Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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 !

Wow. I didn't think Frost* could top Milliontown, but they're pretty close. Similar to Milliontown, the songs need to be heard several times before they sink in. And when that happens, you'll realize what an exceptional album this is. It still sounds like Frost* -- the odd time changes, unevenly paced melodies and gorgeous instrumentation. Godfrey says in the "Making of" DVD this album is more song-based, and that seems to hold true. This is an outstanding album that is highly recommended.

Without a doubt one of the best Progressive and/or thinking mans music albums of the year. The previous album, Milliontown, was simply brilliant and amazing and astounding.

This one was a long time coming, and all Frost fans waited patiently for it to appear, while reading the progress reports on the Frost website/blog. If you want to see true genius (as well as humor) in keyboard playing, composing, and general musicianship, take of a look at the "View from the Cube" at blogspot.

These collections of songs that these guys assemble are meticulous, remarkable, and ego less. The playing is virtuosic, and the composition, production and sound design is beyond state of the art.

They are truly musical people, and they write music that no one ever gets sick of listening to.

As far as Experiments in Mass Appeal, it is as keyboard driven as Milliontown, the vocals are even more impressive, and the complexity is truly amazing. This album is somewhat more consistent and coherent than Milliontown (which is saying something!). There is a more thematic presence in the music and passages, it is a more holistic musical experience than Milliontown was. However, it is somewhat less punchy overall, much smoother, less metalish (if thats a word).

For those that are believers that the definition of progressive music is to "progress" and explore, as opposed to being a yes/genesis clone, Frost is a marvel. You owe it to yourself to familiarize yourself with this gang of astounding talents from the UK. They add a mature and sophisticated presence to our musical landscape.

Okay, I'm going to rake some of the harsher reviewers across the coals here. Yeah, it's NOT Milliontown. But then, nothing else is, ever was, comes close, or probably ever even WILL be Milliontown, which is by far the very best thing I've heard since Images and Words, and even better, IMO. However, let's be honest, folks: If you had heard "Experiments" before you ever heard "Milliontown", I think you'd still be saying, like me, "Wow... just WOW." Yes, there's something inferior about the mix of this one, compared to Million. Nevertheless, I am stunned, impressed, and celebrating this fabulous release. Some tunes I like better than others, but there's not one on here that I don't love, and I'm hard to please musically. This one's going to be spinning in my player until every song is indelibly imprinted on my brain, just as Million was when I first got it. Absolutely fantastic, wonderful, and amazing release. Ignore all the naysayers who were hoping for another Milliontown, and add this one to your collection right away. Milliontown was a fluke of the highest order, and though "Experiments" isn't Milliontown, it's still brilliant. Come on, all you unforgiving critics, admit it: This is one superb and magnificent piece of work.

***DISCLAIMER: No flaming me over this post! I am an audiophile. I am a musician and sound engineer and perfectionist. Your mileage may vary, and many folks find no fault with this album whatsoever. The overall sound quality of this album, such as it is, MAY be the creative choice of the band, but I have my doubts...***

Is there a version of this CD that does not have the overall gain pushed so high that it's clipping horribly? I just don't understand this... for months I've been trying to wrap my head around the fact that Jem is (at least as far as I can tell) an audiophile, and the US version of this CD, both here and on iTunes (I haven't heard any other version, nor do I know if there is any other version) sounds pinched, harsh and overdriven. I actually cracked open these files in a WAV editing program because I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and you can SEE the clipping; at 0dB the peaks on the sound waves aren't just limited, they are completely chopped off. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge FROST fan and I love these songs enough that this is my very first post on Amazon.com, and I'm hoping that information will eventually be provided about a "non-shredded" version of this album so that I can buy it, or download it or whatever it is that I have to do. I am about at the level of frustration now where I'm toying with contacting Jem directly and asking if this is a manufacturing issue that he is not aware of, or if there is any hope of a re-master... whatever. I just so desperately want to enjoy this awesome music, but the poor sound quality just drags me down every time. Help!

Ok. I'm gonna start by getting to the point. This album is a fantastic masterpiece. Just because it's NOTHING like milliontown doesn't mean you can insult it. You guys are prog fans, you should appreciate when people try and 'do something new'. Instead you're afraid to tone it down a little and headbang to some simpler tunes. Godfrey knew that doing a clone of Milliontown would be boring. The fact that this is so far away from the sound of Milliontown, to me, is why it's brilliant.
Now, in terms of the album, it sounds more metal, more 'band-y' and is less of an onslaught of keyboards. That being said, it does sound a little like a different band every once in a while because of the new singer. But Godfrey still sings and keeps the comfortable sound Frost fans are used to. The songs themselves are a lot simpler, shorter, and louder than those of milliontown, which is why you can't compare the two. They're two completely separate entities.

The most obnoxious thing in the world to me is when people rate albums based on their own false assumptions about the artist's music. Think about why Godfrey did this album, why he did it differently, and why it sounds the way it does. He did it so he can piss off people like you guys who WOULD give an album like this a bad review.

The fact is if you blast this album in your car driving down the highway, you will not be able to deny how good it is. You will NOT.

I'm out.

Excellent progressive rock with creative songwriting. Just a touch of pop sensibility in the melodic structure. Great musicianship from Jem Godfrey on keys and the awesome John Mitchell working the frets without over the top emphasis on lengthy soloing. Highly recommended!

I bought it just because I like the first album a lot. Unfortunately the second is significantly weaker. No new musical ideas, lyrics sound ridiculous with rhymes like sensation-vibration-celebration. There's still some cute stuff in the album so some people will like it. But! Don't buy it just because you loved Milliontown