| The
Review |
In the world of music, it's the song that stands as the
most important element of music; why can't some people understand
that playing, as important as that is unto itself, has to
pertain to the basis of the melodies and hooks; and even though
some might dismiss these guys as being a part of the modern
'neo-progressive' rock movement, that is what England's Frost
does, pertain to, the songs. Yes, they do play, but with renowned
pop singer-songwriter/keyboardist/producer Jem Godfrey at
the heart of this project, you known that the music is going
to be filled with catchiness. ***
Complimenting Godfrey's work is guitarist John Mitchell,
bassist John Jowitt, and drummer Andy Edwards, so you have
these elements of bands such as Arena/Kino, early Jadis, and
IQ (respectively in the order of members (ha ha, I said member)),
however there is this David Foster vibe to it, where there
is the melding of the songs and dense arrangements. Ethereal
at times, with the occasional chaotic moments, 'Milliontown'
is something somewhat different, however most of the NEARfest
crowd will be foaming at the mouth over this one, but you
have to look beyond the whole 'prog-rock' factor. ***
"Hyperventilate" is an instrumental opener, which features
the many synths and keys brought to the table along with Mitchell's
sub-shredding axe; the most intriguing factor abut this particular
number is that Frost accomplishes more things melodically
within the seven-and-a-half minutes than a lot of progressive
rock bands can't do in an hour. Following up with more rockin'
moments with driving tracks such as both "No Me No You" and
"The Other Me," the album expounds upon heaviness, showing
that Godfrey can really 'rock' his pop side up a bit. But
atmospheric and higher pop relevant cuts such as "Snowman"
and "The Other Me," as well as the twenty-six minute epic
title cut (obviously Godfrey's baby, proving that you don't
need to record a two disc concept record to 'make a point')
show more catchiness and riffage. ***
'Milliontown' might be the segue way between pop, AOR
and (gulp) progressive rock; being that it is a record than
can take the stereotype away from this technical genre. Now
if these guys play a festival like NEARfest or CalProg, it
would be nice to see people getting up and "gettin' down"
to the grooves.
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