I haven't listened to them in the longest time and so had largely forgotten the great music on them, so I decided on an Arena immersion session, so I'm currently absorbing and greatly enjoying their two monsters, namely, The Visitor and Immortal. Both very solid and very nearly perfect prog albums. But for me The Visitor just manages to ease ahead to chest the finishing tape first. I've been an Arena and Clive Nolan fan since the very start.
Up next, in this order:
The Cry
Contagion
Pepper's Ghost
Not that big a fan of "The Cry", but love all of the others you mention.
Just ordered the new one from Laser's Edge.
Two excellent albums from Arena,but i too prefer The Visitor.The guitar solo on the title track is sublime.Got to be honest here though and say that after repeated listenings The Unquiet Sky leaves me feeling somewhat disappointed.The band seem to be going thru the motions,and i think the band need maybe an extended break,or maybe do what Nick Barrett did with Pendragon awhile back,and change the style of the band somewhat.Not sure about Paul Manzi as lead vocalist too! You can't beat Ron Sowden or Paul Wrightson-great vocals.
Top-3 albums, for me personally:
1. The Visitor,
2. Immortal?
3. Songs From The Lion's Cage (which includes their greatest ever epic-track, Solomon).
Still my fav Arena album, and for me one of the best debut albums ever. That said their isn't a lot of love round these parts for their first two, partially due to the very Neo and Marillion sound and partially due to the singers.Originally Posted by Guess Who
My top 5
1.S f t L C
2. Pride
3. Visitor
4. Immortal
5. Peppers ghost.
I have yet to immerse myself in the albums after peppers ghost.
My favorite is Contagion. I consider it to be perfect. But I seem to be in the minority.
+1
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Solo Chapman Stick
I agree with anyone that says "The Visitor" and "Immortal" are their 2 best albums. The rest:
3. Songs From the Lion's Cage
4. Pepper's Ghost
5. Pride
The 3 mediocre releases are "Contagion", "Seventh Degree", and "Unquiet Sky"
Am I the only one that liked The Cry? I listened to "Pride" a lot when I first got into prog way back when, and I always loved the "Crying for Help" pieces. Well, the a capella one was a bit cheesy, but I loved the others. I seem to recall the pieces from the first album being good too. Shrug.
flute juice
Contagion is their best album.
Contagion is by far their best CD IMO. The recent extended version is sublime. I remember a fans poll a few years back on The Cage's website and it came second behind The Visitor so it highly regarded.
Immortal is the second best after Contagion IMO!
No, I loved the Cry pieces on Pride and I like the Cry album too, but it is a bit of an experimental oddity in their catalogue.
and featuring the god Rothery!
The problem I have with Contagion is that I can listen to it one day and really like it, and then another day not like it at all. For me it feels like the band were torn between fully committing to making either a prog metal album or a modern prog rock album, and thus ended up with a kind of classic rock album similar to some of the more recent albums by Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. That isn't per se a bad thing, just my observation, in that I feel that when they were heavy they could have been heavier and when they were proggy they could have been proggier. I like Contagion but it is too disoriented in styles for me, it's neither one thing nor the other.
Ok, guys, the question was about big TWO, not three or five....
Mine are:
1) Immortal?
2) Visitor.
Those two albums are as close to perfect "neo-prog" as possible to me.
Contagious and Pepper Host are almost as good as the two above, but have a few fillers that I always skip.
As of their early stuff, I listen to it sometimes, but can live without them.
First spin of "Unquiet Sky" last night, after having passed on the previous release due to negative reviews. First impressions? Man , I love me some good Arena, and this sounds quite good. Like the new vocalist.
Actually, I posed no Q at all, I stated what the best two are. I wasn't asking for opinions.Ok, guys, the question was about big TWO, not three or five....
Mine are:
1) Immortal?
2) Visitor.
Those two albums are as close to perfect "neo-prog" as possible to me.
Contagious and Pepper Host are almost as good as the two above, but have a few fillers that I always skip.
As of their early stuff, I listen to it sometimes, but can live without them.
You know, if someone asks me, I always say my favorites are 1. The Visitor, 2. Pepper's Ghost. However, if you look at my IPOD, every song off Contagion makes the cut, whereas, the percentage is SIGNIFICANTLY lower on the others. I can't explain why.
I will say, my two favorite songs are off Visitor and Peppers. The Enemy Without still gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it (when they played that live at ROSFest - I felt like the guy in the old Maxell Tape commercials - Blown away). Opera Fanatica ranges from the opera opening to speed metal, to prog bombast, steals a little from Clive's Hound of the Baskervilles, ... I was always disappointed that wasn't played at ROSFest that year.
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