Last nights Pendragon gig was brilliant… they played some of their classics and did them very well, although I must disagree with Nick on some of his thoughts on other bands. I actually don’t think IQ are derivative and the last album Dark Matter is not prog by numbers… it’s a bloody good album which marked a return to their roots with the harder keyboard sounds.
Sorry, Nick, but “Believe”… that was prog by numbers… I mean FFS “as the first snowfalls fell… the toys in the window cast their spell”. Could you be any more formulaic? It’s a damn good song and it ticks all the boxes, but you can’t sit in the same room as me and say no-one else is progressing… and meanwhile, I haven’t heard Pure yet so I can’t base these comments on hearing that album, but based on what I heard at the gig, it’s a definite meh from me. The songs are good, they’ll sell, they have a darker edge, but it’s still not exactly gone through the massive evolution you claim and definitely is not a licence to say you are the best thing since sliced bread.
So… to cap it all… let’s see what the voting members say at the BOTY awards eh? but honestly… my money is on Magenta’s Metamorphosis which is the best thing I’ve heard in bloody ages and has turned me onto this band who I previously would have described as pleasing widdley prog. Frost* are also in with a good chance. The competition for those BOTY awards this year is really good and I think we could see some surprises…