Arrival Last Roll Of The Dice Review
Arrival
Last Roll Of The Dice
FNA Records
2026
Earlier this year, FNA Records dug up an AOR piece from the long-lost Long Island, New York band, Arrival. The album is called “Last Roll Of The Dice” and was originally released in 1992 by the band themselves. A year later, in 1993, the band folded up shop. There’s not an awful lot of info on the reasons why, but I’m sure it had a lot to do with the changing of the guard in music.
For the first time in what seems like forever, this was an album from FNA Records that I had to grow into, it’s a “grower, not a shower.” That’s not to say it’s bad, because there’s a lot to like here, but the youthfulness and inexperience of the band do stand out. You can also tell there wasn’t a real producer working with them. There’s more than a handful of spots where the timing gets off slightly, but that’s almost certainly due to not playing with a click. I know this all too well. I hate playing with a click, but it doesn’t lie, not even a little bit. I’ve tried and lost every time I’ve been in the studio. I’m a bitch when it comes to timing, and I prefer to do it the right way because you can’t unhear a drum roll or an accent that isn’t in time. It’s also a struggle when you hear the singer jump in quicker than he should’ve, rushing a vocalist isn’t at all the thing to do.
There’s also a strong overuse of keyboard riffs in just about every tune. Now, mind you, I’m not a fan of keyboards to start with, and when you overuse them, I begin to feel like I’m listening to Journey and I want to find Jonathan Cain and punch him in the face. I want to do that daily, so it’s not all Arrival’s fault… I think there might be a tune or so here that has some Keytar work in it, ouch. For me, the heavy keyboard usage pushes some of the songs over into Yacht Rock territory, but I’m sure that wasn’t the band’s intention. I do catch a vibe of The Sweet and The Raspberries here and there, but it’s brief.
The good news is that after a few listens, the songs really do start to stick. The band was big on writing hooks and melodies that stay with you, and with a vocalist that could hit almost any high note on the grid, why not? Warren Passaro’s vocals SOAR at every turn. He’s the highlight of the album and gives it the much-needed punch in the gut. There are also some decent guitar riffs and lead breaks scattered throughout the record.
If not for the vocals, guitar work and strong songwriting, this album might’ve crashed and burned completely. I do wonder what the band would’ve sounded like had they had a legitimate producer who made the drummer play with a click, told the keyboardist to pull back a little, turn down, and toss the Keytar in the dumpster out back.
As it stands, though, “Last Roll Of The Dice” turned out to be a fun album after a few spins. For an old guy who remembers this kind of stuff, I can appreciate where Arrival was coming from, even if I occasionally found myself wondering if I’d wandered into Yacht Rock territory. And hell, I might even crank up some Yacht Rock every now and then, specifically if it’s Air Supply, Christopher Cross or Chicago!
Standouts – “Without You”, “Tough Love”, and “Who’s To Blame”.