WILD UNTAMED IMAGININGS

UK outfit ARK was formed in the mid 80's, and established themselves as a second tier Neo-Prog band in the decade or so they were active. Constantly changing line-ups was at least partially responsible for the band never managing to really get going though, and in 1995 the last incarnation of arK called it a day. Come 2009 and former member John Jowitt, now a household name in the Neo-Progressive scene, decided to revive his old band after being in contact with guitarist Steve Harris. They were promptly signed to US label Progrock Records, who issued their new album "Wild Untamed Imaginings" in the fall of 2010.

"Wild Untamed Imaginings" might not contain too many compositions adhering to standard progressive rock formulas, but the blend of hard rock, stadium rock and art rock should most likely go down well with quite a few fans of all these genres, with fans of artists like Magnum and Uriah Heep among the ones I'd imagine would enjoy this material. Dedicated neo progressive fans might want to approach this one with a bit of caution though, especially those amongst them that doesn't care too much about harder edged material.

Here's a hidden Gem of an album, Broadly speaking it only just scrapes into the "Prog" category as the songs are shorter and not overly complicated. The songs are all self contained stories & vignettes. Stand outs include the day trip to the beach of Boudicaas Chariot, the disturbing little tale of New Scientist and the closing track Nowheres Ark. Ant Shorts vocals are distinctive and fit the music well. The playing tight and focused and the production is excellent. Well worth checking out if you like the poppier output of the Neo Prog bands of the 80's (Pendragons Kowtow, IQs Nomzamo & Are you sitting spring to mind).

So they've finally made it?

Ark (not to be confused with the Norwegian Prog Metal band of the same name or the Swedish Glam Rock band The Ark) is a band that started already in the mid 80's and released several cassettes and EP's in the late 80's and early 90's. But they never really "made it". The present album consists of newly recorded versions of songs originally written throughout the band's career, some of which were previously released and others who hitherto existed only in demo form. As such it is a middle ground between a best of compilation and a brand new studio album. The sound of Ark comes close to that of fellow Brits It Bites (whom they also supported on tour) and in my opinion Crossover Prog would perhaps be a more accurate categorization than Neo-Prog. However, in terms of the band's history and its personnel, their place in Neo-Prog is fully understandable; they toured with IQ on their Are You Sitting Comfortably? tour and one of the members of Ark is John Jowitt of IQ, Jadis and Arena fame. In addition to Jowitt on bass, the current line-up of the band included original members Tony Short on vocals and flute, Pete Wheatley on lead guitar and Steve Harris on guitar synth. Drums are handled by one Tim Churchman.

All of the 11 songs on Wild Untamed Imaginings are around five minutes in length and features some catchy choruses. For me, nothing really stands out in either direction, meaning that there are no bad tracks as such but also no great ones. The presence of flute on several tracks gives a slight folky atmosphere to the proceedings that occasionally brings to mind (the much better band) Haze. The guitars do not have that clean sound usually associated with Neo-Prog, but rather a more rough sound that gives a slight punky feel and the drums and vocals go well along with that.

Three of the tracks here, Gaia, Kaleidoscope and Nowhere's Ark, were previously released on the band's 1988 debut album The Dreams Of Mr. Jones, but I cannot say if the present versions are improvements or not. Yet other tracks apparently have an even longer history to them, originally appearing on old demos and EP's. I occasionally get the feeling that they were scraping the barrel to find enough material for this album.

Overall, Wild Untamed Imaginings is a pleasant listen that is worth hearing. But it is hardly essential listening for anyone apart from those who might have followed the band since their early days.

Ark in a new decade

After many line up changes across the years but with not many releases issued, I guess 2 or 3 only in more then 20 years career, Ark return after a gap of more then 15 years with a new album named Untamed imaginings issued at Progrock Records in 2010. What we have here is neo prog bordering with rock in general, not very progressive overall but pleasent enought to be intresting for neo fans or prog listners in general. This time clocking around 50 min album with 10 pieces, each one with enjoyble atmosphere and good musicianship. 3 covers from the first album from 1988 Gaia, Kaleidoscope and Nowhere's Ark sounds as fresh as 23 years ago, the rest are ok , in some parts even great. The album is catchy as plenty of good moments, nice vocal parts made by Tony Short, Jowit is again on the baricades here afterspending some years in Jadis boat. The album is mid tempo, no bursting moments, they play safe but ok , pleasent most of the time, mature, even the album doesn't shine in compostinional arrangements. So again a 3 star album to me, not perfect at all, but ok for sure and quite enjoyble in the end. Fans of US from Holland, even Uriah Heep or It Bites at some point might take a spin or two, decent album.