THE TRIPLE EP COLLECTION

Arguably I am reviewing these to releases the wrong way around, as this collection was released after the debut album, but given this contains the EP which started this project off I feel it is the right way for me. As may be gained from the title, this is a collection of three EPs (plus lots of other material) from keyboard player/saxophonist Marek Arnold who is widely known for his time with bands such as Toxic Smile, Cyril, Seven Steps To The Green Door and Damanek. He has always reminded me of Martin Orford in that not only is he a wonderful composer and keyboard player but is also a master of a very different instrument indeed.

The concept behind this was when Uwe Treitinger, organizer of the established Artrock Festival Reichenbach/Vogtland had the idea for a "hymn" for the festival and asked Marek to provide it. He wrote the song, "Stay", played keyboards and saxophone and asked many of his friends to get involved, with lead vocals provided by Melanie Mau. I am not saying I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, nor that I still play it to this day, but according to my profile on Last.FM it is easily my most played track since I started scrobbling in 2007. There is something about it from the hooks through the vocals to the six solos to the guitars and sax which is difficult for me to explain, but it makes me feel this is the perfect song and I never tire of it.

Of course, as this is a collection of the EPs we get repeated tracks, with different lengths, so we kick off with two versions of "Stay" and then the third part of the "Berlin 2049" suite which appears on the debut, "Leave Well Enough Alone". The second EP, 'Papillon', was released in September 2023, sung by Arno Menses (Sieges Even/Subsignal), and finds Marek concentrating more on his own musicianship for support with heavy use of keyboards and sax in the early stages until it becomes a bouncing prog number, and again we get two versions of the song along with the sixth section of the "Berlin 2049" suite, 'Riding The Line". The third EP was released in December 2023, shortly before Christmas, with the ballad "A Time Of Mystery," sung by Manuel Schmid (Stern Combo Meissen), this time in three versions, plus the final part of the "Berlin 2049" suite, " Reason To Lie".

This would be enough for most people, but Marek was determined to make this collection special for those who already had the EPs so he has added more songs, including "Aiden" which features Patrik Lundström (Ritual /Kaipa), Steve Bühring, and Jana Pöche on vocals and is a continuation of the "Berlin 2049" suite which is not available elsewhere. Given the repeated songs which come with an EP compilation this will not be for everyone, but for fans like me this is invaluable and well worth discovering if you enjoy commercial crossover prog which is fun and easy to listen to.