Ranking the Albums: Pendragon 

The world and Window of life are 2 of my faves. I have been following Pendragon since April 1983...

For me it has always been "The Masquerade Overture". Such a masterpiece. No matter if you listen to "As Good as Gold", "Paintbox" or the great "Guardian of my Soul", this album is so enjoyable. Not a single filler on this one. They have other good albums too, but this one is flawless in my book.

Every time I play a Pendragon album i discover something else. Few bands have as many tear jerking moments for me.

Pete/ Steven. I sat in to listen and learn. Will definitely start with the no 1 s. Steven / a bang up job as usual. Pete, always tremendous. Thanks for your time guys 👍💯

Saw Pendragon a few times in the 90's at the Classic Rock Society, surprised Stephen didnt make a few trips to Yorkshire as they championing the new wave of Prog , people coming from all over the UK. Lots of memorable gigs including Porcupine Tree in 1998. I agree with Pete's ranking here, the four album run from The World to Not Of This World is top drawer, although I do think 'Green & Pleasent Land' from 'Pure' is the best song they ever did IMO. I regret not getting 'The First 40 Years' box set that also included all the EP's but it sold out very quickly on the bands website, the prices on Ebay are extortionate. Must get the new EP as its had great reviews! Thanks guys!

My favorite neo-prog? band along with IQ. 1. Not of this world 2. The masquerade overture 3. The world 4. Pure 5. The window of life 6. Passion 7. Love over fear 8. Men who climb mountains 9. The jewel 10. Believe 11. Kowtow The latest EP is excellent, too.

The World, The Window of Life and The Masquerade Overture albums are terrific

Really appreciated your research into this band to put me on the right path . Thank You both

Thank you for this, album rankings with you and Steven Reid are always immensely enjoyable and interesting. I always learn a lot about bands and have great insights and recommendations.

Passion my favourite and i personally love the fairytale art work.

I missed Mr Reid! Finally some in-depth analysis from one of my favorite bands. Yes it’s because of you Stephen I love this band. I didn’t know much about them until like 3 years ago

I’m a 70 year old progger, old school definitely, but my eyes are opened to some brilliant newer stuff thanks to you guys. Pete, I love your presentations and thank you so much.

Pendragon are one of my favorite bands. I had the pleasure of interviewing Nick Barrett. I love all of the Pendragon albums with the exception of Kowtow. Here is my ranking of their studio discography: 1. Not of This World 2. Love Over Fear 3. Passion 4. Pure 5. Men Who Climb Mountains 6. The Masquerade Overture 7. Believe 8. The Window of Life 9. The World 10. The Jewel 11. Kowtow

Fudge Smith was in Steve Hackett’s band for awhile in the early 90’s, he was in his live band in the live video and live album “Time Lapse” while he was still in Pendragon.

Thanks, Steven and Pete. Been looking forward to this ranking show for as long as you two have been discussing it and, yes, that has been at least two years. Using this as a jumping in point for hearing these albums so rather glad that your top choices diverged a bit. Will be looking at other comments made by SoT viewers as well to pick where to start but it looks like each of your top choices will be where to start. Thanks again for taking the time with all the albums of the catalogue. Looking forward to the next album ranking when you two are at it again.

Cool to see you guys do a ranking again, i'm a big Pendragon fan. Shout out to their latest ep, it's really great. Regarding the turn to darker/heavier albums from Pure to Men Who Climb Mountains... Barrett has said the band Riverside was a big influence, and it's definitely something you can hear in those run of albums imo.

Interesting and informative as ever...I have seen Pendragon live several times and they are well worth the effort if they are playing nearby. Seeing them when The Masquerade Overture was released was fantastic. My ranking is: 1. The Masquerade Overture 2. Not of this World 3. The World 4. The Jewel 5. The Window of Life 6. Love over Fear 7. Passion 8. Men Who Climb Mountains 9. Pure 10. Believe 11. Kowtow

Really enjoyed that, especially the quite wide differences of opinion, thanks very much lads.

I got Fly High Fall Far and The Jewel shortly after they came out and was blown away! So I always followed the band over the years and what a great journey it is. Even saw the guys some times live here in Germany. I was really looking forward to your ranking and made my own list in advance. It is funny how similar (Hey Steven, must be the name cause mine is Stephan!), but on the other hand how completely different we rank. Pete has my no. 1 and 11 as 2 and 1. And I even “mediate” your Love over Fear controversy. 😉 Goes to show, that the boys have a lot for everyone! Your’re right, there’s not a single bad album here. Some years ago Kowtow was bottom of my list as well, but it evolved over time and now I really like most of the songs. Concerning Masquerade… I heard everything on it before and in my point of view even better. Most of the stuff just does not get me and is even a bit boring. Sorry to say, cause so many people love it. But I think, they did the “Jester-years” just a little too long. Concerning their swing to the more heavy stuff… I was surprised that no one mentioned a Porcupine Tree connection with their In Absentia (2002) and Deadwing (2005) albums. This is my/Steven’s/Peter’s ranking: Not of this World 1/6/2 Passion 2/4/7 The Jewel 3/8/8 The World 4/3/4 Pure 5/2/6 Love over Fear 6/1/10 The Window of Life 7/7/3 Kowtow 8/11/11 Believe 9/9/5 Men Who Climb Mountains 10/10/ 9 Masquerade Overture 11/5/1

Not of this World is my number 1. They played the whole album at the Pendragon weekend (along with Love over Fear) in Morecambe (my home town) earlier this year. Seen them a few times and they are a brilliant live band. Number 2, Pure No 3 Passion, No. 4, Window of Life No5, The Masquerade Overture

Hi Pete and Steven great I am a big fan,as I am not at home I will have to post my list later 😊

Thanks for the great episode. I am into pendragon ever since seeing them opening for Marillion on the Misplaced Childhood tour in 85. Living close to de Boerderij their favorite venue having the opportunity to see them live a zillion times (sorry Steve) I also ranked Pendragon last year and came to the following list: 11. Kowtow 10 Mountains 9 Masquerade (!) tooo often heard and seen songs. 8. Love Over Fear 7. Jewel 6. Believe 5. The World 4. Passion 3. Not of this World. 2. Pure 1. Window of Life. So basically not agreeing with either of you. That's the beauty of Pendragon something for everyone.

I love many of their albums, but "The Masquerade Overture" will always be my favorite. I’ve loved it since the day it came out.

For me, Pendragon helped fill the gap vacated by Marillion just as I was embarking on my prog voyage. The World remains my favourite. Though I was into it at the time, I struggle with Masquerade and parts of Window these days, way too cliched and derivative. Believe and Not Of This World by contrast, I found difficult listens at the time but I’ve grown fond of them. Men Who Climb Mountains is comfortably bottom of the pile.

This is a band I've been wanting to dive for a long time, thanks for the guidelines! 🍺🤘

My favourites are The Masquerade Overture and Love Over Fear. Greag ranking!

This is more a comment about the style of this video than about the content -- I've sort of vaguely heard of Pendragon, but I don't think I've heard even a single track of their music. But I just wanted to note that I enjoy the combination of Pete and Steven (especially in the absence of Simon or the Prog Seat crew) more than any other single match-up on SoT. Both Pete and Steven have a thoughtful approach to music that really resonates with me. Even when I disagree -- or as in this case, when they're talking about something I know nothing about -- I still enjoy hearing the way they express their opinions about music, and bands, and what they like and don't like. They draw me in, and make me listen, and think. And occasionally, they make me hop online and dig into a band I've never heard, just because of the way they presented their thoughts about that band. There's a lot of this on SoT, of course, but it's never better than when Pete and Steven pair up. Good work, gentlemen. (Now, I'm going to go listen to some Pendragon.)

Ranking albums of such a brilliant band is a difficult task. The song 'The voyager' got me into Pendragon two years ago. Meanwhile, I have all their albums (a few on Vinyl as well) and been at one of their shows, met the singer and drummer after the show. The first albums are real classics, don't underestimate the first two (Jewel, Kowtow), then come 3 albums with a different style (Believe, Passion, Pure) which have their moments and then come the slower ones (Love over Fear, also great in the instrumental version). The song 'Faces of Light' is a classic song as well. I would say 'Believe', 'Passion' and 'Pure' are a bit behind, 'Kowtow' and 'The Jewel' are good and even superb and the others are the best, which one depends on your mood.

I've been hoping for this show. Thanks, guys! I started collecting Pendragon with Love Over Fear, then started with The World and went forward. Haven't been able to find a copy of Pure yet, but The Masquerade Overture is my favorite so far, and I really love the Celtic vibe of Believe. Cheers!

I need to get me some more Pendragon. My collection starts at "The Jewel" and stops at "The Window of Life" including a couple of the Eps.

i checked out this band a few months ago and really enjoyed most of their albums so im glad this one got a ranking.

Hi Pete and Steve. Pete, I listened to your number 1 and surprisingly it was pretty good. I noticed a lot of David Gilmour influenced guitar IMO.

Love Pendragon! (And they are great live!) My ranking not too dissimilar to Pete's: 1. Masquerade Overture 2. Not of This World 3. The Window of Life 4. The World 5. Love Over Fear 6. Men Who Climb Mountains 7. Pure 8. Passion 9. Kowtow 10. Believe 11. The Jewel

Regarding Pete's comment about the Giant Electric Pea label (which is IQ's Michael Holmes label) at 1:05.30... i think he may be mistaken, maybe he meant labels like Cyclops and SI Music? They were the labels pumping out neo prog bands during the 90s/early 00s where as Giant Electric Pea was mainly IQ's releases and related as well as a few established acts like Threshold, Big Big Train.

Any way we might be able to get you gents to tackle the catalog of Gazpacho..? I just discovered that band and I am finding a lot to like.

I seen them when the excalibir blue cassette came out. Will have to revisit most of these now . Loved alaska

I'm a long time fan since I saw them in '83 at the Marquee. My top 3: Masquerade, The World, Love Over Fear/Not Of This World. Bottom 3: Pure, Passion & Kowtow.

The Masquerade Overture is no 1 for me. But Love Over Fear is an amazing return to form after some fairly lacklustre albums. Given that Arena and IQ's most recent efforts were a bit disappointing, it was great to have Pendragon back on form. Also Pallas, whose last album is brilliant.

Great video guys I really like Pendragon! I don`t have all the albums but here is my ranking for those I do own - 7. Kowtow - I only have this on cassette and it is not their best work but I do have it so it makes the list! 6. Love Over Fear - Very good album and haven`t played it for a long time so has potential I`d say to climb higher. 5. Pure - Strong album! 4. The World - very charming and I own both the original and recent remaster/re-record. 3. The Window of Life - number three but ONLY just. Top 3 can swap at any given moment for me! 2. Not of This World - when I first heard this it really hit home hard. Pendragon`s most emotional album I find it very moving. 1. Masquerade Overture - extremely consistent. Wonderful `textures` to this album. As you mentioned an albums artwork can sometimes really give you a good insight into what is contained within.

Great band, I’ll have to think about this.

Love all their albums. Saw them live just before lockdown in London. Unfortunately the venue was a sweat pit so left early. Hopefully they'll treat their fans to a proper venue next time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing Pendragon. I discovered this band about 10 years ago and love them. Sorry Steven this time around I'm wholly in tune with the period of Albums that are Pete's favorites.... All though I do love Love Over Fear.

1. The Masquerade Overture 2. The Jewel 3. Not Of This World 4. Love Over Fear 5. Window Of Life 6. The World (remix) 7. Men Who Climb Mountains 8. Pure 9. Believe 10 The World ('91) 11. Passion 12. Kowtow most of what Pete and Steve say here is right on the money... "Kowtow" feels a lot like a demo to me and so does "The World" to a point... I think this in part is Nick learning his craft as arranger. The World remix I feel shows that.... Great band!!

1) The Masquerade Overture 2) The Window of Life 3) The World 4) Not of This World 5) Pure 6) Love Over Gear 7) Passion 8) The Jewel 9) Believe 10) Men Who Climb Mountains 11) Kowtow

I saw them at the Renfrew ferry in 2011 Stevie. They were great, met Andy Sears from twelfth night that night.

Steven they played the Green Hotel in Kinross in 2020 right before lockdown. 2 and half hour set and the place was rammed. They do tend to play the ferry in Glasgow where I've seen them, fantastic live.

1, The World 2, Love over fear 3, The masquerade overture 4, Pure 5, Not of this world 6, The window of life 7, Believe 8, Passion 9, Men who climb mountains 10, Jewel 11, Kowtow

IMHO I believe Pendragon is a good example of a neo-prog band along with likes of It Bites, *Frost and IQ. Live in Krakow 1996 is the one that turned me on to Pendragon.

I need to go back and listen to The Jewel and Kowtow a bit more. Conversely, I need to hear Men Who Climb Mountains and Love Over Fear a bit more, too. Although, I do remember really loving Love Over Fear when it came out. I think Passion sort of fell a little flat with me, which cooled me a bit. Especially with as much I loved Pure. There seems to be a lot of fluid movement with me after Passion. I just know my top spot is rock solid (and I just played a week and a half ago, and solidifies it for me). 1.) Not Of This World 2.) Masquerade Overture 3.) Pure 4.) Window Of Life 5.) The World Also, I have it on good authority that Nick handles a lot of the keyboard work from Not Of This World on. Was also supposed to see them in Montreal until Covid screwed that up. Lastly, their live albums are incredible.

really good video no vinyl of Pendragon ? thank you though

11. Believe 10. Pure 9. Men Who Climb Mountains 8. Passion 7. Kowtow 6. The Jewel 5. Love Over Fear 4. Window of Life 3. The World 2. Not of This World 1. Masquerade Overture

Scotty Higham on Pure and Passion is a great player and a terrific guy too, I was his best man at his wedding, he still is a top bloke. The likeness you have drawn from that period and Threshold may have something to do with Thin Ice studios and Karl Groom - from Threshold.

Can't wait for this one! I've been wondering why Pete never mentions this band.

This is a band I've never really heard, although agree Nick is a great guitarist, would like to see a Pallas ranking sometime.

1. The Masquerade Overture 2. Window Of Life 3. Not Of This World 4. The World 5. The Jewel 6. Pure 7. Believe 8. Kowtow 9. Passion 10. Love Over Fear 11. Men Who Climb Mountains First 4 can flip flop every other weel I guess. I don't like their last 3 studio albums that much and even sold them again. That says it all!

Anathema needs to happen with Fräncø!!

I have a Pendragon titled “The Jewel”. I didn’t hear you mention that one. Is that some type of a reissue or EP?

Surely, the very title 'Kowtow' says it all about that album :)

Haha after the Magnum ranking I’d say it’s even Stevens now.

Pendragon is always a funny one for me, as first saw them just over 4 decades ago when they were playing night moves in Glasgow, along with Twelfth Night, Solstice, though Pallas were bigger (obviously) and better (obviously, though others may dispute this). Didn't they play Kinross Backstage at the Green recently? I liked them, still do, but always had a couple of niggles. Yes the voice, but also the extent to which one person rules with an iron fist almost, well, as far as primary songwriter goes. I would disagree therefore with Steven's observation about the rhythm section in many releases, in that it could just as easily be faceless session musicians employed and it wouldn't get much difference to the band's sound and tone (partly verified by the revolving door of drummers). I sometimes think the same applies to Clive's keyboard parts. Their sweet spot for me is the World through Men who Climb Mountains, and tightened slightly, Window of Life through Passion, and I really do enjoy that heavier sound they adopted. Top 10? 1) Masquerade 2) Passion 3) Not of this World 4) Pure 5) Window of Life 6) The World 7) Believe 8) Men Who Climb Mountains 9) Jewel 10) Kowtow- can't speak for Love Over Fear and North Star

Stephen what was that collection Al I’m name you named in the end ? Lol

Only have seven albums by them. Kowtow in the bottom. Not crazy about Believe. Love Over Fear, Not Of This World, The Windows of Life, The World, The Masquerade Overture - good albums and quite equivalent imo.

I agree with Steven as regards Men Who Climb Mountains as to be fair the 3 darker albums are the worst ones for me as it's not true Pendragon.Pure is the best of those three. The nineties albums are their classic era from The World to Not Of This World.

I know neither of you gents are particularly big lyrics guys, but if you (or any other helpful folk reading this) could let me know if the lyrical content to This Green and Pleasant Land (the first and only song of theirs I've heard) is typical I'd be grateful, as they were massively off-putting...(the Daily Mail letters page set to music really isn't something I need in my life, if ya catch my drift...).

Agreed with Pete’s List! I didn’t dig their last one. Started off great and then for too acoustic and folky. But what do I know anyway

My album ranking: 1. North Star (new EP), Not Of This World, The World 2. Pure, The Masquerade Overture 3. The Jewel, Kowtow, Passion, Believe, Love Over Fear 4. The Window Of Life 5. Men Who Climb Mountains Other noteworthy stuff: The Rest Of Pendragon/Fallen Dreams and Angels and All the Loose Ends, Once Upon A Time In England Vol 1, The First 40 Years (nice box set), The First 40 Years: Live In London, Live In Krakow 1996, Masquerade 20 (Live)

I always had a love/hate relationship with this band. Music is great mostly, but Nick' s vocals gets me off most of the time. With a better singer it would be one of my all time favourite bands. Thanks a lot for this, time to revisit!

My favourite band! Yes, Kowtow is the worst, but I just can't be having with you guys ranking Men who climb mountains and Love over fear next. That is so wrong I felt I had to bail from the video. We all have an opinion, and mine does not align with these!

Just got into this band (again) recently after a hiatus, starting with my earliest band recordings (1978 - Once Upon A Time In England Vol. 1). About a dozen or so studio albums in total (plus some 'mini-albums') & a handful of live records - I'll post my ranking later when I have a little more time. I have something like 20 total albums including collections & live. TBH for me no one individual album is 'great', but rather good tracks are sprinkled throughout their releases. Some very good ones are Not Of This World, The Masquerade Overture, Pure, and the latest North Star which is what got me back into the band. Their various collections are good - I don't have much live besides Masquerade 20

Never heard that band...

I know we "all hear things differently" but having recently decided to try Pendragon I started with Masquerade as it seemed to be a fan favourite. I just couldn’t believe how bad it is. The lyrics are toe curling, the vocal melodies range between AOR and sugary pop, and his voice is not very strong or memorable. The instrumental parts are boiler plate, formulaic prog by the numbers, occasionally enjoyable, but often somewhat cheesy. The changes in style and tempo in longer songs just don’t flow, it’s like lots of random bits thrown together. Every time you start to think oh this sounds promising some terrible bit comes along. If you think "well I could have written that" , even though you obviously couldn't, it says a lot about an album. They seem like some kind of bad tribute band for prog in general.

When Pendragon veers away from prog/neo-prog, that's when they lose me. When Believe and Pure came out they threw me off the bus. Not of This World is by far their best for me. The Masquerade Overture, The Jewel, The Window of Life, and The World are great. Outside of those five, Pendragon just doesn't make interesting music for me.

Awful stuff. As bad as big train and marillion.

A great live band. Saw them at RosFest in 2005 or 2006. Had a few beers with Nick, what a nice guy. He made sure everyone heard him proclaiming that Pure Reason Revolution was his favorite new band. I really enjoyed the middle era albums.