EXPERIMENTS IN MASS APPEAL

This album caused quite a stir when it came out because it's predecessor, Jem Godfrey's band's debut, Milliontown had garnered a lot of attention and hope. Experiments in Mass Appeal is a collection of songs that are proggy but amped up and condensed to the point of being guilty of packaging for the masses. Where Milliontown had long, slower developing and more typically prog-paced songs, Experiments has created two- to five-minute monsters that would/could have been seven to twelve minutes long. Godfrey's experience as well-known pop producer has led him to this experiment--one that, in my opinion, he pulls off surprisingly well. To be sure, one of the album's songs, "Falling Down" (5:49) (10/10), is one of the most power-packed songs I've heard--and one of the best songs of 2008. Between Godfrey's keyboard/synth work and JOHN MITCHELL (ARENA, KINO)'s blistering guitar work the album is filled with highlights. The vocals are to my liking, though I've often wished to know what Declan Burke's voice would sound like without going so many treatments. Though there are many soft parts ("Experiments in Mass Appeal," "Welcome to Nowhere," "Saline"), it's the fast-paced, incredibly full parts that are so breathtaking.

Best songs: "Pocket Sun" (4:29) (9/10), "Experiments in Mass Appeal" (7:57) 8/10), "Toys" (3:06) (8/10), and of course, the masterful "Falling Down."

The "sixteen minute" epic, "Wonderland," is worth mentioning for its first six minutes--which are top-notch prog rock--but then the song just disappears. It just stops. After about a minute's silence another totally different (and, frankly, much blander) song returns. What's up with that?!

A good album--one that I don't listen to all that often (I think cuz it all kind of blends together, homogenized, if you know what I mean, in one sitting), though I listen to "Falling Down" and the song "Milliontown" quite a lot.