SONGS FROM THE LIONS CAGE

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.