Review Summary: A great surprise at the time. One of the great neo-prog works.
“Milliontown” is the debut studio album of Frost* and that was released in 2006. The line up on the album is John Mitchell, John Boyes, Jem Godfrey, John Jowitt and Andy Edwards.
The story behind Frost* is very original and interesting. This is a project of only a single man, the music producer Jem Godfrey. Somehow, Frost* is something of a frustrated hit producer’s escape into the music field that seems to be his favorite, the progressive rock music. As he already mentioned, pop is a reliable and safe music, but prog is his Ferrari.
After five years of songwriting chart-topping pop hits and frustrated by the creative limitations of the pop genre, he decided to record an album true to his own childhood roots in progressive rock. After have listened an amount of CD’s from groups in the genre from the last few years and has been in isolation six months writing and recording, Godfrey approached John Mitchell and asked him if he would be interested in be part of a yet untitled project. Mitchell agreed and introduced Jem to John Jowitt who accepted. This led to contact with Andy Edwards, who also agreed to get involved. John Boyes, a former band-mate in Godfrey’s first band, filled the line up. And thus was born “Milliontown”.
“Milliontown” delivers six smooth prog rock songs in an hour sounding surprisingly fresh and original through the use of electronic effects and other producer tricks. The influences from Yes, The Flower Kings and Neal Morse are used in a modern way. It touches the experimental music in every sense. The tracks on “Milliontown” aren’t only a demonstration of technique on aggressive rhythms or monumental compositions despite the last song have about 27 minutes. What’s special about Frost*’s experimentation is that even on the simplest rhythms there’s an extremely rich sound work and lots of imagination. Its sound is so full of details that in less than 10 consecutive listens, you won’t be able to absorb everything on this album. Every song requires an attentive listening. This is an album for a closed room with lights off.
“Hyperventilate” bursts into life showcasing relentless synth soloing, lifting melodies and instrumental pandemonium. The violent introduction to this album is surprising, with drums and guitars sound very dense, and piano chords and virtuoso runs provide energy that isn’t actually inherent in the usual distant beautiful sound of the British proggers. “No Me No You” starts as a particularly heavy track that turns more soft. The vocals are large and focused on the catchy chorus, but the voice sounds dark and serene. A piano bridge repeated at the end and unforeseen dissonances of the synth strings against background noise proving be successful ingredients for skilfully making music past the kindness. “Snowman” begins with a Beatles’ melody that very quickly becomes loaded with sounds when the vocals enter. There are no drums on the song and the guitars don’t get a significant volume. It’s a track with almost pure electronic sound and its presence in the middle of the album is relaxing. The piece seems like a pause before the notche “The Other Me”. “The Other Me” also sounds partly mechanical, but warmer, not least because of its chorus. The electronic interference, in turn, prevents the mainstream, which the following 10 minutes don’t completely drive out. In just four tracks, Frost* demonstrates a mastery of a variety of different modes and genres, borrowing judiciously from prog, pop to electronic. “Black Light Machine” is based on straight beats and lively keyboard melodies. On the other hand, there’s plenty of space for elegiac guitar leads. It opens with an atmospheric guitar riff, the bass and drums introduce a groove, and the melody is incredibly catchy. Somehow, this is the first epic on the album. But does the true epic of the album beat it? The title track is divided into six parts, “One Underground”, “Abracadaver”, “The Only Survivors”, “Core”, “The Chosen Few” and “Two Underground”. This is its magnum opus and most prog track too, a 26 minutes epic journing through a variety of soundscapes but showcasing in particular Godfrey’s piano work and keyboard shred, while Edwards delivers his best performance on the entire album. This is Frost*’s mission statement, a perfect encapsulation of their music vision, a fantastic epic that any discerning prog fan should know. It’s the main reason why you must check this album.
Conclusion: In reality, Frost* have come up with something that scores high on the originality front, whilst remaining a progressive rock album. “Milliontown” proves there’s nothing wrong in combining pop sensibilities with prog. Overall, I cannot see any problem that someone dares to try to combine elements of prog and pop in such an experimental way and combines this with a new type of production. Is this the sound of the “modern” prog that doesn’t forget the past? I really don’t know. What I really know is that Frost*’s debut is a great album, a landmark in many ways. It’s a thoroughly entertaining album with some great moments and is served by a handful of great musicians of the British neo-prog scene. Aside this, it’d be remiss of me not to mention the stellar production of the album, handled by Godfrey, naturally.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
