CREATURES

The debut album was good, really good, the second, "Creatures" really smokes. The band returns with a highly polished and stunning effort. The vocals are much better then the first release, the guitar is featured more prominently and the overall song writing is much stronger. More FROGG CAFE then FRANK ZAPPA cover band. More influences shine through with the higher intensity. I would imagine that live, this band would be an Earth shaker.

Lead off track, All This Time, is powerful, dazzling and such a heady mixture of styles as to leave you preplexed as to what you just heard. I got quite a headful of Chicago for some reason? Creatures is beautiful marimba driven tune, reminds me of a cross between 70's Zappa and Gong. The Celestial Metal Can is a tribute to composer Charles Ives, an avant garde collage of music and noise. I find this track very entertaining and unusual. An aural surreal painting. It provokes numerous bizarre images and thoughts. Following the progress of the song is a mind game. Gagutz is an instrumental, quirky and fun. The band cuts loose with powerhouse fusion solos featuring guitar and violin. A funky 70's throwback. It's one of my favorite FC tracks!

It all comes down to the epic, Waterfall Carnival. One must say that FC opens the bag of tricks wide and pulls out Genesis, the Dixie Dregs, Kansas, Yes and every other band you've heard and creates a nearly perfect progressive rock classic. This is the real deal, ya'll. Hammond organ strips the soul bare, scrapes the bone and drives home the beauty of the Frogg. It ain't easy being green, but this frog is one to aspire to.

I'd recommend this disc to everyone I know who knows a damn thing about prog.