Really sad to see Paul leave. Arena always had the perfect singers for their albums. Paul is one of the best singers I've heard. I know I was disappointed with the first album that he was singing on ("The Seventh Degree Of Seperation") but that was not because of his singing, but because they reduced the amount of guitar- and keyboard soloing in favour of Paul's voice. Which is, in a way, perfectly understandable, because he is such an amazing singer! "Seventh Degree..." is a very vocally driven album and in time I began to appreciate the musical backdrop as well. The two albums that came after are Arena back in business. And I was looking forward to the fourth Manzi-led Arena album. I hope we'll be hearing more of him in the future!
That being said...
I just read that Damian Wilson will be the new singer! This makes me super excited! I'm really looking forward to hearing how he sounds with Arena. I've always thought that this could be a possibility and I'm curious to hear how he will handle the many favourite earlier songs live.
That's really cool, to part with one excellent singer, and welcome another excellent singer as well.
Sad/happy