Entering the world during the second coming of progressive rock, when Twelfth Night, IQ, Pendragon, and a host of other bands were hoping to grab a little of the attention which had been generated by EMI’s signing of Marillion, Scotland’s Pallas not only supported the Home Counties new heroes on tour, but were also picked up by that same prestigious label, for whom they recorded two albums. If you are new to these Aberdonian Neo-Prog pioneers, then you may be well served checking out Esoteric’s previous Pallas set Eyes In The Night prior to diving into chapter two, The Midas Touch. Featuring the bands classic early albums Arrive Alive (1981), and The Sentinel (1984) recorded with original vocalist Euan Lowson, Eyes In The Night also contained various live recordings from their formative years. That first set also included the bands second studio album, The Wedge (1986) which introduced former Abel Ganz singer, Alan Reed to the fold. Although it was initially well received, when EMI pulled the plug on the band they were forced into a premature hiatus. This latest box-set titled, The Midas Touch winds the clock forward to 1998, when The Wedge line-up, featuring Reed alongside founder member Graeme Murray (bass), Niall Mathewson (guitar), Ronnie Brown (keyboards), were now joined by drummer Colin Fraser in place of Derek Forman. Featuring the three studio album released between 1998-2007 (Beat The Drum, The Cross & The Crucible, The Dreams Of Men) this collection also houses the live offerings from the same period across its additional six discs, meaning 8 CDs plus 1 Blu-ray in total. Buckle up! This is one hell of a ride.

It may have been twelve years since The Wedge, but Beat The Drum (1998 – disc 1) continues the highly charged mood of the bands initial pair of studio albums. Its predecessor was a great introduction for Alan Reed, but Beat The Drum sees his coming of age, and the tracks contained within are easily a match for anything from The Wedge, with many up there with the likes of the excellent ‘The Executioner’. ‘Call To Arms’ is a rock solid start, but when the title track arrives the prog party really kicks off. ‘Beat The Drum’ develops the theme of standing up for what you believe in, over Murray’s head pounding bass. Although ‘Hide And Seek’ may have softer leanings it is no less epic, and delivers one of Mathewson’s finest moments to date during his central solo. Next up, ‘Insomniac’, is certainly no sleeper, and is probably the most reminiscent of the bands earliest work, showing off a little more of their progressive rock inspiration, and heritage. As the album approaches the midpoint we get a slight lull in proceedings, ‘All Or Nothing’, and ‘Spirits’ are not bad tunes but are somewhat put in the shade by the quality surrounding them, and it has to be noted that the bagpipe effect towards the conclusion of ‘Spirit’, has a rousing tone which intensifies the galloping opening of ‘Man Of Principle’. More akin to Saga than traditional British prog, ‘Man Of Principle’ opens the floodgates to what was to come on the following album, The Dreams Of Men. ‘Ghosts’ may have a sedate entry, but by the close the band are ripping it up with total shredding overload, contrasting with the sadness of ‘Blood And Roses’ (“I will follow you down, into a deep deep sleep”) this only acts to enhances the dark mood of this section of the album, before the melodic power of ‘Wilderness Years’, and the Floyd-esque ‘Fragments Of The Sun’ bring this triumphant rebirth to a close.

Three years on and Pallas were back with The Cross & The Crucible (2001 – disc 4). Despite its initial build ‘The Big Bang’ is a very low key entrance, where as the title track is outstanding in its power, and lays down the overall theme of the conflict between science, and religion perfectly. Fifteen minutes of majestic, symphonic joy. Just lay back and take it all in. In total contrast ‘For The Greater Glory’ takes the band in a much more mainstream direction with the whole band gelling, and sounding totally at home in their skins. With shades of Roger Waters within the shouted command section, this is Pallas at their most accessible. As ‘Who’s To Blame?’ opens you could be mistaken to think that Pallas had gone folk, but soon the pace lifts to reveal a track with more in common with Uriah Heep’s ‘Come Away Melinda’. ‘The Blinding Darkness’ may not be a return to full tilt rocker mode, but it packs some great riffage into its solid AOR shell. Title track aside, the old school prog fanbase may be feeling a little neglected but ‘Towers Of Babble’ will justifiably get them back on board, with its choral depth, and Wakeman style organ flurries amongst the dramatic vocals, time changes, and guitar heroics. Staying in progressive territory but in the Yes vein ‘Generations’, acoustic guitar, fluted keyboards, and a soft vocal supplies one of the albums quietest, but most reflective mood changes. The final flourish is supplied by ‘Midas Touch’, and ‘Celebration!’, the former a frenzy of high octane keyboard, and sweeping soundscapes, the later a bells, and whistles rocker with just the mildest hint of late 70’s era Genesis. The Cross And The Crucible took the crown as the bands most diverse album to date, with just a few unexpected twists along the way.

Never in a hurry, it took another four years for The Dreams Of Men (2005 – disc 7) to see the light of day (Marillion had released their thirteenth album a year earlier), but boy was it worth it the wait. I don’t know about The Dreams Of Men, this is the dream of any melophile. From the striking orchestral notes of ‘The Bringer Of Dreams’ to the fading symphonic keys of the heavenly, ‘The Last Angel’, maturity, capability, and strength are evident to the last. ‘Warriors’, and ‘Too Close To The Sun’ display elements of their past highlights, but with a modern polish unavailable to them back in the mid eighties. The guitar to keyboard balance so often difficult to pin down in the progressive rock genre is precise, and on point. But it is within the indigenous strains of ‘Ghostdancers’, bass led punctuation, and gospel flair of ‘Messiah’ (“I’m walking the walk, I’m talking the talk”), and ‘Invincible’ that The Dreams Of Men finds its real substance. ‘Northern Star’ is the bridge between ‘Messiah’ and church organ onslaught of ‘Mr Wolfe’ (“the bears are dancing to his tune”). Never has a rhythm section been so essential. The driving tempo continues with the closing duo of ‘Invincible’, which finds the band in some of their darkest compositional places, before ‘The Last Angel’ sums up the albums themes of hope, and aspirations, through it’s contrasting sections which build to an overwhelmingly epic climax. Special mention to Ronnie Brown’s dancing fingers on this one, every base covered, great work Ronnie. This is Pallas for the 21^st Century, “striving for power, fortune, or bravery”. Fans of fellow neo-prog stalwarts, IQ, Jadis, and Pendragon take note.

Despite the lack of bonus material on any of the studio albums, The Midas Touch is a great retelling of mid era Pallas which as well as presenting the studio albums also delivers the three live releases from the same period, Live Our Lives (discs 2/3), The Blinding Darkness (discs 5/6), and Moment To Moment (disc 8). Spread across the remaining discs you will find tracks from the classic early period dating back to Arrive Alive with ‘The Ripper’, ‘Heart Attack’, and ‘Crown Of Thorns’, and The Sentinel‘s, ‘March On Atlantis/Atlantis’, ‘Cut And Run’, and ‘Rise And Fall (Part 1)’, as well as a growing portfolio from, Beat The Drum, The Cross & The Crucible, The Dreams Of Men, with the real pleasure of not just the audio, but video offering of both The Blinding Darkness, and Moment To Moment sets on the final Blu-ray disc. The first of the “live” offering, Live Our Lives is not all that it seems, and is in fact a facsimile of a live album created in the studio, and containing a set which represents the bands current (at the time) set-list, although you would be hard pressed to realise this if you weren’t told. Nicely done. By 2003, and the release of The Blinding Darkness the band had a lot more mileage under their belts, and during a career spanning set at Boerderij in Zoetermeer, NL, they even welcomed former vocalist, Euan Lowson on stage for an unsurprisingly theatrical version of ‘The Ripper’, stirring up nostalgic memories for many present. This reunion is also discussed by the band during ‘The Return Of The Ripper’ short as part of the video extras. Where The Blinding Darkness is a look back at the bands career so far, with its bonuses of the ‘Tales From The Tour Bus’, ‘The Rehearsal Tapes’, and the very amusing ‘Interviews With Graeme Murray And Alan Reed’ taken from the original DVD release, Moment To Moment feels much more forward thinking, and acts as a statement of intent. Reed stamps his authority on tracks both old and new and each member brings their A game pulling off their most confident recorded performance to date.

It would be another six years before the band returned to the studio to produce The Sentinel reviving XXV (2011) this time with Paul Mackie on vocals, who would stay on for Wearewhoweare (2014), before Reed returned for 2023’s The Messenger. In December 2024 Pallas made a statement that, although there would be (at least) one more album, “we also formally announce the end of Pallas as a live act”. Since then the band have been laying low, but in February 2026 Alan Reed announced that he would be heading out for a string of live dates during the year with his band Daughters Of Expediency, which would include a set almost half made up of Pallas material. Great news for Pallas music hungry fans. With its nine discs housed in a stunning box and accompanying booklet with sleeve notes from Pallas expert Mike Bentley, The Midas Touch is a beautiful collection of the bands, sometime forgotten, mid period, which more than deserves a second look.

Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.

The Midas Touch is released via Esoteric/Cherry Red Records On 26^th June 2026

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Track List:

DISC ONE – BEAT THE DRUM

1. Call To Arms
2. Beat The Drum
3. Hide And Seek
4. Insomniac
5. All Or Nothing
6. Spirits
7. Man Of Principle
8. Ghosts
9. Blood And Roses
10. Wilderness Years
11. Fragments Of The Sun

DISC TWO – LIVE OUR LIVES (PART 1)

1. Intro
2. Call To Arms
3. Cut And Run
4. The Executioner
5. Hide And Seek
6. Rat Racing
7. Beat The Drum
8. Insomniac
9. Blood And Roses
10. Fragments Of The Sun

DISC THREE – LIVE OUR LIVES (PART 2)

1. Rise And Fall
2. East West
3. March On Atlantis
4. Atlantis

DISC FOUR – THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIBLE

1. The Big Bang
2. The Cross And The Crucible
3. For The Greater Glory
4. Who’s To Blame?
5. The Blinding Darkness
6. Towers Of Babble
7. Generations
8. Midas Touch
9. Celebration!

DISC FIVE – THE BLINDING DARKNESS (PART 1)

1. The Cross And The Crucible
2. For The Greater Glory
3. Who’s To Blame?
4. The Executioner / Rat Racing
5. Crown Of Thorns
6. Beat The Drum
7. Blood And Roses
8. The Blinding Darkness
9. Towers Of Babble

DISC SIX – THE BLINDING DARKNESS (PART 2)

1. Midas Touch
2. Celebration!
3. Rise And Fall (Part 1)
4. East West
5. March On Atlantis
6. Atlantis
7. Cut And Run
8. The Ripper

DISC SEVEN – THE DREAMS OF MEN

1. The Bringer Of Dreams
2. Warriors
3. Ghostdancers
4. Too Close To The Sun
5. Messiah
6. Northern Star
7. Mr Wolfe
8. Invincible
9. The Last Angel

DISC EIGHT – MOMENT TO MOMENT

1. Warriors
2. Hide And Seek
3. Ghostdancers
4. Cut And Run
5. Heart Attack
6. Queen Of The Deep
7. Northern Star
8. The Last Angel
9. Invincible
10. Midas Touch
11. Fragments Of The Sun

DISC NINE – THE BLINDING DARKNESS (VIDEO)

1. The Cross And The Crucible
2. For The Greater Glory
3. Who’s To Blame?
4. The Executioner / Rat Racing
5. Crown Of Thorns
6. Beat The Drum
7. Blood And Roses
8. The Blinding Darkness
9. Towers Of Babble
10. Midas Touch
11. Celebration!
The Encores:
12. Rise And Fall (Part 1)
13. East West
14. March On Atlantis
15. Atlantis
16. Cut And Run
17. The Ripper

Blu-ray video extras:
18. The Return Of The Ripper
19. From The Centaur’s Mouth
MOMENT TO MOMENT (VIDEO)
20. Warriors
21. Hide And Seek
22. Ghostdancers
23. Cut And Run
24. Heart Attack
25. Queen Of The Deep
26. Northern Star
27. The Last Angel
28. Invincible
29. Midas Touch
30. Fragments Of The Sun
31. Arrive Alive
Bonus features
32. Tales From The Tour Bus
33. The Rehearsal Tapes
34. Interviews With Graeme Murray And Alan Reed