A Fragile Mind

A Fragile Mind

Track Listings

1. Intro

2. There for Me

3. Destiny Is Sorrow

4. Brain Surgery

5. Losing Control

6. Twice the Pain

7. Somnecrophobia [Instrumental]

8. Fragile Mind

9. Intrinsic [Instrumental]

A Fragile Mind,Zero Hour,Sensory Records,Heavy Metal,Pop,Progressive Metal,Rock,United States of America

Average customer rating:

not as good as previous?

Sucessful follow up

Total Letdown and unispired

strong album

A Fragile Mind, A Crushing Masterpiece

A Fragile Mind
Zero Hour
Manufacturer: Sensory Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Towers of Avarice

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ASIN: B000AMYJI2
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Tracks:

Intro
There for Me
Destiny Is Sorrow
Brain Surgery
Losing Control
Twice the Pain
Somnecrophobia [Instrumental]
Fragile Mind
Intrinsic [Instrumental]

Customer Reviews:

not as good as previous?.......2006-12-26

The advantage of not hearing a groups previous work is I can't compare it to said previous work. Because this is awesome prog metal/rock. I think the singer fits well and overall the musicianship is stellar. I like this better than DT and think it compares well with shadow gallery and fates warning. They keep it interesting, don't bog down in long displays of prog blandness, and are loaded with killer metal guitar. I like it.

Sucessful follow up.......2006-02-24

Zero Hour, in my opinion, should have exploded on to the prog metal scene with their 2001 masterpiece The Towers of Avarice. It was the perfect blend of musical complexity and songwriting. It was extremely heavy, atmospheric despite being keyboard-less, and its riffs were oddly hypnotizing. Of course apparently this sort of abstract thinking is not something that all prog metal fans are looking forward apparently, because despite being signed to Sensory, a leading prog metal label, they are not quite ranked besides bands like Dream Theater or Symphony X (even though they should be).

But, luckily for me, a follow up was to be recorded. A Fragile Mind had some fairly significant difficulties leading to its release. A year or so after all of the guitar, bass and drum tracks had been recorded, vocalist Erik Rosvold had only recorded half of the album because of personal difficulties. Their label Sensory said Zero Hour was becoming harder to want to support financially, so they needed a new vocalist. So Ted Marshall was recruited to fill the gap left by Erik Rosvold.

Can Ted Marshall complement Zero Hour's twisting, hypnotic and technical music as well as Erik Rosvold's interesting and abstract style did? Would his melodies sound strained and forced as they do in such bands as Spiral Architect? Those were two thoughts that came to mind when I saw that they had recruited a new singer.

In the end however, Fred Marshall fits the music on A Fragile Mind perfectly. Erik Rosvold's somewhat "outside the box" style suited the more machinelike and heavy The Towers of Avarice, but the music on A Fragile Mind, which is somewhat more atmospheric and less bleak than it's predecessor, almost needed a less abstract singer. That is not to say that Fred Marshall sounds like all of the other prog metal cheesebuckets out there, the music is still quite heavy and he does "heavy" singing perfectly. But he uses more hooks, less strange vocal effects and even incorporates multiple layers to harmonize with himself, adding a powerful accent to certain vocal lines.

As for the music on A Fragile Mind, it is not much different than on their previous album. It is still technical, The Tipton brothers still combine their bass and guitar to create some of the most mesmerizing riffs out there, and Mike Guy gives another great drum performance. The fabulous buildups and their successive decrescendos are there as well as the extraordinary songwriting (something many prog metal bands seem to lack). At the same time the music is fuller, mostly because of the aforementioned background keyboards. The keys never come fully to the front of the mix for a solo or anything, but are noticeable and a nice touch. Fans of full-out technical intensity also get a treat in the form of the instrumental "Somnecrophobia", which sees the band truly embracing its Meshuggah influence with tons of staccato heavy riffs and great shredding from guitarist Jasun Tipton.

Zero Hour are definitely a band to check out as all three of their albums definitely do not tread the same ground while never abandoning the parts of their sound that make them great. It is a pity they are for the most part overlooked by the prog metal world.

Total Letdown and unispired.......2006-02-14

Okay, I have no idea why I am seeing so many awesome reviews on this CD. I got "Towers of Advince" after reading the reviews, and it was justified. That CD was very original sounding and flowed nicely. It was technical, but didn't lull you into boredom like Spiral Architect or something.

However, "Fragile Mind" COMPLETELY stinks. Every song sounds like the previous one, and they all sound like copycats of "Towers of Advince." Seriously, some riffs are straight out of their last albumn. You know how some bands just make a new CD that sounds like their successful one? Well this is like that.

I'm not saying this band sucks - because the last CD was one of the best progressive CD's I've ever heard. But this one put me to sleep. I've tried getting into it, but it's just the same sound over and over.

strong album.......2006-01-27

I have always been a fan of zero. i like this album and the previous 2 albums. its a strong album the music is pretty solid. the drums and bass are as strong as ever on this album. with the difficult timeing still on this album. they got a new singer in this album. this worried me but, the new singer does his part well and fits in great. and last guitar, jasun tipson plays great like usual but, he barely even has two solos in this album. and that pissed me off because he is a great guitarist. but yes he still has allot of fast lead lines. and a few crazy parts. dont get me wrong. he still plays great in the album. now the reason i only gave 4 stars. because i feel the musicianship in their last album was tighter. and the music was more progressive. they are still progressive, but not as much as the last albums. and that kind of irritates me. but its still a great techinical prog metal album. and i sujest to buy it. its worth the money.

A Fragile Mind, A Crushing Masterpiece.......2005-09-28

Much time has passed since Zero Hour's undisputable masterpiece The Towers of Avarice. The Tipton brothers are back with their third album along with long-time drummer Mike Guy. There is a newcomer on board, however. Original vocalist Erik Rosvold has been replaced by Fred Marshall who had lots of Zero Hour fans, myself included, anxious, since Erik Rosvold was an integral part of the Zero Hour's unique sound.

Well, Fred Marshall puts all worries aside easily. He has a strong voice, great control, and rich delivery. Moreover he was involved in the songwriting, adding his lyrics and vocal melodies with good results. He does sound different than Rosvold, as he seems to harmonise a lot with his own voice, and moves around in his range continuously. Granted his voice may not come off as original as Rosvold's, Fred Marshall is certainly one of the main reasons why Zero Hour's A Fragile Mind differs from their previous releases. The harmony vocals on "There for Me" are sure new additions to their songmanship, with distinct emphasis on melodic vocal lines. I personally think Marshall's delivery is uncannily similar to Roy Khan's earlier work with Conception and the last Kamelot album, even though Khan isn't mentioned as an influence on their website. The vocal melodies on the complex "Destiny is Sorrow" are amazing, punctuated by sweeping harmonies and atmospheric keyboards. Each song displays another aspect of Marshall's impressive vocal range. He sounds dark and evil on "Brain Surgery", a shorter piece filled with a manic guitar run hidden beneath ferocious bass and power drums, while "Twice the Pain" features great contrast between his softer fragile tone to a more extreme type of voice with thick layers of vocal harmonies. This song also has a very Towers period sound to it, perhaps because of the way the guitar riffs build and Troy's navigating a wicked bass line through labyrinthine passages. I love the vocal melody at the end, maybe Marhall's most effective moment on the album.

This album finds Jasun Tipton making use of more keyboard work, which I assume is to give the album a warmer presence compared to its predecessor. The music is still technical, but borrows more melodic elements in both defining the blueprint of the songs and the vocal style of the new singer. Some of the tunes are accented by moody keyboard sections to match Marshall's deeper vocal register, but they quickly segue into a massive wall of sound courtesy of fluid guitar runs, pounding bass, and forceful drum fills. Troy Tipton's staccato bass and Mike Guy's odd-metered drum beats on "Losing Control" reach their apex when Jasun throws in a bunch of palm-muted guitar riffs into the mix. The two instrumentals also show the band's two most extreme sides. "Somnecrophobia" is brutally heavy, encompassing the band's love for polyrhtmic Meshuggah riffage and Jason Becker meets Death Machine flow in composition. "Intrinsic", on the other hand, is the diametric opposite. It is heavily keyboard-filled with Troy Tipton's bass taking the lead. The song quitens down near the end and dissolves into a long spacy cinematic scenery with various sound effects sealing it. The most critical song is certainly the 12-minute title track, bound to be compared to their previous epic "Demise and Vestige" off The Towers of Avarice. This song is quite different though. It has a slow acoustic build-up with expressive vocals up until 4:00 minutes and then expands upon a somewhat jazzy bass solo that eerily reminds me of Michael Manring. To make things more adventurous, Jasun Tipton lays down a soaring guitar theme over the piece whilst Fred Marshall sings multi-octave hitting melodies. The piece is finished off with Jasun exploring whimsical Egyptian scales on the guitar, rendering it a very solid musical statement on the band's part.

Dino Alden is certainly one of the most amazing producers in the world. He impressively engineered, mixed and recorded the album with vivid bass and drum separation and a very massive guitar sound. Hearing in advance that the new album would be done by Alden was proof enough that it wouldn't disappoint. This band should continue to work with him eternally. Also the album was mastered by another genius Alan Douches (Dillinger Escape Plan) and Travis Smith was once again there to provide the artwork, which reminds me of a cross between the previous Zero Hour and Gordian Knot's Emergent. One of his best works indeed. A Fragile Mind, along with the new Sieges Even, was my most anticipated album of the year and it proved more than amazing to these ears.

All This Time We Could Have Been Friends

Average customer rating:

Highly Recommended
Get this for the Jeff Martin tracks

All This Time We Could Have Been Friends
Lauri Kranz
Manufacturer: Elastic Ruby
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Release Date: 2003-04-08

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Customer Reviews:

Highly Recommended.......2003-07-07

This is a beautiful CD, with 6 beautiful songs, by a girl who seems to know how to describe the indescribable nuances of love and self. The songs on this CD are impressionistic - both harshly realistic and enticingly evocative. The 6 songs weave their way through a web of emotions, ultimately finding sweet resolution in their cool articulation.

Content aside, the music is quite beautiful. Lauri's silvery voice glides along a windy road of atmospheric groove. Meanwhile, the production value, spartan but precise, highlights the many musicians who give each song its own personality - which leads me to my only problem with this CD : I wish there were more songs. Hopefully there will more to come from this promising singer/songwriter. I highly recommend this CD. Definitely a worthy addition to any music collection. My favorite song - "Your Room"

Get this for the Jeff Martin tracks.......2003-06-19

About Lauri Kranz: She's an okay singer. About the important part: Half of this CD was co-written (i.e. everything minus lyrics), produced, performed, and mixed by Jeff Martin of Idaho. The other songs were cowritten and produced by people who I couldn't care less about, but mixed by Jeff Martin. The three Martin tracks are fabulous, with gorgeous piano reminiscent of Idaho's last effort "Levitate". If he sang these songs, they could easily make it onto an Idaho album. He seems to be getting really into reverse tape delay effects. The other songs are okay, but pale horribly in comparison to the Martin tracks. The last song would be good, but the main instruments, acoustic guitars, are distractingly out of tune. Basically, if you know who Jeff Martin or Idaho is, buy this.

Average customer rating:

Some really good songs but need better production on Vocals.

Effete Mind
Fragile Hollow
Manufacturer: Avant-Garde
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000099188
Release Date: 2007-02-19

Tracks:

I Am Not You
Fragilehollow
Disgusting
Come Undone
I Don't Believe in Love
Have You Seen a Girl?
Dirty
Confusion
Donna Gentile
Are We Through?
Leaving You
I Am Sorry

Album Description

2003 release from ex-Prophet members on Avant Garde Records.

Customer Reviews:

Some really good songs but need better production on Vocals........2004-11-19

All I can really say is if you like bands like Sentenced, HIM, Poisonblack, Charon, For My Pain, etc. This album is a nice little treat. The only problem I have with it is the production on the vocals suck, but the vocalist is still good. Stand out tracks are "Fragile Hollow", "I Don't Believe in Love" and "Disgusting". Really is a good buy, but after hearing it you'll want to hear progression on the next album; because you know that they'll get far better, the potential is there to be a really awesome band. I give this album a 7/10.

Average customer rating:

Fragile Mind
Loss Rayne
Manufacturer: Mesa Records / Enemy House
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000M0EO6Y

Product Description

*THIS IS NOT AN EP, IT'S A FULL LENGTH ALBUM*... Loss Rayne's 12 Song Full-Length debut album "Fragile Mind" is a powerhouse combination of dynamic soulful vocals, huge guitar, rumbling bass, and driving drum sounds. Original heartfelt and emotional performances cover a blend of the best that blues, rock, folk, and soul have to offer. Simple love odes to more introspective topics are delivered with stunning clarity. Fragile Mind is not an easy album to categorize or corner. For more info and audio clips, check out the band's website @ lossrayne dot com --------------------------------------------------------------- -RECENT ALBUM REVIEW- The "Fragile Mind / Useless Cause" combination are actually my favorites on the disc. It starts with a crawl and builds up to a chorus that I cant get out of my head (in a good way). I dont want to be a useless cause / sometimes just cant help the way I feel / I wonder why, wonder why things cant get back / to the way things used to be. Throughout this disc I thought Keenan LeVicks guitar could very easily compete with Kasi Painters vocals for front-position, but they meld together very nicely, creating a fantastic blues-based rock sound. Painter has a Janis Joplin quality to her voice very powerful and soulful. LeVicks guitar is powerful without being overbearing. -Sean Claes, Editor, Insite Magazine