Power Barre

War Child was Jethro Tull's first album after two chart-toppers, Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play, and was one of those records that was a hit the day it was announced (it was certified platinum based on pre-orders, the last Tull album to earn platinum record status). It never made the impression of its predecessors, however, as it was a return to standard-length songs following two epic-length pieces. It was inevitable that the material would lack power, if only because the opportunity for development that gave Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play some of their power.

Frost* are back in action once more, with their fourth studio album ‘Day And Age’. Formed in 2004 by keyboard player Jem Godfrey, the band have so far released 3 studio albums, and most recently the career-spanning ’13 Winters’ collection. Now the band have returned as the 3-piece of Godfrey alongside longtime collaborators John Mitchell & Nathan King. “We were quite energised by the change to be honest”, says Godfrey, “it gave us a much broader palette of options in compositional terms, we would write a song and say, “Let’s imagine drummer x has joined the band, what would he do here? It led us off in some interesting new directions”. In the end, three drummers became part of the recording project : Kaz Rodriguez (Chaka Khan, Josh Groban), Darby Todd (The Darkness, Martin Barre) and Pat Mastelotto (Mister Mister, King Crimson). “Each musician brought a very different style of playing to the music,” says John Mitchell, “and we tailored the songs to suit them.”