Arena - Radiance

Year of Release: 2003
Label: The Cage
Catalog Number: CageCD 04
Format: CD
Total Time: 54:14:00

Radiance is the fourth disc from the Arena Fan Club, The Cage and is only available on its website: www.the-cage.org

It?s an acoustic and live album, it?s fifty minutes long and was performed at Zoetermeer on the 7th of November, 2002 by the trio of [Clive] Nolan, [Rob] Sowden [John] Mitchell.

Surely the best parts of this record are the songs taken from Contagion, at that time still unreleased. Why is it the best? Because Rob Sowden?s voice fits perfectly the songs from Contagion, but it has a lot of problems on the songs from those albums where he wasn't the singer. Rob hasn?t that kind of voice that Paul Wrightson had, and he can?t reach those high peaks, so he uses some high pitched squeaks, even if he has a better expression in his vocal chords.

As regards the musical structure, the band arrange the pieces with their usual great knowledge, without a lot of technical solos, but making probably the album a little bit dull, without many variations.

Anyway, the beauty of some songs remain in this new version, too; like in "Crying For Help IV" and "Only Child" from The Cry.

The album's graphical elements have nothing to envy other Verglas album,beginning with the cover artwork, painted once more in a wonderful manner by David Wyatt, who has created some of Arena's previous covers.

A suggestion: take a look at The Cage website?

Tracklisting:
(Don't Forget To) Breathe (3:44) / A State Of Grace (3:31) / An Angel Falls (1:13) / Spectre At The Feast (5:51) / Skin Game (4:07) / Bitter Harvest (2:42) / The City Of Lanterns (1:46) / Mea Culpa (3:42) / Ascension (4:15) / Crying For Help IV (3:41) / The Butterfly Man (7:49) / Jericho (7:54) / Crying For Help VII (3:44)

Musicians:
Rob Sowden - vocals
John Mitchell - guitars, backing vocals
Clive Nolan - keyboards, backing vocals
Ian Salmon - bass
ick Pointer - drums

Discography:
Songs From The Lion's Cage (1995)
Pride (1996)
The Edits (1996, OOP)
Welcome To The Stage (1997)
The Cry (EP, 1997)
The Visitor (1998)
The Visitor - Revisited (1999) (Dutch fan club only release, OOP)
Immortal? (2000)
Unlocking The Cage - 1995-2000 (2001) (Dutch fan club only release, OOP)
Breakfast In Biarritz (2001)
Contagion (2003)
Radiance (2003) (fan club only release)
Live & Life (2004) (box set)
Pepper's Ghost (2005)
Ten Years On (2006)
The Seventh Degree Of Separation (2011)
Live 2011/12 Tour (2012)
Arena XX (2016)
Contagion Max (reissue of Contagion) (2014)
The Unquiet Sky (2015)
The Visitor - 20th Anniversary Remastered Edition (2018)
Double Vision (2018)

Caught In The Act (DVD) (2003)
Smoke And Mirrors (DVD) (2006)
Rapture (DVD) (2013)
Arena XX (DVD) (2016)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin U

Added: November 16th 2003
Reviewer: Davide Guidone

Artist website: www.arenaband.co.uk
Hits: 2106
Language: english