Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Arena
Label: Verglas Records
Release: 1996
Rating: 4/5
Arena, who started out as a joint neo-prog project between keyboard wizard Clive Nolan (Pendragon, ex-Shadowland) and drummer Mick Pointer (ex-Marillion), turned into a proper band with a vision of their own after the release of their excellent debut “Songs From Te Lions Cage” (1995), which earned them a resounding success among fans of (neo) progressive rock. Pointer’s nostalgic dream of reviving the original Marillion magic and Nolan’s virtuoso chops reached their peak with the release of “Pride”.
If the debut recalled early Marillion in many ways, and some of those similarities are still fairly present, on “Pride” Arena were slowly starting to shape a sound that was entirely their own and instantly recognizable. Alongside the traditional space-symphonic palettes, especially the powerful synth textures, it also featured plenty of harder-hitting moves that traditionally sit closer to progressive metal. The arrival of the excellent vocalist Paul Wrightson, who successfully replaced John Carson, was a major step forward and a bullseye. Unlike his predecessor, whose timbre was in many ways reminiscent of the legendary Fish, Wrightson is a noticeably better singer in both tone and range. He’s without a doubt one of the best singers in (neo) progressive rock, and his vocal talent and charisma played a decisive part in lifting the band into the ranks of the genre’s most important acts. Another notable addition that had a big influence on the band’s sound was the cult neo-prog bassist John Jowitt (IQ, Jadis), whose recognizable, restless bubbling was a worthy replacement for Cliff Orsi. I can’t forget to mention the excellent guitarist Keith More either, for whom this was the last album with the band. Even though his successor John Mitchell managed to almost completely overshadow him, More also had a bunch of interesting tricks and ideas. In interplay with Nolan’s keyboards, they create an extremely effective combination of punch and symphonic grandeur. Nolan’s lyrics once again mostly drift into mystical realms, especially Greek mythology (even though there’s a Viking longship on the cover), using it to metaphorically touch on all sorts of life messages. Although they successfully steer clear of those stock fantasy neo-prog clichés à la Pendragon, don’t expect any deep philosophy. That only came with their next albums.
The kinship with the debut comes mainly from the combination of punchy, bombastic epics, separated by calmer, interconnected little ballads gathered under the name “Crying For Help”, which tie the two albums together (they were all later released together on the EP “The Cry”). The central motif stays the same throughout, just played in a different way each time (the first part features a mellow acoustic guitar, the second centers on piano, the third is Wrightson’s excellent a cappella vocal, while the last one is built around the synthesizer). All the parts successfully link up the longer symphonic, hard-hitting epics. The triumphant, ultra-wound-up rocker “Welcome to the Cage” is just the right opener for the album and a classic neo-prog anthem. Even though it’s by far the closest thing on the album to early Marillion (especially to the song “Market Square Heroes”), it’s an immensely energetic piece that sucks the listener into the album in an instant with its magical motif. Despite a relatively simple structure, it’s a work of tasteful symphonic textures, good rhythmic transitions and epic drama. The main motif is Nolan’s fast-fingered, spacey synth arrangement laid over a witty guitar riff and a punchy rhythm. The whole thing is topped off with a triumphant chorus carried by Wrightson’s poetic-epic vocal. The mood settles down with “Crying For Help V”, conceived as a mystical folk-rock instrumental on acoustic guitar with lovely symphonic arrangements. It would fit nicely as the central theme of some epic fantasy film like The Lord of the Rings. To keep the band from sliding into overly sentimental fantasy territory, there’s the excellent “Empire Of a Thousand Days”, the first of three epics on the album. The track, which also has plenty of Marillion elements (even though they never sounded this punchy in their career), is full of dramatic, unpredictable twists, and it also has a good lyric. After a gloomy, mysterious effect on the keys comes an excellent overture on Jowitt’s bouncing bass and a juicy symphonic synth arrangement that forms an interesting oriental motif. Then the poetic, dramatic vocal jumps in and, together with the hard-hitting guitar passages, injects the epic with incredible energy. Inside there’s a string of sudden, inventive instrumental turns that sound red-hot one moment and ambient the next. I especially like the interesting church organ motif, followed by an excellent slide guitar solo. As will become almost a trademark of the band over the years, the icing on the cake comes in the closing section, made up of superb ambient curtains and layered vocal harmonies, before the main motif returns once more. The wonderful mystical instrumental “Crying For Help VI” has a medieval-Celtic motif on acoustic guitar and piano that will please anyone who loves mystery and mysticism.
Next comes the anthemic “Medusa”, which over the years has become one of the band’s most popular pieces, even though it’s not the best one on the album. Its main charm is the harmonious blend of punch and symphonic sweep. The opening piano arrangement is followed by a hard-hitting guitar riff, nicely draped in layered keyboards, which feeds off an excellent, tremendously expressive vocal. The main chorus has an incredible epic intensity and the power to rattle the listener every single time. Arena have once again successfully combined symphonic arrangements, ambient, punch and a hypnotic central motif. “Crying For Help VII”, the part of the saga most often played live, is also the most interesting one on this album. It’s a vocal a cappella featuring only Wrightson’s dramatic voice, conveying a good dose of the suffering of someone crying out in the desert (or better yet, in a cage). Here you can clearly hear his excellent vocal range. The hard-hitting, bombastic “Fool’s Gold” is another longer epic, comparable in quality to “Empire of a Thousand Days” as well as “Out Of the Wilderness” from the previous album. Here too you can drool over the outstanding mix of epic scope and punch, high drama, plenty of unexpected transitions and great instrumental motifs. The instrumental treats and high-voltage intensity come from vivid keyboard textures interacting with hard-hitting guitar passages (a great motif in the closing section) and a determined bass line. The phenomenal vocal performance again raises all the hairs on your body. The speed with which Nolan switches between individual keyboard arrangements is worthy of all admiration. “Crying For Help VIII” is the last and, in my opinion, the least interesting part of the “Crying For Help” saga. It’s built on Nolan’s ambient sound curtains, mainly on the synthesizer, creating the sound of an operatic choir (I have to admit the central effect really does sound like a female operatic voice). If nothing else, it’s a good warm-up for the next piece of epic proportions, with which Arena once again outdid themselves as superb storytellers of mystical tales.
For the grand finale there’s the majestic, more than 13-minute epic “Sirens”, telling the mythological story of a ship lost in a storm amid the reefs, which is the magnum opus of the entire album. The calm intro focuses on an emotional, poetic-mysterious vocal, layered vocal harmonies, ambient keyboards and a Celtic motif on acoustic guitar. Then a punchy guitar passage crashes in and starts to build the turbulent atmosphere of a ship rocking amid the waves. More also weaves in an excellent slide solo that sends shivers down your spine. Symphonic arrangements follow, accompanied by the sound of rushing waves. The second part brings hard-hitting, wound-up, almost metallic passages on guitar, bass and drums, carried skyward by thoroughly spacey layers of keyboards (the Mellotron sound stands out in particular). The bombastic symphonic-heavy motif successfully conjures the mood of a storm and a raging sea, right up to the moment the ship finally smashes on the reefs and the sirens feast on the stranded dead. At the end comes an atmospheric climax with a confessional, deeply shaken vocal and mighty layers of keyboards that reach the symphonic peak of the album. In my opinion it’s the best piece on the album, one with which Arena managed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats of their craft.
With its superb mystical-bombastic-epic atmosphere, “Pride” is another excellent album on which Arena more than successfully continued the direction set by the debut, while making noticeable progress toward building their own recognizable sound, one that began to set them apart from the traditional neo-prog bands of the 80s, led by early Marillion. Unlike most neo-prog bands, which were mostly purely symphonic in orientation, Arena proved with their first two albums that they also possess a certain amount of (hard) rock fire, which is usually not exactly abundant in this genre. And that’s the element they mainly built their own recognizable sound on. “Pride”, which is a more than successful follow-up to the debut, is the band’s last and greatest bow to that classic 80s neo-prog rock. With their next album, which will make a clear break with the classic neo-prog sound and move away from mythological lyrics into darker, philosophical-conceptual realms, Arena will create one of the greatest masterpieces of modern progressive rock, one that will exceed the wildest expectations of their followers.
Line-up
Paul Wrightson – vocals
Keith More – guitar
John Jowitt – bass
Clive Nolan – keyboards, backing vocals
Mick Pointer – drums
Production
Clive Nolan
Track list
1. Welcome To The Cage (4:14)
2. Crying For Help V (2:33)
3. Empire Of A Thousand Days (9:34)
4. Crying For Help VI (2:53)
5. Medusa (4:28)
6. Crying For Help VII (3:04)
7. Fool’s Gold (9:37)
8. Crying For Help VIII (5:12)
9. Sirens (13:42)
Album length: 55:24
