Music Banter - View Single Post - Anteater Presents: An Essential Guide To Modern Prog.

Anteater · 11-29-2009, 07:31 PM

3.

Frost* – Milliontown (2006)

1. Hyperventilate (7:31)
2. No Me No You (6:06)
3. Snowman (3:55)
4. The Other Me (4:51)
5. Black Light Machine (10:06)
6. Milliontown (26:35)

Quote:

"I've got nothing against pop music; it's like a family car, reliable and safe. But now and then you want to rent a Ferrari and race it along the Nuerburgring to prove to yourself that you're still alive. PROG IS MY FERRARI."

- Jem Godfrey

Jem Godfrey is not normally a name you'd associate with progressive rock in any form or shape. His resume as a producer is solidly within the realm of commercial pop and was pivotal in the success of many #1 charters such Atomic Kitten and Holly Valence. However, around 2004 or so, he decided to pursue working with a genre that was about as far from commercial as one could get, a form of music he had always loved but had never been able to work within before: P.R.O.G. rock.

So after calling up a few old friends and bringing in one or two neo-prog. scene favorites John Mitchell and Andy Edwards, Frost* was born: a project to bridge the expansive majesty of progressive rock to commercial pop-rock.

Was the fusion successful? With the release of 2006 debut Milliontown, the answer is wholehearted yes. Each of the six tracks here, from the industrial-tinged 'No Me No You' to the spellbinding 'Black Light Machine' encapsulate in some way or another both the grandeur of 1970's experimentation and the thirty years of musical revolution and change that came afterward, mixed into some of the slickest production values that bring guys like Alan Parsons and Quincy Jones to mind. More than just successful, this was a winning combination that neo-progressive rock had yet to even touch.

But praises aside, Milliontown is also one of those albums that changed the way I thought of music, and furthermore it singlehandedly hooked me onto a genre when I was a stupid sophomore back in high school that not even Pink Floyd or Yes had managed to excite me to explore. This stuff was very modern sounding, but sharp and grandiose in ways that radio wasn't. This was...well, intimate and intricate, and so different from what I knew. It was also really tight on the instruments, but colorful in execution vocally and taking care to try new things with every track.

This was also the first album I had ever heard with a nearly half hour track...and even more strangely, a nearly half hour track that was AWESOME all the way through. Extravagant but never boring, full of motifs and designed not as separate hum-drum movements but as one continuous whole to keep you interested...my first time sitting through this as someone who didn't know anything is still an experience I can't forget.

Hundreds of new progressive rock albums are released a year; the sheer volume overwhelms anyone even trying to figure out where they should begin. But, whether by fate or coincidence, I cannot express how great a doorway to modern prog. that Milliontown was for me. From the vocals to the memorable yet complex arrangements that perpetuate the six tracks here, even a casual listener will find something to latch onto with surprise and a smile.

For those looking something accessible yet accomplished, Frost* are where its at amidst the lameness and sameness that prevail about us. Enjoy!