Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces #18: Wonderland, by FROST*

Album: Experiments in Mass Appeal
Year: 2008
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 15 mins. 48 secs.
Part 1 in YouTube
Part 2 in YouTube

Wonderland by the wonderful British prog group Frost* is clearly a divided work, as can easily be guessed from the two-part link above. You could even argue that the two parts don't really form a whole, and that the actual song Wonderland is only the first part. This confusion is made possible due to the common habit that many recording artists have: to add "hidden", unlisted tracks at the end of their albums.

Nothing on the album cover specifies if the second part is a somewhat different continuation of Wonderland, or a separate, unnamed track. But here we proceed with the assumption that they form a single whole. They do on the CD as well, where both parts and the nearly 50-second silence that separates them add up to well over the 12 minutes which are our minimum requirement. (Note: Part 2 behind the YouTube link is missing some low sounds both at the beginning and especially at the end.)

I also like to think that Part 2 is really part of the same track because these two complement each other extremely well. The Part 1's hard rocking yin sounds like the polar opposite of Part 2's ethereally beautiful yang. And once again, there is no fade out at the end of a true prog masterpiece. Instead, Wonderland just seems to slowly fade away, each melancholic note slightly weaker than the preceding one.

Frost*, who may not ring many bells among the public at large, is the absolute best new progressive rock band that I have come across in many, many years. The group's brilliance encompasses both musical composition and instrument playing skill. The latter is particularly true for the incredible guitarist John Mitchell and magnificient rock drummer Andy Edwards, both among the very best in their respective fields today.

Composing duties, on the other hand, seem to mainly fall on the band's frontman, keyboardist and singer Jem Godfrey, whose past is not only in the area of progressive rock but also as a producer of regular pop hits. And the production is indeed one of the exceptionally strong points on the band's debut album Milliontown (2006). Wonderland is the last track of the second album Experiments in Mass Appeal (2008) which was released in the autumn. This makes Wonderland the most recently released song in the entire top 20. So, we didn't have too long to wait for that one following Sand (#19), which is the second most recent.

Experiments in Mass Appeal is a fine prog album, but admittedly it still pales in comparison with the powerhouse that was the debut of Frost*. Production values aren't quite as high as they were the first time around, and sadly we don't hear as much of Mitchell's virtuoso guitar work as we did then. Even the overall quality of the songwriting seems to be slightly weaker. This is especially true for the first couple of tracks, which I rarely return to. But following them, there is a long line of strong songs with frequent highlights, and the ending is top 20 material.

There have been rumours about a third Frost* studio album for some time now. Its coming was actually even announced by the Talented Mr. Godfrey, in his blog on 16 September last year. The aim was then to release the new album in 2012, but so far, little more has been heard of it. Whenever this third album's release date will be, it can't be too soon. Anticipation following two excellent earlier releases could hardly be any higher.