Contagion (Arena album)

Contagion
Studio album by Arena
Released	2003
Recorded	between February and August 2002 at Thin Ice Studios, The Outhouse Studios and Arena Studios[1]
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	58:15
Producer	Clive Nolan
Arena chronology
Immortal? (2000) Contagion (2003) Pepper's Ghost (2005)

Contagion is the fifth studio album by the British progressive rock band Arena, released in 2003. Two accompanying EPs, Contagious and Contagium were released shortly afterward. These contain additional songs to flesh out the album's concept, plus a remixed album track each and multimedia content. The EP track listings include their place in the overall running order.

Album track listing[]

1. "Witch Hunt" (Clive Nolan) – 4.14
2. "An Angel Falls" (Nolan, John Mitchell) – 1.13
3. "Painted Man" (Nolan, Mick Pointer) – 4.39
4. "This Way Madness Lies" (Nolan, Pointer) – 3.35
5. "Spectre at the Feast" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 5.33
6. "Never Ending Night" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 3.23
7. "Skin Game" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 4.42
8. "Salamander" (Nolan) – 3.55
9. "On the Box" (Nolan) – 2.38
10. "Tsunami" (Nolan, Pointer) – 2.36
11. "Bitter Harvest" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 2.51
12. "The City of Lanterns" (Mitchell, Nolan) – 1.21
13. "Riding the Tide" (Nolan) – 4.26
14. "Mea Culpa" (Nolan) – 3.43
15. "Cutting the Cards" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 4.55
16. "Ascension" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 4.31

Contagious audio track listing[]

1. "Vanishing Act (instrumental)" (Nolan) – 4.11
2. "The Hour Glass" (Nolan) – 5.58
3. "Contagious (instrumental)" (Nolan) – 4.07
4. "I Spy" (Nolan) – 2.33
5. "Witch Hunt" (Special Remix) (Nolan) – 3.42

Contagium audio track listing[]

1. "On the Edge of Despair" (Nolan) – 5.40
2. "The March of Time" (Nolan) – 7.29
3. "Confrontation (instrumental)" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 5.05
4. "Salamander" (Special Remix) (Nolan) – 4.45

Personnel[]

• Clive Nolan – keyboards, background vocals
• Mick Pointer – drums
• Rob Sowden – vocals
• John Mitchell – guitar, background vocals
• Ian Salmon – bass

Productions[]

• Karl Groom – engineer
• Nick Webb – mastering
• Dave Wyatt – art direction, design

Contagion Max[]

A 10-year Anniversary limited edition was announced with a pre-order campaign in October 2013. All orders made before 7 December were signed by the core members of the band. This re-release adds the EP-tracks and inserts them in the correct places in the concept to finish the album off as was intended.^[3]

Track listing[]

Disc 1

1. "Witch Hunt" (Clive Nolan) – 4.14
2. "An Angel Falls" (Nolan, John Mitchell) – 1.13
3. "Painted Man" (Nolan, Mick Pointer) – 4.39
4. "Vanishing Act (instrumental)" (Nolan,) – 4.11
5. "This Way Madness Lies (instrumental)" (Nolan, Mick Pointer) – 3.31
6. "The Hour Glass" (Nolan) – 5.58
7. "Bitter Harvest" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 2.51
8. "I Spy" (Nolan) – 2.33
9. "Never Ending Night" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 3.23
10. "Spectre at the Feast" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 5.33
11. "Skin Game" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 4.42

Disc 2

1. "Salamander" (Nolan) – 3.55
2. "On the Box (instrumental)" (Nolan) – 2.38
3. "Tsunami" (Nolan, Pointer) – 2.36
4. "On the Edge of Despair" (Nolan) – 5.40
5. "The City of Lanterns" (Mitchell, Nolan) – 1.21
6. "Riding the Tide (instrumental)" (Nolan) – 4.26
7. "Contagious (instrumental)" (Nolan) – 4.07
8. "March of Time" (Nolan) – 7.29
9. "Mea Culpa" (Nolan) – 3.43
10. "Cutting the Cards" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 4.55
11. "Confrontation (instrumental)" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 5.05
12. "Ascension" (Mitchell, Nolan, Pointer) – 4.31

The running order for this edition is different from that suggested by the EP booklets. For instance, the Contagium booklet lists "On the Edge of Despair" as "being the track to follow 'Painted Man' and precede 'Vanishing Act'".

References[]