Customer Reviews

Milliontown

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Frost is a new project on the Inside Out label, led by Jem Godfrey who is the main songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist, and producer. Godfrey is actually a successful pop music producer, but his heart has always been in the progressive rock genre. So he decided to put together his own band, enlisting amazing musicians: John Mitchell from Kino and Arena on guitars and vocals, John Jowitt on bass and Andy Edwards on drums, both of IQ fame.

Needless to say, Frost is quite different from the musicians' bands, as Godfrey's vision was obviously to marry the hallmarks of progressive rock with modern recording and production techniques. There is plenty of studio trickery happening on these songs, ranging from electronic elements to slightly industrial beats, to processed vocals and clever mixing. Although Frost will no doubt appeal to most, if not all, neo-prog fans, the music presented on Milliontown is arguably heavier and more experimental than most releases in this genre. The production being excellent and guitar tones blending seamlessly with Godfrey's oft-times virtuosic keyboard performance culminates in breath-taking moments, as on the instrumental opening piece "Hyperventilate". Slow yet effective keyboard notes kick the song off mixing with the slowly building guitar riffs that are noticeably more complex than what Mitchell has played on his own bands' records. The brief technical wizardy blows your mind away before returning to a solemn solo piano and back to heavy, almost grinding guitar sweeps that rise and rock up until the five-minute mark. From here on, a vague folk motif is inserted before the song is wrapped up with swift acoustic guitars contrasting a solid rhythmic bottom and thick soundscapes. It is an incredible way to start the album.

Fans of IQ will be utterly pleased to hear the duo shining like they've never shined before. The songwriting is very rhythm-friendly to say the least, as Godfrey has given both Edwards and Jowitt enough room to take the lead and grace the songs with their rhythmic and technical abilities. It is Jowitt's dynamic bass sound that drives the otherwise modern-sounding, dark number "No Me No You", a song defined by great vocal harmonies and sudden tempo shifts. Likewise, "The Other Me" features a funky bass line around which the rest of the instrumentation is centred, often delving into catchy melodies with big choruses, very heavy breaks, and unusually experimental electronics that move from crackling noises to static bleeps, recalling OSI on their Free album. Speaking of these industrial sounds, there is more to hear on the shorter cut "Snowman" where Godfrey's piano melodies are combined with quiter acoustic guitars and lots of reverb-induced sound effects.

The last two songs are also the longest ones. "Black Light Machine" will immediately strike a chord with the 70's prog lovers in that it offers everything they may be looking for. Beautiful keyboards, poppy vocals, great guitar work, gorgeous symphonic moments, and so on. What's best about this track is the fantastic build-up to Mitchell's guitar solo, both emotionally charged and wonderfully recorded. Again, Jowitt's bass is central to the success of this track not to mention to dazzling drum work by Edwards (man, he should record more stuff like this!). The number closes with a distinct Floydian psychedelia and humourous wah guitars by Mitchell, as if he cut it really loose in the studio and just couldn't stop at the very end. With all that said, the sixth song, at over 26 minutes, is the climax of the album. It slowly unfolds with minimalistic keyboard work, introducing a strong lyrical theme. With the arrival of crunchy guitars and excellent drumming, we are in a killer instrumental break where we can also hear chanting-like female vocals distantly echoing in the back. The song is made up of several movements, and boasts lots of passages with bells, subtle electronica textures, birds humming, whispered vocals, and so much more. It also takes on a somewhat cinematic vibe, recalling The Flower Kings' Adam & Eve (think any song with Daniel Gildenlow singing) and touching on both folky and modern soundscapes. The ending of the song is particularly impressive, given the elegiac guitars and keyboards layered on top of the marching rhythms.

Bottom line, Milliontown could be the best debut of the year. It's a must-have for fans of neo-prog who can also handle modern production and experimental compositions.

Many of the prog-rock/prog-metal CDs that people recommend on their lists make me wonder what these people have been smoking!!!! I often seek out used copies of these CDs based on fellow reviewers recommendations only to discover that I have wasted my hard earned $$ and, in far too many cases, my time as well.

Apparently some of you are so hard up for progressive music that you will fall for any old stuff that comes along, as long as it even remotely falls under the prog-rock banner!!! And some of this stuff......how could ANYONE compare it to masters like Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Marillion, Rush, etc, etc!!

Well...I am very happy to say that this is a GREAT album and IS worthy of being on such lists!!! Unlike a few of the other CDs I recently purchased, I WILL be listening to this one and quite often. In fact, #1- "Hyperventilate" and #4 - "The Other Me" are already on my MP3 player!!

I heartily recommend this to anyone who is a fan of good progressive rock music!!! Now...if they'd only come out with a new release and go on the road opening for Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree or Rush, I would be a happy man!!! : )

Wow! I got much more than I expected in listening to this great piece of work. Milliontown is awesome. It seems pretty much that anything John Mitchell plays on these days is the most inspiring music around. Last year he played with Kino and created an amazing new band. Now with Frost he and his bandmates seem to have picked up where Kino left off and offer an even more sophisticated piece of work. The keyboardist, Jem Godfrey, really has that Tony Banks sound down! This masterpiece was also his (Jem's) brainchild. His vocals often sound like Neal Morse and I sometimes can't tell if I am listening to a new Genesis or Transatlantic! But alas, no, it's Frost! Not to mention the incredible rhythm section with the bass player and drummer from the band IQ. And what can I say about John's guitar work? The emotion that pours out of his intrument is overwhelming. What a major accomplishment! The music of Milliontown is a little less pop and more progressive technical rock, but the whole CD from beginning to end works perfectly. It really grows on you. It rocks in it's own very interesting way. Very recommended.

I definitely enjoy current progressive rock bands like the Flower Kings or Spock's Beard, etc., but they do have a distinct retro feel to them (not necessarily a bad thing). Frost, on the other hand, is progressive rock for the new century. Crafted with up-to-date studio processing and industrial rhythms, Frost sounds different and fresher than many bands in the genre and is worth a spin for any fan of progressive rock. Warning: they do not sound like genesis, '70s yes or Pink Flyod, but more like Nine Inch Nails/Arena/Trevor Rabin era Yes

One weakness is the vocal performance...or more specifically, the vocal recording/style. Frequently heavily processed, the vocals simply don't 'shine' or carry a song. In fact, in the begininng of the last track "Milliontown" the processed vocals are almost whispered growlings that conflict with the beautiful solo piano in the background.

The weakness aside, this is a great effort that will get frequent play in my CD collection

Never egocentric but always inventive, it's like the classy little brother of the big bad prog boys. This is something like the high-society prog rock with its own status-quo.

I have to give you the listener review, since I am not the performer kind. So more than tell you about the techical stuff this band has to offer, I will concentrate what this band will make you FEEL.

Many of the tracks have such well crafted vocals that they get into the bone real deep. Some other moments are so heavy that you feel what follows is going to bring down the neighborhood, when all of a sudden a colorful bloom flourishes from the inside that makes you wonder how come you are here when you where all over there just a second ago! I need to admit that my favourite song of this album is Black Light Machine. I've played this song alone four times as much as all the other ones combined. It opens with a shivering voice blend that gives you a hard time trying to sing it along if you try to pick one voice alone. When it comes to the chorus, your eyes are already watering. Too bad they sing it only once. The song even gives you a sweet funky moment with a heavy keyboard solo, when in a split second, it transforms into the ethereal solo they all talk about. The keyboards race like clouds high above, while the drums and bass line keep you fast-paced. Above all this, the guitar is constantly tapping the melody string by string. Like an alien abduction, you come to realize you spent a life someplace else just 10 minutes later.

Then it comes the 26 minute long epic Milliontown. Dang it! what can I say...

How could this be anything other than brilliant, the guitar player from Arena, the rhythm section from IQ and a production/keyboard whizz in Jem Godfrey with lots of pop smarts. This is progressive rock with all the production tricks, whistles and bells that might have found themselves on the latest top 40 offering. It is a wonderful combination.

For lovers of fine progressive rock and excellent musicianship who are not too snooty to enjoy a little studio "wizardry" - it is at times marvellously bombastic, (the frenetic opening just blows me away); the compositions are suitably complex and interesting - but always accessible. In places, Kino comes to mind, but forgive me if I say that this builds on that fine effort and delivers so much more. If anything was to bring the masses back to the glory of prog, this should be it. Ohhh so highly recommended.

Milliontown has become one of those albums that everybody says you need to own if you're a prog fan, but it's rather hard to find a CD copy. I got the MP3 album for $6 and I can't be happier.

Yes, this is another side project for John Mitchell of Arena.. it's spooky, dark, ambitious (the musicianship and production are very progressive and fresh). I must admit that I was a bit let down when I first heard it.. I hadn't prepared myself for the full on cheese (I'm talking Saga - Heads Or Tails era cheese) that threatens to make this CD decidedly un-cool. The mix is very Yes - BIG GENERATOR.. slick as ice.. it might sound odd to fans of modern production.

Here's a short breakdown of the tracks just to help explain the weirdness of this album:

1. Hyperventilate
Amazing album opener. Fully instrumental.. beautifully played.. this is a very dark, emotional piece. It almost seems like a show-off song at times, but really it's a great piece of music. The guitar playing is SICK.. I never knew Mitchell could shred like this!

2. No Me No You
Another dark, mean, unrelenting song.. the vocals sound almost robotic at times.. very cold and precise.. AMAZING HOOKS in this song.. the whole "killing my love" refrain is one of the best hooks I've heard on a prog album ever.

3. Snowman
The slow song. Kinda sounds happy. The whole thing makes me wonder if I'm listening to Saga's horribly cheesy WILDEST DREAMS album from the late 80s. I really don't like this song, and I'm glad it's (by far) the shortest track on the album.

4. The Other Me
Although teasing with a few brilliant musical moments, this song is pure cheese synth pop. The chorus is surprisingly bad.. like really bad.. almost sounds like something from an 80's commercial or something. At this point during my first listen to the album, I was losing hope.

5. Black Light Machine
Here is the first of two long epic songs that close out the album. A chance to redeem the cheese of tracks 3 and 4? Thankfully - YES. INSANE guitar playing on this whole song.. I mean.. John Mitchell ate his wheaties that morning or something... Okay, so the synth solo at 7:19 is so cheesy you might need to wash your hands when it's done.. but other than that part (which is less than a minute of a 10 minute song) the song is very good and tastefully performed.

6. Milliontown
This song (as many 27 minute songs on prog albums often do) ties together ideas from the rest of the album with long instrumental breaks all over the place. This is a great song, with time signature and tempo changes all over the place.. and of course more amazing guitar work from Mitchell.. it even introduces a few good hooks ("we are not the only survivors"). At times, it re-introduces melodies from the album opener "Hyperventilate" and really does a good job book-ending the album.

In summary, Milliontown is the work of a bunch of superb musicians. The album (as short as it is) is very uneven, but the many moments of brilliance warrant a listen for any fan of prog rock who isn't turned off by 80's sounding synths and robot vocals.

The End.

This is a very good album- it sound fresh and has great tunes. If you enjoy bands such as The Flower Kings and IQ- then you should check this out- great musicians, song writing and lyrics throughout. A must have for prog fans!!

This is undoubtably the best progressive CD I have heard in th last couple of years. Composed of members from Kino, Arena and IQ; Frost takes off wher Transatlantic left off. And unfortunately, I doubt we will ever hear from Transatlantic again. (Thank goodness I was wrong about that!) They have managed to take progressive music one step further. They have experimented with new sounds, mixed them with the tried and true formulas of progressive and metal and come up with a killer sound that is both melodic and edgy at the same time.
If you like a melodic sound with just a bit of a harder edge to it, then Frost is for you.

Frost has the ability to really nail the shorter songs with a mix of metal and progressive styles and pull you in and hold your attention on the longer numbers.

While kudos have been paid to all the band members I feel that Andy Edwards, on drums, really stands out on this CD. Mike Portnoy, you have a challenger! Andy Edwards has the same manic style as Portnoy and doesn't just fill in the holes and keep the beat. He has his own thing going on and listening to him play is mind blowing. He gets in three to four beats where most drummers get in one. His drumming can over power the music because it is so good you want to filter out the rest of the instruments and just listen to him. He adds a level of excitement and sense of urgency to the music. That is saying a lot because there are NO slouch musicians in Frost. They are all super stars.

Every song on the CD is stellar with the 26 minute Milliontown being the hallmark of the CD. Milliontown is such a well produced and exciting number that the 26 minutes passes like it was five minutes. I find myself hitting the repeat button on both "No Me No you" and "The Other Me". Both shorter numbers with a metal edge to them that totally rock.

My only complaint about Milliontown is that, by prog standards, it is a rather short CD of just barely one hour. It simply ends too soon. The songs are all so well crafted and produced that you want them to just keep on going.

I sincerly hope that more is coming from Jem Godfrey and that we have seen just the start of something very good.

There a few words that come to my head when I think about this album including "magnificent," "beautiful," "different" and so on. In truth though, there is no way to describe this album with just one word or even many; it's one of those things that you gotta experience first hand! I'll try to give all you guys a good idea though.

It's bands like this that further solidify my appreciation for progressive music. Frost* demonstrates progressive music at its top tier of production and performance. There is literally something for everyone on this album, whether your taste is long epics, short catchy songs, instrumentals or mid-range hard rock/metal songs, you will find something you like. There are also so many genres that this band includes on the album which, in my opinion, is how progressive music should be. Frost* don't go out of their way to make obscure time signatures like other bands seem to do, neither do they have strange instrumentation just to be pretentious. Everything flows very smoothly.

As for specific songs, it is very hard to choose favorites, but if I had to I would say my favorites are the 10 minute long "Black Light Machine," the instrumental song "Hyperventilate" and the slow song, "Snowman."

"Black Light Machine" is the song that defines what Frost* is. The instant the song kicks in, I was hooked on the happy sounding guitar lick. The song goes through so many transformations too, the most obvious being about 3/4 of the way through the song where they really kick it up a notch. Everytime I listen to the keyboard and guitar solos I get goosebumps. This track is, in my opinion, a stand-out song on the album.

"Hyperventilate" is a beautiful instrumental that has tasteful elements demonstrated through every instrument. This was a great song to start off the album to get the listener's mouth watering for more. The song is also perfect length, not too long so that it drags out, but not short so that you wish it would be longer.

"Snowman" is also one of my favorite songs on the album as it takes a break from all the fast paced songs on the rest of the album. The lyrics are also very heart-felt and just the mood of the song is very somber and artistic which just shows how many different types of music and how many different emotions Frost* is able to express.

Overall this is a great album and I would reccomend it to anyone. I look forward to their new release, though their keyboardist Jem Godfrey says it's moving at a snail's pace and I don't know how many original members are going to return (PLEASE JOHN MITCHELL!!!) Anyways buy this, you won't be dissappointed.