Amazingly many of the bands from the days of neo-prog in the 80’s have survived into the twenty-first century. Marillion, IQ, Galahad, Pendragon, Mystery, Twelfth Night, and Pallas have all been instrumental in the continuation and development of the progressive genre established by the likes of Van der Graaf Generator, Genesis, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and Yes during the late 60’s and beyond. Each of those bands has their own origin story which chart their relative successes or failures. For Scotland’s Pallas that tale stretches from a live debut album, Arrive Alive (1981), and follow-up studio release, The Sentinel (1984), which made a huge impact on a blossoming progressive audience, and saw the band headlining at the iconic Marquee club in London’s Soho. After a change of vocalist (Euan Lowson out, Alan Reed in) for The Wedge in 1986 the band went into hibernation until 1999. Just six further albums have appeared over the ensuing twenty-four years culminating in what many critics saw as a return to form with The Messenger (2023). Three years on and album number nine is ready to see the light of day. The big question is… will this be their final hoorah?
A Song For Tomorrow is the result of twelve months hard graft for the line-up of, Alan Reed (vocals, acoustic guitar), Niall Mathewson (guitar, backing vocals), Graeme Murray (bass, backing vocals),Ronnie Brown (keyboards, backing vocals), Colin Fraser (drums). Twelve months which have not only seen the band coming to terms with their decision to retire from touring in late 2024, but also dealing with the announcement of Reed’s Parkinson’s diagnosis in March 2025. Where The Messenger leant heavily on six longer tracks (only one under seven minutes), which in my opinion at times outstayed their welcome, here the balance is perfect with the three long tracks separated by seven punchier counterparts. That said The Messenger definitely felt like a step that needed to be climbed to get to the highs of A Song For Tomorrow.
Kicking off with ‘Reset’ and ‘Rage’, two tracks which lay down the themes of the album with all the orchestral clout that the band can muster, very much set in the here and now and showing mankind’s blindness to its planets needs as well as the disregard of the powers that be for the people who share their world with them. The chaotic, apocalyptic piano core of ‘Rage’ is in total contrast to the angelic voice rippling through the title track, which strives to show the way to a better future or as the lyric states, is it to late (“if tomorrow ever comes”). An overriding strength of the album from the very beginning is that more than with any previous Pallas release, the collective vocals give a genuine feel of sharing the load and significantly add to the drama of each individual piece. ‘The Private Collector’ is a display of perfect restraint. It would have been all to easy to make this into a modern day ‘The Executioner’ (from The Wedge) style song but the Pallas of 2026 have enough confidence and experience to rain it in and rely purely on the harmonies and Ronnie Brown’s bombastic rhythmic build to supply the real power and passion. The vulnerability within Reed’s voice during ‘Dirt’ brings the songs harrowing message to life, giving him a fragility of tone similar to later day Bowie as he curses those who “would give this world away for another filthy dime”. ‘Aspirations’ has the mood of a dark nursery rhyme, or should that be cryme, as it meanders through rainbows, dreams and happy smiling people. The pace quickens again as ‘Rushing Headlong’ races on and shows older progressive roots in the cinematic heritage of Yes and their like. The glances back to the past continue with the quizzical Gilmour-esque words of ‘The Avenue Of Broken Dreams’. ‘Mother’ is a title that will be familiar to all prog fans, and although it shares a bleak nature with its namesake, the loss here is more heartfelt pain and impassioned questioning than the anger and outrage of its Pink Floyd predecessor, but no less intense. ‘Inside Outside’ is the final piece in this state of the world puzzle. Lyrically it asked more questions than it answers but musically it supplies all of the right cues with every member of Pallas coming forward and taking you to “anywhere your mind goes”. This is a very different group to that which gave us The Sentinel or even The Wedge, but I guess we have all grown up a little over the ensuing year. If this is the last new music that we hear from Pallas then they have done their job on A Song For Tomorrow and exited stage left on a true high. Available on CD or 2LP versions, as always with Pallas releases the icing on this particular prog cake is the luxurious artwork. Once again as with The Messenger, put together by Mike Bentley with futuristic imagery adding to the stories contained within.
With logistical and health issues forcing the band to cease touring there is little hope of them supporting the album with live shows, however Alan Reed, despite his diagnosis, committed to take to the stage with his band The Daughters Of Expediency for four nights culminating at G2 in Glasgow on 4th September billed as “The Final Dance Tour” and as well as supporting his latest Grey Sky Thinking solo album, he performed a set-list comprising about 45% Pallas tracks. If you missed these shows, they were very emotional but highly entertaining events. Pallas final bow? Maybe? Watch this space.
- Reviewed By Peter Brockwell
- A Song For Tomorrow is released via Esoteric Antenna/Cherry Red Records on 30th October 2026
- Faceboo
- Music | Pallas
Track List:
1. Reset
2. Rage
3. A Song For Tomorrow
4. The Private Collector
5. Dirt
6. Aspirations
7. Rushing Headlong
8. The Avenue Of Broken Dreams
9. Mother
10. Inside Outside
