Customer Reviews

Return of the Frog Queen

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of those albums that just stays with me- I've often said and I truly think this- some works of art are like a nexus- they are steeped a personal connotation that not only makes them special for the individual listener, they work brings out the listener's (or the reader's/watcher's- what have you) sense of his or her self as distinct and unrepeatable. This CD does that for me. It's magical. But all great art is.

It's a short album. Nine songs clocking in at 29'27". The tone is definitely not what one would expect from the singer and guitarist from one of the more powerful, under-rated and viscerally enchanting bands of the 90's- Sunny Day Real Estate. If you were there in '94 or '95 and you heard them- well, then you know what I'm talking about here. Stylistically this sounds like something Syd Barrett might have done if it had occurred to him. The songs are mostly acoustic fare with Enigk's plaintively strained vocals (a caveat- his voice either pulls you into the room stroking your chin or sends you out, ears cupped to your head, agog) and strange lyrics. There are string sections and chimes- at times it sounds like he's the pied piper leading children away to a different world... Most of the songs are upbeat, major key fare (the appropriately titled `Carnival,' being the one overtly dark song). Don't think them happy though... The emotions conveyed are hard to pin down, like Proteus, like Silenus...

I rarely do this but here- track by track...

Abegail Anne: album opens with two chords strummed and a droning noise. Jeremy's vocals slip in the backdoor and murmur away... This song builds and builds fantastically... And was used incredibly well in the film, `Dream with the Fishes,' the director or whomever structured the film's climactic scene to this brief and gorgeous song that sounds like dawning epiphany and madness... I love it. Succinct opener to this- about 3 minutes long.

Return of the Frog Queen: Dreamy and sleepy song, sounds sorta like a western lullaby at first, with J's hushed vox but then the bridge adds some danger... Pretty and evocative.

Lewis Hollow: Sounds similar to track one. Just Jeremy and his guitar, strumming the same harmonic progression, repeatedly which PERFECTLY segues into-

Lizard: also starts out with a circular, chime-like acoustic line. But other instruments start creeping in like lizards, settling on leaves around Jeremy. The wind instruments are lovely. As the tension mounts J's vocals become harsher and harsher- the song ends with a simple guitar/violin line that is sublime.

Carnival: The centerpiece of the album. Starts off darkly, a clean-tone electric guitar plays softly, Drums and bass come in with J's voice. The song lives up to its name with the sweeping string section. J's vocals are jagged and strained, alternately soft/loud, this one is like a sudden nightmare in the middle of an exquisite daydream. The strings whirl and keen, and the propulsive urgency builds and builds. And then stops. Right around the 4 minute mark.

Call Me Steam: My favorite, and another dreamlike, lullaby beginning, with strings that weepingly surround J's vocals, buttressing the melody line. The `rise and shine,' lyric calls to mind that he sang it almost the exact way on SDRE's LP 2. This one is so understatedly beautiful it just kills me. Later on, J's doubles his vocals and harmonizes with himself. This song is so pure and tender it calls to mind Dostoevsky's `The Idiot.' I wish someone had sung this to me as a baby.

Explain: what is it with those circular (reminds me of SDRE's `In Circles,') guitar parts, this one builds quickly to a wonderful chorus (how can I explain dear, you've been gone for some time, but I still believe you'll be here oh no again). Every time I hear it I smile. There's so much yearning and joy in this little song. More strings that luminously wrap around the guitar vocals. Ties with the next song as my second favorite.

Shade and the Black hat: Now it's the piano playing a circular piece, with a hastily strummed guitar and urgently delivered vocals. Drums on this one and it quickly builds and builds, like a man dashing up a mountain to save something dear to him, the strings tempestuously rising and falling around. Around the 2 and half mark the whole song just ecstatically explodes for the next minute and a half...

Fallen Heart: starts with the orchestra tuning up and getting on key, but this is just a ruse- the song is pretty much a guitar loop played backwards, Jeremy sings over top of it, like a strange child. Occasionally an instrument adds a dash of flavor to the mix, but mostly its just the loop and J's soft voice. You get a tiny bassline around 1:45, then the song just ends abruptly with the orchestra.

And that's it. I've been known to put this on repeat (especially around finals week in college) and sit at computer and type away for hours. Great music for any occasion.

Whoever said that music is the `soundtrack to your life,' he is a simplistic moron- a frikkin' engineer and a damn salesman. Music is so much more than that. My whole sense of life, all the restless wistfulness, the impotence, the alternating currents of youth- wonder and anguish for me, all those feelings rise to the surface of my mind when I listen to this gem. If you dig Brian Eno, SDRE, Syd Barrett, Leonard Cohen, Tom waits, or strange gorgeous music in general I recommend this to you.

Do you remember the feeling of being on a fairground carousel for the first time? That feeling of floating and turning, that is only a fleeting memory? Well, here it is, recaptured on this album for half an hour, by SDRE's Jeremy Enigk. Mr Enigk recreates a time when plants were tall and mysterious, details of a pebble fasinating and the silvery trail of a snail a thing of complete wonder: Childhood in all it's whirling magical splendor. Inanimate objects reveal strange personalities. Limits are unknown. Dreams are real. Yet within lies sadness. A thread of loss and unrequited love winds through every song. This sense of longing, accompanied by a glimmer of hope, has been pulled out from somewhere deep within and given substance. A beautiful album.

The first couple of times I listened to "Return Of The Frog Queen" I hated it. I loved "Explain" and "Shade Of The Black Hat" (the catchiest and most memorable ones here) while the rest just didn't seem as good. Over time, though, I realized that the songs were intended to be more interesting than catchy, and interesting they are indeed. Most of the album is pretty slow sounding and is definitely not meant for the MTV crowd, but give them time and you will love them just as much as the two great songs here (the ones I mentioned). Jeremy's voice is still as good as it ever was on a Sunny Day Real Estate album, and the lyrics are, again, well-written and worth paying close attention to. The musicianship here is solid, unique and interesting, but I think the production could use a bit of work. All things considered it's a very good album, but what gives it a "5" is the inclusion of these two great songs. I think that Jeremy Enigk and Sunny Day Real Estate as well as singer/songwriter fans will love it if they give it enough time to sink in. Absolutely recommended!

Highlights include:
"Explain"
"Shade Of The Black Hat"
the rest is good, too

I bought this CD to satisfy those cravings I've had for new Sunny Day stuff that have gone unsatisfied due to only having three songs by their present incarnation (a 3-piece group known as The Fire Theft). I expected this to be good, but nowhere near the caliber I've come to expect from the greatest inde band on Earth.

Let's just say that I was pleasantly surprised.

In terms of Enigk's recordings with Sunny Day Real Estate, only Lp2 is better than this. Every song is incredible, subconciously messing with the brain by making it think that the music is simple when it really is extremely complex and vice versa. It sounds like Neutral Milk Hotel's classic In The Aeroplane Over the Sea with more empathis on musicality (vocals, orchestration, ect...) than profound lyrics, containing the same level of energy and playfulness. Like the aforementioned album, this is a celebration of life to the sound of an acoustic guitar accompanied by a few 'traditional" instruments (in this case, a full orchestra which is surprisingly subtle in its arrangements). Jeremy is an expert songwriter, as indicated by the mastery found here on every song, from the Lp2-esque "Abegail Anne" to "Explain," which may very well be the best song Enigk ever wrote with any group, to the musical palindrome of "Fallen Heart." Do not delay in picking up a copy of this. You will not regret it.

I have very enthusiastically called this CD one of the best CD's of the 1990's. Sure, I listen to a lot of classic rock and soundtrack music (odd combination, I know), and may not be the best expert here (ok, get your "unhelpful" buttons ready), but there is something charming, sophisticated, gorgeous and brilliant going on here. I haven't heard a CD that gets everything so "right" at all the right places. Mr. Enigk has put together something that far surpasses his contemporaries and nails the 1960's pop British psychedelia with some downright heart wrenching vocal performances. Did I mention that the orchestral instrumentation is impeccable? OK, I'll stop gushing, but I think you get the picture. Even the most jaded will feel the heat of the tracks "Explain" and "Shade and The Black Hat". Treat yourself to this one.

I don't have much to say, just that this is a great album by a great vocalist and musician. Jeremy Enigk is one of the more impressive vocalists in modern rock and roll. I expected a little more than the album provided, hence the 4 stars instead of 5.

I had the good fortune of seeing many of Enigk's solo concerts after the Sunny Day breakup. I was in high school in north Seattle and Enigk seemed to be playing all of the time. He would just be there with his acoustic guitar and a piano at first. Later on he added the mini orchestra for many of his shows. The first shoes were the most amazing. He would slam on the piano, scream, walk off stage and just sing with his entire heart. Wow...I can still remember the intensity.

I was greatly looking forward to the solo album he was working on as were all of my friends. The first time I put the album on everyone was weirded out by the production but I was deeply moved from the beginning. I still prefer ROTFG to all of his other projects with Sunny Day and The Fire Theft (although I greatly appreciate those bands as well).

The raw emotion on this album is not fully experienced in his other projects. "Shade and the Black Hat", "Explain" and even the ambient closer "Fallen Heart" are just expressions of true beauty. I encourage anyone who loves Bright Eyes, Damien Jurado or even Nick Drake and The Beatles to pick this album up.

true, like most SDRE fans, i was a little more than excited when i heard jeremy enigk was doing a solo album. then, for some reason it slipped my mind until about a year ago. any rate, i finally managed to pick this disc up and was left wondering. what had jeremy managed to do? he did a complete 180 from his role in the crunchy, guitar-driven place in sunny day to play with an orchestra? what the heck is this? i put the disc away, content not to listen to it, and mildly upset for spending twelve bucks. a few days ago, i pulled it out again and low and behold, i could stand the album. definitely not a first listen record, but a good cd, nonetheless. for those of you expecting this to sound ANYTHING like a sunny day real estate record, brace yourself. it is completely new territory for this extraordianry artist. if you prefer thump-you-over-the-head guitars, don't buy it. if you have a soul, i might just recommend picking this one up.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. I assumed this was a new-ish album (released circa 2002-2004) when I wrote this. I had absolutely no idea it was already 8 years old. *is quite embarassed*

One of my favorite things in the universe is John Lennon circa 1965-1967. Sounds like Mr. Engigk likes that too. My heart still breaks every time I remember that John Lennon was cut down before his time. Listening to this helps. Whether it's intentional or not, he really does have a Lennon-esque lilt in his vocal stylings now. (Though his Kurdt Kobain impression makes a return here and there too.) I wasn't too thrilled with the last two Sunny Day albums, so I really am surprised that this is so great.

Not to belittle Jeremy Enigk's ongoing development as an artist, but this is an album he can forever be proud of. It is a perfect sublime unity, each part necessary and integrated in the whole. Songs like "Carnival" and "Shade and the Black Hat" especially stand out, but sound best with the album as a whole.

When I first heard this in 1996, it was uncategorizable (minstrel goth folk?). Listening in 2008, it's clearly proto-emo. Enigk's influence on that "new" pop genre should not be underestimated.

Although perhaps I am not a objective source. I was a Christian back then AND a fan of SDRE, and I remember Jeremy's brief conversion to the faith right about the time I was losing mine. This album epitomizes that time of wonder and confusion, of questioning base convictions and searching for meaning.

Everyone should own this album.