Description
PALLAS is, after MARILLION, and along with IQ and PENDRAGON, one of the most important acts of the Eighties Progressive rebirth. This is an energetic and magnificent neo progressive band in the style of IQ/MARILLION but with more edge. Their music is centered on melodic hooks, loud sound and great voice. “The Sentinel” brings a tint of pop in a still elaborate progressive spectrum.
Scottish prog band PALLAS definitely have one of the longest gaps between albums on record. They released their first album, “The Sentinel” in 1984 and followed it up with “The Wedge” two years later.
Pallas The Sentinel 1984 Harvest LP SHSP 2400121 Gatefold sleeve Condition: Near Mint.
This 1984 LP was intended as a concept album reflecting tensions from the cold war through a futuristic vision based on the Atlantis legend. The Atlantis Suite, a sci-fi rock opera which the group performed on stage, concerned a technologically advanced society brought to the brink of destruction. The band recorded the entire piece but were thwarted by the men in suits at EMI who insisted on including some more potentially ‘commercial’ songs – so the project was compromised.
Label: emi SHSP 2400121
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold Sleeve
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Style: Prog Rock
Tracklist:
A1 Eyes In The Night (Arrive Alive)
Backing Vocals Graeme Murray, Ronnie Brown
Drums [Simmons Drums] Derek Forman
Mellotron [Novatron] Ronnie Brown
A2 Cut And Run
Backing Vocals, Synthesizer [Moog Taurus Bass Pedals] Graeme Murray
Mellotron [Novatron] Ronnie Brown
Percussion Derek Forman
A3 Rise And Fall
Backing Vocals Derek Forman, Graeme Murray, Ronnie Brown
Backing Vocals [Construction Site Backing Vocals] Niall Mathewson
Synthesizer [Moog Taurus Bass Pedals], Guitar [12 String] Graeme Murray
Synthesizer [New England Digital Synclavier Ii], Piano [Steinway Grand Piano] Ronnie Brown
Timpani, Percussion Derek Forman
B1 Shock Treatment
Backing Vocals Graeme Murray, Ronnie Brown
Drums [Simmons Drums] Derek Forman
Mellotron [Novatron] Ronnie Brown
Synthesizer [Moog Taurus Bass Pedals] Graeme Murray
B2 Ark Of Infinity
Backing Vocals Graeme Murray, Ronnie Brown
Percussion Derek Forman
Synthesizer [Moog Taurus Bass Pedals] Graeme Murray
Synthesizer [New England Digital Synclavier Ii], Mellotron [Novatron] Ronnie Brown
B3 Atlantis
Backing Vocals Graeme Murray, Ronnie Brown
Synthesizer [Moog Taurus Bass Pedals] Graeme Murray
Synthesizer [New England Digital Synclavier Ii], Mellotron [Novatron] Ronnie Brown
Timpani, Percussion Derek Forman
Artwork By [Sleeve Design And Artwork] Patrick Woodroffe
Bass [Rickenbacker 4001] Graeme Murray
Drums [Premier Drums] Derek Forman
Guitar [Lead Guitar], Synthesizer [Roland Synthesizer Guitar] Niall Mathewson
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals Euan Lowson
Producer, Engineer Eddy Offord
Synthesizer [Oberheim Ob-xa Polyphonic Synthesizer], Synthesizer [Roland Jp4 Polyphonic Synthesizer] Ronnie Brown
Written-By Pallas
(p) & (c) 1984 EMI Records Ltd.
Although one cannot describe the output of Scottish prog rock quintet Pallas, in view of each of the three studio albums between 1981 and 1986 and then again between 1999 and 2005, as overwhelmingly much, what the band around bassist Graeme Murray and guitarist Niall Mathewson delivers are, without exception, polished rock musical gems worked out to the greatest detail, which makes it a real pleasure to listen to them.
5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must for prog boys and girls.
On first listening, it’ll sound like any other Marillion-esque Prog band of the 80s. And then it grabs you. The track ‘EastWest’ is where it starts. Mellotron and Bass pedal… Oh my God! Absolutely fantastic! An absolute (lost) classic.
This really is an important Prog album of the 1980s.
5.0 out of 5 stars ” THE ULTIMATE KEEPER OF THE PEACE ”
I remember seeing this five piece from the Granite City in the early 1980s, and how mightily impressed I was with their musicianship and theatrics, I recall the lead singer EUAN LOWSON taking on the persona of the “SENTINEL”,totally bonkers!…but great stuff nonetheless. The album itself sounds almost live, a very deliberate act, as THE SENTINEL was intended to be replicated note perfect in its entirety as a stageshow. From start to finish THE SENTINEL fails to disappoint, the incredible music and apocalyptic lyrics draws you into a mythical world (which really is a parallel to this world during the Cold War) which is forewarned by the mysterious “SENTINEL” of impending doom and its aftermath. Its almost 30 years since the release of THE SENTINEL and from its release has always been one of my favoutite albums of all-time,a true Progressive Rock classic. THE SENTINEL by PALLAS, a 5* star album if there ever was one.
5.0 out of 5 stars Better than you may imagine
On the whole a difficult album to judge in that the material varies quite widely. I’ve given it four stars mainly due to the quite astonishing track ‘Atlantis’ which, in many ways, has perhaps every ingredient for a towering,symphonic prog song: banks of mellotron-like keys, other-wordly theme (as befits the piece), an epic sense of scale and an indefinable sense of timelessness. I’ve played this track periodically over the years and it has never failed to ‘take me there’. As you might expect with ‘Yess old producer production values are good. Buy it if you’re the kind of person who likes IQ, Marillion, Jadis etc.
5.0 out of 5 stars Atlantis Unleashed!
This masterful concept album shows prog-rockers Pallas at their best. The bands style resembles early Marillion, with over-blown keyboards, heavy bass lines and soaring guitar. The album tells the story of how mankind repeatedly tears itself apart with global warfare and how the Atlantis machine is developed to aid man in such times. The songs are well structured and, mostly, punchy. The opening trio of Shock Treatment, Cut and Run and Arrive Alive are high velocity rockers which get the album of to a great start. The trilogy of Heart Attack, Atlantis and the majestic Ark of Infinity close it brilliantly. This is a great album and one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys good progressive rock.
What’s to like?
Seminal album from a band considered one of the front runners during the second wave of progressive rock that appeared in the early eighties.
The low down
Nineteen Eighty Four might have been the year it was all going downhill for George Orwell, but it was actually a pretty good year for prog.
The big guns like Yes and Rush were pushing the boundaries with their 9.0.1.2.5. and Grace Under Pressure albums respectively, while on a smaller scale, the UK’s prog revival scene was continuing to push closer to mainstream awareness. Major record labels cottoned on to the fact that bands like Marillion were potential money-spinners, and suddenly, every major label wanted one of these “neo-progressive” bands on their roster!
Marillion might have been the first of these bands to land a major record deal, but Aberdeen-based Pallas weren’t far behind. In fact, Pallas were almost the front-runners instead, having given Marillion an early leg-up with a support slot on a Scottish tour, boosting their fanbase and setting them on the road to sell-out gigs at London’s Marquee club and a major contract with EMI.
Pallas went through the same graduation process during 1983 but negotiations with Polydor fell through at the last hurdle – and in a bizarre twist of fate it was EMI came to the rescue. The band received the good news as they went onstage to perform a showcase set at the famous Reading Festival, and it must have fired them up no end. I’ve got a cassette recording of the set, broadcast by BBC Radio, and it’s terrific stuff.
As soon as the gig was over Pallas then set off to Atlanta to record The Sentinel album with Eddie Offord, the man who’d produced such iconic prog albums as ELP’s Tarkus and Yes’ Close To The Edge.
The band had previously released an earlier album, an LP pressing of their self-financed live cassette Arrive Alive, but clearly expectations were high for The Sentinel as their first ‘proper’ album. The band had been writing and demoing the material for quite a while, often trying it out on their live audiences beforehand. I was lucky enough to see the band in May 1993 when they premiered demo versions of Cut And Run, Arc Of Infinity and Rise And Fall, and even at that early stage the new songs sounded promising. (I surreptitiously recorded that gig on a portable cassette player and still have that tape!).
So when the finished result was released in Spring 1984 there was a real buzz in Aberdeen’s rock community – the local boys had done good.
But when I unwrapped the LP and spun it up on the turntable, I came away disappointed. I had been eagerly looking forward to hearing the epic Atlantis Suite – a group of songs based around a tale of the lost city of Atlantis rising out of the sea to save a world on the brink of nuclear peril. Alas, the LP only included two of these tracks – Rise And Fall and Atlantis.
The band’s ambition to release a double album had been quickly nixed by the record label, so pragmatic decisions had to be made about which tracks would make the final cut of the album. The remaining tracks would be delegated to B-sides on the 12 inch singles to promote the album, and these would be self-produced by the band on their return home.
But there were other problems to contend with. The band and the record label were not happy with Offord’s final mix. According to the band, Offord ended up mixing the album in a hurry because he’d been offered a more lucrative project by another, more successful band. On a first listen, I quite liked the mix on the LP; it was decidedly lush and symphonic, but it had lost some of harder, heavier tones of the band’s live sound. This became more apparent when you compared Offord’s mix with the tracks self-produced by the band for the B-sides.
I always felt that this line-up sounded like a cross between the mellotron symphonics and Taurus bass pedals of early Genesis and the driving prog-metal of Rush. The fact that bassist Graeme Murray’s signature instrument was the same Rickenbacker 4001 used by Geddy Lee can’t just have been a coincidence.
Nevertheless, The Sentinel became one of my favourite albums and is recognised as one of the defining neo-prog albums from that early eighties period. The gatefold sleeve artwork (and the free poster!) by Patrick Woodroffe was gorgeous and perfectly matched the themes behind the lyrics. It probably helped that I’d seen the songs performed live beforehand, because Pallas also borrowed Genesis’ flair for theatricality, and singer Euan Lowson would don costumes for each song, helping to set the scene for the lyrics. However, sometimes things didn’t quite go to plan.
When the band opened their May 1983 show with Cut And Run, with its theme of state-sponsored assassination, Lowson chose to don a radio-microphone and sing his lyrics from within the audience. He discreetly disguised himself, to play on the fear that the assassin could be right next to you in the crowd. Unfortunately, he blended in so well that the crowd didn’t recognise him and refused to let him push in front to get onto the stage!
The Sentinel tour saw the band graduate from small clubs to theatre venues, with an impressive stage show to match the scale of the music. But muted record label support resulted in half empty halls. (There were rumours circulating at the time that Marillion had pressured EMI to delay releasing Pallas’ album because they wanted the full promotion team behind their second album Fugazi, which came out a few weeks earlier….)
The Sentinel album was pretty well-received at the time, but it didn’t give the band the hoped-for break through, and they then suffered a setback with Lowson leaving. It wasn’t the end of the road for the band, but it did feel like the end of a golden period for me, and although the band continued to make great albums, I kept returning to The Sentinel.
Some scans of a well worn copy of the programme for the Sentinel Tour! It is NOT for sale in this mail order, it is just for your perusal. Only the vinyl record is actually for sale.
NOT for sale in this mail order, it is just for your perusal
NOT for sale in this mail order, it is just for your perusal
NOT for sale in this mail order, it is just for your perusal.
Only the vinyl record is actually for sale.
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