ARENA - DOUBLE VISION
Reading the review below, which I wrote in 2019, you might think that vocalist Paul Manzi was a certainty to be in post for the forthcoming album in 2022. Instead, it will be Damian Wilson. It’s no wonder that my job application for Old Moore’s Almanac was rejected! Anyhow, the original review is republished here, and I stand by this being my number one for 2018, a year I was not overly impressed with.
In 2015, I reviewed The Unquiet Sky as a welcome return to form by this venerable outfit, certainly compared to the disappointing predecessor album.
I am glad to say that Double Vision takes this to a higher level still. It is a deeply impressive album, and I will say immediately that this is the album where every Arena fan will look back in the years to come and say that this was the work where Paul Manzi most definitely made the lead vocalist gig his very own. He simply shines on every single track, and the band have, I feel, now become very comfortable in the fusion of more traditional symphonic and bombastic prog rock, their original calling card, and the far heavier and harder edge which Manzi, especially, brought to the act.
There are also moments of beauty. Witness the denouement to Red Eyes, a gorgeous end piece by Clive Nolan reminding one of similar such passages with Pendragon. My only complaint is that there was potential for an extended piece here.
The album itself, with a stunning piece of cover art, is the sequel to the much loved The Visitor from 1998. I love the lyrical references on the musically huge The Scars to what went on before. On this, the ever busy John Mitchell blasts out some powerful riffs, with Manzi theatrically leading the wall of sound led by Nolan's keys.
This is the major theme I have taken from a large number of listens prior to finally putting "pen to paper" for this review, my first in quite some time. This is the sound of a band who have fused differing progressive sounds, but managed to retain their unique mojo in our little prog rock world. This is an album which clearly deserves to be heard by a far larger audience in the wider rock world. It is also an album by a very stable ensemble - who would have thought we would be saying that about Arena in 2019, eh?
The first five tracks fairly race along in bombastic and heavy style, and we then have a hugely enjoyable ballad in Poisoned, featuring some lovely Mitchell guitar work, before we get to the main epic, the quite superb The Legend of Elijah Shade. All which preceded this leads up to 20 plus minutes of sheer classic Arena, an operatic piece which spells out loud, and at times very loudly, precisely where this band are now.
This is an album which comes highly recommended. An excellent slab of modern prog rock, and a clear statement which leaves the listener salivating at the thought of what might come in the years ahead.
GALAHAD - SEAS OF CHANGE
A barnstorming return to form.
Given that I was previously a collaborator on the neo-prog team on Prog Archives, it will probably come as a wee bit of a surprise to those who have read my reviews and contributions that I was never much of a Galahad fan. They were, to me, an okayish sort of act, one of many who came out of those heady days in the 1980's second wave of prog which spawned favourites such as Marillion, IQ, Pendragon & etc.
I thought that the first two albums were rather weak, derivative, and not worthy of further attention, and I lost track of them. That is until 2007, when I gave Empires Never Last a couple of spins, and did not really enjoy what I heard. I basically thought; give up; you don't like them; you can't like everyone.
That is until I read a couple of reviews from alumni of this site for the latest opus, the fact that Lee Abraham, one of my favourite solo artists of recent years, had returned to the fold, and the knowledge that, as a rather sad political obsessive, the LP passed a commentary on the state of modern British politics, which, whether you voted leave or remain, can only be described as being in a shocking mess. Indeed, I have never known anything like it in a 35 year public service career.
So, on all of these levels, this album seemed made for me, and it does not disappoint.
One 42 minute epic, made up of twelve mini pieces merged into one monster of a track. It is rollocking. It races along, and never once loses the attention of the listener. It is a superb collective piece, and includes some rather delicate and lovely pieces by a guest musician I had not heard of previously, one Sarah Bolter on wind instruments.
It would be impossible, and really not give the piece any real justice, to dissect the component parts in a review. Suffice to say that the lyrics perfectly encapsulate the mess we are in, without being overly preachy. The musicianship is never anything less than tight, and mention should go to the marvellous orchestration implemented by Dean Baker, whose at times malevolent keys are to the fore in much of what you hear.
It is nice to be proven wrong, especially where artists and music are concerned. This whole album, which has reworked parts of the suite as two bonus tracks, is a joy to listen to, and will absolutely make me buy and sit down and listen to what I have been missing all of these years.
An excellent album, and a clear highlight of 2018.
FREQUENCY DRIFT - LETTERS TO MARO
Another enjoyable slab of fusion between modern progressive rock and folk music from the German collective. This is a song-driven album which delights with each listen.
LUNATIC SOUL - UNDER THE FRAGMENTED SKY
Mariusz Duda is one of the most creative musicians around at the moment, and this, the sixth album in the Lunatic Soul sequence, is another enjoyable album blending some disturbing futuristic soundscapes and uplifting melodies.
IO EARTH - SOLITUDE.
Cureton & Gough’s prog collective continue to present music that is thoughtful, taking the listener on a journey. Highly recommended for those who enjoy classically inspired rock music and the sound of a female voice at the top of her game
GAZPACHO - SOYUZ
The Norwegian outfit’s 10th studio album, this is another solid effort. Certainly recommended for fans of later period Radiohead and mid-period Marillion.
MILLENIUM - MMXVIII
The 13th album from Polish proggers, but the first to feature Marek Smelkowski on vocals, there are only three tracks on this clear statement by a band of where they were in 2018. The title track is a monster piece in excess of 20 minutes, and is, at turns, wonderfully restrained and impressively expansive. An enjoyable album.
TONY BANKS - 5
Of course, there is a reason why the classic Genesis sound was daubed “symphonic prog” back in the day. This album is a classical music work, and, what’s more, it is a mighty fine collaboration between the Genesis maestro and The Czech National Symphony Orchestra & Choir. I play this a great deal whilst seeking some calm inspiration working from home.
It’s “proper music” folks and damned good at that.
YES - FLY FROM HERE THE RETURN TRIP
I really enjoyed the Fly From Here album released in 2011, by far the best album the veterans released without Jon Anderson. Benoit David was pretty impressive. So, it is fair to state that I didn’t really see the point, or the need, for this reworking of the album with Trevor Horn on vocals (and, yes, I know the suite was a castaway from the Drama sessions). Still, in what I found to be a pretty thin year, it is very listenable, and is a work of genius when compared to the execrable Heaven & Earth and The Quest.
DELUSION SQUARED - ANTHROPOCENE
A good album from French duo Steven Francis (lead vocals, guitars, drums, programming) and Emmanuel de Saint Méen (keyboards, bass, backing vocals), this is one for fans of Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson solo music