It feels as though it's all over............

[Ivor]

...and some equally dire (whatever did anyone ever see in Sparks?)

Lots.  

Propaganda, Kimono My House. Two superb albums, and several great singles and good albums thereafter.

IMHO.  :twisted:

[Pedro]

True. I liked Propaganda a lot too.

[Trapezium Artist]

...and some equally dire (whatever did anyone ever see in Sparks?)

Lots.  

Propaganda, Kimono My House. Two superb albums, and several great singles and good albums thereafter.

IMHO.  :twisted:

Oops ... should've known that with the catholic musical tastes round these parts, someone would like the surly little dictator / comedian impersonator and his squeaky-voiced curly compatriot  :shock:

That's Sparks: Surly and Curly ...  

(No offence meant; I can't even say that I've heard those apparently well-regarded albums; a path I've never trodden)

[Ivor]

TBH, if you removed Russell Maels' voice from a lot of the tracks on either Propaganda or Kimono, you'd be hard pushed to distinguish it from a lot of prog. I kid thee not! Lots of quite intricate, but very cheekily phrased stuff in there, with Martin Gordons' grinding Rickenbacker providing the locomotion for Adrian Fishers' more-than-ample guitar. Very clever stuff, with more than a hint of homage to Mr Zappa.

[Batchain]

I still prefer to think of Frost* as one of the cars in Jem's garage. He can't drive them all and it's time to drive some of the others for as long as he wants. Dust-sheeted and looked after, it should be good for a spin sometime far in the future.

That's a really nice analogy Pedro.  I do recall somewhere (in the distant past) an article by Jem, where he discussed prog (Frost*) in terms of driving a red Ferrari.    

B xx  

[vocalnick]

Welcome back Nick.
How's things with you, the band and the next album?

Cheeers

I am well - recently made redundant at work along with our whole production department (boooo) but bouncing back nicely having re-entered the same market with a colleague and I hanging out our own shingle (yaaaay!)

The band/album - we had a good long talk recently about the glacial progress and general malaise surrounding the project, and we've implemented a pretty radical shift in how we're approaching things. More on that soon, through the appropriate channels

I hear what you're saying but I can't help thinking that a franchised Frost* could be like the likes of Russell Brand, Ricky Gervais and Michael McIntyre trying to remake Monty Python.

I don't think "remake" is the right term though. That hypothetical grouping wouldn't be doing the dead parrot sketch or the argument sketch anew for the 21st century, so much as continuing doing surrealist sketch comedy in the same vein. Honestly, if it was done with the blessing (or even at the behest of) Jones, Idle, Gilliam, Cleese et. al I would have no problem with that whatsoever.

I still prefer to think of Frost* as one of the cars in Jem's garage. He can't drive them all and it's time to drive some of the others for as long as he wants. Dust-sheeted and looked after, it should be good for a spin sometime far in the future. I'm not talking in terms of a Frost*-free year with gigs just a few months in to it ....I'm talking a proper break....even a Transatlantic-style outage. If I'm wrong I'll be happy to be wrong, there'll be no bitterness, but if I'm right....it will be glo-o-o-orious!

I do quite like that simile as well. But even if a Frost*-franchise were to eventuate, I'm sure it could be structured in such a way that the keys be handed back to Jem at his behest should he wish to take it for a spin again.

[sawtooth]

Interesting ideas by all, especially for Jem to have suggested franchising Frost* in the first place.

I guess it would be possible to write/record/perform music vaguely in the style, or at least sympathetic to the Frost* we all know and love - but if were possible to analyse and 'bottle' the essence of Frost*, the muso's amongst us would have probably all done it long ago! Our existing In-house forum musos have already produced a thing of beauty in their Frost* inspired forum collaboration, but to my mind, as wonderful as it is, it doesn't SOUND like Frost* - and I hope I'm not speaking out of turn Ron, Ped and the guys, but I don't think it was ever intended to. But it certainly pays 'homage' and is brilliantly put together.

So how do you take a thing like this forward? Genesis tribute bands can analyse all of the back catalogue and pretty much perfectly replicate the sounds of the original. I went to see the Musical Box a few years back and all credit to them, close your eyes and it's Genesis. Open them again, however, and despite the slipperman costumes etc, its not Banks, Gabriel Hackett etc on stage. But I suppose it could be argued that the Genesis reformation in 2007 bore little resemblance to my 'minds eye' image of the on stage Genesis of the late 70's. They're all 30 years older and Phil, bless 'im, looked it.

With Frost* however, unless we're talking about a tribute act (and I hope we're not) then how to write new material in the style of a certain Jem Godfey (let alone play the bugger!)? Is it such an emotional thing that analysis and reverse engineering it would destroy it?

The thing is whatever Jem records has an indefinable 'Jem-ness' to it, wether it be Frost*, ELO covers, top 20 chart singles or funny stuff. How do you follow that?  

I know I've posed a few problems and no answers whatsoever - but I'm not aiming to be negative. I genuinely would LOVE something like this to take off, and indeed be involved with it to some point, but I'm interested to hear if anyone has any ideas on the above. I sort of think I have at least ONE answer, which is a bit of a no-brainer anyway: if such a project consciously strives to meticulously tick all the Frost* boxes it will probably sound quite laboured and sterile, - if on the other hand, it carried on in the SPIRIT of Frost*, it would have the freedom and vitality which Jem originally found - but now feels that he has lost - when he started writing his fledgling prog album all those years ago.

[owen]

In this day and age do you need a band? Maybe having other musicians around, even the  talented sort in Frost* are holding him back. Aside from "rock" that's not how music seems to be made these days. Provided he's happy music will come. It wasn't (pretty obviously from his rants) towards the end, hence the writers block, etc. Sit back and wait. If it's good then great. If you don't like it then (re-)listen to Milliontown/ EIMA.

I would like to know which of Atomic Kitten TA would snog/marry/avoid though.

[Trapezium Artist]

I would like to know which of Atomic Kitten TA would snog/marry/avoid though.

Well, since you ask, young man ...    I suspect Jenny Frost* ( ) would definitely fall in the first category; as for the rest, I'll plead the fifth.

[Pedro]

Which one of them was fifth?

[owen]

And was she augmented?

[vocalnick]

Interesting ideas by all, especially for Jem to have suggested franchising Frost* in the first place.

Yeah, I must say the only reason I even feel comfortable discussing it is because it was his idea.

unless we're talking about a tribute act (and I hope we're not) then how to write new material in the style of a certain Jem Godfey (let alone play the bugger!)? Is it such an emotional thing that analysis and reverse engineering it would destroy it?

The thing is whatever Jem records has an indefinable 'Jem-ness' to it, wether it be Frost*, ELO covers, top 20 chart singles or funny stuff. How do you follow that?  

I think the key to something like this would be to avoid doing a Jem Godfrey pastiche, and just strive forward with the same "Prog Rock with a capital PROGRESSIVE" ideology & sense of fun.

There's no perfect analogy, but the closest I've been able to come up at this point is Doctor Who. The creative team and the cast of the show have changed scores of times over the last 50 years, but heart of the show, and the underlying premise of "eccentric multi-centenarian travels time and space in a blue box having adventures" is still there. When I was a kid watching Tom Baker I would never have imagined that there could be a Doctor better than the fourth. But I'm a complete and unabashed Matt Smith/Steven Moffat fanboy now.

if such a project consciously strives to meticulously tick all the Frost* boxes it will probably sound quite laboured and sterile, - if on the other hand, it carried on in the SPIRIT of Frost*, it would have the freedom and vitality which Jem originally found - but now feels that he has lost - when he started writing his fledgling prog album all those years ago.

That's pretty much how I see it as well  I would expect that any Frost*-2/Frost*-TNG would incorporate a few tips of the hat to the aesthetic that Jem established, but ultimately if the baton is to be passed, then the new person would best serve the legacy by following their own muse. Extending the Doctor Who comparison; look at the tonal shift that the show has undergone since Steven Moffat took over last year. It feels markedly different to the Russel T Davies era, but still maintains its "Doctor Who-ness".

*shrug*

[E.S.]

I see one big reason to do it, and that is to finish 1976. Ever since I heard that little piece in that Frost* report, I've been hooked, and really wanna hear it finished. That's a brilliant theme, it's a shame if it remains unused. Hopefully Jem can put it in some kind of context, but we just don't know if or when.

Been thinking about stealing that part for ages.  :lol:

[Pedro]

This is a fascinating topic to explore. Particularly the notion of trying to take an unfinished work and add our own 'frog DNA' (Ref Jurassic Park) to make a viable creature.
It strikes me as slightly similar to one of "what happened next?" gameshow rounds (UK example = BBC Question of Sport).
Contestants view a clip from a sporting event, it is paused and they have to try to guess what happens next.
Typically it is actually something quite unexpected.
This was actually my thinking when I recorded the first steps in what turned out to be the FFCS project....taking the little snippet at the very end of Milliontown and wondering what might happen next?
It is perhaps unsurprising that the project so far has "referred" quite heavily to the likes of Snowman and Hyper-V. Where 'new' stuff has been created, I don't think it sounds that much like Frost*....which is also not a bad thing in many ways.
The temptation to repeat/re-cycle stuff is enormous - can anyone who is not Jem determine what really does happen next? Interesting indeed.

[Mikey]

Re: It feels as though it's all over............

Have we heard the fat lady sing yet?