SONGS FROM THE LIONS CAGE

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experience, it presents some captivating musical passages, but it does unfortunately for the most part, sound immensely outdated.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.