Ranking Arena albums from worst to best (paul...

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   Ranking Arena albums from worst to best (Paul Manzi era excluded)
I’ll be ranking albums from worst to best here that are by the neo prog rock band Arena, but the Paul Manzi albums will be excluded, because i havent been following Arena through this era. But……..however, even though i said that i will be excluding the Paul Manzi albums, I am however going to give an honourable mention to the Unquiet Sky album before i begin my rankings. I do have this album and there are some good songs from it
The Unquiet Sky is not as proggy as the albums that i will be ranking, Arena went in a more heavy prog direction on this album. 2 songs that particularly stand out to me are No Change Encounter and Returning the Curse. The former is down to the fact that the synths that are used in this song are often heard in 2nd wave black metal songs, and the latter because of the fact i really like the synth that is used in the song and the melodies that it plays. Other songs that stand out are The Bishop of Lufford and Unexpected Dawn, the latter is a nice soft ballad song.

In 6th place……..for me it’s going to have to be Pepper’s Ghost’s. The last Rob Sowden album, but not his best. There are only a few songs I like from this album like Bedlam Fayre and Opera Fanatica. The rest of the songs from this album are just mediocre at best, sorry, but this was just a weak Arena album imo

In 5th place…….a very tough one to decide, because both these albums are equally as good, but coming second best is going to have to be Pride. If i were to make this list again in 2 or 3 years time, i might be putting Songs From the Lions Cage in this position instead. Empire of a Thousand Days is certainly a catchy song, and Medusa sounds very Mariliion’ish and stands out. As for all those short interval songs however though that appear alternatively on this album and the previous album called “The Cry”, i have not listened to these that much at all. The reason why this is is because, before i bought Arena’s first 2 albums, i bought the EP called The Cry. All of The Cry song’s that appear on this EP, are redone, revamped and sound more better.

In 4th place……...is their debut album Songs From The Lion’s Cage. The best song from this album is definitely Jericho. This song sounds very storytelling’ish at the beginning, and then gradually makes its way into quite the spectacular song. Sounding Marillion’ish at times too. Out in the Wilderness, the opening track, is my second favourite song from this album. As for The Cry songs, please see previous entry.

In 3rd place………...Immortal. This was the first Arena album i ever bought and listened too. I like the darky sounding tracks from this album the most, like Chosen, The Butterfly Man and Ghost in the Firewall. The epic track on here that’s just a little shy of 20 mins called Moviedrome is great to listen to aswell. Takes you on a nice long journey leaping between different moods and emotions.

In 2nd place would have to be………..Contagion. More tracks on this album but shorter songs. Quite alot of variety. I prefer the Salamander track that’s on the EP Contagium more. Witch Hunt is a nice powerful kicking song that almost sounds metal instead of rock. An Angel Falls and Never Ending Night, both borrow the same melody as each other, are nice soft piano songs, and Spectre at the Feast is a nice power ballad. There’s only a few mediocre sounding songs on this album which is why it is a rather powerful one. Cutting the Cards is a nice lengthy progressive song too.

And in 1st place would have to be………...The Visitor, without a shadow of a doubt. I cannot praise this album enough, in actual fact I think it is soooo good, that i implore any prog rock fan to have this album in their collection, otherwise you are missing out on a superb prog rock album. You have 10 songs on this album of plentiful variety, ranging from power songs like Crack in The Ice and A State of Grace. You have soft songs like Pins and Needles and Tears in the Rain (one of my favourite power ballads of all time), lush guitar sounding instrumentals like Elca and Serenity, and some great lengthy progressive songs like The Hanging Tree and the title track.

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Greenmist Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: August 10 2020 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 294	Post Options Post Reply Quote Greenmist Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Ranking Arena albums from worst to best (paul... Posted: May 09 2021 at 11:54
	Ranking Arena albums from worst to best (Paul Manzi era excluded) I’ll be ranking albums from worst to best here that are by the neo prog rock band Arena, but the Paul Manzi albums will be excluded, because i havent been following Arena through this era. But……..however, even though i said that i will be excluding the Paul Manzi albums, I am however going to give an honourable mention to the Unquiet Sky album before i begin my rankings. I do have this album and there are some good songs from it The Unquiet Sky is not as proggy as the albums that i will be ranking, Arena went in a more heavy prog direction on this album. 2 songs that particularly stand out to me are No Change Encounter and Returning the Curse. The former is down to the fact that the synths that are used in this song are often heard in 2nd wave black metal songs, and the latter because of the fact i really like the synth that is used in the song and the melodies that it plays. Other songs that stand out are The Bishop of Lufford and Unexpected Dawn, the latter is a nice soft ballad song. In 6th place……..for me it’s going to have to be Pepper’s Ghost’s. The last Rob Sowden album, but not his best. There are only a few songs I like from this album like Bedlam Fayre and Opera Fanatica. The rest of the songs from this album are just mediocre at best, sorry, but this was just a weak Arena album imo In 5th place…….a very tough one to decide, because both these albums are equally as good, but coming second best is going to have to be Pride. If i were to make this list again in 2 or 3 years time, i might be putting Songs From the Lions Cage in this position instead. Empire of a Thousand Days is certainly a catchy song, and Medusa sounds very Mariliion’ish and stands out. As for all those short interval songs however though that appear alternatively on this album and the previous album called “The Cry”, i have not listened to these that much at all. The reason why this is is because, before i bought Arena’s first 2 albums, i bought the EP called The Cry. All of The Cry song’s that appear on this EP, are redone, revamped and sound more better. In 4th place……...is their debut album Songs From The Lion’s Cage. The best song from this album is definitely Jericho. This song sounds very storytelling’ish at the beginning, and then gradually makes its way into quite the spectacular song. Sounding Marillion’ish at times too. Out in the Wilderness, the opening track, is my second favourite song from this album. As for The Cry songs, please see previous entry. In 3rd place………...Immortal. This was the first Arena album i ever bought and listened too. I like the darky sounding tracks from this album the most, like Chosen, The Butterfly Man and Ghost in the Firewall. The epic track on here that’s just a little shy of 20 mins called Moviedrome is great to listen to aswell. Takes you on a nice long journey leaping between different moods and emotions. In 2nd place would have to be………..Contagion. More tracks on this album but shorter songs. Quite alot of variety. I prefer the Salamander track that’s on the EP Contagium more. Witch Hunt is a nice powerful kicking song that almost sounds metal instead of rock. An Angel Falls and Never Ending Night, both borrow the same melody as each other, are nice soft piano songs, and Spectre at the Feast is a nice power ballad. There’s only a few mediocre sounding songs on this album which is why it is a rather powerful one. Cutting the Cards is a nice lengthy progressive song too. And in 1st place would have to be………...The Visitor, without a shadow of a doubt. I cannot praise this album enough, in actual fact I think it is soooo good, that i implore any prog rock fan to have this album in their collection, otherwise you are missing out on a superb prog rock album. You have 10 songs on this album of plentiful variety, ranging from power songs like Crack in The Ice and A State of Grace. You have soft songs like Pins and Needles and Tears in the Rain (one of my favourite power ballads of all time), lush guitar sounding instrumentals like Elca and Serenity, and some great lengthy progressive songs like The Hanging Tree and the title track.