Customer Reviews

Jewel

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this album. It's the flipside of Homemade Blood. The fact that no one has noticed that the reviews are for something else is quite disappointing.

This is one of the earliest, and best, neo-progressive albums. Every song is good and there is a good mix of short and long songs. Nick Barrett's guitar playing is excellent. In my opinion, this is Pendragon's best album.

Usually I don't like the 80's UK newprog very much, except on a few albums by IQ and this work by Pendragon too... a promise being, afterwards not maintained !! Apart from the hit single "Higher circle" the rest is excellent, it's a quite personal stuff, characterized by fresh ideas, unfortunately not helped by the production, very weak, whose remastering I'm still waiting for!!
"Leviathan" is a stunning and original song; "Black knight" is probably their best; instead "Alaska" is better in the live version of "9.15" LIVE, whose interesting interplay between the guitar and the keyboards, in the 2nd movement, is memorable (however in the present studio album you find Nick Carter at the keyboards, while Clive Nolan plays the keys in the place of him in the live version...). At last a special mention for "Oh Divineo", which is perhaps the best instrumental composed by Nick Barret ...

Recommended even if it isn't a masterpiece !!

I like "The light" in fact, I gave it five stars. "The window of Life" is very good also, I gave it 4 stars. "The jewel" is far below these two albums. Listen to it again and see what I mean....bad sound, poor musical transitions, it really looks like a small garage band.
Pendragon can do better and they did with the following albums.
I'll give my cd to a friend of mine because I won't listen to it anymore.

Well I have remarked the importance of this weak recording, which anyway could have been the right example to follow within the 80's UK new prog, instead ... well please notice my review ,that I have already made, as it's referred to the audio CD and not to Chuck Prophet, whose picture was inserted within it as for a mistake I think ...