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Thread: Arena-New CD 'Double Vision'

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    Arena-New CD 'Double Vision'

    Details are scant on their website other than a new album is imminent called 'Double Vision'. They are also touring the 20th anniversary of 'The Visitor' next years!

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    Member Kanukisbrave's Avatar
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    The writers in the band would have to visit their past to make me interested in this one... not saying I'm looking for nostalgia, but the last two recordings were so generic that they sounded like anything but Arena. I don't consider myself a hater (own all their studio releases), but I never play the last two....

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    Insect Overlord Progatron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kanukisbrave View Post
    The writers in the band would have to visit their past to make me interested in this one... not saying I'm looking for nostalgia, but the last two recordings were so generic that they sounded like anything but Arena. I don't consider myself a hater (own all their studio releases), but I never play the last two....
    Completely agree. Like Knight Area, they went from melodic, engaging prog rock to bland prog metal that could be any old dime-a-dozen band. I also have them all and never play the two most recent.
    Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kanukisbrave View Post
    The writers in the band would have to visit their past to make me interested in this one... not saying I'm looking for nostalgia, but the last two recordings were so generic that they sounded like anything but Arena. I don't consider myself a hater (own all their studio releases), but I never play the last two....
    ^^^Agree!

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    Member Kanukisbrave's Avatar
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    Not quite as severe, but the last two Pallas recordings also suffered from the same, Alan Reed's input badly missed.

    "Angels die, redemption rages
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    Quote Originally Posted by Progatron View Post
    Completely agree. Like Knight Area, they went from melodic, engaging prog rock to bland prog metal that could be any old dime-a-dozen band. I also have them all and never play the two most recent.
    I totally felt this way about The Seventh Degree Of Separation but The Unquiet Sky was a return to form in my opinion. Still I think they need a break from concept albums and should release an album with longer tracks like Immortal or Pepper's Ghost. The title Double Vision is definitely a nod to the past (it's a track from The Visitor) so maybe they will revisit their older sound on this one.

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    Member Kanukisbrave's Avatar
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    giving credit where credit is due... Listening to "The Unquiet Sky" again for the first time in ages...much better than I remember it... must have been in the wrong mindset at the time I received it... This isn't bad at all....

    The Seventh Degree Of Separation still sucks however....

    "Angels die, redemption rages
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    Member emperorken's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kanukisbrave View Post
    Not quite as severe, but the last two Pallas recordings also suffered from the same, Alan Reed's input badly missed.
    I agree that Arena's last 2 albums are forgettable hard rock. And I'm not too hopeful that the new one will be a return to form. Maybe they will surprise me.

    As for Pallas, I too miss Alan Reed from the band. But I actually think their last album was excellent. Alan also has a new album, "Honey On the Razor's Edge", which is quite good.

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    Member doh's Avatar
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    I still enjoy Arena although not as much as years ago. Pepper's Ghost and Contagion are still my favorites although there are a lot of close seconds.

    For Double Vision, I wonder if it will be a remix or re-release of The Visitor with bonus songs. Double Vision is already a song on The Visitor. They already have a little precedence on that for the way they released all of the Contagion side EPs.

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    Quote Originally Posted by doh View Post
    I still enjoy Arena although not as much as years ago. Pepper's Ghost and Contagion are still my favorites although there are a lot of close seconds.

    For Double Vision, I wonder if it will be a remix or re-release of The Visitor with bonus songs. Double Vision is already a song on The Visitor. They already have a little precedence on that for the way they released all of the Contagion side EPs.
    They will celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Visitor on tour next year so apparently the title Double Vision is a deliberate nod to that album, but my understanding is that it will be a bona fide new album and not a reworking or a sequel to The Visitor.
    Not just a Genesis fanboy.

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    From the Prog Mag website:
    "Arena will kick off a run of shows across the UK and Europe from late April on the Double Vision tour - which will see them perform their 1998 album The Visitor in full

    Arena have announced they’ll play a run of live dates across the UK and Europe from next month.

    The tour has been scheduled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their third studio album*The Visitor*and to accompany the launch of their new record*Double Vision, which will arrive in May.

    Arena will play the whole of the*The Visitor*during the shows, with keyboardist and songwriter Clive Nolan telling*Prog*that*Double Vision*also pays tribute to their 1998 album.

    He says: “There are seven tracks and one of them addresses some of the questions that were never answered on*The Visitor. That one is called*The Legend Of Elijah Shade*and it’s 22-minutes long.”

    Arena will also celebrate*The Visitor*with a 20th Anniversary Remastered Edition,*which is now available for pre-order from the band’s website.

    And as for revisiting the landmark album, Nolan says: “Playing the whole of*The Visitor*again is going to be very interesting because we haven’t done it for 20 years.

    “When I went out with Arena at that time, I had nine keyboards, a set of bass pedals and two 12u rack units full of samplers. Now I’m going out with just two keyboards and I think I can do pretty much everything I did on those nine keyboards!”

    Following the European dates, Arena will cross the Atlantic for a performance at Quebec’s Auditorium Du Cegep FX Garneau on May 26."

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    Member dgtlman's Avatar
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    Tour dates:


    England Friday 20th April The Citadel St Helens, England
    England Saturday 21st April Montgomery Hall Wath, England
    England Friday 27th April The Borderline London, England
    Wales Saturday 28th April Winters End Chepstow, Wales
    Netherlands Friday 4th May Hedon Zwolle, Netherlands
    Germany Saturday 5th May Colos-saal Aschaffenberg, Germany
    Italy Sunday 6th May Club Il Giardino
    Verona, Italy
    Germany Monday 7th May Spectrum Ausburg, Germany
    Belgium Tuesday 8th May Spirit Of 66
    Verviers, Belgium
    Germany Wednesday 9th May Zeche Carl Essen, Germany
    Switzerland Thursday 10th May Z7 Pratteln, Switzerland
    France Friday 11th May La Maroquiniere Paris, France
    Netherlands Saturday 12th May Boerderij Zoetermeer, Netherlands
    France Sunday 13th May Paulette Pub Rock Nancy, France
    Germany Monday 14th May Hypothalamus Rheine, Germany
    Poland Tuesday 15th May Proxima Warsaw, Poland
    Poland Wednesday 16th May Klub U Bazyla Poznan, Poland
    Denmark Thursday 17th May Ishoj Kulturcafe Copenhagen, Denmark
    Sweden Friday 18th May Musikens Hus Gothenburg, Sweden
    Norway Saturday 19th May We Lave Rock, Holm Gard Oslo, Norway
    Norway Sunday 20th May Kimen Kulturhus Trondheim, Norway
    Canada Saturday 26th May Auditorium du Cégep FX Garneau

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    Member doh's Avatar
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    Cool. Marking that down for a May autobuy.

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    One of the most unoriginal 'Prog' bands of all time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve983 View Post
    One of the most unoriginal 'Prog' bands of all time.
    Thanks for chiming in.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Every Prog band is one of the most unoriginal Prog bands of all time except the most original Prog band of all time.

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

    Ugly cover. But I like the fact that they went for an album with less songs that will probably be longer, rather than yet another concept album with short songs.
    Not just a Genesis fanboy.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    They kind of ripped off the Cardboard Amanda cover!

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by LeFrog View Post
    http://www.arenaband.co.uk/double-vision-album-cover/

    Ugly cover. But I like the fact that they went for an album with less songs that will probably be longer, rather than yet another concept album with short songs.
    That's actually really difficult to look at. Like, my eyes couldn't focus on any one part of the face - some optical trickfoonery. I assume that's what they were going for, but I don't want to look at it again.

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    Member emperorken's Avatar
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    After 2 lousy albums I'm still hopeful they will return to form with Double Vision. If it's anything close to The Visitor(their best album), it will be a pleasant surprise.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jamesmanzi View Post
    That's actually really difficult to look at. Like, my eyes couldn't focus on any one part of the face - some optical trickfoonery. I assume that's what they were going for, but I don't want to look at it again.
    Your response makes perfect sense since ideals of physical beauty are supposedly based on confidence in the ability to reproduce. This guy seems genetically messed up.

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    Member Rajaz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by emperorken View Post
    After 2 lousy albums I'm still hopeful they will return to form with Double Vision. If it's anything close to The Visitor(their best album), it will be a pleasant surprise.
    Totally agreed, the last two are huge disappointment: "Separation" and "Sky" are albums that have no identity and lack any kind of cohesiveness and musical flow.

    Part of the problem has been changing vocalist and bass players too many times. But the core of the band remains intact with Pointer, Nolan and Mitchell, they should hopefully deliver with this new one.

    But also agreed, the Artwork is simply horrendous! Not a good selling tool. Have they ever heard or thought about commissioning their covers to a real artist like Roger Dean?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rajaz View Post
    Totally agreed, the last two are huge disappointment: "Separation" and "Sky" are albums that have no identity and lack any kind of cohesiveness and musical flow.
    I thought Separation was bland melodic metal, but I liked The Unquiet Sky. For me the songwriting was much better on this one, although the conceptual nature of the album would have been enhanced by using recurring musical themes like they did so well on The Visitor and Contagion.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rajaz View Post
    But also agreed, the Artwork is simply horrendous! Not a good selling tool. Have they ever heard or thought about commissioning their covers to a real artist like Roger Dean?
    Yes, they used Hugh Syme (of Rush fame) on The Visitor and Immortal.
    Please, no more Roger Dean covers on new prog albums. The Yes reference is so obvious it's a disservice to the new bands that do it.
    Not just a Genesis fanboy.

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    Member Rajaz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeFrog View Post

    Yes, they used Hugh Syme (of Rush fame) on The Visitor and Immortal.
    Please, no more Roger Dean covers on new prog albums. The Yes reference is so obvious it's a disservice to the new bands that do it.
    Oh yes, Hugh Syme can produce startling images and his work is outstanding! Besides his long relationship with Rush, he has a very impressive line of work with Megadeth, Dream Theater and Queeensryche. The Immortal? cover is rather grotesque but for me it sets the tone for Moviedrome that is the album's epic track.

    Now about Roger Dean, the only recent artwork I've seen from him besides Yes & Steve Howe covers, is one for Geoff Downes & Christopher Braide titled "Skyscraper Souls".
    I was only using him as an example as I could have used Hugh Syme or Rodney Matthews, but art and imagery has always been very subjective.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rajaz View Post
    Now about Roger Dean, the only recent artwork I've seen from him besides Yes & Steve Howe covers, is one for Geoff Downes & Christopher Braide titled "Skyscraper Souls".
    I was only using him as an example as I could have used Hugh Syme or Rodney Matthews, but art and imagery has always been very subjective.
    I was also thinking about that Downes/Braide album although I'm sure I've seen other Dean covers over the years I can't remember right now. I think that cover immediately makes you think the music is going to be like Yes although it's probably not the case.
    I know what you meant, you were only using Dean as an example for a decent artist.

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