Experiments In Mass Appeal (Special Ed. CD/DVD)

Frost | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 13, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Inside Out / SPV
• ASIN: B001GJ30BK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,150 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

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

Disc: 2

1. making of

2. internet blogs

3. Experiments In Mass Appeal instrumental mix

Editorial Reviews

Frost is the progressive rock project from producer and mastermind Jem Godfrey, who has worked for pop acts Atomic Kitten and Walt Disney Films, just to give a couple of examples. Although his true calling is Frost, which he lives out with the help of IQ musicians John Jowitt and Andy Edwards, as well as John Mitchell from the bands It Bites, Kino and Arena. With Experiments In Mass Appeal he offers a truly modern take on the progressive rock genre, with a massive sound and amazing production values. Also available as a Special Edition in a high-quality digipack with a bonus DVD that contains a documentary, various internet blogs and the entire album as an instrumental remix .

This Special Edition is packaged in a high-quality digipack with a bonus DVD.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful music but the mix could be better, January 13, 2009

By 

WillieB - See all my reviews

This review is from: Experiments In Mass Appeal (Special Ed. CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

For whatever reason, this release took me longer to warm up to than the debut. It's more focused on melodic compositions ("Toys" could be the next Jonas Brothers hit), but the prog ingredients that I like from the first album are still in place. Not one track needs to be skipped, the musicianship is excellent, and the ratio of crunch to soft is just right. Everything but the end of "Wonderland", where the intro keyboard line is repeated for three minutes and forty-eight seconds, holds your interest. However, the audio mix could be better. To me, it sounds harsh and there is no clarity between instruments. I can't tell if the bass lines are played by a bass player or is it just keys? The cymbals sound like doo-doo (metallic and nasty) and the compression overkill is evident on everything. WTF dudes? "Milliontown" is sonically superior to this release.

The special edition CD/DVD comes with a booklet that includes one tiny group photo and some artwork. Yes, this special edition comes with no lyrics or liner notes. Aaargh! So can someone tell me if the title track is accented with female vocals and who it is? The DVD includes - The Making of Experiments in Mass Appeal (2 hours 46 minutes) starring Jem in the studio. However, it's not all about "the making of"... there are clips of Jem programming keys for the tour, Jem salivating and smelling his newly purchased gear, Jem with a hangover, Jem washing his car, and other general weirdness. John Mitchell gets some camcorder time but the other band members are rarely seen. The Gig Reports (53 minutes) shows the band on tour with backstage footage, in the car, the hotel room, and some brief live clips. The Christmas Sessions is a 10-minute short that features Jem on keys and Declan on guitar rehearsing "Hyperventilate" and "Snowman". All these features are surround by a border that takes up more viewing area than the video. Finally, there is an mp3 mix of the entire album that you can play on your computer. Most of it is instrumental, but there are some background vocal aah's on the title track, a few seconds of spoken words on "Welcome to Nowhere", and "Wonderland" is cut in half time wise and has been rearranged a bit. It now includes some bizarre distorted voices, Chipmunk vocals, and Jem says "Bet you weren't expecting this". You are correct sir, I wasn't, but I like the silliness of it.

Overall, I don't think the special edition is necessary, but the CD is a must have for Frost* fans. I'm glad Jem changed his mind about retiring the band, may there be many more albums to come, and please consider external help for the engineering duties in the future.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Softmore Slump, February 2, 2009

By 

x_bruce - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Experiments In Mass Appeal (Special Ed. CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

OK, maybe the review title is a bit harsh but the fact remains Jem Godfrey has the reputation for being a studio wiz. As several have pointed out, he doesn't show it on "Experiments In Mass Appeal". There is a general lack of clarity throughout the album that seems almost inexplicable for someone with his production chops and near unlimited budget.
Even on my studio equipment with near field monitors, the sound was disappointing.

Second, the songs just don't have the snap and unexpected flow of the first CD. If this was a new artist I probably wouldn't have ordered "Experiments In Mass Appeal"

So where do things go wrong?
Pretty much at the beginning. The album's self titled opener, "Experiments In Mass Appeal" seems to drag on with a somewhat drab instrumental segment, something nearly unforgivable when you have the musical firepower available.
Declan Burke's falsetto isn't all that impressive IMO and is covered in effects that don't help the delivery much. He is much better singing in his range, which is quite wide....all the more reason for using his strong side.

Unlike Milliontown, which had great diversity in its material and greater diversity for John Mitchell, who seems to be at his rhythmic best as a Metal player, but has much less to do in "EIMA"

I could live with sameness in songs if they were more of a Progressive-Rock vein, or Progressive-Metal.
As is, "EIMA" lacks in terms of progression from "Milliontown's" high standard, and there's no doubt in my mind, of its 5 star qualities. Unfortunately, "EIMA" doesn't reach that lofty achievement.

All of this said, "Experiments In Mass Appeal" is well crafted music that blows away 90% of what is available from record labels. It comes down to the issues stated above as why I'm disappointed.
While many will take exception with me, it seems that so much more should have been done with the band and the song material, which to me is not as good as its predecessor.
You'll notice the "*'s" are still "4", meaning above average, but compared to "Milliontown" the "*'s" would have been "3".

Hopefully "Frost*" will return with another album and I'll be able to celebrate its brilliance.
Until then, "EIMA" will do.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Over-Compressed Genius, January 20, 2009

By 

Alexandre Hudon (Charlesbourg, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Experiments In Mass Appeal (Special Ed. CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

It is 3:04 AM and I've just finished listening to EIMA (except Wonderland... too sleepy for an epic right now). Yesterday, having only a couple of minutes to please my ears with the new material, I started off with "Toys", because of its shortness. I loved it right off the bat. Now tonight, after going through the first 8 tracks with headphones on, it still is my favorite track, as well as "Welcome To Nowhere", "Saline", "Falling Down" and the opening track. I was really impressed with the CD's excellent vocal parts. There are some high-pitched notes hit by singer (Is it Jem, ? Hard to say with no liner notes). That vocal ambitus wasn't there on Milliontown. I like this new addition very much. The piano playing is much less impressive thant on Milliontown in terms of virtuosity, but it sounds and feels good. Most passages on this CD are fresh, innovative, beautiful. These guys have musical ideas that really appeal to my musical tastes.

That being said, I had to get out of bed, come here and mildly rant about the mix, as it annoyed me all along the album. Some parts just have too many layers, making everything sound choked as hell. This kills or masks the genius of what I would call brilliant musical segments. Sad, eh ? The ending of the title track is a great example of that.

I'm a drummer who likes a great drum sound, and the drums here definitly suffer from over-compression methods i.e. "gating" (no dynamics at all messes with the human side of this drummer's great playing). "Pocket Sun" is a great example of that. The crashes just get on my nerves : they fade out unnaturally and are way too loud. This goes for some keyboard sounds too, and bass, or whatever instrument the low frequencies are created with. These comments on over-compression and abusive layering also apply a bit to "Milliontown", but it is much more disturbing on "Experiments..."

Also, as much as I get chills when a passage builds up to intense heights of sound and energy and then drastically cuts to very mellow, I find that having this concept in almost every song on this CD makes it a little less interesting and a bit more clichéed.

I'll spin the CD again, though, no question. It is worth checking out for the brilliant melodic and harmonic ideas of Jem Godfrey. Every song is a strong one.

See for yourself !