FROST

Jack Frost's talents are undisputed. His tenure in SEVEN WITCHES and his all-too-brief time in SAVATAGE were proof enough of the man's guitar prowess, and his last solo record, the raucous 2004 outing "Raise Your Fist To Metal", was a fun smorgasbord of different styles and vocalists held together by Frost's tasteful songwriting and skilled leads. He may not be the most instantly identifiable or flashy axeman out there, but he's perhaps the ultimate journeyman, a high compliment. He gets down to the business of rockin', without excess bullshit, and that makes for some fine metal.

That makes it all the more perplexing why "Out In the Cold" is such an uninspired affair. Miles below the energy level and good times of "Raise Your Fist To Metal", it starts out strong but soon descends into pointlessness. The first three songs – particularly the crunchy "Hell or High Water", featuring Alan Tecchio on vocals, and the scorching "Crucifixation", with ex-ANTHRAX man Neil Turbin — are winners. But the soggy title track features noticeably subpar drumming from Chuck White, as well as a less-than-stellar vocal from former XYZ hair farmer Terry Ilious.

Then we're treated to a slightly revved-up, but pretty useless, cover of bland APRIL WINE hit "Sign of the Gipsy Queen" — the first of four such exercises. Did anyone need to hear Frost's bar-band rendition of FOREIGNER chestnut "Cold As Ice", or hear the man attempting vocals on crappy .38 SPECIAL boogie booger "Hold On Loosely"? (He at least proves why he's always got other people singing most of the time.) Save the covers for Quarter Beer Night in Old Bridge or Hackensack, Jack — you're a great writer. At the very least, can we have a few covers of songs not beaten to death by classic-hits radio?

Most of the rest of the album is worth hearing — RACER X frontman Jeff Martin turns in a surprisingly metallic, high-pitched performance on the crunchy "Covered In Blood", while on the bluesy side, Dale Toth does a great, soulful job singing Frost's touching ode to his baby son, "Peter and Me". Really, the only misfires are the covers and the title cut — but that's five out of the eleven tracks included here.

The amount of fluff on "Out In the Cold" unfortunately shitcans the whole project, reducing it to novelty status and making it hard to recommend. That's in no way a reflection on Frost's talents — if anything, it's perhaps an indictment of his insane work schedule. Next time, maybe it'd be an idea to wait till there's time to write a whole solo album, pare down the guest list to the top-notch performers, and knock it out of the park.