The ARK Appreciation Pages

ark . eology . org

   

Discography

a1-ark

The Dreams Of Mr Jones (1988)

  1. Gaia
  2. Through The Night
  3. Kaleidoscope
  4. Powder For The Gun
  5. Mabeline
  6. Nowhere's Ark

The first album was initially released on vinyl, complete with lyric sheet in 1988. Later, in 1991, the album was re-released on CD, complete with spelling and artwork mistakes, but minus a lyric sheet or booklet.

This album was ARK's first chance to really the show the music business what they were made of. Although the songs stand out as first rate, the production sounds weak, which isn't surprising as it was recorded in week. However, it did enable the band to gain a bigger following with their slight prog rock leanings. On the down side, due to the bad press prog rock generally got, many music critics were not initially on ARK's side, and consequently found it difficult to get major label interest.

The album featured three re-recordings and three new recordings. A personal favourite being Powder For The Gun.

Incidentally the mistakes on the CD release include the photo of the band, and the band line-up. The photo (l-r) features John Jowitt, Steve Harris, Richard Deane, Ant Short & Pete Wheatley, and the band listing names Richard Deane, Anthony Short, Dr Steven Harris, Peter Wheatley & Gel !!! Unfortunately, the band or the band's management never got to okay the arkwork before it was printed, which greatly annoyed the band.

For the record, the line-up who recorded the album, was Ant Short, Pete Wheatley, Steve Harris, Dave Robbins & John Jowitt.