associated EPs and whatnot) which has a distinct 80s sound to it. This is the stuff I listen to the least, by a fairly large margin. Era 2 is the 90s and early 2000s stuff (The World through Not of this World) which has a more pastoral feel to me. This was the Pendragon I was first introduced to and still quite enjoy. The 3rd Era is where they started to add more edge to the music, heavier guitars and maybe an angrier tone. All relative of course. Believe, Pure and Passion are the main ones here. These are the ones I like the best. The two most recent are more a mix of era 2 and 3 so I set them somewhat apart. The release this post is talking about is a mix of Eras 1 and 2, a compilation of EPs/Singles from the 80s and 90s. I have "The Rest of Pendragon" and the "Fallen Dreams & Angels" and "Good As Gold" EPs so this is a fairly superfluous release for me. That said, FD&A and GAG are both excellent and make it a worthwhile acquisition if you don't have that material.

[introclaus]

This is one of those neo-prog bands I really always wanted to love (mainly because of the cool name and awesome album covers), but something about the vocals just killed it for me, and all I end up with is a huge respect for their music and the sheer body-of-work is amazing. There's no doubt they are one of the main UK neo-prog bands, but they fall way below Marillion, Arena, IQ, Pallas, etc. to me.

In my collection I've only kept "The Window of Life" and "Believe", although I did at some point in time own "Pure", "Passion" and "The Masquerade Overture". I guess I must have given those away, and I bet you it's the vocals that is to blame for that.

[Random Axe]

Okay, I tried several songs from various eras.

Not for me.

Much like Claus, vocals destroyed this for me. It's like the vocal DNA of Bowie, Michael McDonald and Kermit the Frog trying to re-record the Muppet Movie soundtrack but in the style of Genesis. Theres so much good stuff happening till mouths open.

I just can't do it. Good on you if you're a fan. You like what you like. These are clearly not written for me.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Okay, I tried several songs from various eras.

Not for me.

Much like Claus, vocals destroyed this for me. It's like the vocal DNA of Bowie, Michael McDonald and Kermit the Frog trying to re-record the Muppet Movie soundtrack but in the style of Genesis. Theres so much good stuff happening till mouths open.

I just can't do it. Good on you if you're a fan. You like what you like. These are clearly not written for me.

Glad you checked it out, but not terribly surprised at the outcome. Dumb question, but have you tried Arena? I would think that would be MUCH more up your alley.