PALLAS - THE DREAMS OF MEN

PALLAS - THE DREAMS OF MEN

Disk 1 . . . . . . .73:10
1) The Bringer Of Dreams . . . . 9:49
2) Warriors . . . . . 7:14
3) Ghostdancers . . . . . 7:31
4) Too Close To The Sun . . . . 11:34
5) Messiah . . . . . 4:57
6) Northern Star . . . . 4:00
7) Mr. Wolfe . . . . . 5:48
8) Invincible . . . . . 10:44
9) The Last Angel . . . . . 11:28

Pallas' official website at:
http://www.pallas-uk.com/

Line-up
- Alan Reed - Vocals
- Niall Matthewson - Guitars
- Graeme Murray - Bass
- Ronnie Brown - Keyboards
- Derek Forman - Drums

format: Single CD • InsideOut # SPV085-48552
release date: October 25,2005

Pallas is one of the great names in the world of neo-progressive music and has a long history, dating way back to 1978. For their latest studio album, they went all out! The Dreams Of Men is a remarkable accomplishment. Four years in the making, it is truly their crowning achievement, a perfect balance of the best of old-school prog rock with today's modern sounds and instrumentations.

The album begins with a long orchestral passage with a distant, wailing guitar; The Bringer Of Dreams is a powerful intro to the album, an aggressive beat and a very catchy melody, great lyrics, excellent solos throughout, there's a quieter passage midway through the song that breaks its mood a bit, though. Warriors follows, a really intense track, highlighting Niall Matthewson's work on the guitars and Derek Forman's relentlessness on the drums. Ghostdancers begins with a haunting violin solo, a poignant tale about the immigration of scottish and irish people to America and the displacement it caused; The highlight of the album in my opinion, a dark, dramatic melody, with a spine-tingling guitar solo, and ending with aboriginal indians chanting... one of Pallas' greatest work since their legendary Atlantis Suite. Too Close To The Sun is a quirky, captivating track with cool, humourous lyrics and numerous time signatures (including a challenging 11/8), great synths throughout, showcasing Ronnie Brown's immense talent on the keys, also some powerful guitar on this track. Messiah is a great heavy rock track, it has a sound resembling a cross between Gabriel's Sledgehammer and Yes' City of Love... Some great female background vocals and a deliciously caustic political message... "I'm liking it!" Northern Star is a sweet, quiet instrumental guitar track, very relaxing and atmospheric. Quite a change of beat with Mr. Wolfe, another of The Dreams Of Men's catchiest tracks, this one really kicks ass, with an aggressive bass line from Graeme Murray and some great lyrics. Invincible is an hommage to the 1984 theme, a powerful track with some additional vocals by Graeme, even a bit of cookie monster background vocal at times! Splendid guitar work and brilliant lyrics on this track and a grandiose ending section that would put Dream Theater to shame! The album concludes with The Last Angel, highlighting Alan Reed's vocals, it's just a brilliant, breathtaking track, that slowly builds up to a magical melody, ending with a powerful church organ sound and wonderful female opera singer, Pandy Arthur, providing a spine chilling conclusion to this album ( à la Lakmé's Flower Duet ), truly the voice of an angel!

If you liked The Cross And The Crucible, you will dig The Dreams Of Men. Both are similar in many ways, sonically in particular. There's a "Pallas" sound that is quite recognizable, a mixture of Niall's guitars, Alan's unique vocals and Ronnie's very particular keyboard work. But even if it does sound a bit like its predecessor, The Dreams Of Men has a style of its own and is a perfect, utterly worthy following to The Cross and the Crucible. The Dreams Of Men is a magical album, one of these precious few that you never get tired of listening to. Stunning production quality, and a perfectly balanced sound, this album is available in two versions, the regular 1-CD release and a 2-CD special edition, with a 32-page booklet and a 74 min. bonus disk featuring all sorts of goodies like background tracks and loops. I enjoyed listening to this album thoroughly and it is definitely one of my favorites of the year.

My rating for The Dreams Of Men : 8.7/10(album reviewed by Robert Dansereau 27/12/2005)