PRIDE

I bought this album after I had heard Arena's subsequent albums "The visitor" and "Immortal?" Almost inevitably, it is not quite up to the standard of these albums, which were a natural development of the band's music. That said, I suspect if I had heard this album before those, I would have considered it innovative and inspired.

There are some great tracks. "Medusa", "Fool's gold" and "Sirens" all more than hint at what was to come, and stand up well in their own right. The neo-prog sound, Clive Nolan's complex layers of keyboards, and (although John Mitchell had yet to arrive), the fine guitar work are all already there. The song structures are often complex with regular changes of time and atmosphere.

The album includes further "Crying for help" interludes, which were later grouped together on "The cry" EP.

If there is a slight weakness, it is in the song writing. For me the songs are generally not as strong as those which came later. It's all relative though, and this is a very good album.

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