Arc Of Life, new band featuring Davison, Schellen, Sherwood, Kerzner and Haun

[Squids]

It peaked at #95 on the US iTunes chart, which ain't bad.

Henry

Yeah that's not bad. Are there sub genre charts or something? I thought I read someone say it was at #18 on some chart somewhere. Maybe it was the 18th most controversial Prog vs. Pop album of 2021. Haha

[Squids]

Yes, he produced and engineered it. He says there was band input on that and also he used Derek Shulman as a sounding board. But to my ears it sounds very Billy anyway, regardless of who else weighed in. You can hear him talk more about that here (was linked a few pages ago but who has time for that these days?):

"He really is" !!!! Haha. Thanks man! Nice interview too!

[floyd umma gumma]

By the way - I do enjoy the bass sound on this record - I think my favorite thing is the keyboard moment nearly halfway through "I Want to Know You Better". If they make another record, I'd enjoy a but more space for the keys.

[Bruno Sampaio Barbosa]

So much processing in the vocals. Even Jon Davison sounds synthetic. Unnecessary. I cannot understand this approach / style. Every album Billy puts hand sounds the same insipid, pasteurized... but this one reached a new level in artificiality, even by Billy Sherwood standards. Drums like cellophane paper, vocals recorded on smartphone in a bathroom, horrible guitar tone, thin bass. Truly sonic mess.

[Sean]

Coming soon, the new album...

Billy Sherwood- DRY

(The Day The Plug Ins Failed)

Could be a whole new marketing angle.

Hear the "real" Billy..... Coming to Frontiers in 2022.

[Frumious B]

Henry posted a link to something Sherwood sang on someone else’s album fairly recently where the vocals were relatively unprocessed and he actually sounded perfectly fine. The dude can still sing and sing well without that stuff. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears and I was quite pleasantly surprised. But sometimes people have trouble listening to recordings of their own voice and want to change the sound. John Lennon was apparently notorious for this. He hated listening to himself sing and would frequently ask George Martin to flange him, ADT him etc., anything to make him sound different.

[bondegezou]

Henry posted a link to something Sherwood sang on someone else’s album fairly recently where the vocals were relatively unprocessed and he actually sounded perfectly fine.

https://marcelopaganini.bandcamp.com/

Henry

[bondegezou]

Yeah that's not bad. Are there sub genre charts or something? I thought I read someone say it was at #18 on some chart somewhere. Maybe it was the 18th most controversial Prog vs. Pop album of 2021. Haha

iTunes and Amazon have millions of different charts, but they're not archived. I used http://www.itunescharts.net/ , which does have that facility to look back on the data but not of ever chart variant.

Henry

[Rand Kelly]

Been listening to it on Amazon twice today and I like it. Locked Down and Therefore We Are are great prog songs.

[Aquatarkus]

I've never been that keen on Sherwood's social commentary. His strength is not generally in lyrics.

I'm on my second listen to the album. Albums can grown on one: check back with me in a few weeks. But... if you've heard Sherwood's solo albums, CIRCA:, Prog Collective, etc., then there are note progressions, phrasings, tones that sound very familiar. I think I'd enjoy more if I was less familiar with Sherwood's past work. And it does seem very much Sherwood's album: how much of this was from Davison? Maybe I'm just not picking up on Davison's contributions... There are some verses in "Locked Down" that sound like Davison's to me? Overall, it's middling, IMHO. There are parts that are nice. It gets better as the album goes on. F'rinstance, I'm on "Just in Sight" right now and Haun's got a lovely guitar solo in the middle, and the bass line under the verses is good; or Squids has a nice solo in "I Want to Know You Better", and Schellen is good on this bit that is just percussion and vocals. But then Sherwood's approach to producing the vocals is unappealing (as I've said before, compare how much better Sherwood sounds singing on Marcelo Paganini's Identity Crisis). The lyrics are so-so. There's lots of melodies and riffs that are nothing special. It's weaker than the last several things I've heard with Davison or Squids or Haun (details available on request)... it's weaker than the last 3 new albums I listened to with Sherwood on them. It should be better. A second album with lots of writing input from Haun and Kerzner -- and Squids producing! -- could be great.

Favourite track so far... possibly "Locked Down".

Henry

I was going to write out my thoughts and then I read Henry's review and well, he writes how I feel about arc of life perfectly, so I'm just going to say I agree.

[julioscissors]

Davison has a real ear for interesting melodies; his vocals on this album reminds me a bit of his work on Glass Hammer's "Perilous" or on the re-done "Inconsolable Secret" tracks. It's hard to get your ears around what he's doing, but it's very creative when he's not busy being Jon Anderson.

Of course, I'm assuming he wrote the melodies and not someone else.

Anyway, I got home from my shitty job today and have a couple hours peace while the wife and puppy are napping. And I chose to listen to the Arc of Life album again. I don't even hate the Siri song anymore lol

[Rand Kelly]

Throw Big Generator Yes,Circa and Glass Hammer into a blender and that’s what I’m hearing here. I dig it.

[julioscissors]

Throw Big Generator Yes,Circa and Glass Hammer into a blender and that’s what I’m hearing here. I dig it.

On the negative side - as much as I'm liking this album - "I Want To Know You Better" needs to be bent over and guillotined.

That said - this is the OYE-era album that Yes should've done. "Therefore We Are" is so tasty.

[Sean]

IWTKYB would be a great tune for kids. Sort of like No Way We Can Lose.

[julioscissors]

IWTKYB would be a great tune for kids. Sort of like No Way We Can Lose.

lol "Man in the Moon" could go on the Kiddie Yes album too

[Dan Roth]

First song from their upcoming second album:

[Aquatarkus]

Billy Sherwood should not be allowed near a mic or a mixing board.

[auxfnx]

At least Jon is taking the lead role on vocals here!

[bondegezou]

First song from their upcoming second album:

Better than the first album, weaker than The Traveler (for another album with Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison and Dave Kerzner).

[dropforge]

Billy Sherwood should not be allowed near a mic or a mixing board.

[Squids]

Hey guys! New Arc music video coming for "All Things Considered". The new album is a bit proggier than the first one. It is still primarily Billy writing and producing for this one. We wanted to get together and write as a band but Covid got in the way. Third album that's the plan. In the meantime, if you liked the first Arc of Life album I think you'll enjoy this new one!

Also, side note here, I've got a new song from the second disc of my solo album "The Traveler" that features Jon Davison on lead vocals and there's a moment on it that reminds me of Yes's late 70s GFTO era. I know some PE ppl ordered the special editions so I'll be curious what you think!

Here's the info on the new Arc of Life album:

Arc of Life, a progressive rock group featuring vocalist Jon Davison, bassist/vocalist Billy Sherwood, drummer Jay Schellen, keyboardist Dave Kerzner, and guitarist Jimmy Haun, have announced the upcoming release of their sophomore album, "Don't Look Down" on November 18, 2022. A new single, 'All Things Considered' is out today. Listen to it on your preferred streaming service or jump straight to YouTube HERE: https://youtu.be/RqVP4_dDdHg

Stream the single and pre-order/save "Don't Look Down" HERE: https://orcd.co/arcoflifenew

"Don't Look Down" Tracklist:
1. Real Time World
2. Don't Look Down
3. All Things Considered
4. Colors Come Alive
5. Let Live
6. Arc Of Life

Line-up:
Jon Davison - Vocals
Jimmy Haun - Guitars
Billy Sherwood - Bass and vocals
Dave Kerzner - Keyboards
Jay Schellen - Drums

“Don’t Look Down” Tracklisting:
1. Real Time World
2. Don’t Look Down
3. All Things Considered
4. Colors Come Alive
5. Let Live
6. Arc Of Life

Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/ArcOfLifeRockBand

[Rajaz]

Any collaboration under the Billy Sherwood umbrella will sound as a mix of World Trade-OYE by Yes-Conspiracy. But I have to say that his Citizen albums are quite out of that norm and IMHO very good.
And on the other hand, his Prog Collective albums are by themselves thanks to all the guest appearances by other prog artists that provide their own signature to a sound blended with Billy's production. This new ARC album is an improvement if this preview keeps that trend going.

[jrw]

Hey guys! New Arc music video coming for "All Things Considered". The new album is a bit proggier than the first one. It is still primarily Billy writing and producing for this one. We wanted to get together and write as a band but Covid got in the way. Third album that's the plan. In the meantime, if you liked the first Arc of Life album I think you'll enjoy this new one!

Also, side note here, I've got a new song from the second disc of my solo album "The Traveler" that features Jon Davison on lead vocals and there's a moment on it that reminds me of Yes's late 70s GFTO era. I know some PE ppl ordered the special editions so I'll be curious what you think!

Here's the info on the new Arc of Life album:

Arc of Life, a progressive rock group featuring vocalist Jon Davison, bassist/vocalist Billy Sherwood, drummer Jay Schellen, keyboardist Dave Kerzner, and guitarist Jimmy Haun, have announced the upcoming release of their sophomore album, "Don't Look Down" on November 18, 2022. A new single, 'All Things Considered' is out today. Listen to it on your preferred streaming service or jump straight to YouTube HERE: https://youtu.be/RqVP4_dDdHg

Stream the single and pre-order/save "Don't Look Down" HERE: https://orcd.co/arcoflifenew

"Don't Look Down" Tracklist:
1. Real Time World
2. Don't Look Down
3. All Things Considered
4. Colors Come Alive
5. Let Live
6. Arc Of Life

Line-up:
Jon Davison - Vocals
Jimmy Haun - Guitars
Billy Sherwood - Bass and vocals
Dave Kerzner - Keyboards
Jay Schellen - Drums

“Don’t Look Down” Tracklisting:
1. Real Time World
2. Don’t Look Down
3. All Things Considered
4. Colors Come Alive
5. Let Live
6. Arc Of Life

Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/ArcOfLifeRockBand

I heard an interview with Billy where he said the track Arc of Life is like 15 minutes or so. It was ready for the previous album but the record company said no. That’s my interpretation of what he said.

[Squids]

There were more songs Billy and Jon had written than were on the first Arc of Life album. Some songs they write end up with Yes, of course, but some they wrote together while on tour ended up on the second Arc album.

[Frumious B]

I mean, it kinda sounds about the same as the first record to me. Maybe it’s a little more firmly in the “prog” sphere, but it still has that cold, dead, sterile “smothered in goo” sound with nothing especially interesting or memorable happening anywhere. Some prog records are known for their “ear candy”. This is more like bubblegum flavored ice cream full of Skittles covered in Fun Dip. The vocals are so heavily processed that I can barely even understand the lyrics. I see Facebook ads for AI marketing avatars that sound more human to me. I think Davison says something in there about “station to station” so maybe I should listen to that Bowie record instead.