Search - John Wetton :: Arkangel

A nice piece of work

sauerkraut | 11/04/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Arkangel is a pleasing solo album from John Wetton. It was released in 1999. Of the 14 tracks, the last two--"Magazines" and the live "Woman"--are bonus cuts. Also, the album contains two instrumentals, the album-opening "The Circle of St. Giles," which is attractive and atmospheric, and the nicely crafted, dramatic "The Celtic Cross." The material is in a pop rock musical direction. Overall, I find the songwriting to be solid, the musicianship to be skilled, and the sound quality to be impressive. Wetton's meat-and-potatoes singing is distinctive, smooth, and magnetic. The compositions are organic in quality. The songs that I consider to be favorites are "Desperate Times," "You Against the World," and "Magazines." The pretty-sounding "Desperate Times" displays expressive, industrious vocals from Wetton and nice saxophone playing. "You Against the World" is a warm composition with a captivating guitar melody and remarkable singing from Wetton. The regal "Magazines" has engaging keyboard work and a beautiful, melodious guitar solo. Other pieces that I enjoy are "I Can't Lie Anymore," "Arkangel," "Emma," and "Nothing Happens for Nothing." The jaunty "I Can't Lie Anymore" features a catchy chorus and ambitious vocals from Wetton. The plaintive "Arkangel" exhibits a pleasant guitar solo, while the solemn "Emma" sports charming guitar playing, and the fun, bouncy "Nothing Happens for Nothing" features infectious, layered harmony vocals during the refrain and a harmonica solo. The CD booklet includes the song lyrics and an illustration of Wetton; also, there is an illustration of him on the back of the CD jewel case. The disc is almost 58 minutes. Arkangel is a recommendable piece of work."

Good musical effort, if not his best CD

Padraic | East Lansing, MI | 03/31/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD has an interesting vibe to it. I tend to like it's more experimental, less commercial vibe than that of Battle Lines/Voice Mail. John Young, who is a good music composer helps out on some of the tracks, and there's some tasty guitar work on the record from Billy Liesegang. A couple songs, like "Desperate Times" are uneven and don't sound well suited to John's voice. Actually his voice is all around stronger on his Rock Of Faith release, 6 years later, than on this album. "The Last Thing On My Mind" is a great song, along with "You Against the World" and "I Can't Lie Anymore" ... the latter and some of the songs having a kind of melancholic feel to them. The instrumental "The Celtic Cross" has some nice orchestra sounds, and real nice acoustic guitar in the 2nd half. An overall strong release"