Ark - The Dreams Of Mr Jones (1988)

Working, as I once did in a previous incarnation, at one of the UK’s top rock venues back in the 80s with live bands on 3 – 4 nights a week occasionally a band really made you stand up and take notice . . . and I mean occasionally . . . and there are also bands for whom the term ‘underrated’ doesn’t even come close: Ark more than ably satisfied the criteria for both categories. Hailing from the West Midlands, Ark walked the dangerous line between prog-rock and commercial rock with ease, producing a succession of musically adroit and lyrically meaningful tracks at a time when the music world was by and large turning ‘cock rock’.

In 1987 the band entered the Edward’s Rock Complex Battle of the Bands competition – on which i was a judge on some of the rounds – and won, securing time at Birmingham’s Rich Bitch recording studios for the following year which was utilised to record their debut album The Dreams of Mr Jones.

The album opens with Gaia, a powerful up-tempo track that personified Ark’s sound with twin guitars played with a twist. On the one hand was Pete Wheatley’s distorted rock guitar and on the other Steve Harris’ guitar synth playing which added power to some of the tracks with a traditional guitar sound and more than ably filled-in for keyboard melodies and solos as required. The mid-section of Gaia is particularly interesting as it features vocalist Anthony Short on flute for a half-time instrumental break.

Next-up is the slow ballad Through The Night which is tender without being cheesy and features Steve Harris playing ‘piano’ throughout on the synth guitar. The track speeds-up for the latter quarter featuring a solo from Pete Wheatley and whilst one of Ark’s longer tracks on the album at just over five and half minutes, holds the interest throughout with strong vocals and melody coupled with the instrumentation.

Kaleidoscope follows which is again a very strong composition and it’s about here you begin to realise that there is something of a revelation about The Dreams of Mr Jones in that there’s no filler at all, each track is equally as strong as the others and follow a principle I always admire in that they contain several distinct segments that hold the interest and demonstrate the band’s compositional abilities to good effect.

Echoing the band’s concerns about terrorism, and the IRA at that time, Powder for the Gun is a powerful piece of prose set to a mid-tempo, bass-driven track:

“Like the glint of a weapon with no hint of surprise
He’s naked in the bright interrogator’s light, there’s no disguise
With a foot in the graveyard and a hand on his heart
An actor for the cause in romantic civil wars, he plays the part ”

With lyrics such as this, Powder for the Gun is a bold statement and conveys its message with skill and prowess!

Mabeline – no not a Chuck Berry cover – tells the tale of a lady of, shall we say, low moral fibre, and provides a lighter respite between the power of Powder from the Gun before Nowhere’s Ark kicks-in.

Nowhere’s Ark closes the album and is a belter of a track with an up-tempo triplet feel throughout and a strong instrumental mid-section with a semi-mediaeval feel too it – particularly in the vocal harmonies and flute section over the pounding tom toms. However, don’t think this is done in a pretentious manner as it still sounds very contemporary in its approach and lyrically explores the emotions as a nuclear holocaust beckons which, as with many of the lyrics, shows a distinct maturity and distance between Ark and a fair proportion of prog bands. Musically the track builds into a powerful set of guitar solos thus maintaining a powerful rock feel to the track overall and the syncopations at the end of the track are again of an English folk flavour but really end the album on a high note.

My only criticism of this album which is now nigh-on impossible to purchase on CD, is that at 6 tracks and lasting only 29 minutes it’s way too short. Ark certainly had plenty of strong material at that time so I can only assume that constraints on studio time dictated the album’s length which, if correct, is a great pity. With the Gabriel-esque vocal styling of frontman Anthony Short and a musical style mixing the likes of Marillion with a touch of folk and hearty dose of powerful rock – along with a great live presence – I always thought they’d found a winning formula but alas I was wrong and Ark never really hit anywhere near the heights their talents deserved but if you can get hold of a copy of The Dreams of Mr Jones I’m fairly confident you’ll come to the same conclusion.

• Anthony Short – Vocals/Flute
• John Jowitt – Bass
• Dave Robbins – Drums
• Pete Wheatley – Guitar
• Steve Harris – Guitar Synthesizer