As some of you may know by now, I'm a HUGE fan of prog music.  Doesn't matter what it is, if it's proggy (and good... primary prerequisite) I probably like it.

Well, a few years back I discovered this band that I didn't quite know the name of, but they appeared to be called The Frost.  Regardless, there were some clips from this album coming up called Milliontown that I promptly downloaded.  And fell in love fifteen minutes later when I finished listening to them for the first time.  Long story short, I eventually bought the album and have loved it to death.  One of my favorite modern prog records.  However, that was the last I heard from them for some time.

But starting in late 2007, I began hearing (or rather, reading) rumors that Frost* was back!  Needless to say, I was stoked!  Fast forward a year, and I now have a copy of the new record, Experiments in Mass Appeal.  The short version of this review is as follows: THIS IS THE BEST PROG ALBUM OF THE PAST DECADE GO BUY IT NOW!!!

Not convinced yet?

Myspace

Start there.

Don't worry, I'll wait.

If you want some more details, here they are.

Just on my initial listen-throughs, I quickly realized that this is not easy music to play.  Not at all.  They manage to cram SOOOO much material into what would normally be a short amount of time for most prog bands.  Pocket Sun is a great example of that.  That song could have easily become a fifteen minute opus in the hands of someone like Dream Theater, but it really doesn't need to.  It just flows so well in its four minutes and thirty seconds that you don't miss the extra ten of solos.  Now, take that and add that equation to the rest of the album, and man.  It's just one massive hit after another.  "Welcome to Nowhere" has probably the coolest guitar riff I've heard in years.  "Dear Dead Days" borders on just absolute keyboard wizardry at times.  The epic intro "Experiments in Mass Appeal" sets the album up perfectly for you to not know what to expect next.

Then you have Wonderland, a very interesting take on the "epic" track.  I'll not say too much as to not spoil it for future listeners, but I'll say this: The use of space on this track is BRILLIANT.  I've never heard anyone do something quite like that.  Also, a "reviewer" on Amazon said that he was "bored" by the last couple minutes of Wonderland, which quite baffled me, because I found it very intriguing to end the song (and album) in that manner.  It also sounded to me to be a quick throwback to Milliontown, though I need to listen to Milliontown again to confirm that.

The other major difference is sonically.  I remember listening to Milliontown on disc for the first time and thinking "man, this is LOUD", which it was.  It basically had three volumes: loud, louder and loudest.  Not a bad thing, but some of the parts are indistinguishable because of that.  EIMA has MUCH more room to breath and turns out to be a very dynamic album because of that.  Which again, if you look back at my album of 2008 (The Reign of Kindo's Rhythm, Chord and Melody), you'd find that I love that album for similar reasons.  Dynamics... A brilliant invention!!

Lastly are the lyrics... Certainly not standard modern prog fair, which these days apparently is more about Swords and Sorcerors than about good lyric writing...  That said, I think the lyrics are quite good and a nice change from what other bands have been doing recently.

Anyways... It's not even the end of January and I'm already calling this my album of '09, it's THAT good.

So go buy it and listen for youself and let me know what you think!

Peace,
Mike

[DISCLAIMER: I AM IN NO A WAY A REAL ALBUM REVIEWER, I'M JUST LETTING YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS REALLY, REALLY GOOD AND THAT YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO IT IF YOU LIKE PROG MUSIC AND DON'T LIKE ALL THAT DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS LYRIC STUFF]