Along with Marillion, Twelfth Night, Solstice, Pendragon and IQ, Pallas led the way within the early 80’s neo-prog movement. Being my local band Marillion always played the largest part in my introduction to the delights of progressive rock along with the big boys (King Crimson, Yes, Genesis etc.) but Pallas certainly made a huge impact on me with their grandiose sound and impactful live performances. After hearing tracks from Arrive Alive on Tommy Vance’s Friday Night Rock Show I was hooked and eagerly awaited the release of The Sentinel in 1984… I can tell you, I was not disappointed! It’s fair to say since those heady days the band have had their ups and downs but the period covered by this latest comprehensive 6CD/1 Blu-ray release is what set them up for everything that was to follow in their long and musically fruitful on and off career.
Arrive Alive heralded the arrival of the band with an album recorded “Live In Scotland April 1981” and the version here reinstates the original cassette running order rather than the reconfigured vinyl order where ‘5 to 4” was replaced by the ever present ‘Arrive Alive”. Showcasing the huge potential of the band its set-list builds in confidence and the real gold isn’t reached until ‘Heart Attack’ which displays the more commercial possibilities and introduces the twiddly keyboard motif which had become a signature of the era. ‘The Ripper’ follows a similar musical theme to Marillion’s “ He Knows You Know” which was demoed the same year and proves (like Marillion) that Pallas were not afraid to cover darker true life subject matters with its dramatic child abuse based lyrics. Closing out disc one are the single from the album ‘Arrive Alive’ which proved that you can mix prog with popular and its flip-side, ‘Stranger On The Edge Of Time’. Compared to the lead track the later fails to sparkle and even with its Jon and Vangelis vibe it definitely deserves its B-side tag.
Introducing disc two the ‘Paris is Burning’/’The Hammer Falls’ single pairing from 1983 do little to set the world alight with the band not seeming completely at home in the constraints of the studio but they do show hints that their confidence was building. However the live environment was a totally different matter as the band proved when they took to the stage of the Reading Festival in August 1983 alongside four other genre leading bands (Marillion, Solstice, Pendragon and Twelfth Night all appeared over the bank holiday weekend event) to prepare their audience for the release of The Sentinel. ‘Crown Of Thorns’ is omitted from this radio recording but ‘Cut and Run’, ‘Ark of Infinity’, ‘Atlantis’, and the still pre “Eyes In The Night” ‘Arrive Alive’ with Mathewson’s soaring guitar solo which had the audience bouncing… I know… I was there. The second disc concludes with the “Friday Rock Show” session recorded on 9th March 1984 and broadcast later that month. ‘Cut and Run’ and ‘Shock Treatment’ primed the listener perfectly for what was around the corner and the ‘Rise and Fall / Heart Attack’ medley gave a bridge from the past to the future and they all sound astonishing. “Beam me up”.
What can I say about The Sentinel that doesn’t make me sound like a fanboy? At the time of release this album totally blew me away and has been a constant reminder of a (musically) life changing period for me. This set provides both UK and US mixes of the album along with added extras which just confirm my opinion of it as an absolute masterpiece. Originally performed live as the “Atlantic Suite” by the time it made it onto vinyl/cassette the overall concept had been watered down a little to aid the commercial impact of the piece, but there was certainly no watering down of the music. Kicking of with that song (again) ‘Eyes in the Night (Arrive Alive)’ not only finds its full title but also its true home leading off this heroic saga. Whichever version you take The Sentinel is a heavy duty journey. ‘Cut and Run’ and ‘Shock Treatment’ are lyrically harrowing and ‘Rise and Fall’, ‘Atlantis’ and ‘Ark of Infinity’ with its War Of The Worlds intro and Greame Murrays bass line weave a tale of oppression which in a period dominated by the cold war sometimes came a little to close to home dispute its mythical context. Bonuses come in the shape of ‘East West’ and ‘March on Atlantis’ which were obviously meant for inclusion in the larger suite and notwithstanding their early inception the studio portrayals of ‘Crown of Thorns’ and ‘Heart Attack’ both seem to sit more than comfortable here. The Sentinel still exceeds its progressive rock linage and stands triumphant and proud alongside the output by many of the crossover acts making a mark at the time such as Magnum, Saga and Asia.
By the time of the follow up the enigmatic Euan Lowson had parted ways with Matthewson, Brown, Murray and Forman and former Trance Macabre, Abel Ganz vocalist Alan Reed came on board for 1985’s The Knightmoves E.P., which was a very strong introduction especially with the moody tones of ‘Sanctuary’, and the following years full studio album The Wedge cemented his position. The great news is that all are featured on the fifth disc including the ‘Mad Machine’/’A Stitch in Time’ Knightmoves bonus disc. From the outset The Wedge seems to be business as usual with ‘Dance Through the Fire’s throbbing bass, crashing guitars, big keys and pounding drums but following the (unsurprisingly) Celtic flavour of ‘Throwing Stones at the Wind’ (also included as a single mix) it becomes apparent that this music is a little less prog and has much more of a straight forward rock vibe. The themes also move away from the fantasy subject matter and with the influence of Reed, tracks like ‘Win or Lose’ (financial hardship), ‘A Million Miles Away (Imagination)’ (escaping your personal situation) and ‘Just a Memory’ (relationships) bring Pallas well and truly into the reality of the modern world. This is no better demonstrated than on ‘The Executioner (Bernie Goetz A Gun)’ a tale of the shooting of four teenaged robbers in Manhattan in December 1984 which supplies an album highlight along with the most proggy track to be found, the joyous eight minute expedition that is ‘Rat Racing’. Maybe if there had been a few more tracks like these the reviewers of the day would have put down their copies of Misplaced Childhood and given Pallas another look.
Completing the set are two pretty varied live sets from 1985. Both feature the Reed line-up in full flight. The earliest is from 20th May from The Camden Palace Theatre show and presents the Live In London VHS (1998)/DVD (2005) filmed for the TV show of the same name, now available for the first time on Blu-ray with the added bonus of the ‘Eyes In The Night’ promo video. The seconds finds the October 22nd gig at Ritzy’s in Aberdeen and represents the first release of this excellent show. There are a couple of repeats within the two sets but who is complaining when they are of the quality of ‘Cut And Run’, ‘Shock Treatment’, and ‘A Million Miles Away (Imagination)’. Neither of them present the highest quality of reproduction compared to today’s digital standards, but are still thoroughly listenable considering their age. If I’m perfectly honest despite being audio only I much prefer the later set mainly due to the visuals on the Camden set seriously dating the recording… all keytars, leather trousers and mullets, and don’t even get me started on Forman’s impersonation of a banana or the awful TV programme title sequence. However Live In London does include one rarer tracks which would never see the official light of day (but is available from Bandcamp), the paparazzi pounding ‘Dinosaur’ along with atmospheric versions of the Nightmoves E.P. trio, ‘Stranger’, ‘Sanctuary’ and ‘Nightmare’ with its death metal growl, as well as a surprise guest appearance from Robert Plant???
Following the highs of the “EMI years” the band fell into a state of limbo until the dawn of the new millennium when they finally returned with new music in 1999 with Beat The Drum followed by The Cross And The Crucible in 2001. Since then recorded output has been a little more sparse with only four more albums in 22 years culminating in 2023’s The Messenger which not only sees Alan Reed returning to the fold following an absence of twelve years but also finds the band reaching a new pinnacle. This set offers a fabulous opportunity to relive those heady days of the New Wave Of British Prog. “Atlantis will rise” as will Pallas.
- Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
- Pallas: Eyes In The Night – The Recordings 1981-1986 is released via Esoteric/Cherry Red Records on 28th June 2024.
- Official Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube Channel
Track List:
Disc One – Arrive Alive
1. 5 to 4
2. Queen of the Deep
3. Flashpoint
4. Heart Attack
5. Crown of Thorns
6. The Ripper
Bonus tracks:
7. Arrive Alive (A-side of single 1982)
8. Stranger on the Edge of Time (B-side of single 1982)
Disc Two – Pallas at the BBC & more
1. Paris is Burning (A-side of single 1983)
2. The Hammer Falls (B-side of single 1983)
Live Reading Festival 1983
3. Cut and Run
4. Ark of Infinity
5. Arrive Alive
6. Atlantis
Friday Rock Show 1983:
7. Cut and Run
8. Shock Treatment
9. Rise and Fall / Heart Attack
Disc Three – The Sentinel (UK Album mix)
1. Eyes in the Night (Arrive Alive)
2. Cut and Run
3. Rise and Fall
4. Shock Treatment
5. Ark of Infinity
6. Atlantis
Bonus tracks:
7. East West
8. Crown of Thorns
9. March on Atlantis
10. Heart Attack
Disc Four – The Sentinel (US Album mix)
1. Eyes in the Night (Arrive Alive)
2. Cut and Run
3. Rise and Fall
4. Shock Treatment
5. Ark of Infinity
6. Atlantis
Disc Five – The Wedge
1. Dance Through the Fire
2. Throwing Stones at the Wind
3. Win or Lose
4. The Executioner (Bernie Goetz A Gun)
5. A Million Miles Away (Imagination)
6. Rat Racing
7. Just a Memory
Bonus tracks:
8. Stranger
9. Nightmare
10. Sanctuary
11. Mad Machine
12. A Stitch in Time
13. Throwing Stones at the Wind (single mix)
Disc Six – Live at Ritzy’s, Aberdeen 22nd October 1985
1. Dance Through the Fire
2. Cut and Run
3. Shock Treatment
4. Rat Racing
5. Throwing Stones at the Wind
6. Executioner
7. Just a Memory
8. Crown of Thorns
9. A Million Miles Away (Imagination)
10. Sanctuary
Disc Seven – Live from London (Blu-ray)
1. Shock Treatment
2. Crown of Thorns
3. Cut and Run
4. A Million Miles Away (Imagination)
5. Nightmare
6. Dinosaur
7. Sanctuary / Atlantis
8. Stranger
9. Eyes in the Night (Arrive Alive)
Bonus content
10. Eyes in the Night (promo video 1984)
