SONGS FROM THE LIONS CAGE

I think everything has been said already (and better than I could) in the other reviews so I will just add a few words to describe my feelings towards this album.

But a little background is needed to understand better my review. I'm relatively new to prog (approx 3 years) so I'm catching up violently by listening to all the genres listed in this site.

To make it short, I love this album but sure Mick Pointer is drumming mechanically and sure John Carson lacks a bit of personality (band members Pointer and Nolan agreed that they shouldn't have hired him), but the songs are good and the other members shine (especially Clive Nolan with his big sounding keyboards). A little drawback is the presence of the Crying for Help songs (or should I say interludes ?) that can get tiresome (at least for me) after a while (it's worse in my opinion on the next album - Pride) we can see it as moments to relax, to think of something else before entering a new song. Usually when I listen to this album, I concentrate on the songs and during the Crying For Help moments I do something else.

So I would say that it's certainly not Arena's best album so it's not essential, if you are short on time or money you can skip this one and go for the higher rated albums. If you fell in love with Arena (like me) and want all their albums, you won't go wrong with this one. If you are close-minded (rightfully or not) or hating neo-prog, this album won't change your mind.

Rating : 3 stars (good but non-essential) but if we were in 1995 I would have put 4 (if not 5) stars.

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