The Dreams Of Men

Its been four years since Pallas released their last album The Cross and the Crucible and although that is nothing compared to the 12 years gap that separated their two prior albums The Wedge and Beat The Drum, it has been a long wait.
Was the wait rewarded? Oh yes, and then some. This has to be my album of the year so far and at this late stage I can't see any other album beating it. The clips that preceded the album, just did not do the album as a whole justice. There are moments of pure beauty, moments of pure power. If you like any of Pallas's stuff in the past then get this album, it has everything. There are longish epics such as Bringer of Dreams and Too Close to The Sun, with it's rather intricate vocals and almost Genesis style keyboards and shorter tracks such as Mr Wolfe which is prog of the new order which I'm sure fans of bands like Muse would like. The album is full of little intricacies that make you sit up and listen, the fiddle at the beginning of Ghostdancers, the opera singing at the end of Last Angel and a good little bit of female soul singing incorporated into Messiah. But these intricacies aren't gimmicks, they don't disrupt the music in anyway, just enhance it. I love the way the instrumental Northern Star relaxes you and then this continues into the ambient start of Mr Wolfe, but then each instrument is "cued" in to provide a full on rocker. Nine tracks altogether, each different in their own way and yet they fit beautifully together into over 70 minutes of music. I'm not that good at describing the music, so just buy the album and let the music speak for itself

This is a wonderful album which may have a dark theme running throughout being concerned inter alia about the lack of freedom in society today, big business and the fact that we have the knowledge to destroy ourselves but hey haven't all good prog bands and albums dealt with these at some point or other?

Good standards of musicianship and singing are inherent throughout this album plus there are imaginative uses of classical singers and folk violinists.

I will definitely but some of the back catalogue of this group in the future on this showing and I hope I am not disappointed.

Having been literally stunned by the latter part of 'The Sentinel' it was only right to give this a go. Good decision. It's complex with many effects, and as a result there's much to take in. Personally I don't feel that they quite pull off what is an adventurous project. Perhaps it's too complex. That said there's plenty to enjoy throughout, with the ultimate 'high' being the fantastic track 'Invincible', which is a prog lovers' delight. Buy it for that track alone.