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| Arena - Breakfast In Biarritz |
 Released: 2001 Label: Verglas Cat. No.: VGCD021 Total Time: 69:30 / 13:48 plus 31:00 of video | |
Reviewed by: Gary Carson, November 2002 This is not their first live disc from Arena (Welcome To The Stage - 97 & The Visitor Re-Visited - 99) and I doubt it will be the last, but this is the first one I have heard. With this in mind, I only have a couple of Arena CDs but this will definitely hold a towering place in my collection. To begin with, it comes as a limited edition double CD set (disc one has 10 tracks and disc two has 3 tracks plus a 30 minute Arena documentary). But let's start with the music first. The 20 minute epic Immortal? piece (extended by a two minute introduction) "Moviedrome" opens the proceedings and brings a somewhat disconcerting beginning. I find a twenty minute opener to be somewhat, well, off-putting. I like to be led into an album, not swamped by its opening track. But, if it is a reflection on what they regularly do live then that is what they do. It's no major drama as the whole first disc is 70 minutes long and they integrate other lengthy tracks including an extended "The Butterfly Man" and "The Hanging Tree". There is a nice blend of music featuring tracks from all of their studio albums although, whilst all performances are suitable, some may complain at Rob Sowden (v) attempts at John Carson's (ex-vocalist) and Paul Wrightson's (also ex-vocalist) material. To me, Rob sounds wonderful - a few missed notes here and there but nothing to debilitating for a live album. Plus, who of us doesn't like to listen out for minor mistakes or albums that have a raw/real feel to them. Special mention to John Mitchell (g) and Clive Nolan (k) who both do an outstanding job. Progressive rock & metal bands are unanimous in the attitude that the best live CDs show off how faithful they can be to the original studio recordings and unfortunately this disc, for the most, suffers from that problem. At the same time though, it doesn't distract from the enjoyment gained by listening to it. Given this, only a couple of numbers differ greatly from their original counterparts, namely "Crying For Help VII" which has the crowd chanting at the end of it. Two final notes. Firstly, the bonus documentary is amazing. 31 minutes in length and featuring the current Arena line-up discussing history and the current line-up even though two of the members are relatively new to the band (Rob Sowden & Ian Salmon (b)), we get a pretty good examination of the band at work. Secondly, great artwork from Mattias Norén who's been doing wonders in prog metal/rock "arena" lately. A worthy addition to a consistent band and for those who don't have the opportunity to see the band live, then this is a great beginning. PPO Rating: 8/10 [This review originally appeared at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.] More about Breakfast In Biarritz: Track Listing: Disc One: Moviedrome / Crack In The Ice / Double Vision / Midas Vision / Serenity / The Butterfly Man / The Hanging Tree / A State Of Grace / Enemy Without / Crying For Help VII Musicians: Contact: Website: www.verglas.com/arenaworld/ Discography
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