The Playlist of Life --- Trollheart's resurrected Journal

02-16-2012, 02:32 PM	#11 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Experiments in mass appeal --- Frost* --- 2008 (InsideOut) Yeah, the asterisk () is apparently important, don't know why, but it sure as hell makes this band hard to Google! Formed in 2004 by producer/songwriter Jem Godfrey, Frost have a remarkable pedigree in the sphere of progressive rock music. Boasting members who have played with IQ, Arena, Kino, It Bites and Jadis, they've released only three full albums in that time (excluding one live set and an EP available only at the concerts) but have nevertheless gained massive respect in the prog rock community. This is their second album, released in November 2008. There's a very gentle, gradual introduction to the title track, with fragile piano and acoustic guitar slowly coming up in the mix, then falsetto-style vocals from I guess Declan “Dec” Burke, who is credited as lead vocals, though two others are also shown as vocalists. Burke's understated voice gives the music a certain feel of laidback folk (is there any other type, you say? Ask Tyr) --- then suddenly John Mitchell's electric guitar and John Jowitt's bass come through heavily, the vocals also taking on a fresh intensity as the song powers up, and now all realtionship to folk music is blasted away, as Mitchell launches into a powerful solo, Andy Edwards bashing away on the drums like a man possessed. So, pedigree was mentioned earlier? Well, John Mitchell of course is known from both Arena and Kino, and currently with It Bites, while Jowitt will be a familiar name to fans of IQ and Jadis, also having played in Arena. Andy Edwards thumped the skins in IQ, until being replaced in 2009 by their original drummer. Godfrey, creator of the band, has a more dubious history --- dark whispers of Atomic Kitten and Holly Vallance : sssh! --- but left those influences behind in 2004 to form Frost. “Welcome to nowhere” has definite elements both of Jadis and It Bites, a harder, heavier song than the opener, shorter too, and very guitar driven. Burke's voice is at full tilt all through this, and very powerful it can be when used to its best effect. In addition to producing and adding vocals, Jem Godfrey plays the keys, and gives quite a dazzling display on same here, at times work Tony Banks might be mildly jealous of. It's Mitchell's guitar that really drives the song though, and he relentlessly stamps his identity all over it. It crashes headlong into “Pocket sun”, which opens on a sparse guitar line but soon takes off in a much more solid vein, with some fine drumming from Edwards. There's also a sense of seventies Yes updated to 2008 for this song, with big guitar hooks and keyboard passages, passionate vocals and a very steady rhythm section all helping to make the song come alive. “Saline” starts off on a nice echoey piano melody with soft falsetto singing from Dec Burke, with some really good backing vocals (either from Jowitt or Mitchell, not sure which) joining him, then a nice guitar line as the song seems to be turning into a ballad. There's a certain sense of Divine Comedy in the piano, similar in ways to “Neptune's daughter”, with some lovely --- nah, beautiful--- violin from John Mitchell taking this song to new heights. “Dear dead days” gets things moving again with a burst of electronica before the keys get rocky again under Godfrey, as he shows off a bit, Edwards keeping pace with him until everything drops away to single piano and the speed falls to almost zero under Burke's delicate vocal, then the electronica kicks in again as the song zips from one genre to another, with some growly vocals almost crossing into metal territory, then the rock keyboard is back. And we're still only less than three minutes into an almost seven minute track! If this isn't classed as progressive, I don't know what would be. The keyboard solo that opened this song cuts directly into the next, and “Falling down” comes in without even a breath. In fact, if you're not watching the monitor you could be fooled into thinking it's all the one song, so seamless is the transition. A fast rocker with plenty of prog in it, it's very catchy with a really nice line in bass from John Jowitt, some moaning keyboards from Godfrey, including a really nice piano solo, more violin from John Mitchell who then swaps his fiddle for an axe, ripping off a fine and effective guitar solo. “You/I” is then just over a minute of acoustic piano backing Declan Burke's voice in a dreamy ballad which should really have been longer, then “Toys” rocks everything back up with an almost AOR tune, some very hard guitar from Mitchell keeping it heavy even though there's a great hook and it's quite radio friendly. Definitely the most It Bites-like track on the album. The closer is a fifteen-minute monster, in the tradition of the great prog-rock epics. “Wonderland” starts off with a deep, sonorous synth intro then “Tubular Bells”-like piano with a soft vocal, humming, throaty synth again coming up behind the piano then dropping away to allow some really excellent vocal harmonies through, followed by strong guitar from John Mitchell and powerful drumming from Andy Edwards as the song picks up in intensity and force. Around six minutes in it stops. Completely. Silence. Or at least, nothing I can hear, even turning my amp way up. This goes on for about a minute, then eventually and gradually you hear what sounds like a mechanised voice intoning what may be news reports. Gabrielesque piano takes up what I guess would be termed the second part of the song, as we get a mid-paced piano ballad with African style drumming from Edwards, lots of bongos and the like (probably not, but that's how they sound), and as this part of the song goes on there's a great feeling of triumph and joy, whether that's intended or not I don't know. Burke's vocal is strong and clear, and Mitchell's guitar, coming in, adds another layer to the emotions engendered by the piece. Everything drops away then on the twelfth minute, leaving the piano holding lonely court, much quieter, almost receding like the tide, then Mitchell's violin slides in, very quietly and in an understated way, helping to carry the song to its (very) slow and fadeout conclusion. (Note: okay, checking back now I see this is actually not fifteen minutes long, but two shorter songs, the second of which is a hidden track, which explains the long pause in the middle. Hmm.)* Nevertheless, as a closer, I think perhaps this could have ended better: it seems to tail off rather than finish triumphantly, fading into the distance, but it's a very good track, even if it's not part of the original one I had reviewed above. I just think I would have hesitated to have used it to finish the album. As a fan of Arena and Jadis, I had intended for a long time to listen to Frost. Now that I've heard this album, I definitely want to hear more. Unfortunately, it seems there are only two other actual albums to listen to. They're on my list, as of now. TRACKLISTING* 1. Experiments in mass appeal 2. Welcome to nowhere 3. Pocket sun 4. Saline 5. Dear dead days 6. Falling down 7. You/I 8. Toys 9. Wonderland __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018