I
have the honour to review the new Arena “Contagion” and it certainly is a
great honour as this CD is of the highest quality. It is stronger and heavier
than their previous recordings with some risky moments from time to time.
That’s my opinion after several listenings. There’s been written a lot
about Arena, some good and some bad, but you can’t write anything bad about
this CD. Each member has given everything, you can hear and feel it. The music
is storming forward with tearing guitar solos, taken over by keyboard solos.
(A lot of people will play on a virtual guitar and close their eyes when
guitar king John Mitchell is displaying his skills.) This
fifth studio album opens with “Witch Hunt”, with some mumbling voices, to
change after a few seconds into some heavy, dark melody line and Rob Sowden
who comes dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Immediately we get a
beautiful harmonic guitar solo and this solo sets the tone for the whole
album. A splendid piano transition gives the start to “An Angel Falls”,
soft and harmonic with piano and vocals to become heavier again at the start
of “Painted Man”. …I am the painted man… Rob sings and I can see the
live act in front of my eyes. We get a broken rhythm with a magnificent
mellotron sound to support the song. And then all the floodgates are opened
again with a marvellous guitar solo by John taking turns with some skilled
keyboards by Clive and a perfect support by Ian on bass and Mick on drums.
“This Way Madness Lies” is one of the instrumental highlights of this
disc. A ‘contagious’ guitar solo with a brilliant sound on a steaming drum
and bass rhythm. For a short while, a very short while, it makes me think of
Genesis. But the moment I’m in Genesisland, I get the genuine Arena sound
again. Majestic, without any doubt. “Spectre At The Feast” could be taken
from another Arena CD. The typical Arena sound is there again, although it’s
a little bit heavier. Rob Sowden certainly feels as a fish in the water and he
sings as he never did before. In this style, he’s certainly one of the best
vocalists. He can put the right amount of drama in a text which gives the
music something mysterious. In “Never Ending Night”, you get a beautiful
duet with piano and vocals followed by a wonderful guitar solo that comes
tumbling in your living room. Moments to make my flesh creep, marvellous.
After that it fades away with a beautiful sung piece and a good ‘fat’
synthsound. “Skin
Game” is once again a winner for the full 100%. A slightly slow rhythm with
some aggressive guitar sounds rests on a tapestry of synths. There’s a
quiet, acoustic piece to evolve into the most beautiful chorus of the whole
CD. It’s a beautiful vocal melody line, supported by a marvellous melody on
electric guitar and a perfectly fitting pattern of chords on the synth. The
whole gets an extra dimension by the beauty of the coherence of the
instruments. At the end of the song they return to simplicity by a final
accompaniment on the acoustic guitar of the vocal line. Wow, this is why every
progfan listens to this kind of music, that’s for certain!! A
quiet Eastern melody to announce “Salamander” followed by a wonderful song
with a beautiful keyboard intermezzo. A little remark that this is slightly
too poppy, but don’t worry, they set things straight with the instrumental
piece “On The Box”. The solos fit amazingly together and fly around in the
next song. Alternating guitar and keyboard solos that are settled on a strong
bass and drums foundation. “Tsunami”
gets the darker beginning and amazes me the whole song. This is certainly an
example of a song where you can clearly hear the Mellotron sound in the quiet
pieces. A beautiful vocal line, simple and well found to the end. For “The
City Of Lanterns” they opened the Arena manual once more for this very
recognisable song. “Riding
The Tide” is the second instrumental on this CD. Again it makes me think of
Genesis, even a little more then last time. It’s an amusing track with a
fairly simple keyboard solo and a great melody line. It isn’t of the highest
musical quality but it keeps lingering on in your head. Especially the heavy
“Tarkus” bass pedals carry the song on the moments that it’s necessary.
Radio sounds from the Second World War open “Mea Culpa” and they use a
clever way to change the voice to a modern sound. Great and it stays great
with a duet between vocals and grand piano. Stirring acoustic guitars with the
same inciting vocals and backing vocals at the start of “Cutting The
Cards” followed by the same thing all over again but then electric. Good
rock & roll, strong, simple and straight in your face. The
last song “Ascension” already shows its colours from the very first
sounds. Widespread keyboard sounds mixed with Rob’s dramatic voice, nice
twanging on the guitar and a chorus to open the whole happening. You must be
lying down in your seat with the volume on seven, eyes shut and let the whole
thing come over you. This last song asks for more, so there’s only one thing to do. Come out of your lazy seat and push the replay on your player so you can listen for a whole hour again. The
album is based on a short story written by Clive Nolan. It has become a
powerful, evocative concept album. A search for salvation through a dark and
foreboding vision of the future. I hope they will include the story in the
album somehow. Limited
Edition. An
attractive limited edition Digipack will be available, which will house not
only the main album, but also the forthcoming two EPs. The
CD is a series of brilliant progressive pieces, symphonic highlights and
melodic vocal lines. It has become an album with, to Arena standards, rather
short tracks. But you don’t really notice it. You can play the album as a
whole and if you don’t look at the display of your player, you won’t even
hear that it’s a bunch of short tracks. Arena has found the perfect mix
between a progressive sound and music that even non-progfans will like. “Be
careful with what you wish for” is the message in Morse code between “On
The Box” and “Tsunami”. My wish already came through: a new, brilliant
Arena album for the new year. A pity it only appears in January, so it won’t
be on the lists of 2002.
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