Cool as Frost*

What do you get when you keep a rocker cooped up in the studio producing pop hits for too long? "Milliontown" by Frost*!

Jem Godfrey, leader and mastermind behind the project, found success co-writing and producing hits in the UK for artists like Atomic Kitten and Shane Ward. Wanting to break free from the straight-forward, hit-driven mentality of pop music, Godfrey decided to put together a progressive rock supergroup consisting of guitarist John Mitchell (Arena, Kino), drummer Andy Edwards (of IQ), and bassist John Jowitt (also of IQ). The debut album is Godfrey's musical outlet and showcase for his talents outside production. "Milliontown" kicks off with the track "Hyperventilate," a melodic trip that features Godfrey's beautifully intricate keyboard playing. "No Me No You" is one of the two "poppier" tracks, but it only gets better as Godfrey's grand vocal harmonies lead to eerie twist, turns, and changes in pace. But it all makes sense, as the song is wrapped up essentially the way it started. "Snowman," the softest track, is somewhat reminiscent of "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles, despite its contemporary, "synthy" sound. "The Other Me," though catchy, is probably my least favorite track-- the second of the two poppier songs on the album.

Much more interesting in my opinion is "Black Light Machine," a hybrid track that combines ambiance with moderately fast rock. The synths combined with delayed finger-tapping guitar rhythms set the overall tone of the song, which features powerful guitar solos and rich vocal harmonies. About seven minutes into this ten-minute beast, a slower ambient section suddenly turns into a funky jam session. Even more beastly is the album's title track, a twenty six and a half minute epic. Words can't even express the awesomeness of "Milliontown"-- it's melodic, catchy, coherent, and the instrumentation is great (and even sounds a little "Dave Matthews" at times). And I stress coherent, because many songs of this length tend to shift directions and lose sense of the original theme (or they contain movements that are comparable to tracks on a full concept album.) Nonetheless, the title track remains interesting (and awesome) throughout, and definitely makes the album for me.

Here's a stunning "unplugged" (but not really... hence the quotes) studio rendition of the opening instrument track "Hyperventilate" ...



Make sure to look out for Frost*'s sophomore album, which should be finished up in May!