Classic Rock Bottom

See, what happened was I thought this album came out in September of 2013 and was going to post some tracks in last week's NMC but discovered that this actually came out in August of 2013. Silly me! Since it was over a year old, I couldn't post it. What to do?

Sure, I could have posted it earlier in the year, but kept pushing it back and pushing it back until I could push no more. I brought this on myself and I am so ashamed.

Thankfully there's a L/F album post (almost) every week, right??!!

(NOTE: 100% collusion free! All facts are from jonsmindopedia, unless otherwise noted.) 

Also note that this is NOT Arc Angels. This is Arc Angel. There's a difference, you see.

And now for a brief history, courtesy of allmusic.com:

"Arc Angel released one sprawling record of bombastic and brilliant album rock in 1983 and then flew back into the heavens. The band stems from the brain of gifted singer/multi-instrumentalist Jeff Cannata who did time with James Christian in the quasi-prog Jasper Wrath during the '70s. With Arc Angel, the Connecticut resident fabricates a fully melodic dreamscape of lofty aspirations. Cannata writes the music and handles the lion's share of the duties on the assured, eponymous debut. New York keyboard whiz Jeff Bova of Distance contributes some Baroque flourishes, and April Wine later covered an undiscovered Arc Angel gem. Side one features the gleaming "Stars" and the illicit "Tragedy," both of which rode the airwaves; side two showcases great album cuts like the sterling "Just Another Romance" and the lamenting "Sidelines." Dismissed as a Boston/Kansas clone, Arc Angel never soared as high as many of its AOR brethren. A pity, as Cannata's project shows vast potential."

Sadly, there's no review on allmusic.com. However, out of eight reviews on amazon.com, seven give this album four stars or higher. The one person that gave it two stars though it was an Arc Angels album. What a silly person. 

If you like melodic rock, you might like this.

Harlequins Of Light

1. Harlequins Of Light
2. As Far As The Eye Can See
3. War (Battle Wounds Of Life)
4. Voice Of Illuminati
5. Through The Night
6. Amnesia (The Rest Of Your Life)
7. Fortune Teller 2
8. California Daze
9. Tonight… Forever
10. Get To You
11. Diamonds And Gold
12. Legend Of The Mary Celeste

Availability: Around $14 new or used.


 

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I'm so confused!! Arc Angel or Arc Angels?  Do these bands not talk to each other?  And I thought the NMC rule was revised to 18 months, right after we amended it to not allow new Tommy Bolin releases to be showcased - do you remember now? ...  So you technically took my weekend, thanks!

 

So onto this "post of confusion"

 

This guy has some impressive pedigree, too bad I know nothing about any of it.  I will say the opening track was just an "ok-fest".  It had promise though.  Very keyboard friendly tunes, but they are used well.  Loved them on the second track they kept it interesting as the vocal and chorus wasn’t working.

 

Warning:  Entering Mundaneville.  War finds the album taking a turn to the uninteresting.  Voice of Illuminati has some weird moments, there are times where the vocals feel out of place and the tempo seems to awkwardly change. Though the geetar©™ was good!  Through the Night seems to hint at how long we will be staying in Mundaneville… Amnesia has some strange lyrical content but nothing musically interesting  to suggest that were ready to leave this “eh-zone”. 

 

Finally on our way out of Mundaneville…  Fortune Teller 2, apparently there is Fortune Teller 1? This song has moments, some Ambrosia like mid-tempo goodness, but the chorus doesn’t deliver on the promise of the music, and the keyboards are very 80’s on this one but I can’t find that that’s a bad thing here, nice geetar©™ as well. 

 

California Daze, eh…  “Still so far away but still we share the same Sun?”  Good to know, thankfully these high quality lyrics are educational as well.

 

Tonight… Forever didn’t get off to a good start but I did like it once the bass kicked in.  “If only you could see the light, the blinding light” - Why would you want to see blinding light?  How can you see blinding light?  I’m getting that strange lyrics are his calling card.

 

Get To You – Nice acoustic feel.  This is very nice.  Best song yet.  Catchy, melodic, love the keyboard work.  More nice geetar©™ - Where has this been?

 

Diamonds and Gold was closer to the eh stuff we got through in Mundaneville. and the closer Legend of the Mary Celeste had some promise and the keyboard opening and synth work were pretty cool.  But here again, the vocal work was awkward, maybe a songwriting partner and new vocalist could improve on what seems to be some very promising work.

 

Get To You is really good though!

While I can't call this a masterpiece or anything along those lines, I also can't say it's bad.  It falls safely somewhere in between.  A couple of thoughts:

As Far As The Eye Can See has some Yes-like vocals.

Tracks three, four and five are a fairly good section of listening.

Fortune Teller 2 has more of those Yes-like vocals.

California Daze reminds me of The Manic Street Preachers.

Tonight...Forever is easily the best song here.  It has a Saga vibe with some very nice guitar work.

Otherwise, like I said, this is a worthy listen, but not something that would get repeat spins from me.  Thanks for posting though.

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