FRAME OF MIND

Frame are labeled as Heavy Prog on PA. What I hear in this album is quite pop-oriented instead.

On the title track we have Wishbone Ash's like voices, a mellotron a la Procol Harum and two chords that make me think to George Harrison, at least until the rock section starts. It's an early 70s bluesy rock. Nothing more than nice.

Things don't change a lot on "Crusical Scene", wich starts to be more progressive, with good keyboards and clean guitar solos over a consistent melodic line with "All I Really Want Explain" that has something of Uriah Heep (unfortunately not the singer). A good track anyway, even if far from being an epic. The fact that after 5 minutes of almost prog stuff it turns back to blues doesn't contribute but I have to admit that this kind of psychedlic-blues is very enjoyable until it remains instrumental. Otherwise it seems the lost early album of Wishbone Ash.

"If" would have been good for the Isle of Wight. Acid keyboard on a heavy rock song. The keyboard solo in the middle is good. It's a hard-rock oriented song.

"Winter" starts as a hippy song. Very strange in 1972 when the hippy movement were already gone, also in Germany. When it turns into rock is absolutely not bad. And absolutely not original, too.

With "Penny for an Old Guy" we are back to blues-rock again. It's more or less the same year of Wishbone Ash's Argus, so it's not a sin. The number of changes in tempo and line are a bit too much for a 3 minutes song.

"Children's Freedom" is on the slow side of hard-rock and the last 20 seconds which close the album with a keyboard distorting the national anthem can be ignored.

The first time I've listened to it I was in a shopping center with headphones on. As background music when you are doing something else (a queue for example) is good enough, but even if it's well played and almost well produced I think one can easily give it up.

2.5 stars. I'd like to rate it three, but I want you to save your money for something more essential so I round it down.