BREAKFAST IN BIARRITZ

I'm quite a big fan of Arena, and I can't find many flaws in their music, but this album is not what I hoped for. The sound quality is good, the performance of the songs are good, and does justice to the studio-recordings. Based on this I should give it four stars, but I won't.

I have two problems with this recording. First: Rob Sowden, He's a good singer, he proved that on Contagion, but he doesn't always reach the high notes, and he seems to be short on his breath sometimes. Live I definetly prefer Paul Wrightson over Rob Sowden,as I do on studio albums for that matter. Mind you, Rob is not a bad singer, far from it, but on this occassion I miss Paul.

Second: Track list. The first two albums are only represented by Crying For Help VII and Midas vision, which are not the best songs from those albums (Songs From The Lions Cage and Pride). Crying does have a nice new arrangement (We Will Rock You-Queen drums), making it a great stadium rocker. It's big fun for the audience. Overall I think they play the wrong songs.

Several good points are scored aswell. The guitar play from John Mitchell is very very good, musicianship is always good by Arena for that matter. if this setlist represents your favorite Arena songs than it's definetly worth the purchase. Also Disc two has an informative CD-rom documentary on it, with an interview with the band.

I love the band, and I like this Album, but I heard better from them. for a better Live album, check Live & Life, and Welcome To The Stage, or the DVD Caught In The Act. Nice but not Brilliant.