Performer Notes

Personnel: Jeremy Enigk (vocals, guitar, harp, piano, harpsichord, drums); Jeni Foster (harp); Carlos Flores, Ken Wright, Rosalie Romano, Daniell McCutchen, Tom Monk (violin); Sam Williams , Felicia McFall (viola); Joe Bichsel, Christine Gunn (cello); Robert Newland, Laura Sperling (flute, piccolo); Greg Lyons (trumpet); Paulette Fraley, Bruce Dorey (French horn); Chris Stover (trombone); Fred Hawkinson (bass trombone); Susan Brey (harpsichord); Beverly Reese (glockenspiel, percussion); Anna Doak (upright bass).
Audio Mixer: Greg Williamson.
Audio Remasterer: Levi Seitz.
Recording information: BObcat; KNDO, Seattle, WA; The Ranch.
Photographer: Charles Peterson .
Great surprise. Return of the Frog Queen comes out of nowhere, in no way the follow-up to Jeremy Enigk's two previous LPs with Sunny Day Real Estate. Enigk chooses a really remarkable path, taking his highly dramatic, angst-ridden singing to a totally new sound. Now he favors harshly played acoustics. Way more surprising, Enigk lassos a whole orchestra to flesh out the background of each song! Enigk still screams like the abandoned child of Plastic Ono Band Lennon and "Heart Shaped Box" Cobain, a real shake-up. Likewise, his orchestra has equally dangerous intents. The most startling musical moment of all 1996 is the second half of the otherwise buried "Shade and the Black Hat," where the pent-up frustration inherent in this whole LP is suddenly let loose like Enigk were the delirious keeper of Pandora's box. He pounds a piano and howls like his wife just left him for his best friend, as the violins, violas, and cellos scrape at their strings as if to break them, and the flutes, piccolos, trumpets, trombones, French horns, and clarinets blow like they were hired by a wolf to blast a few recalcitrant pigs' houses down. The waves of classical countermelodies are extraordinary, adding on to each other to create an "1812 Overture" anvil clarion call, a roar so dense, so overpowering, it's like gasoline exploding, even more so as they back Enigk's fevered wail as if he were long past desperation. There are many other smaller, striking moments -- many far sweeter, too, though always tempered by Enigk's dark voice -- found throughout the LP, such as the chorus of "Carnival," where the man and his players turn positively paranoid to the suddenly depraved strains of circus sounds. The overall songwriting is superb, too. A truly remarkable work that has done the unthinkable, Frog Queen breaks new ground yet remains a direct hit, with the passion, power, and rage of punk; the simple, appealing babbling of folk; and even the multidimensional, nasty din of modern Russian classical. Wow. ~ Jack Rabid

Professional Reviews

Alternative Press (10/96, p.85) - 4 (out of 5) - "...a rare example of bombast made majestic....songs unfold slowly, building on small hooks that somehow mutate into swells of melodic intensity..."

Magnet (p.114) - "[T]he album's pastoral sounds -- offbeat acoustic miniatures accompanied by 21-piece orchestra -- remain as different from Sunny Day's gushing dam-bursts a Barrett's Floyd was from David Gilmour's."

Pitchfork (Website) - "[A]n album that finds a spiritually awakened Enigk summoning the courage to reach beyond the blunt, soul-baring music SDRE had released and toward thematic grandeur his bandmates weren't yet prepared to grasp."

Album: Return Of The Frog Queen
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Abegail Anne	More Info...
2)	Return of the Frog Queen	More Info...
3)	Lewis Hollow	More Info...
4)	Lizard	More Info...
5)	Carnival	More Info...
6)	Call Me Steam	More Info...
7)	Explain	More Info...
8)	Shade and the Black Hat	More Info...
9)	Fallen Heart	More Info...
10)	Abegail Anne (The End Sessions)	More Info...
11)	Return of the Frog Queen (The End Sessions)	More Info...
12)	Lizard (The End Sessions)	More Info...
13)	Carnival (The End Sessions)	More Info...
14)	Explain (The End Sessions)	More Info...

Album: Return Of The Frog Queen
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Abegail Anne	More Info...
2)	Return of the Frog Queen	More Info...
3)	Lewis Hollow	More Info...
4)	Lizard	More Info...
5)	Carnival	More Info...
6)	Call Me Steam	More Info...
7)	Explain	More Info...
8)	Shade and the Black Hat	More Info...
9)	Fallen Heart	More Info...
10)	Abegail Anne (The End Sessions)	More Info...
11)	Return of the Frog Queen (The End Sessions)	More Info...
12)	Lizard (The End Sessions)	More Info...
13)	Carnival (The End Sessions)	More Info...
14)	Explain (The End Sessions)	More Info...