The Frost* thread

[nicmos]

great review!  thanks for pumping me up for it.  can't wait the last 10 days or so.

[KevShmev]

Hmmm, if this album is not as good as, or only as good as, Experiments in Mass Appeal, I might have to take a pass on it.  I don't listen to this band that much anyway, and when I do, it is usually either the first album or Dear Dead Days.  Nothing else from the 2nd album really stayed with me (although I remember a couple other songs being pretty good).

[mikeyd23]

Great review, it was a good read! I'll definitely be checking this album out!

[RoeDent]

Just in time for the new album, my copy of Experiments in Mass Appeal arrived this morning. Looking forward to listening later. But particularly looking forward to watching the bonus DVD, with well over 3 hours of documentary footage. I didn't even know a single DVD could contain that much material!

Also, the cover is probably the blackest album cover in the entire history of album covers.

[RoeDent]

Today's the big day, Frosties! I'm loving Falling Satellites!

[mikeyd23]

Listening through for the first time now....

Towerblock is freaking amazing.

[devieira73]

Great album, a bit more pop influenced than the previous two, but in a very good way!
I think it would be an almost perfect prog pop album if it had ended in Hipoventilate, that is like an atmospheric epilogue for Nice Day for It... . By the way, I really love the run of songs from Heartstrings to Nice Day..., but I'm hearing it more like it was separate songs.
And, although Muse and Haken haved done that before, Towerblock is on another level of "prog dubstep metal". Great and very experimental song!

[ariich]

Towerblock is freaking amazing.

YES

[King Postwhore]

Just picked this up.  I'll give it a spin over the weekend.

[Zydar]

First listen now

[Nel]

Managed to snag what was apparently the only copy the local record store got in. 

They didn't even have any copies to put in the "New Releases" display at the front of the shop.

[Nekov]

I listened to this once and it was kind of a snoozefest. Some good songs but overall nothing that really impressed me. I'm hoping it grows on me though.

[Dr. DTVT]

I listened to this once and it was kind of a snoozefest. Some good songs but overall nothing that really impressed me. I'm hoping it grows on me though.

It grew on me a little after 20 some spins, but that's what my review says - when Nick gets it up.

[krands85]

I listened to this once and it was kind of a snoozefest. Some good songs but overall nothing that really impressed me. I'm hoping it grows on me though.

Same here 

[RoeDent]

I think the album is brilliant! There is absolutely NO ONE out there that sounds as epic and PHWOOOOAAAAARG!!!! as Frost* do. Full-on prog but with the sensibility and hookiness of great pop music.

[The Letter M]

I've spun this a few times in-between majorly long bouts of spinning the new BBT (and a bit of Haken here and there), and I have to agree with the sentiments that this album falls somewhere between the band's first and second for me. It doesn't QUITE reach the highs of the debut, but still has a bit more of its flair than the second album did. I don't think I'll ever like any of their work more than their first album, but this is a great effort! There's a LOT of, ahem, I suppose "innovative" work on here, a lot of sound/production things that are really unique to Jem's writing and performance style. It'll be interesting to see how they pull of something like "Towerblock" in a live setting without it sounding too much like a recording of samples and triggers.

This will one definitely grow on me, and will likely sit near the bottom of the Top 10 albums of the year, but they've got some hefty competition.

-Marc.

[Implode]

I hopes for this album were that it'd have at least 2 songs I really like, and after a couple listen it meets those requirements with exactly 2 songs I love.

That's success enough in my book.

[King Postwhore]

I'm digging it. Too early to say where it stands but I love the modern sounds from the album. 

It's like all these patches he uses for pop music then prog it a bit and it's very cool to hear it.

[Nick]

Here is Mason's review of the new album: https://wpapu.com/review-frost-falling-satellites/

[RoeDent]

In the closing instrumental of Black Light Machine, there are "glitchy" interludes between the solos. In Towerblock, they go all-out on this glitchy front. The breakdown at the end is so brilliantly bizarre! Just absolutely nuts!

Numbers has really grown on me since the album came out. I heard it once or twice on Spotify, but it didn't pull as much as Heartstrings did (no pun intended). But now I love it! Although I must say that the chorus does remind me a bit of Something Very Strange by Spock's Beard ("Look up to the sky my brother...")

[rumborak]

Same here, it's slowly growing on me. First I was slightly disappointed, but I think one has to first get a handle on the overwhelming wall of sound. Every listen has been more enjoyable than the last so far.

[King Postwhore]

Yup.  It gets better with every listen.

[RoeDent]

This album has really grown on me over the weeks. Signs is a frequent earworm of mine, especially the brilliant middle section and its heavy riff that wouldn't sound out of place on a Steven Wilson album. And I really love the poppiness of some of the tracks, especially Lights Out and Closer To The Sun. In fact, in an alternate universe, the latter would be this year's chilled-out Ibiza anthem. Idk. It just transports me to the beach.

[j]

Just listened to it on youtube for the first time.  Like others have said, really hard to digest in one listen.  I didn't like Numbers at all, but the rest of the album seemed to be pretty good, I felt like they broke some new ground but their overall sound is definitely still there.  Only other complaint would be that the pacing seems weird toward the end of the album, particularly those last 3 tracks.  Didn't have a problem with any of them musically, just seemed like the momentum of the album sort of fell off after Hypoventilate.

Anyway, whatever.  Pretty solid so far, I'll listen to it again when I have the chance.

-J

[Ben_Jamin]

Finally got this album. Amazingly found it at a Hastings in town.

I love the electronic elements in Lights Out and Towerblock. Only on my 2ND listen and forgot how good Closer TO ThE Sun is.

Pretty good album and one I needed and it's the exact music I've been into.

Got to Lantern...this song would sound way way way cool with a female singer.

[RoeDent]

How much interest would there be in a Frost* survivor? I'm talking possibly in a few weeks' time, but I'm trying to gauge interest and if it's worth doing it.

[The Letter M]

How much interest would there be in a Frost* tournament over at Polls & Survivors? I'm talking possibly in a few weeks' time, but I'm trying to gauge interest and if it's worth doing it. If I say that it won't be a traditional survivor, and you'll be voting for your favourites instead, would that sway you?

I'd be game for it, but I'll need to spin their 3 albums a lot in the run up to it. Would you also be including their non-album tracks, like "The Dividing Line", "The Forget You Song", "Raining In My Heart", "Here Is The News", and "Wedding Day"? I'm sure not every casual Frost* fan has even heard any of these, mostly because they weren't available on the studio albums, but the die-hards that seek them out have them in their libraries and definitely do listen to them. (And of course, there's also that cover of ELP's "Fanfare For The Common Man"...)

As for the format, I've never been too keen on the "vote for your favorites" elimination process, if only because the last couple rounds become less interesting because you're trying to pick songs that aren't as well-liked by the general audience, since the liked ones are already ranked. In the traditional survivor set-up, there's a lot of excitement and tension built up as the last couple of songs, and arguably the more popular ones, battle it out for the top spots. So in short, I'd only be interested in a traditional survivor for Frost*.

-Marc.

[RoeDent]

I've only heard of The Dividing Line and The Forget You Song. I thought that was it for non-album songs.

[Super Dude]

I'm only just finding out about this. Holy hell.

[King Postwhore]

I'm only just finding out about this. Holy hell.

Sup.

[Dr. DTVT]

I'm only just finding out about this. Holy hell.

Well, that's what you get for disappearing for a long time.  Welcome back Super Dude.

[Super Dude]

I'm only just finding out about this. Holy hell.

Sup.

Long time! How ya doin' man?

I'm only just finding out about this. Holy hell.

Well, that's what you get for disappearing for a long time.  Welcome back Super Dude.

In my defense, there was no way any of us could have seen this coming, what with eight years of nothing but aborted new album plans. But holy shit, worth the fuckin' wait.

[King Postwhore]

GOOD!  Glad to see you posting!

[Ben_Jamin]

I'm only just finding out about this. Holy hell.

Sup.

Long time! How ya doin' man?

I'm only just finding out about this. Holy hell.

Well, that's what you get for disappearing for a long time.  Welcome back Super Dude.

In my defense, there was no way any of us could have seen this coming, what with eight years of nothing but aborted new album plans. But holy shit, worth the fuckin' wait.

Hahaha right after reading this. I got onto Facebook and saw they posted about the next album will not take 8 years.

[Super Dude]

I'm extremely pleased with this album. I remember a blog post Jem wrote some while back about how the kids aren't listening to prog anymore, and how he felt reluctant to put out anything new because nobody would take to it. It really sounds on this album like Jem did some soul-searching and found a sound that was fresh while staying uniquely Frost*. Maybe the wait was worth it after all.