Marsupilami ● Arena

My hat goes off to any band that builds a concept album around ancient Rome and does so without any sense of humor or irony. I’m doffing my cap in this case to a group called Marsupilami, a UK-based septet that released two records for the Transatlantic label in the early ‘70s. “I've come here today to rip the veil from your eyes,” proclaims the band. “And pinch your heads, and pull out your bloody minds!” And so it begins, a five-song suite dedicated to gladiators, togas, chariots and minstrels. All of this would be quite funny, of course, if these guys weren’t so serious. Arena, awash in a murky haze of flutes, mellotrons and saxophones, is typical of the era’s art rock projects in its varying time changes, loosely organized song structures and elongated musical passages. “Prelude to the Arena” kicks things off, an introduction full of screams, chants and the occasional guitar solo. The remaining four songs regurgitate the same odd mix of jazz, rock and folk in conceptualizing the group’s exploration of a once brutal Roman culture. In the band’s defense, the musicianship is impressive and the playing tight. Ultimately, though, Arena is simply another lost entry from the decade’s progressive rock archives.