WELCOME TO THE STAGE

An album that will never be surpassed by Arena. The reason for it? Paul Wrightson sings. The differences with the other live album, Breakfast in Biarritz are striking. And Paul delivers a very, very good job. He lifts the songs to heights never thought. On their previous studio albums, most songs are o.k., nice melodies, soaring guitars, well done keys. But on this albums it seems that these nice hills are transformed into the Himalayas. Stunning. My personal favorites: Sirens, Medusa, Jericho and Solomon. During a gig in 2008, Clive Nolan told that they were going to play Solomon that night the last time in their career. Fortunately, I saw the song on the setlist of an online review of a recent concert. Anyone not familiar with this song is invited to listen to Solomon on this album. The singing is very strong and the guitar solo of John Mitchell at the end is flawless and breathtaking. This solo is the reason electric guitars are made, and this song captures the atmosphere during the concerts of Arena very well. But, Paul Wrightson will never sing again for Arena so we will have to keep this album as a brilliant memory.