ARENA
Arena is a popular English neo-prog rock band created in 1994. Currently, it is formed by two of its founders Mick Pointer and Clive Nolan in the company of John Mitchell, Damian Wilson and Kyal Amos who joined years later.
Important facts about the band
Current members
Damian Wilson, Clive Nolan, Mick Pointer, John Mitchell, Kyal Amos.
YEARS OF ACTIVITY
1994 – present
FORMER MEMBERS
Paul Wrightson, John Jowitt, Keith More.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY...
The neo progressive band Arena was born in 1994 to impressively dominate the musical genre. Undoubtedly, it is a group of weight for the world of rock.
The group was initially formed by Mick Pointer and Clive Nolan who already had a musical background in past bands such as Marillion and Pendragon. However, later new members joined the band with Keith More on guitar, Cliff Orsi on bass and John Carson on vocals.
Arena stands out not only for the constant change of its members, but for the amount of musical influences that led them to become what they are right now.
The majority of the band’s compositions are by Nolan. However, Mick Pointer collaborated on some tracks on the first two albums.
The band’s main style ranges from symphonic, to raw hard rock.
ARENA ALBUMS
Songs from the Lion's Cage - 1995
Arena’s first album was released in 1995 and was entitled “Songs From the Lion’s Cage”. To tell the truth, this album allowed them to enter the neo-prog style with a good footing. The sound stood out for its musical aggressiveness that, at the time, was compared to the style of Fish (composer of Marillion).
Listen Songs From the Lion’s Cage on Spotify
Pride - 1996
The second album that Arena released was “Pride” in 1996. By then, the band featured two new rock talents. The first one was Paul Wrightson and, of course, John Jowitt. While it is true that this album kept the musical trend, it gradually moved away from the influence of other bands such as Marillion.
Listen Pride on Spotify
The Visitor - 1998
“The Visitor” is the third studio album released by the band. Unlike the first two albums, this one stands out for being conceptual. In this studio work, guitarist John Mitchell joins the ranks. The songs are much shorter and bring us something totally different from what they showed us before.
Listen The Visitor on Spotify
Immortal? - 2000
Two years later, in 2000 “Immortal?” changes the whole direction of the band towards a slightly darker north. The album revolves around human existence by taking a look at beliefs. The melodies are totally exuberant, the lyrics are convincing from beginning to end and the compositions are brilliant.
Listen Inmortal? on Spotify
Contagion - 2003
“Contagion” is the band’s fifth album. Shortly after, they released two EPs with additional tracks to complement this album (Contagious and Contagium).
Listen Contagion on Spotify
Pepper's Ghost - 2005
An exceptionally lyrically and conceptually narrated album. “Pepper’s Ghost” stands out for being very artistic. The theatricality and the graphic presentation as a comic book, is perfect to get into the world of progressive rock, even if you are not a fan of the style.
Listen Pepper’s Ghost on Spotify
The Seventh Degree Of Separation - 2011
The band’s seventh studio album continues to showcase the best of neo-progressive rock. This album is pleasant to anyone’s hatred. A simple work, with good melodies and clearly influenced by the hard rock trend with a bit of AOR.
Listen The Seventh Degree of Separation on Spotify
The Unquiet Sky - 2015
After four years without releasing any studio material, Arena surprises again with “The Unquiet Sky”. Again with a conceptual style, the album tells a horror story by M.R James. The songs stand out for their great power, darkness and interpretation.
Listen The Unquiet Sky on Spotify
Double Vision - 2018
Without leaving drama aside, Arena once again pleases their fans with “Double Vision”. Undoubtedly, it is possible to define this album as the best in the entire history of the band.
The work is epic and intense. Besides, the songs are catchy. The melodies stand out for their constant changes.
Listen Double Vision on Spotify
MUSICAL INFLUENCES
Actually, this band stands out for its versatility within the same genre. Since their creation in 1994, they have played styles such as Heavy Metal, Prog-Rock, Art-Rock, Neo-Prog and Progressive Metal.
Throughout its history, the band has been compared to bands such as Marillion. The reason for this, as mentioned before, has to do with the extended guitar solos that predominate in their main albums.
However, with the passing of time, they have oriented themselves to other tendencies without leaving aside their rock approach.