Right on the heels of Pallas’ triumphant “A Song for Tomorrow”, surely one of 2026’s major if not top musical achievements, comes lead singer Alan Reed’s third solo album. This man has also celebrated his retirement from live shows with a September concert in Glasgow which by all accounts was a calendar highlight of a long career, that at times was arduous, yet often rewarding as is the case with this sumptuous farewell period. Saving the very best for last is why encores were created in the first place! Alan has chosen nine tracks that pull no punches lyrically, a last hurrah of expression of deep-rooted sentiments that underline our chaotic modern lifestyle, irrespective of any partisan narrative. I got goosebumps when I saw the guests helping out Alan: Henry Rogers on the drum kit (one of my fave drummers) , the venerable Mike Stobbie on keyboards, and Pallas’ own Niall Mathewson. Kim MacLean and Laetitia Chaudenmanche handle the backing vocals. Since this is pretty much a final testament, I urge all listeners to spend some effort on the lyrical content, fond farewells are often heartfelt and that is certainly the case with the Pallas album and the same can be stated here.
Retirement is often like a child diving into a swimming pool, a new way of living the daily routine, often a discovery and also a challenge. “Into the Void” best expresses this sentiment, a sort of ‘alea jacta est’ roll of the dice, but wisdom comes with age, a final countdown with less trepidation and fear, as fatigue or illness have taken its toll on any senseless resistance to our ultimate fate. Within seconds, I am under the redolent spell, the sweet guitar licks and pastoral setting suddenly flung into a robust vocal that recalls the naiveté of a youth that sought to create a better world, striving for all the most laudable values that post-Woodstock sought to achieve, the starry-eyed 70s full of cosmic travel and where peace and love were more than commercial fads, more of a strong urge for betterment on every level. Boy, did we ever get that wrong! “Two things are infinite :the universe and human stupidity, and I am not too sure about the universe” Albert Einstein. The music is high-quality prog that has substance musically as well.
My guy Henry Rogers does an admirable job on “Camberwick Grey” with a startling percussive display, Reed bopping along on the bass, and modern keyboard screeches that recount that economic crash in the early 80s that devastated the middle class in the UK, that also raised a fair amount of poverty in the rest of the world as well. Endless waves of give and take, the first glimpse of how truly inefficient the politicians of the times were, illusions gone, eventual freedom for some and continued misery for others.
The sandstorm-effect is overt on the sweeping “Sons of the Caliphate”, heavily reliant on relentless modern electronics, highlighting how toy gliders became killer drones and how the lessons of history are never learned, the rise of mutually assured extremism has now joined mutual assured destruction as the two pillars of the 21st century. One breeds the other. More insanity, ‘plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’.
The trembling vocals on “First Responder” is spell-binding, as the distant sirens wail, the smoke chokes the throat, and fire burns the skin. Images of bombings in Kenya, 9-11 (forget the conspiracies, planes flying deliberately into buildings is madness), Grenfell, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, and summer heatwaves killing thousands. Comfortably numbed into endless tragedy. Who can you rely on?
Nothing like a protest song to get your blood boiling, eh? “The Unforgiving Truth” relates to my take on my favourite subject: critical thinking, listening to all facets of any argument now being replaced by opinion-laced falsehoods peddled by wealthy ‘influencers”, video reels replacing books and algorithms teaching mostly an endless dirge of negativity because we all know that NO sells likes and follows. The biggest asylum is the misused internet and its promise of ten second stimulation before moving on to the next stupidity (aka hashtags). I am glad being an old man, with fond memories of happiness.
Niall Mathewson’s liquid guitar stroke rules supreme on the delicate “A Matter of Trust”, another languid affair, with silky vocals and as classic a Neo/symph-Prog track one could possibly hope for. The melody, the chorus , the sprawling backdrop is aurally impressive, easily sitting on the same podium as classic IQ, Marillion, Pendragon and many others. The ambient section is to expunge over, a dreamy whirlpool of emotion, savaged by blitzing synth rapier. As far as the subject matter is concerned, who can you trust anymore? A farcical internet asylum, an easy-accessed and addictive prison of opinion replacing fact, fake substituting real, reels swapping books and attitude trading away manners. “Fail Better” is the ideal segue, how can you possibly learn from your mistakes if you lazily believe yourself to be perfect, discarding any notion of self-diagnosis? Experience always eclipses arrogance. Wisdom overpowers ignorance. Knowledge is the greatest human attribute, and it’s going down the algo-rhythmic drain.
The rambling “First Against the Wall” are about those people who are stuck between the pernicious venom of the extremes, the massive majority of decent and caring people who sadly choose to keep silent. The main issue with the polar opposites is that they need to create chaos in order to attain a revolutionary stage where EVERYTHING needs repair. How about fixing only what’s broken first and then see what needs to be done. After all, love, friendship, empathy, courage and devotion are still alive and relatively well .Musically, its drenched in melodic drama, insistently surging forward, struggling with the misery of it all, the acoustic guitars softening the blow of the chorus, an Arena-like feel, that really hits the spot.
“Bright Side of Blue” has this happy-go-lucky 80s synthpop feel, that rekindles of a fine tune by Northern Irish band the Adventures, “Your Greatest Shade of Blue”. As with many recent releases that have espoused darker themes, inevitably this album ends mercifully on a positive vibe, reminding all of the nihilist negation-peddlers (it does sell!) that hope is an eternal concept that cannot vanish, for with its disappearance, humanity is doomed to fail and reduced to ash, no remains or vestiges left for future archeologists, presumably coming from outer space to verify the damage and return back home with a shrug (the prog music though was really quite amazing!).
Just two crucially eternal words, Alan:
Thank you
5 hymns