I find prog rock a funny old thing, because it certainly
encompasses all manner of styles. For example, Asia
are always bashed with the prog stick of love, but personally I wouldn’t call
them a prog band, they are just a melodic rock band with some proggy people
involved. Personally, I like prog that has a bit of balls to it, like It Bites,
Pallas and the like, not so much the ones that do a fifteen minute song that
never gets going. Atmospheric has a place in prog, but it should be balanced
with the ‘rock’ part of the name, is all I’m saying.
Lonely Robot is the creation of one John Mitchell. Mitchell
is very well known in the prog world as part of Arena, Kino, Frost and of
course It Bites. He calls Lonely Robot ‘the most fun I have ever had in a
studio’, mainly because there were no restraints on what he could do, or how
the songs should sound. Unsurprisingly he has roped in a bunch of friends and
contemporaries, including peter Cox (Go West), Howard Jones and prog vocalists
Heather Findlay (Mostly Autumn) and Kim Seviour (Touchstone).among others. Findlay joins Mitchell on
the mournful, haunting ‘Why Do We Stay’, a standout track amongst standout
tracks, whilst peter Cox gets ‘Boy In The Radio’, a catchy mid tempo track, all
to himself.
‘Please Come Home’ is definitely a prog rock album, mixing
aspects of all of Mitchell’s previous bands and adding a sprinkle of the man’s
own personality on top. There’s narration by Lee Ingleby, an eight minutes plus
track (‘Lonely Robot’), instrumentals, plus the requisite atmosphere and rock that
are fitted together perfectly, along with plenty of melody. It’s by turns heavy
and whimsical, downbeat and upbeat, introspective and expressive. For me, ‘The
Tall Ships’ remains Mitchell’s finest work, but ‘Lonely Robot’ will definitely
delight anyone who calls themselves a fan, and is a great starting place for
newcomers who like their prog with big brass robot balls.#
