Customer Reviews

FIGMENTS

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Anton Fig is an ever-reliable drummer with a great feel. Glad to see him put together an album of his own after playing on so many others.

For Blondie Chaplin fans, this album is a must have. What a voice the man has. Blondie has co-written and takes the lead vocal & guitar duties on three songs - Home, Hand On My Shoulder and Utopia. It is also worth noting that the great Brian Wilson provides former bandmate Chaplin with his usual exquisite background vocals on the track Hand on my Shoulder. It seem just like yesterday that Blondie sang lead on the Beach Boys own Sail On Sailor...

Blondie and Anton had previously played together as 2/3 of a band called Skollie. Skollie put out a great album titled Ostrich Man in 1992, but it was sadly only released in their home country of South Africa and is impossible to find.

It is really a shame that Blondie's solo albums are all out of print or were never released in the first place. He is truly a talented songwriter and vocalist and this album is worth the price just for his three songs alone....

I have been fortunate to get my copy of Figments from Anton's website and he autographed it to me, which was very cool.
Anyway, Anton has so many aspects going on in this CD from rock, to pop, to world this CD has everything a music fan could ever want..and more. The songs are very refreshing, no strange lyrics or music..and no foul language, which is great!

Anton should continue to make more CD's of this nature and I will step up to buy every one of them!

When a friend recommended this album by Dave Letterman's drummer I thought I would be listening to your typical first-rate studio musician's boring debut. It's a standard formula by now, studio musicians make lots of friends and when they decide they want to put out an album they invite a stellular cast to participate. Then you are disappointed because the central character in the mix doesn't have the originality and personality to carry it off.

But not in this case. Anton Fig has authored some really great songs, with the help of members of his cast of thousands. The album is satisfying throughout. The music is lively but mature, the lyrics are meaningful and direct, and the stellular cast supports without taking away the central personality of the album. The music is a fusion of rock and jazz with a bit of Celtic nostalga thrown in for good measure. My current favorite songs are "More than Friends" with the great vocals by Richie Havens, and "When the Good Die Young" which may not be a 9/11 song but strikes me as one. Another highlight of the album is "Know Where You Go", featuring Brian Wilson on vocals.

...

Never knew that Anton Fig was such a seriously dedicated musician. I recently had the pleasure of attending a drum clinic given by Anton at a local music shop. Everyone there was blown away by his talent and ability that is so rarely featured on Late Night. He has a degree in Classical Percussion and is constantly working to improve his musicianship. He spent 3 1/2 years putting together Figments on his own and in his own home with his own equipment, writing or co-writing most of the cuts on the disc! This is not just a disc full of drums. Figments is a recording of music that covers a wide variety of styles with an impressive line-up of performers. I got my copy at the clinic and was able to get Anton to sign it as well. He seems to be very down to earth, humble, easy to speak to, and appreciative of his fans.

Anton Fig is an ever-reliable drummer with a great feel. Glad to see him put together an album of his own after playing on so many others.

For Blondie Chaplin fans, this album is a must have. What a voice the man has. Blondie has co-written and takes the lead vocal & guitar duties on three songs - Home, Hand On My Shoulder and Utopia. It is also worth noting that the great Brian Wilson provides former bandmate Chaplin with his usual exquisite background vocals on the track Hand on my Shoulder. It seem just like yesterday that Blondie sang lead on the Beach Boys own Sail On Sailor...

Blondie and Anton had previously played together as 2/3 of a band called Skollie. Skollie put out a great album titled Ostrich Man in 1992, but it was sadly only released in their home country of South Africa and is impossible to find.

It's really a shame that Blondie's solo albums are all out of print or were never released in the first place. He is truly a talented songwriter and vocalist and this album is worth the price just for his three songs alone.

Probably also worth mentioning that the Brian Wilson background harmonies from the Hand On My Shoulder track are featured acapella in a bonus track at the end of this album...

I pretty much agree with what a reviewer wrote below: "For an album that's supposed to be about a drummer, the tracks display a surprising lack of imagination when it comes to percussion. What's worse, even though there really is no "theme" to the album, the Ace/Sebastian song sounds really out of place. Ace's solo is horrible to boot.

The only bright spot I can find is the varied vocal talent.

Don't buy this album if you are looking for new or exciting percussion."

On the upside the recording was executed beautifully. Very rich quality with tremendous depth. On the downside however, the songs were not interesting to me. I've seen Anton play and he has so much more to offer as a player than is conveyed here. Most of these tunes are slow to moderate tempo with no explosive quality. The effort reminds me of what Narada Michael Walden did in the 70s and 80s. A world class player delivers popish, moderately hip compositions that don't showcase the players' talents. The problem is that as pop tunes, these don't stand up and they aren't saved by great instrumental performances. Admittedly, I have a preconception that in the tradition of Buddy Rich, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Omar Hakim, etc., recordings released by great drummers, ought to have standout drum performances. Anton is great, you should see him live.

Although Anton is known primarily as a drummer, this album displays a whole other side to him. Beautiful production and compostions make this album appealing to people beyond the drummer genre. In fact Anton's drumming is somewhat understated here - a testimony to his ability to hold back and play what is right for the music. This album is packed with beautiful music and although it covers a few genres, all the styles hang together - with brilliant performances from guest stars Brian Wilson, Richie Havens, Ivan Neville, Ace Frehley, Sebastian Bach, Blondie Chaplin and host of great musicians. In my opinion this is a must listen CD!

I bought this CD because I am a 20+ year KISS fan, and Anton has been Ace Frehley's drummer on solo projects since Ace's first solo album in 1978. I wanted to see what else he was capable of, besides rock and what he does on Letterman. Also, Ace and Sebastian Bach appear on the album.

For an album that's supposed to be about a drummer, the tracks display a surprising lack of imagination when it comes to percussion. What's worse, even though there really is no "theme" to the album, the Ace/Sebastian song sounds really out of place. Ace's solo is horrible to boot.

The only bright spot I can find is the varied vocal talent.

Don't buy this album if you are looking for new or exciting percussion.

I was recently turned onto Figments by a friend and immediately bought it. What a great album - definately one of my 20 'desert island' faves. Cool songs, lush production and great performances make this really rewarding. Check out the 'hidden track' for a nice surprise. As a professional musician I admired the work but my girlfriend, who has no musical ability to speak of, loved it too - highly recommended!