Pure (Pendragon album)
Encyclopedia
Pure is the eighth studio album by English neo-progressive rock
group Pendragon
. It was first released on October 1, 2008, as a regular edition on Toff Records, the band's own imprint, and reissued in March 14, 2011, as a special CD+DVD edition in rigid digi book
through Madfish, a division label of Snapper Music
. The DVD in the new special packaging has an 1hr. 24min. footage titled 'Handy-Cam Progumentary', recorded by the band themselves.
In a round table review, DPRP embraced the album with acclaim words such as "it brims with great ideas, is full of surprises and sees the band at the very top of their game" (Gareth Long, 9.5 out of 10), "this album is proof of the fact that Pendragon is still one of the top progressive rock bands and with this album they are not just standing ground they are gaining new" (Dries Dokter, 9 out of 10), "Pure is a very good album and stepped up to be my new favourite Pendragon album, I never thought that this would happen" (Edwin Roosjen, 9.5 out of 10).
RevelationZ online magazine gave it a 7 out of 10 score and stressed "mainman - vocalist&guitarist - Nick Barrett's songs draw blood with razor sharp metaphors, often bleak but always human, cleverly broken up by melodic, muscular guitar and keyboard passages, set against a busy, but never intrusive background of whitenoise and special FX".
Lords of Metal also paid attention to the album and noticed that "where Marillion drifted off of the ‘standard’ prog route Pendragon stayed steadily on course without repeating themselves", concluding with a 90/100 score.
In a 9.5 out of 10 review, The Metal Observer writes: "PENDRAGON usually are labeled as 'Neo-Prog', but on Pure they are giving themselves heavier than ever in some passages and more intense and emotional in others, creating a highly addictive juxtaposition that makes them stand out from their peers" and "everything together results in a departure from their old sound".
Classic Rock
magazine described it as "Pendragon’s finest hour so far without a doubt" and was voted "Album Of The Year" by its readers, at the same time Blogcritics
vindicates "this album is so good it just had to be done".
The same tracklist as the regular edition.
DVD
Neo-progressive rock
Neo-progressive rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock, developed in the UK and popular in the 1980s, although it lives on today....
group Pendragon
Pendragon (band)
Pendragon are an English neo-progressive rock band established in 1978 in Stroud, Gloucestershire as Zeus Pendragon by guitarist and vocalist Nick Barrett. The Zeus was dropped before the band started recording as the members decided it was too long to look good on a t-shirt...
. It was first released on October 1, 2008, as a regular edition on Toff Records, the band's own imprint, and reissued in March 14, 2011, as a special CD+DVD edition in rigid digi book
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
through Madfish, a division label of Snapper Music
Snapper Music
Snapper Music is an independent record label founded in 1996 by former head of Castle Communications Jon Beecher, Dougie Dudgeon and funded by the late Mark Levinson from Palan Music Publishing. In 1999 Snapper broke away from its parent company in an MBO in association with ACT and CAI venture...
. The DVD in the new special packaging has an 1hr. 24min. footage titled 'Handy-Cam Progumentary', recorded by the band themselves.
Reception
The overall reception of the album was very much positive.In a round table review, DPRP embraced the album with acclaim words such as "it brims with great ideas, is full of surprises and sees the band at the very top of their game" (Gareth Long, 9.5 out of 10), "this album is proof of the fact that Pendragon is still one of the top progressive rock bands and with this album they are not just standing ground they are gaining new" (Dries Dokter, 9 out of 10), "Pure is a very good album and stepped up to be my new favourite Pendragon album, I never thought that this would happen" (Edwin Roosjen, 9.5 out of 10).
RevelationZ online magazine gave it a 7 out of 10 score and stressed "mainman - vocalist&guitarist - Nick Barrett's songs draw blood with razor sharp metaphors, often bleak but always human, cleverly broken up by melodic, muscular guitar and keyboard passages, set against a busy, but never intrusive background of whitenoise and special FX".
Lords of Metal also paid attention to the album and noticed that "where Marillion drifted off of the ‘standard’ prog route Pendragon stayed steadily on course without repeating themselves", concluding with a 90/100 score.
In a 9.5 out of 10 review, The Metal Observer writes: "PENDRAGON usually are labeled as 'Neo-Prog', but on Pure they are giving themselves heavier than ever in some passages and more intense and emotional in others, creating a highly addictive juxtaposition that makes them stand out from their peers" and "everything together results in a departure from their old sound".
Classic Rock
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
magazine described it as "Pendragon’s finest hour so far without a doubt" and was voted "Album Of The Year" by its readers, at the same time Blogcritics
Blogcritics
Blogcritics is a blog network and online magazine of news and opinion. The site—a self-proclaimed "sinister cabal of superior writers"—was founded in 2002 by Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn...
vindicates "this album is so good it just had to be done".
Regular edition
- "Indigo" – 13:44
- "Eraserhead" – 9:05
- "Comatose (I View From The Seashore)" – 7:41
- "Comatose (II Space Cadet)" – 4:02
- "Comatose (III Home and Dry)" – 5:55
- "The Freak Show" - 4:26
- "It's Only Me" - 8:16
CD+DVD edition
CDThe same tracklist as the regular edition.
DVD
- "Handy-Cam Progumentary"
Personnel
- Nick Barrett: vocals, guitars, keyboard programming
- Peter Gee: bass guitar
- Clive Nolan: keyboards, backing vocals
- Scott Higham: drums, backing vocals