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Was Contagion Arena's last great album? |
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Greenmist 
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Joined: August 10 2020 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 294 |
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 Topic: Was Contagion Arena's last great album?Posted: December 30 2022 at 06:34 |
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Ive recently bought Arena's latest album The Theory Of Molecular Inheritance, and ive gotta say im pretty disappointed in it . I was hoping that Damien Wilson may have helped Arena get that mojo back, considering he has been involved in so many projects out there in the rock and metal world, but not to be. Was Contagion Arena's last great album?, been 20 years now since they've produced a great album. Here's my tier ranking of their albums
Great/Excellent tier The Visitor (imo their best album), Immortal?, Contagion Good tier Songs From The Lions Cage, Pride Somewhat good tier The Unquiet Sky, Double Vision OK/Fair tier Peppers Ghost, The Theory Of Molecular Inheritance (this might go up one tier after some more listens.......might do) Not ranked The Seventh Degree of Separation Double Vision i only got a few days ago and only had a few listens through, and i need to give 7th Degree some more listens. The only songs that have decently impressed me so far is the opening track and the last track. The rest are just ok/passable or meh quality. Here's a screenshot of my track assessment of their latest album
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Jared
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Posted: December 30 2022 at 07:22 |
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Well, being as Pepper's Ghost is still my favourite Arena album (even though it might not be quite their best), I'd better duck this one out..
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lazland
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Posted: December 30 2022 at 07:29 |
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I think the new album is a superb effort, right up there with their best.
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Hrychu
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Posted: December 30 2022 at 08:40 |
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Molecular Inheritance is fantastic IMHO. I think it's as good as Contagion. There are very few albums that I find really exciting and enjoyable the very moment I hear them for the first time and don't need to grow on me, but that one is definitely one of them.
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Homotopy
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Posted: December 30 2022 at 09:25 |
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I more or less agree with the tiers given.
The last album sucks. |
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progaardvark
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Posted: December 30 2022 at 12:38 |
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I would have to agree that Contagion was their last great album. Having said that, and knowing I'm an outlier with this opinion, I still think Pride was the best album they ever made.
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geekfreak
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Posted: December 30 2022 at 12:43 |
Me too |
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Greenmist
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Posted: December 30 2022 at 13:08 |
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The thing is tho, i wanted to find their latest album a good or great album, as i got excited the second i found out Damien Wilson was the new vocalist, as i really love Threshold too, and he has sung on 4 of their albums, and i thought he'd have much to bring to the table, but ive listened through the album, and the songs just arnt reaching out and grabbing me (except for the opening track and final track).
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Manuel
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Posted: December 30 2022 at 17:34 |
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Probably. Never been a great fan of Arena, but some of their albums, like the Visitor or Contagion, are really good. After Contagion though, nothing has really made a good impression on me.
Edited by Manuel - December 30 2022 at 20:03 |
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Hercules
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Posted: December 31 2022 at 09:22 |
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I've just been listening to Songs From the Lion's Cage on the car CD, and it's an excellent album, with Valley of the Kings and Solomon ranking in the top tier of prog tracks. The Visitor, likewise is almost faultless.
I also think The Unquiet Sky and The Seventh Degree of Separation are top drawer - I cannot understand why the latter is rated so low. I don't like Immortal much and Contagion is ordinary. I haven't listened to Pride or Double Vision much and I have never heard Peppers Ghost. The latest album doesn't impress me that much. I really don't like the vocals much and a lot of the songs sound a bit like recycled earlier stuff: enjoyable, but I had hoped for something more. I'm 100% certain that Arena have another great album in them - they are an amazingly talented group of musicians - but this latest isn't it. I think they would be well advised to see if Alan Reed is available, because he is better than Damian Wilson IMHO.
Edited by Hercules - December 31 2022 at 10:42 |
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omphaloskepsis
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Posted: January 02 2023 at 15:58 |
Yes, Hercules feels the same way I do about Arena.
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Grumpyprogfan
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Posted: January 02 2023 at 17:02 |
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Not a huge Arena fan and have not heard every release by them. From those I've heard, "Contagion" is their swan song.
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Prog-jester
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Posted: January 08 2023 at 17:05 |
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not in my book:
Songs From the Lions Cage 8/10 Pride 8/10 The Visitor 4/10 Immortal? 6/10 Contagion 4/10 Pepper's Ghost 7/10 stopped following them after that. Always loved Shadowland the most, from all Nolan-related projects/bands |
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PhideauxFan
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Posted: January 09 2023 at 01:03 |
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No for me because I really like Pepper's Ghost.
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Greenmist
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Posted: January 10 2023 at 06:44 |
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Dont mean to sound opinionated but, how anyone can give The Visitor only a 4/10 but propel Peppers Ghost to a 7/10 is beyond me.
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richardh
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Posted: January 10 2023 at 07:17 |
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Damien Wilson is generally a massive presence. I get slightly depressed that no one cares about the Headspace albums he did with Adam Wakeman. Haven't heard this recent Arena album though as its not yet on Apple music . I've therefore directed my attention elsewhere , especially towards the Verbal Delirium album which is very Arena like and kicks some serious ass. Also love the Collage album , again has very strong ties to Arena's classic sound I think.
Edited by richardh - January 10 2023 at 07:17 |
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Jared
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Posted: January 10 2023 at 07:46 |
The Visitor has grown on me over the years (never a fan of Wrightson's theatrics and I thought it was very poor man's Fish when it first came out in 1998), to 7/10 but I'll never enjoy it as much as Pepper's Ghost (9/10). Whilst I think Contagion is possibly their strongest, PG will probably always be my favourite... there's just not a bad track on it and the album hangs together very well indeed. I'm pleasde that there's a couple of others here at least, who tend to agree.
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Prog-jester
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Posted: January 10 2023 at 12:01 |
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2Greenmist: not a fan of 12-15 samey boring tracks thrown together for a cOnCepTuaL effect, so both The Visitor and Contagion are not my favourite Arena records.
Actually the same goes for Marillion's most loved albums, Brave and Marbles: the highs are indeed high there ("The Great Escape", "Goodbye To All That", "The Invisible Man", "Ocean Cloud", "Neverland"), but all other tracks are weak and forgettable for me |
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Greenmist
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Posted: January 10 2023 at 13:39 |
On the contrary.......1 thing that i do give The Visitor praise for is its variety
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Boojieboy
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Posted: January 13 2023 at 17:14 |
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Pepper's Ghost is my favorite, and that came after Contagion. So there you go.
Like Prog-Jester, I stopped following them after that Edited by Boojieboy - January 13 2023 at 17:15 |
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lazland wrote: