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Review Summary: Still stuck in that ancient desert. Arena’s follow-up to their brilliant 1995 debut “Songs from the Lion’s Cage” has all the symptoms of the classic “second album syndrome,” but I think it’s not even that. In fact, I think “Pride” can only formally be regarded as a separate entity from “Songs…” Officially, it’s the band’s second album. Factually, it’s more like a companion album. It’s the only instance in Arena history when the band released a follow-up album in such a short period of time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if all those songs were born from the same recording sessions, later to be divided carefully by Nolan and Pointer into two LPs. Both albums share the same structure, each featuring four parts of “Crying for Help” suite, one short and relatively simple “single” (I don’t know if Arena ever bothered to release a single, but some of their songs are certainly fit to be promotional singles) and several longer prog songs with the longest one closing off each respective album. Sonically, the albums are also nearly identical with most songs on “Pride” sounding like sequels or siblings to their counterparts from the band’s first LP. Finally, the lyrical content is also similar, as the band again talks about ancient empires and references Greek myths (only this time Medusa is featured instead of King Midas).
What prevents me from dismissing “Pride” as merely a pale copy of the “original,” is the sheer quality of individual songs. Continuation of the “Crying for Help” suite is still mostly good, although not as hard-hitting. I’ve never been a fan of the acapella part, but it’s somehow logical to have a song that only contains vocals since the suite is mostly instrumental otherwise. The opener “Welcome to the Cage” is probably the band’s most poppy and straightforward song ever with its fast and catchy synth melody, but it works. “Medusa” is the first Arena song that I really liked with its rich, grandiloquent piano and intense performance of the new vocalist Paul Wrightson. The lyrics are (more than) a bit juvenile, but Wrightson manages to sell the song with his clear and emotional voice. Lastly, “Empire of a Thousand Days” is a song written in the same vein as “Valley of the Kings” from the preceding album, but it is just as dramatic, multilayered and memorable, so I don’t mind.
In fact, the album only starts to drag closer to the end with “Fool’s Gold” being the worst offender. There are some great parts to be encountered, but the song is stymied by grating synths and an extremely annoying refrain. Four minutes of a song like that would have been too much, and we’ve got nine! This is also the first long Arena song that really feels long to me, as does the closer “Sirens.” Paul Wrightson does his best to make the song sound better than it is, and he almost succeeds, but not quite. That’s one crucial difference between this and the previous album: John Carson and Paul Wrightson are equally skilled singers, but Carson got to work with stronger material. This time, I feel like even some of the better songs work because Wrightson carries them, while the boring ones only survive because of him. It’s good that the guy stayed longer to sing on “The Visitor,” one of the highly acclaimed Arena albums, because he surely deserved that.
So, what we have on our hands is a slightly streamlined tired sequel to “Songs from the Lion Cage.” It hurts a bit to give this album a lower rating, because a lot of the songs on it are still genuinely great, but “Pride” can’t compete not only with its predecessor, but also with the mighty high-concept opuses that followed. On the other hand, this could be a good album to start with if you are not yet familiar with Arena. It opens with an accessible song and remains inclined towards the poppier side of prog for most of its runtime. If there ever was a more easily digestible package of Arena songs, this is it.
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Album Rating: 3.5
I agree with you, "Pride" is less good than "Songs From The Lion Cage". I think you are also right that "Pride" is an album with many of the leftover tracks from the debut. In reality, and I also agree, it has the same structure. All material could have been released as a double album, indeed. But Arena had already put everything in the right place on their debut live album “Welcome To The Stage”, I mean, the lengthy tracks are all there.
About the tracks, for me, while on “Songs From The Lion’s Cage” all the lengthy songs are great, on “Pride” the lengthy songs are less great. “Welcome To The Cage…”, “Medusa” and especially “Sirens” are the real highlights of this album. And here we disagree. I love “Sirens”.
Great writing, Lou. Finally this album has the review that it deserves.
So, have a big pos.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
"Sirens" is one of those songs that are "almost there" for me, but I can see it being a favorite for somebody else, of course. I should listen to that live album though, it's like the best parts of the two albums combined (minus the "Crying for Help" suite), and I'm curious to hear Wrightson doing the first album songs.
Meanwhile, I wrote a review for "Immortal?" as well, planned for publishing middle of next week
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Yeah, you should. The album is amazing with the long tracks in the right place. Wrightson did a great job. Anyway, I always loved his vocal style, especially on "The Visitor", which probably, is my favourite work from the band, despite the fact that I consider "Contagion" at the same quality level.
I'm going to wait for your review with expectation. It also deserves a great review. Besides, "Immortal?" and "Songs From The Lion Cage" are my next favourites from Arena.
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