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Arena - Pride

Artist:	Arena
Title:	Pride
Label:	Verglas VGCD004
Length(s):	55 minutes
Year(s) of release:	1996
Month of review:	11/1996

Line up

Paul Wrightson - vocals
Keith More - guitars
Clive Nolan - keyboards
John Jowitt - bass
Mick Pointer - drums

Tracks

1)	Welcome To The Cage....	4.14
2)	Cyring 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

Summary

Well, they're back. Their Cage album was received as both a hallmark and as an attempt thievery. Personally I liked the album quite a lot and also live they were worth seeing, although the enthusiasm of the audience was somewhat overdone (the band won't mind that of course). Also, the singer was a little too theatrical for my taste. At the time they didn't play any new stuff, so this is my first encounter with it.

The music

The first track really erupts from your speakers. A very quick track with a percussive middle part and a dramatic, threatening bridge, with nice keyboard and guitar. Already in this track the band evokes something of IQ (Ever period), because of both the vocals and the main melody, which sounds very familiar. I have to admit that the vocals on this album surprise me; I'd have thought them to be lower, after seeing this guy sing live.

Continuing the Crying for Help song cycle, we have a rather peaceful track here without vocals. Comparable to Silent Companion of the first part of the Key.

The next track is a good one. The first part is sung with double vocals, one high and one low, with threatening guitars in the background. The vocals are also distorted somewhat as they tell of battlefields and empires.

The next part is built on a great guitarriff. Especially in the following more mellow part, I'm again reminded of later IQ, while the singalong ending "Let the meek lie down" is typically Arena/Nolan. A very good track.

The next Crying for Help is also quite nice. An acoustic ditty with a good melody.

Medusa starts out rather sharply, with a highpitched guitar, howling at the moon. I might be very wrong here, but the vocals on this track remind me a lot of Clive Nolan, although it is not noted on the CD. The guitar on this track is very good.

The next track is an a-capella song. A lot of drama and very melodic. Still, I'm not very fond it and I like it least of the tracks on this album.

The next track brings us back to Foxtrot era Genesis, a bit like Watcher of the Skies. The vocal part is up-tempo and the track rocks rather hard. Again, it's the guitar that shines, with good riffs.

The last Crying for Help is a very sad one with Bel Canto singing. Slow and touching, probably the Sirens that the next track is about.

The epic of the album is again the closing track. This time it is Sirens clocking at 13.42. The peaceful beginning has good vocal melodies, somewhat desperate. Then the guitar starts a build-up to crescendo with the singer trying to keep up. The intermezzo is a bluesy guitar with some organ in the back. Then the music picks up speed and comes more bombastic, working to crescendo and Clive gives a way a solo. The end of the track reminds me a lot of the Crucifixion of Australian proggers Aragon. Powerful song.

Conclusion

With guitar as the most prominent instrument and I have to admit being very well played by Keith More, and some good keyboardsolo's, good, but not outstanding vocals, this is a good release, but personally I do not like it as much as the Lions Cage. The problem is mostly in the vocals, that I liked better on the previous album and also a track like Crying for Help VII might be nice to do, but I do not like it. To be honest Fool's Gold also has some things I do not really like. What did really strike me was that while the previous album sounded fairly original in the sense that it did not remind me of anything besides Nolans other work, I got the impression that they listened a bit to bands like Aragon and IQ for this album. Not a disappointment, but not better either.