The Arena Thread: Molecular Inheritance

[wolfking]

The only Arena I have is Immortal, and I remember it not doing much for me to be honest.

Ditto... except it was Contagion.  Tried multiple times, but they just never clicked.

Considering you have a different album and the same opinion, I probably won't try again unfortunately.  I might listen to Immortal again but I just found it bland.

[RoeDent]

Fancy this thread popping up! Yesterday I ordered a copy of Immortal?. It will be my third Arena album after Songs From the Lions Cage and Pepper's Ghost. Rob Sowden is a great singer on the latter, and I've heard 1 or 2 off Immortal? so I'm looking forward to hearing the whole thing.

[Dr. DTVT]

Immortal? is probably their weakest effort.

[RoeDent]

I would like to judge for myself.

[RoeDent]

Well, I've had Immortal? for nearly 2 months now, and my favourite song is not one of the longer ones, but the closer, Friday's Dream. What a beautiful chorus! It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. Great album all around!

[Dave_Manchester]

Bump.

New album (called Double Vision) to be released in May, with an accompanying tour. Details on their website. Here's the album artwork and tracklist:

https://www.arenaband.co.uk/double-vision-album-cover/

I absolutely love this band, I think they're the best of the 'non-classic' (i.e Floyd, Genesis, Crimson, Yes) English prog bands. They may not have the virtuosity of many bands in the genre these days but they have wonderful compositional skill, and Clive Nolan has a great ear for melody, he's the heir to Tony Banks. Their last album, The Unquiet Sky, was a brilliant return to form after the slightly disappointing Seventh Degree of Separation.

Anyone not familiar with the band, but who is a fan of Genesis in particular, I recommend you give them a listen. Start with some of their most popular early tracks ('Jericho', 'Sirens', 'Medusa' and 'Solomon' for example) and work up from there. Their strongest overall albums in my opinion are The Visitor, Immortal and Pepper's Ghost.

[Nekov]

This band is very hit and miss with me. I haven't really liked the last 2 albums, mainly because of the singer. Pepper's Ghost and Contagion are my favorite.

[RoeDent]

Bumping because new album.

Double Vision is coming on May 25th. The band haven't actively said so as far as I'm aware, but everything seems to indicate that this album is related in some way to 1998's The Visitor. The upcoming tour will celebrate 20 years of The Visitor, and the new album shares its title with a song from The Visitor.

The closing track will clock in as Arena's longest, at around 22 minutes, according to Prog Magazine's article on the album yesterday.

[gazinwales]

This band is very hit and miss with me. I haven't really liked the last 2 albums, mainly because of the singer. Pepper's Ghost and Contagion are my favorite.

I didn't like him at all when I first heard him.
It took me a long time to buy the last two albums, and even then it was playing 7th Degree on shuffle that I didn't know who the band was that I ended up liking the songs!
I only just got Unquiet Sky this past week and again I was surprised how much I like it, has the sound and feel of The Visitor, but the material, performance and production is nowhere near that standard.

Looking forward to the new album, will be interesting to hear the Arena sound in 2018.

[T-ski]

new album trailer...

https://vimeo.com/264589838

[Nekov]

As I said, I still have a hard time getting used to the singer. I also thought the first song there sounded a bit like cheesy power metal 

[Dave_Manchester]

Got the pre-order, had a few listens tonight. Overall I like it a lot, though a couple of the shorter tracks are quite forgettable (not yet feeling the opening track, 'Zhivago Wolf', or the 3rd-rate Friday's Dream-lite track 'Poisoned'). Things only really start getting into classic Arena territory for me with the 3rd song, Scars, which is typical Clive Nolan melodic fare.

I'll give a more thorough review after I've had more time to really get to grips with the album, but right off the bat I want to say that the 'epic' final track, clocking in at over 22 minutes, is absolutely wonderful. No idea what the story's all about, I'll get around to the lyrics later, but musically there is so much going on here. Some great riffs, good vocal melodies, an organ solo in the middle of it all. Delighted with this song, it's by far their best one since Opera Fanatica from Pepper's Ghost.

[RoeDent]

The vocalist merry-go-round spins again:

Arena Statement:
It is with sadness that we will be parting ways with singer Paul Manzi.
We wish him luck with his musical endeavours, and he we always welcome to join us on stage in the future.

An announcement regarding the new line up will follow soon.

https://twitter.com/operafanatica/status/1282646201238728704

[Eldomm]

The vocalist merry-go-round spins again:

Arena Statement:
It is with sadness that we will be parting ways with singer Paul Manzi.
We wish him luck with his musical endeavours, and he we always welcome to join us on stage in the future.

An announcement regarding the new line up will follow soon.

https://twitter.com/operafanatica/status/1282646201238728704

This is really a letdown for me. I really thought they finally could settle with him, IMHO it's really a very talented singer.

[Nekov]

I can't say that this is a letdown for me as I never really liked Manzi. I sure hope this means they will look into a replacement and get together to record some new music.

[gazinwales]

Arena Statement:
It is with sadness that we will be parting ways with singer Paul Manzi.
He has been with us for ten years, three studio albums and a lot of touring, but these commitments, particularly the touring, were becoming a strain on his time and availability, so it was mutually agreed that it was the right time for Paul to move on.
We wish him luck with his musical endeavours, and he we always welcome to join us on stage in the future.

Lame statement the band are really only part time and Manzi in 10 years played 90 gigs and 3 albums, hardly overcooked.
They are already recording a new album, was slated for release in December,

[jingle.boy]

I always thought the vocals were the part of Arena that made them 'meh' to me.

Arena Statement - New Line Up:

We have great pleasure in welcoming Damian Wilson to the new Arena line up. Most people will already know him as a fantastic singer, and there is no doubt he will bring something special and original to the band.

We have known Damian for about 25 years, and the idea of him singing for Arena has, in fact, been a possibility in the past, but circumstances did not allow that to happen at the time. However, since Paul has now decided to move on, it would seem that we have come full circle, and the time is now right!

A few days ago we took the chance to take some new photos. Although we were 'socially distanced', a little photoshop can do wonders.
Recording will start soon for the new album 'The Theory of Molecular Inheritance' with Damian on vocals, but the release has been delayed due to the restrictions of the Corona Virus.

You can be sure that we will release our new album just as soon as we can.

Color me intrigued.

[RoeDent]

Oh nice! I love his singing on Ayreon's Into the Electric Castle. I can see this working well.

[goo-goo]

A bit unexpected but I'm glad Damian found another band.

[Eldomm]

I didn't know him, I watched a couple of videos on YT, and WOW!

[Nekov]

Ok, I am super interested in this. Great news

[T-ski]

Nice.

[Dave_Manchester]

First song released from upcoming album::

https://youtube.com/watch?v=1aXLaWeLZZ8

[gazinwales]

I'm seeing them on Tuesday night in Liverpool, a long 15K miles road trip for me 
Haven't heard anything from the new album, my pre-order is waiting for me in Australia when I get home.

[ProfessorPeart]

I am anxiously awaiting the new album but the prices for physical copies here in the US are absolutely ridiculous. $24 and up for a single disc and something like $60+ for the earbook.

Not really happy with these prices.

[Zoom E]

I am anxiously awaiting the new album but the prices for physical copies here in the US are absolutely ridiculous. $24 and up for a single disc and something like $60+ for the earbook.

Not really happy with these prices.

There are two versions for sale on Amazon Canada. One is $58 and the other is $146. Just ridiculous.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Another band ruined by Damien Wilson.... *sigh*

[gazinwales]

Another band ruined by Damien Wilson.... *sigh*

He hasn't ruined any band to the best of my knowledge and have you actually heard the new ARENA album?

[gazinwales]

I am anxiously awaiting the new album but the prices for physical copies here in the US are absolutely ridiculous. $24 and up for a single disc and something like $60+ for the earbook.

Not really happy with these prices.

The prices are steep all over the world mate, i bought mine direct from the band cost me 40 UKP plus another 20UKP for shipping. Total was over $100AU. Not ideal, but the money went straight to the band.

[majo]

Easily their best album since Contagion imho 

[ErHaO]

Amazing album! A serious contender for best of the year for me.

[ProfessorPeart]

Sadly, I will probably go digital for now on this one when I can find it. The physical prices are just like nothing I have ever seen before for a release. I think Friday is the official release so I plan on hunting down a digital download then.

[ErHaO]

Sadly, I will probably go digital for now on this one when I can find it. The physical prices are just like nothing I have ever seen before for a release. I think Friday is the official release so I plan on hunting down a digital download then.

It is the same price as any digipack over here (for the CD), which is 20 euros (which is less than 20 dollars these days). Maybe this is because it isn't manufactured in the US that there is no cheaper option for you? And shipping costs have risen starkly due to inflation (which has been really noticeable for me lately).

Edit: I see I was wrong, the only options I see are in pounds, so indeed a bit more expensive. But the UK has been hit hard with inflation as well, which could be the reason. Unfortunately prices are going up everywhere.

[RoeDent]

Another band ruined by Damien Wilson.... *sigh*

He hasn't ruined any band to the best of my knowledge and have you actually heard the new ARENA album?

Come on Puppies on Acid, respond! Defend yourself!

[ErHaO]

Damian Wilson is one of the best singers in the game in my opinion. His ability to emote in a wide range with fantastic intonation is second to none. Also one of the rare singers that got better at a later age. His earlier live clips (90's) don't compare to his perfomances in the 10's and recent times.

I do get why some people don't like his type of vocals though, he has a unique sound that is not for everyboy. For me Paul Manzi was kind of like that, talented man but something about his singing irked me. So this is an exciting era of Arena for me, as I do like their material.