Arena (band)


Arena are an English neo-progressive rock musical group founded in 1995. The band's style ranges from symphonic to hard rock.

History

Arena was founded in 1995 by Clive Nolan keyboardist of Pendragon and Shadowland, and Mick Pointer, the original drummer of Marillion, his tenure lasting from 1979 until 1983. The other founding members of the band were guitarist Keith More, vocalist John Carson, and bassist Cliff Orsi. Orsi was replaced by John Jowitt in the band's inaugural year, whilst Carson and More left the band in 1996 and 1997, and were replaced by Paul Wrightson and John Mitchell respectively. Both Jowitt and Wrightson left the band in 1998, to be replaced by Ian Salmon and Rob Sowden, creating the band's most stable lineup to date. This lineup came to an end with Paul Manzi replacing Sowden in 2010. In 2011, Jowitt rejoined the band to replace the departing Salmon, leaving again in 2014 and being replaced by Kylan Amos. In July 2020, Manzi was replaced by Damian Wilson.
Most of the band's lyrics are written by Nolan, though Pointer contributed lyrics to Sirens and other tracks on the first two albums.
Musically the band's style ranges from symphonic to hard rock. While in the beginning the Band sound like the "old" Marillion from the Fish era, some of the band's recent albums have a similar sound to Nolan's earlier band, Shadowland.
Allmusic called them one of the dominant neo-prog groups of the 1990s.

Personnel

Members

;Current members
;Former members

Timeline


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Period = from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/2021
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ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1995
Colors =
id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitar
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id:Album value:black legend:Studio_Album
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at:25/07/1995 color:black layer:back
at:24/09/1996 color:black layer:back
at:22/04/1998 color:black layer:back
at:22/04/2000 color:black layer:back
at:27/01/2003 color:black layer:back
at:17/01/2005 color:black layer:back
at:01/07/2011 color:black layer:back
at:05/05/2015 color:black layer:back
at:25/05/2018 color:black layer:back
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bar:Carson text:"John Carson"
bar:Wrightson text:"Paul Wrightson"
bar:Sowden text:"Rob Sowden"
bar:Manzi text:"Paul Manzi"
bar:Wilson text:"Damian Wilson"
bar:More text:"Keith More"
bar:Mitchell text:"John Mitchell"
bar:Nolan text:"Clive Nolan"
bar:Orsi text:"Cliff Orsi"
bar:Jowitt text:"John Jowitt"
bar:Salmon text:"Ian Salmon"
bar:Amos text:"Kylan Amos"
bar:Pointer text:"Mick Pointer"
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bar:Carson from:start till:01/04/1996 color:Vocals
bar:Wrightson from:01/04/1996 till:01/07/1998 color:Vocals
bar:Sowden from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/2010 color:Vocals
bar:Manzi from:01/07/2010 till:14/07/2020 color:Vocals
bar:Wilson from:14/07/2020 till:end color:Vocals
bar:More from:start till:01/07/1997 color:Guitars
bar:Mitchell from:01/07/1997 till:end color:Guitars
bar:Orsi from:start till:01/09/1995 color:Bass
bar:Jowitt from:01/09/1995 till:01/07/1998 color:Bass
bar:Jowitt from:01/09/2011 till:25/07/2014 color:Bass
bar:Salmon from:01/07/1998 till:01/09/2011 color:Bass
bar:Amos from:25/07/2014 till:end color:Bass
bar:Pointer from:start till:end color:Drums
bar:Nolan from:start till:end color:Keyboards

Discography - Arena

Studio