SONGS FROM THE LIONS CAGE

What we have here are a future classic album in the progressive and symphonic genre. It has classical tracks such as "Out Of The Wilderness", "Valley Of The Kings" and the epic masterpiece "Solomon". Steve Rothery of MARILLION is doing a guest appearance on guitar on "Crying for Help IV". - ARENA was formed by the former MARILLION drummer Mick Pointer, who's also responsible for all of the song writing together with the keyboard player Clive Nolan (PENDRAGON, SHADOWLAND etc.). Keith More is doing a great job on his guitars. This album is very reminiscent to the FISH-era MARILLION albums but there's also reminiscences to both GENESIS and YES. - The music, the album cover, the musicianship and the production is top notch and there isn't really anything to complain about. If you liked the FISH-era MARILLION there's no doubt that you'll love this album as well. Recommended!

This is another neo progressive album in the MARILLION and PENDRAGON style. Many parts here (guitar solos, drums and keyboards) really sound like MARILLION in the FISH-era. (end of "Out of the Wilderness", "Valley of the Kings", "Jericho" ...)

"Crying For Help I" is a beautiful acoustic guitar track a la Steve HACKETT. "Crying For Help II" is a very symphonic track having a classical genre. (harpsichord-like) "Crying For Help III" is a floating new age track a la ENYA. "Midas Vision" has a GILMOUR-esque guitar solo that can be compared to "Time" on "Dark Side of the Moon".

Clive Nolan's moog solos a la MARILLION are very melodic and catchy. As a composer, he still shows us here that he can produce miscellaneous amazing sounds and patterns. Everything is never bland, rather catchy and addictive. Lead vocals are very emotive, reminding the singer FISH (MARILLION).

The best song IMO is "Crying For Help IV": it is a Roger WATERS' "Amused to "Death's" Miracle-esque jewel: listen to this floating organ + echoed piano notes; attend the song progression and the emotion from the lead vocals!! This is really OUTSTANDING!! This song ends with an excellent melodic MARILLION-esque guitar solo. We have bits of quintessence: on the last track "Solomon", at 8:00 and 10:00!! Just listen to that incredible bass!! Unbelievable!! The guitars, drums and keyboards complete those quintessential bits. WOAH!

ARENA makes a type of prog that grabs you by the throat. Call it muscle prog, hard prog, it's altogether a powerhouse of keyboards, scorching guitars, bass and drums that hit you in the right places, dramatic vocals and catchy melodious musical passages bearing the purest Clive Nolan signature. This is simple prog, however: with no frills or fancy guitar noodling à la FLOWER KINGS, for example. "Jericho", with its slow build-up to an anthemic finale, is a fine example of the style the band would go on to perfect on their subsequent albums. Other notable tunes are the opening track "Out of the Wilderness", "Valley of the Kings", "Solomon" and the devestatingly beautiful slow number "Crying for Help IV" (which will be slightly modified on the E.P. "The Cry") - my favourite twilight song as I like to call it. Although a far cry from "The Visitor", "Songs from the Lion's Cage" is a stunning debut album and as such is sure to go down in the annals of prog history.

I was happy the first time I got a cassette version of the band which was formed by ex marillion's drummer Mick Pointer and Pendragon's key member Clive Nolan. This album is another piece of what so called "neo progressive" music that really fit my musical taste. I love Mick Pointer not because of his drumming capability, but his involvement with Marillion, my favorite band. Nevertheless, this debut album of Arena is excellent. "Out of The Wilderness" is a track with heavy keyboard playing and some guitar, up-beat tempo. This is a typical nice track to be played after you wake up in the morning. Powerful. This album has a series of "Crying for Help" piece that is continued in their second album "Pride" as well. You must try "Crying for Help II" (track 4) which represents a heart breaking piece with deep touch on classical music. This track is a very nice instrumental music. Once it's done, the more energetic piece of music flows naturally to next track "Jericho" which then became their favorite live track. For those of you who like Hackett style of guitar playing, you will definitely enjoy "Crying for Help IV" where Steve Rothery of Marillion contributes on guitar part. This track also reminds me to "Chelsea Monday" from marillion's Script for A Jester's Tear. "Solomon" is a brilliant decision by the band to put this track as a closing to the album.

A roaring debut, with the wisdom of Solomon

Arena's first album borrows more from the band members' previous affiliations and influences than later albums did. There's less of the band's own "identity" which would be stamped so definitively on later albums such as "The visitor" and "Contagion". It's still an excellent album though, with many fine (neo) prog rock moments.

The opening track, "Out of the wilderness" has an early Marillion feel, with "Fugazi" like marching themes, and various time changes. "Valley of the kings" continues the Marillion sound, perhaps with hints of Gabriel era Genesis. There's some fine synthesiser from Clive Nolan, who moves to organ for the excellent "Jericho", a track which once again has an infectious marching rhythm.

The closing track, "Solomon" is often cited as the band's finest track. It is certainly still a live favourite, and at over 14 minutes, a well structured prog rock masterpiece. For those who like their prog to include synthesiser and guitar solos, time changes, a story line, fine vocals, and a majestic ending, "Solomon" meets the bill on all fronts.

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

An excellent first effort from the band which demonstrated their vast potential, more than fulfilled on later albums. Essential for "Solomon" alone, but don't let that blind you to the quality of the other tracks.

This is an absolute classic and an absolute must have for all who like neo-prog music. In overall sound it is somewhat similar to the better work of Marillion (Fish-era) with highpitched guitar work and a voice reminiscant of Fish in his better days, also influences of Pendragon, IQ and Genesis are hearable. The sound is carried by Clive's distinctive keyboard sound and some great guitarpassages. The crying for help songs are queit intermezzo's between some groundbraking and more hardhitting epic's and provide a counterpoint in which they explore a more easylistening sound. My favourites are "Out of The wilderness"which emediatly graps you by the throat and leaves you longing for more, "Jericho"with an anthemic final after a queit intro, they've explored that field also on following albums (Enemy without from The Visitor has the same quality). And of course "Solomon" which has all the trademarks to become a prog-classic. Epic size (14+ minutes) several stages, instrumental passages, solo's and a great voice. Solomon is togheter with Grendel (Marillion). Sirens (also Arena) Harvest of Souls (IQ) and Narcissus (Threshold) my all-time favourite track when it comes to the neo-prog sound. To all out there, If you like neo-progressive rock music, this is an Album you must have, to all who care not about neo-prog, try and listen to this. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED.

This is one of the most popular bands among the neo-prog genre. Leaded by ex-Marillion drummer Mick Pointer and Pendragon's keyboard player Clive Nolan, the main influences were from those bands although not sounding as cheesy as Pendragon.

Honestly, although I like neo-prog a lot I think the best music of the genre were made by IQ, Pallas, 80's Marillion and early Pendragon. Some bands have followed that trend but they tend to sound derivative. Arena is no exception, on this record they sound a lot like Marillion, even singer John Carson sounds like Fish.

The material on this album is strong though and most of the tracks have become classics of 90's prog. In my opinion the highlight is the track Crying for Help IV which features Marillion's Steve Rothery on lead guitar. His solo on that song is simply fantastic, one of his most passionate performances I've heard so far.

I have rated this album with three stars as it is kind of derivative neo-prog. It almost got four stars with Steve Rothery's great guitar solo.

By this review I start my collaboration in ProgArchives...

Well, in my opinion, Arena is the classical kind of so-called Neo-Progressive (sometimes I call it "Neon-Progressive") sub-genre band with modern digital-keyboards-oriented sound, howling guitars, pompous melodies and some definite percent of "wanna-be nature". It's all not saying that I don't like this kind of bands (Arena, Grey Lady Down, Pendragon, The Flower Kings, etc), but thinking seriously I never rate them with glorious and much-more innovative names like Yes, Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator or King Crimson, or even with also very innovative and so unique modern bands like Inquire or After Crying. I simply like those neo-bands for their bright melodies and juicy sound, but I don't wait a lot of intellectual depth or especial thoughtfulness from them - I guess this is the kind of relaxing music for Prog-Listeners...

By this moment I have all the studio albums by Arena except their very latest one (2005), plus a couple of their live-albums. And in every CD I have among even bunches of excellent compositions I found at least two unnecessary filler-tracks, even on their conceptual VISITOR-album. Also Arena never had really strong, sincere and impressive vocalist. But the really outstanding things I admit for Arena are just their ability to create so nice and juicy melodies and brilliant technical skills by Clive Nolan and both guitarist which ever took part in the band's records.

The debut album by Arena was released in the very actual moment for this kind of music where it was very good time for modern Progressive bands - just in the mid-90s many of them have released their most successful records, also many veterans (King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Peter Hammill, Yes) were in good activity again. So Arena has caught this "wind of Progressive fluids"...

The albums named SONGS FROM THE LION'S CAGE (similarly to their next album) is constructed by two sorts of compositions: every second track was the part of "Crying For Help"-serial, and frankly speaking I easily could live without all of them - I honestly consider them as unnecessary and unattractive musical pieces, especially to compare with such brilliant pieces as Valley Of The Kings or Solomon. The mentioned tracks are the longest and the most Progressive (in the full sense of this word) on the album. Valley Of The Kings is my personal favorite track among all the Arena's records: it's consisted of several parts, very moody and groovy, contains simply fairy-beautiful melodies, complex rhythms (great work on drums, Mr. Pointer!) especially the electric- guitar parts - they are pretty amazing (thanks for Keith More)! Solomon also has a brilliant electric-guitar solo in its coda. This composition is also constructed by several parts, is very dramatic, impressive and moody.

Another highlights on the album are the half-ballad Jericho with so gentle and mellow beginning and unexpectedly rocking continuation, plus the opening hard-rocking track Out Of The Wilderness with rather mystically dark atmosphere and gorgeous guitar solo in the end. The lead vocalist John Carlson sings so tragically in places here, pretty close to Fish on the early Marillion's records. (I don't worry to be seemed quite unoriginal admitted that at some places Arena is damn like to mid-80s Marillion as by the sound, as by the melodies, as by the style of performance).

Though I haven't been so impressed by Midas Vision (it seems very standard and uninspiring to myself personally) and, as I've already mentioned, by four parts of Crying For Help, even by the part number 4 with Rothery's guest guitar on it.

Anyway, I suggest this album for all who don't mind Neo-Progressive, but especially for newcomers of this sub-genre, because SONGS FROM THE LION'S CAGE is absolutely not difficult to get in and would be friendly-listenable for those who don't have experience in Progressive at all.

Much overrated debut from this neoprog outfit with everchanging line-ups. There's a lot of powerplay, but the compositions lack focus and sharpness. It seems like they did some overtime to have at least three songs of epic proportions. The Crying For Help concept does not work due to a lack of dramatic credibility. Keith More is not the most suspenseful guitarist in the world, Steve Rothery deserves more attention with his one solo. Overall, an album of derivative neoprog (nothing wrong about that) where sadly enough adventure's gone missing.

Yes , I give this one a 5-star rating. Why? Because all the tracks are written and performed at a constant high level. And above all: because this album meant the return of the old Marillion. This is true neo-prog of the early 80's at its best. And of course, the influences of Marillion, Pendragon (very logical, don't you think?) and Genesis are very obvious, but which prog-group isn't influenced by one of those great names in the business. And I really don't care that John Carson sounds like Fish. He sings with a lot of emotion, and that is what really counts. There are no bad songs on this album. The songs that mean the most to me are "Crying for help IV"and "Solomon". Especially "Solomon" is a classic prog-song. Beautifully sung and the instrumental interlude is outstanding. Although I also like the vocal performances of Paul and Rob, I think it's a shame that John isn't in the band anymore.

Arena is a great band and this debut album was a classic right away.

Arena? Guarenteed every time.

Even 10 years after the launching of Songs from the Lions Cage, the sound's fantastically bombastic. Powerful prog done with experience and a keen sense of melody.

Fans of complex and pushed-forward progressive, this is not for you. Arena never really invented a genre, instead they improved a formula popularized by Marillion by pumping up the VU meter on the producer's mixing console. Bigger sound and harder edge, néo-prog needed that intensively. The néo-prog genre tends to be more sappy, melancolic and generally more on the softer side. While Pendragon, Marillion, IQ, Illuvatar and other such are betting on harmony, softeness and many times marshmallow-lame-afternoon-soap- opera, Arena is standing on the edge of mental anxiety and questionning. This gives the lyrics a dramatic sense but on the darker side of life. On paper this could sound rather negative or depressive, but with the music it takes a real sense.

With the Visitor album, this album is at the top of the shelf. Why? The melodies are so keyboard-catchy and the songs are longer with some of the best they made. Give a listen to Solomon, Valley of the Kings and the Crying for Help suite. The melodies are simply carved for life in your head. Nolan and Pointer are really proving themselves to be a killer team as time goes by, but the icing is that it's been like that since the beginning!

If you're aiming for Arena be sure to know what you want. Don't expect complexity or stratospheric performances and long solos. This is not a performance band. The songs are done with energy and professionalism BUT the main goal of Arena is to entertain with good melodies. If you want catchy stuff with punch, passion and more attitude, you got it.

Despite being a Fish era inspired by Marillion record, this album stands for one of the best of the 90's. Arena really tooked an old recipe and shot some grandeur steroids in it's veins. This was supposed to be a one-time experience!

This records stands as a standard in the 90's renaissance of the genre. If you see it, don't think by the cover that it's another obscure band, this one's for real.

No doubt about the qualities of the members (including guest musician Steve Rothery) but this prog lacks any emotion and sounds so derivative! Of course the compositions sound dynamic featuring lots of catchy melodies and exciting keyboard soli but after 10 minutes I'm longing for some warm acoustic guitar or moving flute-Mellotron, what a bombastic prog wall paper!

In the middle-nineties this album was a fresh breeze for everyone who missed the Marillion of the eighties. Even when the Marillion of Hogarth has got great albums, the sound of Fish has gone after his last participation with the band. Well, Arena is the project of Mick Pointer, the first drummer of Marillion who joined Clive Nolan (the keyboard player of Pendragon). This album sounds like restarting Marillion one more time, even the singer reminds Fish to us a lot. However, there are some important differences between Marillion and Arena. The sound of the band is more rocker in some way, and the guitar arrangements are much closer to David Gilmour than Steve Rothery or Steve Hackett. Also Clive Nolan is a keyboard player of the school of Rick Wakeman, not Tony Banks. All this makes an interesting cocktail, and the album sounds like an explosion of great melodies, good arrangements and powerful bases. The songs (titles and words) are related to the Bible (specially the Old Testament), but everything is used like metaphors inspired by the figures of Solomon, Midas or the city of Jericho. Out of this, there are four pieces (and just the last one has got words) called Crying for Help (I,II, III y IV). These songs are part of a great album that Arena had in mind for those years, but they finally appared in this way: four in this album, four in the second. There is an atmosphere of desperation along the tracks of the album, perfectly illustrated with the phone that rings and no one answers. Yes, I know some of you could say "The Wall", but even when the influence is there, the telephone is the perfect symbol for the modern society: no one will help you when you´ll call someone. "Solomon" is a wonderful epic that is the best song of the album, with variations of rhythm, "gilmourian" solos and instrumental explosions. Well, if you are on of those who use to say: "oh, no, neo prog again", you will probably miss a great album just coz a prejudice. If you have open ears, try at least to hear it.

ARENA's debut is also one of their best attempt, along with follow-up "Pride" and the most recent, ambitious "Pepper's Ghost". Ex-MARILLION's Pointer turns to be a better drummer he was thought, Nolan shines in his composer's talent, other guys are doing their best as well. Supergroup's name makes it clear: we're having an arena prog here! Pompous, a bit hair-metal and loud, but isn't it the new word in the world of Neo-Prog introverts? Songs and epics ("Solomon" is obviously the main gem of the whole debut) are interrupted with short instrumental interludes, and this is a good scheme to keep listeners attentive. Strongly recommended to all Neo-Prog aficionados!

It´s not a perfect masterpice...But almost!!!

This fisrt Arena was wonderful! The only two members remaining now of this release are the keyboardist Clive Nolan and the ex-Marillion drummer Mick Pointer, but the feeling, the great compositions and good lyrics of all the later Arena´s albums are here yet. Even the Keith More guitar sounds a little similar to the Jon Mitchell´s one...

Maybe the singer John Carson is very similar to Fish sometimes, but it doesn´t matter, because he sang with a lot of feeling, and the most important fact, he sang great songs! I really like the work of every member of the group in this album, but it´s not a problem for me, because I like the members of the other albums too!!!

The only weak point I find in this album are two songs: Crying for Help III (a little bit repetitive...) and Midas Vision (not bad at all, bot doesn´t reach the great level of all the other songs of the album...)

Best songs: Out of The Wilderness (marvellous final choirs!), Valley of the Kings (very complete song with an epic ending!), Jericho (the perfect neo-progressive song, and the best of the album in my opinion), Crying for Help IV (just very beautiful, with a superb Steve Rothery´s guitar solo...) and Solomon (another epic, grandilocuent song, with a impressive instrumental section in the middle!).

Conclusion: A MUST FOR NEO-PROGRESSIVE FANS!!! In my opinion, very better than other bands like IQ or Pendragon...

My rating: ****1/2

I listened to this album for the first time in 1997. I don`t have it in my collection. I listened to it because one of my brothers has it. It was given to him as a gift by a German friend who my brother met when he lived and worked in Germany for one year. I was curious to listen to this album as I read a sticker in the CD cover which says "Former Marillion`s drummer Mick Pointer`s New Band" or something like that.The CD looks more like an independent release, I mean, like an album released by the band with their own economic resources and not by a major record label, but maybe I`m wrong. Anyway, this band has their supporters and fans, and I also support the idea of "creative freedom" for bands.

This album has some interesting things, a good recording and mixing, good musicians and some good songs, but I couldn`t be very much interested in buying their new albums. The atmospheres are somewhat "dark", both in music and in lyrics. The band is obviously very influenced by other Progressive Rock bands and by Marillion`s music too, IMO. Maybe some of the Neo-Progressive bands have to work harder than old Progressive Rock bands to have an own identity. Maybe this was the case in my interest with Arena`s albums.

I didn`t like Mick Pointer`s drums playing in MARILLION`s first album, "Script for a Jester`s Tear". I think that at that time the band had good reasons for the change of drummer, but when I listened to this Arena`s first album I was impressed in how good Mick Pointer was playing the drums. He improved a lot in his playing since he left Marillion, and his playing is one of the more positive things in this album. The keyboard player, Clive Nolan, is also very good.

Attention Marillion fans! The long lost album made right before Fish left the band has been found! Okay, all jokes aside, the first Arena album does host a lead singer greatly influenced by Fish which makes this album all the more queer. Suffice it to say, if not for Clive Nolan's fantastic keyboards, (the best in the Neoprog field?) this album for me would have gone into the 'to be sold' pile toot sweet. Now, I'm not knocking Neo like a load of prog fans do. I happen to really, really like IQ and early Marillion, but with all the riffery that goes on in this album it's too close to cheesy metal for my tastes. If I want metal, I'll listen to bands that don't have the cheese factor. Yeah, you know what I mean. I can just picture Spinal Tap and all the 80's hair bands playing this sort of thing with keyboards. Makes me cringe! What sets this particular album apart is the nice instrumental breaks between songs. Kinda gives you a breather from all the bombast. Standouts for me are 'Valley of The Kings' and 'Solomon'. Both songs have excellent interplay between Nolan's cascade of keyboards and just a smidgen of cliche guitar work via Keith More. Otherwise, it's wankery and I don't like it. A solid 3 star affair for me and probably 4 or more for huge fans of Neo. Okay Fish, you can stop using John Carson as an alias ;-p.

It makes me disheartened to see Arena get so much praise for their later albums like The Visitor and Contagion while I see the ratings for their two beginning albums, Songs from the Lion's Cage and Pride dwindle and fall yet lower in rating. It is a shame that these albums are neglected so much because I consider them to be Arena's most accomplished albums. And I believe one must own both Songs from the Lion's Cage and Pride to fully appreciate Arena. The metal aspects of Arena's later years are visible here, but are blended with a Pendragon-esque style of Neo-Prog which--to my liking--overshadows the metal influences somewhat, but not to the point where they can't be heard.

Songs is one of my favorite and most listened to Neo-Prog albums, but it is not without its flaws. The main and distinguished songs are separated by interludes increasing in length which carry on a basic theme of desperation, mostly without lyrics. Herein lies the main problem with the album, as these interludes I find mostly boring. The album would be better without them. Now, the only other weak part of the album is "Midas Vision," a rather average rock song which doesn't do much to further the momentum of the album. The rest of the Songs from the Lion's Cage is pure gold and nearly makes up for those missteps.

"Out of the Wilderness" and "Valley of the Kings" are two mid-length epics that pack an immense punch in what seems like a short time. They both have chord changes and nuances that give them both a suitably "epic" feel, which is something that occurs more throughout the album and continuing on Pride. "Jericho" begins as a reflective ballad, but toward the end, it rears its head to recall the bombast of the two earlier songs. The true glory of Songs from the Lion's Cage is the closer, "Solomon." This track goes through so many movements, all of which just yearn to be remembered for years. Of all the epic-length tracks (13-14+ minutes) that Neo-Prog has provided us, this one is high up on my list, perhaps at #1 if I were to rank them.

While I don't feel right giving a perfect score to an album with several perceivable flaws, I enjoy so much of Songs from the Lion's Cage that I would be dishonest to give it anything less than 4 stars. For those who see little of value in Neo- Prog, I don't see this album changing your mind at all, but for fans of the genre, Songs is a must have. And for those of you enamored with Arena's later albums, I compel you to give Songs a try!

4.5/5

Arena's debut album is a top quality offering from ex-Marillion drummer Mick Pointer and keyboard player Clive Nolan, abley supported by Keith More on guitar, Cliff Orsi bass and John Carson vocals. There are five excellent tracks linked very cleverly by crying for help parts I to IV. Out of the Wilderness begins the album and is for me the weakest on the album with a (dare I say) early Marillion sound to it. Next up Valley of the Kings is a long meandering track of top quality. After pt.II of crying for help comes Jericho which I think is the strongest lyrically on the album. Midas Vision is a hard hitting tune, penultimately comes the fourth and final part of crying for help leading into Solomon the final track and still a classic regularly played live.

My only real critisism of this album would be the fact that in places it does have a similar sound to the early Marillion sound. For that it loses a star.

There is nothing quite like the thrill of discovering a new band which just presses all the right buttons for you. When I came across this album in 1996 I was struck by the sheer melodic power it exuded, and eleven years on its impact is undiminished. Long, carefully structured pieces are interspersed with the quieter 'Crying For Help' tracks - a structure mirrored in 1996's follow-up 'Pride'. Whilst being initially a little irritating, I came to realise that the senses required these musical breathing spaces to prepare for the next course of sonic delights.

In my view the album is worth having for the first two major pieces alone. 'Out of the Wilderness' sets the tone for what is to come with its strong interplay of Keith More's guitar and Clive Nolan's keyboards, culminating in the kind of melodic guitar solo that makes you glad you are alive. But that is surpassed by 'Valley Of The Kings', probably one of my favourite prog tracks. The grandeur and arrogance of the pharaohs is brought to life as the song progresses through initial verses into a glorious passage of layered keyboards, before building slowly into another guitar-driven climax. Through 'Jericho', 'Midas Vision' and the album's longest track 'Solomon', the formula is repeated but the riffs remain original and memorable. Once this music gets its hooks into you, it is hard to shake it off.

Such a debut release is hard to live up to and certainly Pride fell short of the mark. But this remains a five star album for me, and is a must hear for anyone interested in Nolan's other projects eg. Pendragon, Shadowland.

A great debut album!

Since I got to know ARENA through this site The Visitor , Immortal? and Contagion were the first albums I purchased, because they had the best ratings. After having listened to those albums many times I started really liking this band and decided to buy the rest of their studio albums.

Songs From The Lion's Cage was a very pleasant surprise. The first thing I noticed between The Visitor and Immortal? was that ARENA had replaced their lead singer. And I must admit I was initially impressed more by the voice of Paul Wrightson than by the voice of Rob Sowden. However: I must cut Rob Sowden some slack, since he has proven to be a very talented singer who fits well to ARENA's music. What I didn't know was that ARENA had yet another lead vocalist on their debut album called John Carson. His voice is quite similar to Paul's and even reminds me of Fish. And we have Mick Pointer (ex-Marillion) playing the drums, so that ARENA's debut album even sounds quite a bit Marillionesque might be more than a coincidence.

What I like especially about Songs From The Lion's Cage is the variety in songs. Some songs are merely instrumental and very "spacey" (e.g. Crying For Help III ) and this stands in great contrast with the heavier edged ones. (e.g. Solomon )

Conclusion: All and all Songs From The Lion's Cage is a debut to be proud of and was already an indication of what was yet to come.

A solid 4 stars well deserved!

Arena is one of my preferred Neo-prog band. On this album, all songs are composed by Mick Pointer (ex-Marillion) and Clive Nolan (a great songwriter and a keyboard player I like very much). Rothery will even be featured on the guitar on a small piece in this album (but what a solo!). Clive and Mick are ther cement of this very good band (studio or live - I've seen them once in our prog Mecca in Belgium : Spirit Of 66 - thanks Francis). They are still in the line-up as I write this review.

The album structure is a bit strange : some long numbers interrupted by the "Crying For Help" theme.

The opener is a brilliant number. It is a complex song with an extraordinary intro : Floydian background, Crimson hypnotic guitar riff. Very promising, indeed. This is a typical Arena song. Very strong and powerful. Carson sounds at times as Fish when he tries to match his so delicate and subtle voice. This is probably the number during which the Marillion filiation is the more obvious (especially in the wonderful final section).

The first "Crying For Help" is an acoustic guitar interlude that reminds me of "Mood For A Day" (Yes) or "Horizons" (Genesis).

"Valley Of The King" is not as good as the opener, but still features a great Nolan on the keyboards. He is really amazing. The tortured vocals, are rather Gabriel oriented. A good song but a bit of additional "grandeur" would have been welcomed. The number lacks a bit in personality. An orgy of keyboards is not always sufficient to make a great song.

"Crying II" : sounds as a medieval madrigal. One could easily imagine the picturesque scene of the some noble ladies listening to a group of troubadour during the the middle ages. Very light music (like Tull at times).

The start of "Jericho" is extremely melodic. Carson sounding as ... Carson who is pretty good by the way. This is a very nice and quiet song which evolves to a similar sound (around half of it) as in "Eleven Earl Of Mar". The finale is truely bombastic and sounds finally as Arena. They should keep on like that, really.

"Crying III" : sounds 100% like Land's End. Same ocean-like -oriented music. Only perturbated at the end by a telephone ring, then a joke : "This is the problem line, we're not in right now, so please leave a message". Nice break to relax.

It fades into "Midas Vision", which is a catchy and poppier song. On the heavier edge of the band. The guitar break is fully Gilmouresque. This is another good song from this rather encouraging debut.

"Crying IV" : is a very mellowish and melancholic track for most of its part. It truely sounds miserable for about three minutes. And then, we'll have this fantastic guitar solo from Mr. Steve Rothery himself. Really brilliant. Again, David is around the corner.

The best track of the album is : "Solomon". Arena will be used to produced a brilliant closing numbers.

The first guitar break is made of pure Floydian sounds (Gilmour era). Fortunately is sounds as Arena during the vocal sections. It is rather grandiose and bombastic during the long and powerful finale. This will be a trademark of the band for other epics to come. This long piece of music (almost fifteen minutes) is extremely pleasant and varied. By no means boring for a second. Two-third of it are really personal and defines the Arena style.

This first album indicates that they had not yet made a choice about their future sound. They hesitate between Marillion, Floyd and Genesis which is fine with me since those are ones of my most beloved bands. This first album, still is very good; Arena will need some time to develop their genre. They will have a long career (still in progress) which I will be delighted to comment all the way through.

Four stars for these very good debut.

I feel that "Songs From The Lion's Cage" their debut record, and the follow up "Pride" are good albums just not too essential if you know what I mean.Their excellent albums start with "The Visitor" in my opinion. ARENA was formed by the former MARILLION drummer Mick Pointer, and the former PENDRAGON keyboardest Clive Nolan.The band thanks (in the liner notes) PALLAS for the use of thier mellotron, Fudge Smith, Peter Gee, Nick Barrett and Karl Groom. Tracy Hitchings would add backup vocals to this album. I would also mention that the "Classic Rock Society" voted this as the best album for 1995.

"Out of the Wilderness" opens with mellotron as guitars and synths trade off solos. I can't get over how much the singer John Carson sounds like Fish ! The keys and drumming are outstanding. Some excellent soaring guitar as well. "Crying for Help I" consists of Hackett like acoustic guitar melodies. "Valley Of The Kings" is dominated by synths and drums in the intro. Some aggressive guitar follows as the vocals come in. The keys swirl about and the mellotron is fantastic ! Theatrical vocals follow. "Crying for Help II" features light keys as flute melodies join in. "Jericho" has some sad lyrics and church organ. The drumming is crisp, and we get waves of mellotron 5 minutes in. The song does becomes a positive uptempo number. "Crying for Help III" has some good piano with synth washes that create a haunting soundscape.

"Midas Vision" has a nice heavy intro as passionate Fish-like vocals come in. Scorching guitar solos come and go. "Crying for Help IV" features piano and vocals until Steve Rothery adds a beautiful guitar solo (to end the song) that lasts over a minute ! "Solomon" is the epic at almost 15 minutes in length. It mentions the bands name as well as the title of this album. I'm sure this is still a significant song for the band. It opens with keys and vocals as a heavy guitar melody comes in. The mellotron 3 minutes in amazing. There is a cool vocal melody 7 minutes in as the song becomes more uptempo.This all sounds so good, and then 11 minutes in the pace slows back down.

So this is where it all began for ARENA, and perhaps that is reason enough to check out this good record. 3.5 stars.

Another album that places its best material in the front song and final song. Coincidence? I think not. Either way, this album is a prog sandwich with fresh, delicious bread and on-the-verge-stale meat and veggies. Not to say that any material is bad--it's just that if it was a bit better, the whole could be something special to have and to hold forever. Hence, this is good music, but no masterpiece. Here are the highlights:

Out of the Wilderness. A very mysterious opening that morphs into a funky time led by a cool keyboard groove. This song will certainly keep your attention. It's kind of weird, but in a good way. Near the end, this song takes a nice turn into a major key with positive emotional finish. I had very high hopes for the album after the opener...unfortunately a bit too high.

Crying for Help (parts I, II, III, and IV). These "songs" may have been short brainchilds of various bandmembers or merely intended as filller. Either way, they are neither wilder entertaining nor unlistenable. We have the acoustic guitar, harpsichord/flute duet, keyboard ambience, and emotional vocal piece, respectively. The Rothery solo in the latter piece is nice, yet not spectacular.

Valley of the Kings. This is one of those prog epics where the band has the talent, motivation, and creativity to make it work, but it just doesn't quite add up. Not to say that this is a bad song by any means--it just doesn't quite hold together for me. It's probably that Carson is a bit off on the vocals (though I can't pinpoint why). Nice keyboard arrangements and fills by Nolan though.

Jericho. Evidence that Arena at this point were quite creative (dare I say progressive?), but can't quite pull it all together. Enjoyable yet not quite entirely memorable or captivating.

Solomon. This song is worth the price of admission alone. Great mellow intro, followed by a restrained guitar/keyboard instrumental that is quite well-done. Then the band FINALLY decides to kick up the tempo a bit, and boy do they ever! Where I felt restraint and hesitation earlier, I feel fun and energy here. Great interplay of bandmembers throughout, and after this section, the song moves into a delightful refrain and simple but beautiful riff to end the album. Also, this is the only song on the album where I "buy" the Carson's vocal contributions.

All in all, I'm glad I bought this for Solomon, and to a lesser extent, Out of the Wilderness, though there is no material on this album that I would consider to be grating or annoying. Certainly this album holds promise for the future!

In the mid nineties we called this a sensation (both band as album). We already had Marillion for quite some time, this was said to be a clone but a very welcome one. I personally always thought Arena had the edge over Marillion but that has also to do with the change of vocalist in Marillion. So this was their debut and though this is not my favourite band ever I have always kept a soft spot for Arena. I am a big fan of Clive Nolan and he is dominant in the band so that's one of the reasons. I also love the recent guitarist of Arena (John Mitchell) but their first, Keith More, was hardly any less as we can hear on this debut.

The song that stands out for me is the great epic Solomon. This song starts really fairylike with some sweet tones followed by balladlike singing by John Carson, then gets a little rougher with coming up guitars in slow style, this goes on for several minutes until in the middle of the song an instrumental part starts which is legendary to me. The actual reason I'm so fond of this track. The instrumental part lasts almost 4 minutes and makes me go into raptures. It still does after more than 10 years so it's a lasting thing. Ultimately the vocal part comes again like in the beginning and the song ends with a very nice grand finale. Superb !!

Other very good tracks are Out of the Wilderness and Valley of the Kings as well as the live-cracker Jericho. Alas there is a big downside on this album and that's the "Cry-tracks" that get worse and worse, go on even on their next album (Pride) and get even worse there. These tracks are a waste of space and diminish the album, I have to say. That doesn't go that far that I will take away a four star rating for this album because the rest is too good for that. So 4 it is.

A very solid debut for Arena, neo-prog at its best.

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.

4.5 stars actually...

Now,that is what I call ''the definition of a prog genre''...ARENA were formed in the 90's by some already very experienced members to deliver us qualitive neo/symphonic progressive rock...The most experienced of all was of course Clive Nolan,a master of keyboards and synths,already member of PENDRAGON,ex- member od SHADOWLAND and session member of various neo prog-related projects...Behind the drum kit we find Mick Pointer,ex-member of early MARILLION,another great musician...Guest appeareances by Steve Rothery and Tracy Hitchings just sweep the questions of how this band sounds like...

First album for ARENA and this is something special...You can find all the ingredients that make a neo progressive band firstly ''progressive'' and then popular among the prog lovers...The sound of the band is exactly what you expect from a neo prog band in the 90's,slightly better production than in the 80's,a little bit heavier guitat sound,a little bit upgraded and ''digitalized'' keyboard sound...Keith More knows very well how to use his guitar...Great melodies,great riffs,thrilling solos where they should be added...Not much to say for Clive Nolan...Grandiose keyboard playing,very symphonic at times,just raises up the whole atmosphere to another level...and what about Jon Carson?Well,sometimes he sings in the traditional english accented pop/prog way and some other ones he adapts the heavy scottish accent of Fish,transforming from song to song,excellent performer by my opinion...

The tracks?...All are amazing...''Out of the wilderness'' is the ''Forgotten suns'' of ARENA with its emotional ending melody...''Jericho'' is the best track that JADIS didn't ever managed to compose...The ''Crying for help'' series?It's where the band shows its symphonic influences...smooth tracks raging from nice acoustic guitars to mellow piano themes...and of course ''Solomon''...the epic that closes the album with its changing themes and moods that you will never realize when 14 minutes just passed...Stunning...

This is one of the debut's that every band is dreaming of...Easily I could give this album a pure 5 star rating but I will shorten it to 4.5 for two reasons:1)Enemy of the ''excellent'' is the ''best''...2)The ''best'' would be born some years later with ''The visitor''...Highly recommended and so close to a masterpiece of progressive rock!...

Arena's debut is somewhat controversial here. I think it's amazing. What you have is a set of more powerful, epic songs, with the usual neo-prog characteristics, sandwiching some more atmospheric tracks (Crying For Help I through IV). This mix is an excellent way of forming an album. It's a masterpiece. First, the main songs...

1. Out Of The Wilderness (8:02) - The booming notes at the start are a great intro to the album. The keyboard riff then arrives, a truly neo-prog riff, followed by a great solo from the guitarist. Form here on you can tell this album will be good. The end of the song is the best part, after a great vocal build up.

3. Valley Of The Kings (10:10) - A great drum intro pulls you into a meaty keyboard chord riff. This accelerates into vocals, going a little Figazi-esque after a keyboard solo, as it build towards a monumental finale. Great song. The vocals at the end should really appeal.

5. Jericho (6:50) - E-P-I-C. From start to end, this track is awesome. Among Arena's best, espeically the ending, with the best keyboard solo/riff from this band. Vocals are excellent too.

7. Midas Vision (4:36) - Shorter than most, this track is a great song with a great chorus. Guitar is also very prominent as well as keyboards (a recurring theme in Arena's music - choruses, guitar solos and keyboard solos)

9. Solomon (14:37) - Is one of the best songs, ever. The best Arena song, by far. The instrumental section is awe inspiring. The end screams emotion. The start is ever so subtle with a great guitar solo. Perfect length, excellent lyrics, fantastic riffs from all instruments... honestly, one of the best. Just listen to it.

Ok, now we have most of the album out of the way, the Crying For Help tracks may be addressed. Their main aim is to be atmospheric, and this is achieved by them all. Crying For Help I is an acoustic solo - think Mood For A Day, Horizons or Broon's Bane. II brings in more instruments, a flute and some keyboard chords - a good intro to Jericho. III is very atmospheric, driven by a few piano chords. Brilliant to listen to very loudly. IV is less atmospheric (at least for the ending), as the beginning features brillaint vocals and excellent piano playing. The vocals build up to introduce a solo - an utterly awesome solo.

All the tracks are worth listening to. This is one album you have to sit though. Very good if you like early Marillion as many of the riffs, the vocals, and the keyboards scream Script For A Jester's Tear. But, of course, this is better than that album. The weak point is perhaps Midas Vision, or the first two Crying For Help songs, depending on what you think, but I don't think any par tof this album is weak - quite the contrary, this album nears perfection. A masterpiece.

Unlike many, Songs from the Lion's Cage was my first Arena album. After a friend strongly recommended me The Visitor and made me listen to a few parts, I went to the store and intended to buy it. I although had to settle for Songs from the Lion's Cage since this was the only Arena album in stock at that moment. Well, it turned out that the epic final track Solomon singlehandedly addicted me to this band. Good thing!

In retrospect now, when compared to later Arena material, this album looks a notch below and yet, remains very enjoyable. Its style was still not fully matured and the sound mixing was not as flawless as Arena's subsequent works. Also, Arena has become unique and highly regarded, in my opinion, in part because of its ability to sublimely blend prog metal with melodic neo-prog, whilst this album was essentially neo-prog with a slightly heavier twist. Still, it remains an excellent hour of pure progressive songwriting with moments that will stand the test of time (notably, of course, the epic Solomon).

Obviously, the album's best parts are the longer pieces; the shorter Crying for Help series unfortunately break the album's flow more than anything else. Not that they're bad, but they add nothing really special save perhaps for guest Steve Rothery's guitar solo on Crying for Help IV.

Out of the Wilderness is as good an opener as anyone can ask. Complex, interesting time signature, several movements, and energetic. Then the compositions Valley of the Kings and Jericho, as well as Midas Vision, have become classics for good reason and showed Arena's great potential. They actually require little time to grow. Even though they do not feel as coherent as the further Arena works, they do somehow have their something special. And they're just the tip of the iceberg.

Did I talk about Solomon? A full 14 minutes of joy and entertainment for the ears. Starting with gentle xylophone notes which almost sound like a nursery rhyme, and ending with one of the most powerful musical segments that I know of (starting with "Take the child - it's yours, was the only thing she could have said..."), this song is an essential. Each band member shines therein, from Carson's vocals to Lord's guitar at the end, as well as, of course, Clive Nolan's booming keyboards. A real showstopper.

As an epic, Solomon would be bested only very seldomly; one such instance being Arena's next epic, the grandiose Sirens.

An excellent album which was a good early sign of what was to come with this addictive band, whose sound would quickly evolve into something of its own.

This record is amongst those who assured me prog rock was really coming back to life in the mid 1990's. Of course, in the late 1980's and the former 1990's, neo prog groups still had tried to make prog rock rise again. But something was missing in the music of IQ, Pendragon and even Marillion : i needed more complex compositions, more virtuosity and maybe a kind of excessiveness !

"Songs from the lion's cage" immediatly satisfied this need. It melts intelligently different influences : the neo prog of Pendragon, the emphasis of 1970's symphonic rock masters, more especially thanks to Nolan's keyboards alternating deep and large floods and classical flights, a floydian guitar, but also stronger moments introducing metal elements. The combinaison of all in elaborated musical structures integrating impressive instrumental developements was close to perfection and could easily make us think a prog giant was born.

Unhappily, like the following one, the album is a little bit weakened by the small crying for help pieces : pretty without any doubt but not creative. I have never understood the interest of this long divided suite.

Nevermind, the true substance of the album, the 5 main titles, give us enough musical food to feel plenitude. And the enormous final piece, "Solomon", with its subtile progression, its complex imbrication of themes, its fantastic keyboards / guitar duels and its floydian and emphatic final is a real masterpiece of prog rock in my opinion.

If you are looking for neoprog gems, this one it is, unless for me. After the first two Marillion albums, and some great things in the great prog bands in the 80's and 90`s (Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes, Camel, etc.), Arena appears with a true progressive rock masterpiece. Everything is here: Superb keyboards solos, floydian guitars, Marillion's drumming and a great voice. Change of rhythms, long tracks, and a symphonic feel all the time a bit in the heavy side.

Out of the wilderness: Starts in a heavy way mixed with a floating moog and by this way goes in the first half, but the best is in the second, after "?who gives a damn", the track flows into an unbelievable keyboard motive, over which the singer starts to sing. Excellent.

Jericho: Another highlight, very progressive with many change of rhythms, keyboard and guitar solos. Clive Nolan shines all the time in this track. Very good.

Solomon: The absolute highlight. It begins in a peaceful way to get later into a really strong instrumental piece and then flows into an anthological ending in which the melody line is just amazing over a full keyboard orchestra and then this unique guitar solo which an enormous feeling. Excellent.

Midas Vision and Valley of Kings are other great prog tracks. The crying for help series is something like a filler, except the part 4, which is a really good track with a superb guitar solo by Steve Rothery. Congratulations for the songwriters Nolan and Pointer, cos they made a prog masterpiece.

Arena - Songs from the Lion Cage (1995)

The debut of Arena, main act of modern neo-progressive rock, has some great moments, but makes a dull impression on me overall. The individuel members are skilled; prog vedette Clive Nolan on keys and Keith More on guitars are the main attraction here. To bad Keith More's replacement during later albums, John Mitchell, is still way better.

The sound of Arena on the debut is that of beginning neo-progressive band; many theatrical/sentimental vocals, some heavy instrumentation with loads of reverb and delays and seas of synths. The recording is a bit dull, but the sound quality ain't the main problem here. The key equipment of Nolan isn't optimal and his over-use of bombastic arrangements does not help at all. Some of his compositions are however quite brilliant, namelijk the opening track Out of the Wilderness, Midas Vision and stage favorite Soloman are strong tracks. The latter of these three is one of the best Arena epics to date. With its thirteen minutes of great song-writing and an amazing long, melodic solo's section just before the end it can be called one of the best of the neo-prog genre. I must admit that I do prefer most of the live versions, because of the better guitars by Mitchell and better vocals by Sowden.

On other tracks this early stage Arena has some in-effective song-writing, making songs like Valley Of The Kings and most of the Crying for Help parts a bit boring. Crying for Help IV does have some catchy parts, I must admit, but the acoustic guitar version of this track (found on The Cry) is more impressive.

Conclusion. A good beginning for what yet has to become one of my favorite (and few) modern prog bands I like to listen to. The opening and ending track are very good, but Solomon can also be found on all the live recordings of the band. I think Arena can get away with a small three star rating here. Recommended only to fans of the band and enthousiasts of the neo- prog genre.

I can understand the impact this album might have had at the prog comunity in the mid 90´s, specially to Marillion fans. While the original Marillion was sinking fast in their alternative/pop new sound, here comes ex Marillion drummer Mick Pointer, when everybody thought he had retired from the music business, with a new project with Pendragon´s keyboards player that sounded a lot like Marillion in the good old times of vocalist Fish. OOHHHHH, how I wish I found out about this CD at the time!!! Ok, it was highly derivative, but also highly wonderful! It was like having ol´ Marillion back into life! Well, almost. In some aspects it was even better than the real thing.

After a few spins it was clear that no matter how much the band sounded like Marillion, it already had some personality and a big potential, specially at the songwriting department. Nolan and Pointer came up with some real classy stuff that are played even today live by the band (the stunning epics Salomon and Jericho). The duo surrounded themselves with other fine musicians, featuring Keith More on guitar, Cliff Orsi on bass and John Carson on vocals. This line up didn´t last long, but the results were great anyway. So much Arena would soon surpass any other of Nolan´s several side projects, including his former solo band Shadowland, in all aspects.

The production is good, while the tracklist is a killer, with no fillers nor weak songs to found anywhere. Even the short Crying For Help series of vignettes linking the main tunes is very interesting and work better than expected. Certainly it is no surprise that Nolan´s trademark majestic, elegant keyboards are all over the place, but More´s fluid, melodic guitar solos (obviously influenced by Pink Floyd´s David Gilmour) is also quite proeminent too. Pointer is another one to show he is a far better musician than I thought. Carson´s voice sounds uncanny like Fish sometimes, but he (Carson) has a wider range. Not very surprisingly Marillion´s guitarrist and leader steve Rothery makes a guest appearance on Crying For Help IV.

Personally, I´d like to give this record a 5 star rating, but since Arena did evolve into something totally of their own around the time of their third album, the magnificent The Visitor, I think it would be fair to say that, as good as it is, Songs From The Lion´s Cage, is a notch or two below their best because of the obvious Marillion overtones here. Still is an exceptional record: the powerful performances and the brilliant songwriting make it close to an essential masterpiece. So I guess 4.5 stars is more fitting for PA. This is a must have for any neo prog fan and is highly recommended to any prog lover in general.

An excellent debut album.

Arena hit the scene like a piece of rock with this album. Established by an ex Marillion member and it shows. Arena is in that area or even perhaps a lot more symphonic than neo prog.

Arena does not really add anything new to me. Neither does this album. Tonnes of keyboards, courtesy of Clive Nolan, long and good guitar solos, a good vocalist + bass and drums. The setup is standard.

There are some really long suites here. That too is pretty standard back then and these days too. But where this album really stands out is in the quality and great songs stake. The unknown X factor which mostly is down to everyone's subjective opinion. This album is great from start to finish. But it is best when the fifteen minutes long Solomon comes in. A great, symphonic piece of music with a fantastic choir, tangents and guitars. I am hooked. But in reallity, I was hooked many minutes before Solomon too. By songs like Out Of The Wilderness and Valley Of The Kings too.

Yes, Arena has not re-invented the wheel here. But they does their stuff better than most bands on this album. An album fit for any fans of melodic, symphonic neo prog. Hence my rather sudden conversion into a fan of this album and the band.

4.5 stars

Really, this album is to be considered part one of a pair, with the follow-up 'pride' acting as a sequel. The structure of both such that the sequence of songs alternates between a standalone song and a short-to-medium length piece entitled with an enumerated variant of 'cry for help', usually instrumental pieces, but some containing vocals.

In feel, this is very marillion-esque, particularly calling to mind their early albums with Fish. This is no surprise on inspection of the musicians responsible - Arena is a prog supergroup, and includes several marillion members either as full band members or as regularly contributing guest musicians. Even the vocals, supplied by John Carson, contain something of a Fish-esque edge to them, though perhaps show more restraint than marillion's former singer.

Perhaps it is this restraint that leads this album, or, indeed, this pair of albums, to ultimately not quite measure up to Fish's Marillion. This is no disgrace, however - those early Marillion albums are prog classics virtually unrivalled for their brilliance in the neo-prog subgenre. Comparatively, this is a little less 'Pawn Hearts' and a little more 'Going for the One' in style - a little more conservative, but still definitely prog.

In terms of mood, one certainly shouldn't expect a great deal of cheer ' really, in this sense it does what it says on the tin. An album in which half the songs are entitled 'crying for help' is hardly going to make you laugh. A particular favourite of mine is the fourth incarnation of this, an entirely musical piece, occasionally punctured by the melancholic ringing of an unanswered telephone, before the final relaying of an answerphone-style message that the helpline is unavailable - with the obvious figurative meaning here.

Just to ensure that it ticks all the prog boxes, the album closes with a near 15 minute epic, Solomon, though this isn't particularly remarkable - good, but never great. And that sums up this album nicely, really ' it's a non-essential but certainly very decent addition to a progger's collection, especially if you are a fan of Marillion.

Overall, I give this album 3/5

Having taken a decade away from the music business, Mick Pointer would return to the drummer's stool with Arena, alongside his erstwhile co-founder and business partner in Verglas Music, Clive Nolan. The album an impressive neo-prog piece which establishes itself as a darker and more complex affair than some of Nolan's other side-projects such as Shadowland, with decent vocals from John Carson and excellent guitar playing by Keith More (plus a guest appearance from Pointer's fellow Marillion co-founder Steve Rothery), and the inclusion of the subdued Crying for Help instrumentals between the major songs weaves a common thread through the album and lends it a fair amount of cohesiveness.

As for Mick's drumming? To be honest, it still isn't stellar - but as on Script For a Jester's Tear, Pointer proves able to set a rhythm and create a context in which the rest of the band's magic can unfold - and when you combine this with his very capable songwriting contributions, that's more than enough.

Arena's first record "Songs from the Lions Cage" from 1995 is a sometimes powerful album. The sound is dramatic and dark and proves inspiration from Marillion and Genesis. Though I am not very impressed. What I liked was the skillful guitar and piano playing, the vocalist John Carson who almosts sounded like Fish and the long frameless compositions. What I miss was more originality and innovations in the music. I also think this is too dark music. When every song goes in minor I begin to wonder if music have to be dark to be progressive.

These are the songs I like best here: "Solomon", a marvelous track that is dark but very deep and amazing in many ways. It's something to relisten to. I am very found of the singers English accent. "Crying for help IV" has a wonderful melody and "Crying for help I" is an acoustic guitar journey. "Valley of the Kings" gives you much information and is exciting to listen to. A lot of 80s feeling too. But still this wasn't thrilling me to ecstasy. This wasn't challenging enough for me. Not bad at all and some track will I come back to for exploring but in my taste the lack of genuineness disturbed me. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood for Neo-Prog.

I think in particular the lack of distinct meldodies and the over all dark feeling made me little bored. Skillfully performed and certainly something for you who love Neo-Prog.

Arena plays theatrical, synth-laden neo-prog with a harder edge. Later on, they would become more metallic with a prominent guitar.

At the point of their first album, they are derivative - mainly of Genesis-Marillion school (Arena's drummer was briefly in Marillion in the beginning, but this is emphasized only for marketing purposes, the main creative force here is the keyboardist Clive Nolan), and some Pink Floyd. But this is the case where an imitation is as good or better than the original (I refer to Marillion here, prog classics are untouchable :)).

Clive Nolan is a better " prog" composer (witness concise, but diverse Out of the wilderness, and epic drama of Solomon with a huge instrumental break and ecstatic Pink-floydian outro), singing is as good (Nolan isn't the singer. Vocals would get even more expressive later on), lyrics, although Fish from Marillion is also good, are deeper - or pretentious nonsense depending on your point of view - but Nolan's mastery of the metaphorical is undeniable. Like Genesis, or contemporaries Big Big Train, Arena just oozes refined Englishness. This Englishness is mythical of course, but so well marketed.

The very first album of an excellent band, one of my favorite bands. I discovered ARENA with The Visitor, but when I listened to SONGS FROM THE LION CAGE I confirmed my enjoyment for this band. Mick Pointer (former Marillion) joined Clive Nolan in the quest of a side project to Pendragon, and together with John Carson, Keith More and Cliff Orsi, they created the SONGS full of neoprog sounds. The Crying for Help songs are divided in 4 parts, each part played with different instruments and different mood. The first one has the acoustic guitar playing in a classical way, the second part, Nolan uses the harpsichord effect, the third one is one of my favorites, kind of reflexive and ambient, the last one has voice in it and of course a guest, Steve Rothery, whose style of playing is remarkable. The rest of the songs have that power in guitars, voices, and drums. I love the choirs in Valley of the Kings, and John's voice marked the standard in the band, something that would be followed by P. Wrightson and R. Snowden. Solomon is a wonderful song that starts slow and then the last part becomes totally a delight to hear. Midas Vision and Out of the Wilderness are the same powerful songs, Jericho is amazing how it begins as a ballad and turns into a powerful song! Excellent album!

In my opinion ARENA carried the torch of Fish era Marillion when they arrived on the scene in 1995. Hogarth era Marillion just lost me big time as it sounds like a hollow version of what came before. I know others love his vocals and their light delicate sound but i personally want some rock in my neo-prog and that's EXACTLY what ARENA deliver on their debut album SONGS FROM THE LIONS CAGE. Just as Marillion took on the late 70s Genesis sound and ruled the 80s with that new symphonic prog renamed neo-prog, once Fish departed, it left a vacuum in the market for that very successful formula. Two neo-prog veterans took notice and decided that niche needed to be revisited.

Those two veterans, of course, were keyboardist Clive Nolan and Mick Pointer. Nolan who ambitiously has fronted Pendragon since 1986, Shadowland since 1992 and ARENA since 1995 simultaneously is an ambitious one having created some of the best offerings the neo- prog sub has to offer. Mick Pointer, on the other hand, was the original drummer for Marillion playing only on the first EP "Market Square Heroes" and the first LP "Script For A Jester's Tear" and pretty much stayed out of the musical world since. This connection is evident as much of this album sounds very much like 80s Marillion but to write it off as a mere clone would be erroneous since there is so much more to offer.

This is a profound album that sounds like it was done by true professionals in the field. All musicians are outstanding but it is Nolan's Wakeman-esque keyboard wizardry interacting with the outstanding guitar acrobatics of Keith More that really give this album an electrifying energy. The only ARENA album to feature John Carson on vocals shows him display a full command of every tender passage and then able to rock out at the drop of a hat. I particularly love his vocal phrasings and he is one of my favorite voices in this particular type of prog. The lyrics are beautifully poetic with traumatic life experiences such as the loss of love which are metaphorically represented by such images of historical horrors such as the album title alludes to.

This album has it all. It really excels at clever songwriting and delivers every single passage in a perfect way. The longer tracks cleverly alternate with the mostly instrumental "Crying For Help" interludes which embellish the atmospheric mood building to great success. The cream of this fine album comes with the finale "Solomon," a sprawling fourteen minute plus prog gem that displays all the goods in one track with lightning fast keyboard runs playing with virtuoso guitars and highly developed soft spoken melodies trading off with hard rocking segments.

I really love this debut album by ARENA. I get a 5 star enjoyment level out of this one but i just can't rate it that high because it is a bit too similar in sound with 80s Marillion at times and even though it is perfectly done i just can't bring myself to rate it higher. It is a super strong 4 stars though.

Review Nº 277

Arena is a British progressive rock band that belongs to the neo-prog sub-genre. 1995 is the year it all began. The band was founded by Clive Nolan, the keyboardist of Pendragon and Shadowland, and Mick Pointer, the original drummer of Marillion, who appeared only on Marillion's debut EP 'Market Square Heroes' and on their debut studio album 'Script For A Jester's Tear'. The first album of Arena, 'Songs From The Lions Cage' was very well received and a new progressive rock legend has been born. The music is vibrant and fresh, and the album contains instant classic tracks.

So, 'Songs From The Lion's Cage' is the debut studio album of Arena and was released in 1995. This is the only Arena's album to feature the vocalist John Carson and the bassist Cliff Orsi. So, the line up of the album is John Carson (vocals), Keith More (guitars), Clive Nolan (keyboards), Cliff Orsi (bass) and Mick Pointer (drums). The album has also the participation of Steve Rothery, the guitarist of Marillion, who did a guest appearance on track 'Crying For Help IV'.

'Songs From The Lion's Cage' has nine tracks. All songs were written by Clive Nolan and Mick Pointer. The first track 'Out Of The Wilderness' is a great song and an excellent opener for the album. It's clearly a song in the vein of the earlier Marillion's studio albums. This is really a very powerful song with a very strange, mystical and dark musical atmosphere, with heavy keyboard playing and great guitar work especially with the beautiful guitar solo in the end. The second track 'Crying For Help I' is a very short instrumental track only performed by the the acoustic guitar. It's a very simple song, very nice, beautiful and pleasant to here, composed in the same vein of Steve Hackett's acoustic guitar compositions. The third track 'Valley Of The Kings' is the first epic song on the album that continues in the same vein of the earlier Marillion. Curiously, it's also a song that reminds me, only in a little bit in the beginning, Rush in the time of 'Hemispheres'. This is a wonderful track full of an amazing and pompous keyboard work and excellent guitar performance. It reminds us completely the grandeur and the magnificence of the pharaohs. The fourth track 'Crying For Help II' is another very simple song, nice, beautiful and pleasant to hear. This time it was composed for keyboards and sounds as a medieval madrigal. It's a typical classical symphonic song that sounds beautifully as it was performed by a harpsichord. It's a song that personally moves with me very much, because I always loved the harpsichord sound. The fifth track 'Jericho' is another excellent track. It's a song with a very quiet introduction and that ends epically. This is what would be the typical Arena bombastic future sound. This is a typical neo-progressive song, one of the best on the album, which keeps the quality of the album at a very high level, indeed. The sixth track 'Crying For Help III' is also a very good and interesting track. It's another simple, calm and beautiful track with a surprising end with a telephone ringing and a recorded message. This is a very nice and relaxing new age track and a truly break on the album. It represents also a perfect passage to the next song. The seventh track 'Midas Vision' returns to the typical sound of the most of the album. This is a catchy song, very nice and pleasant to hear and represents another excellent song on the album. It deserves a special mention the guitar work. It sounds very close to the Floydian sound because it has David Gilmour's style. The eighth track 'Crying For Help IV' is almost a mellow and melancholic track very beautiful and pleasant to hear. This is the track that has the participation of Steve Rothery on lead guitar. In reality, he performed a real truly and amazing guitar solo on the track. Those who like Steve Rothery guitar style enjoy very much this track, for sure. The ninth and last track 'Solomon' is often considered as one of their finest tracks. This is a very well structured song with a storyline, many time changes, majestic keyboard work and great guitar work. It's the second epic song on the album. It represents also the highlight of the album and it was a perfect decision of the group to close this great album. With this song Arena made one their best songs and one of their most brilliant closing numbers in their career.

Conclusion: 'Songs From The Lion's Cage' is, without any doubt, a great debut album and represents one of the best and most important albums made by one of the best prog rock bands of our times. It's very melodic and has great performances by all band's members, particularly, the individual performance of Clive Nolan is completely astonishing and shows us why he is considered one of the best modern keyboardists. It deserves also special mention, the performance of Keith More on guitars. His guitar performance and the arrangements are very interesting and they sound, many times, very close to Steve Rothery, Steve Hackett and David Gilmour styles. So, 'Songs From The Lion's Cage' is almost a perfect album. But, I'm not sure if the division of the album between the big and most prog songs and the short and less complex songs was a very good choice. I'm not saying that the global quality of the album was highly decreased. Still, I suspect that this option took some damaged to the final musical consistency of the all album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Melodic prog rockers Arena kickstarted their very respectful career with 1995's 'Songs from the Lions' Cage'; The band led by monolithic figures of the neo-progressive rock scene Mick Pointer and Clive Nolan, the former being the ex-Marillion drummer playing on the band's early 80s debut album, and the latter being the keyboard player for Pendragon, another very successful and recognizable act in the genre, is presenting a collection of nine songs with various lengths, that are entirely bathed in that very prominent 80s neo-prog aesthetic, one that is specifically particular for British bands, and is hardly mistaken once heard. This, of course, should come as no surprise given the backgrounds of the band's main creative forces, the aforementioned duo of Pointer and Nolan, who are entirely responsible for conceiving and writing this 1995 release.

And 'Songs from the Lions' Cage' is a quite good album, it works fairly well as a continuous listening experience, it presents some captivating musical passages, but it does unfortunately for the most part, sound immensely outdated. The reason for this is most likely the fact that the 80s neo-prog aesthetic has been transferred to the mid-90s, a place where other musical discoveries and interests had been taking place, even in the realm of progressive rock, where two main domains seem to have taken shape - the one in which bands revisit their passion for the classic 70s symphonic sound, and the one where bands blend their love for prog with their excitement for heavy music, thus giving a rise in popularity for progressive metal. Somewhere in-between we ought to find neo-prog, but a more modern take on it, one that is more easily transferable to the boundaryless 21st century.

So, as much as this first release by Arena is a pastiche for a very particular age in the development of progressive music, it is also a nice collection of songs, some of which really hit the spot. Opening track 'Out of the Wilderness' is playful and fun, some of that early Marillion approach to writing gradually-built-up rockers could be appreciated; Even some of the vocal delivery seems to reminisce strongly Fish's here and there. 'Valley of the Kings' and 'Jericho' are fine but not necessarily very exciting; 'Midas Vision' is one of the better examples off this album, this one is more memorable and has a tighter grip on the listener, something that is lacking throughout most of the album. The 'Crying for Help' suite, sprinkled all over the record is also working quite well, especially these last two segments, III and IV. And finally, there is the 14-minute epic 'Solomon', a little too self-indulgent in its execution, this song seems to be a bit overshadowed by the hardly justifiable length, rather than the clarity and lavishness of some of the musical passages.

'Songs from the Lions' Cage' rightly serves as a point of initiation for Arena's journey, quite a pleasant one, but also quite far away from being a point of arrival, as other albums later on would take this role - it is also worth mentioning that neither the vocalist, nor the bassist stayed around for the band's sophomore release, while the guitar player made it no further than the second album, which has to be just another proof that this was not quite what the band was all about.

In the mid-90s, there was endless talk about Arena, the upcoming new band centered around keyboardist Clive Nolan and drummer Mick Pointer. What was going through their minds? The difference in skill level between the two musicians was enormous. Nolan was known for his skilled playing, having built a solid reputation with bands like Pendragon, Shadowland, and Strangers On A Train. Pointer, on the other hand, had only one notable entry on his CV: he had provided the drums for "Script For A Jester's Tear," Marillion's debut album. Additionally, he could be heard on an EP and a few singles from the band. After that, the man had a career as a kitchen salesman for over ten years.

That chemistry is a strange thing is evident from the fact that the two have been each other's musical partners for over a quarter of a century now and are still driving the band Arena forward, despite numerous lineup changes. Interestingly, Arena was initially intended as a one time project. That turned out quite differently.

Characteristic of the band's sound is the infectious combination of playful keyboard work and heavy drums, which places Arena in the realm of intense neo-prog. Guitar, bass, and vocals complete the picture, and although the lineup has changed frequently, the band's sound has never drastically altered. It's safe to say that Arena secured a lifelong credit with the release of "Songs From The Lions Cage" on February 6, 1995.

I still vividly remember my first listen. The Netherlands was gripped by the flooding of the major rivers, and while NOS was reporting on the dramatic events, the postman delivered a square package from England. Against my usual habit, the package remained unopened, and the TV stayed on. When the broadcast ended, I positioned myself between the speakers and witnessed an overwhelming sonic flood.

Since then, I always associate "Songs From The Lions Cage" with the turmoil in southern and central Netherlands at that time. For instance, the intense riffs of guitar and bass in the intro of the overwhelming Out Of The Wilderness absolutely evoke images of people lugging sandbags. The strong keyboard playing and powerful guitar extravaganza, in my view, represent the power of the water, as does the bombastic rhythm section. Although these associations are purely my own, I didn't miss the numerous Biblical references in the lyrics. Unfortunately, I can't say much meaningful about them, so you'll have to make do with my flood story.

Valley Of The Kings features an enormous keyboard solo. In this, I see the vast expanses of flooded land, while the Mellotron can be seen as the invincibility of mankind. The extensive harmonies in Jericho symbolize, to me, the solidarity of the people, and the beautiful Pink Floyd-esque guitar solo in Midas Vision at least represents the good feeling that comes with it. The closing track, Solomon, deserves a place among the best epics of all time. Besides everyone involved, guitarist Keith More and vocalist John Carson are primarily responsible for this. More plays brilliantly, especially during the metal section in the finale and the euphoric closing melody. It's all so full of emotion. The images from the TV broadcast deeply moved me, and I hear it all reflected in the way Carson sings. He sounds desperate, pleading, and above all, very combative.

In addition to these five band songs, the album features four short pieces, each appearing in the even numbered positions. These parts are called Crying For Help and vary with each iteration. They range from acoustic guitar to harpsichord, from New Age with a telephone to a delightful prog track where a beautiful guitar solo by Steve Rothery stirs the emotions.

"Songs From The Lions Cage" is a powerful album that you never tire of discussing. Not now, not ever!

Originally posted on www.progenrock.com