FRUUPP

Releasing four album releases between October 1973 and November 1975 is quite the achievement in itself, but stylistically and quality wise Fruupp also kept a steady quality level and "Modern Masquerades" is overall a another good (if not exactly spectacular) progressive rock release from the band. They play a well composed, well performed, and relatively well produced type of progressive rock, which although it´s of a fairly good quality, doesn´t stand out much on the early- to mid-70s British progressive rock scene. But taking into consideration how hard the competition was, it´s no science figuring out that not all artists would break through and held against artists like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, and Jethro Tull, Fruupp just couldn´t reach those heights.

After wrapping up their tour supporting "Modern Masquerades" in Manchester in February 1976, Fruupp started working on what was to be their fifth full-length studio album (tentatively titled "Doctor Wilde's Twilight Adventure"), but the album never materialized and Fruupp disbanded at the end of 1976 with no further releases under their belt. Citing poor album sales and a change in the musical climates as the reasons for their demise.

Upon conclusion "Modern Masquerades" is a good quality swansong for Fruupp and they can rightly be proud of the output they had in their active period from 1971-1976 (and the hundreds of concerts they played in Britain and in mainland Europe). But as described above there is a reason why they are seldom mentioned among the tier 1 progressive rock artists of the 70s. They just aren´t up there with the greatest. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

Out of bonus tracks, I recommend the synth-heavy and melodic "Prince of heaven" that could, by a better luck, end up in the contemporary radio.

To me, it's the band's best album.

The album opens on an unexpected note with the 1:30 self-titled interlude "Future Legends." After the acoustic violin and string-driven opener, we are introduced to Fruupp's true sound. "Decision" marks the second song on the album, with a fiery start. A drum roll under heavy guitars and piano bring us into the verse. We hear Peter Farrelly's unique vocals for the first time on a softer section with nice piano from Stephen Houston. Around the 3:00 mark, the song goes into a very impressive guitar solo section from Vincent McCusker. This solo along with string arrangements from Houston and thumping bass from Farrelly makes this section awesome. The song ends by going back into the verse section. After one of the highlights of the album, the 3rd track "As Day Breaks with Dawn," continues the theme of great guitar songs. After a very fast-paced intro containing spectacular keys from Houston, the song goes into a quieter section with soft guitars and horns. After the majority of the song is dominated by the quiet section it goes back to the fast-paced intro with an unbelievable guitar arpeggio.

"Graveyard Epistle," is my personal favorite song on this album. After an intro similar to the prior song, this one quickly changes to an acoustic guitar section with nice vocals, reminiscent of something like "The Sage" from ELP. The song then goes into the best sequence on the entire album for only about 16 bars at around the 1:50 mark. I really wish the band had capitalized on that one progression more throughout the song. Nevertheless, still a great song. "Lord of the Incubus," begins with a great guitar-dominated progression over a lone wailing choir voice before going into the verse. The verse passage is a great nice organ, vocals, guitars, and eventually strings. After some nice piano sections and a huge buildup, the song goes back into the intro to close it out.

"Old Tyme Future" opens very softly with an organ and guitar before being gently picked up by the drums. Around the halfway point in the song goes into a nice chorus, and towards the end has a beautiful progression with the same lone wailing choir voice from "Lord of the Incubus," before coming to a close. "Song for a Thought," is the longest track on here sitting at 7:30. The song is pretty straightforward, and has a couple of nice sections. I like it but I think it lacks creativity up until the end. The best moments on here are definitely the horn solo in the middle and the last minute and a half, the rest of the song being a tad bit repetitive.

Overall a very impressive album from a quite obscure band. Vincent McCusker's guitar playing on this record is absolutely sensational and is very ahead of its time. Stephen Houston puts on a show with his keys, but also composed all of the string arrangements, and horns, and plays the oboe. There is a reason prog greats like Genesis and King Crimson had these guys open for them. Recommend to all lovers of some classic progressive rock. Solid 4 stars.

A concept album around an Irish lad living their life.

A so-so album.

An overly dramatic album placing importance on over enunciated lyrics straight from something as hamfisted as a musical. With a musical score fire for romantic films this album has the signature Fruupp charm mixed throughout, yet still remains a poor effort.

Track one opens with nice drumming and strings that become a lovely vocal section. This becomes a sillier section that just ruins the song, simply awful singing here, cringe inducing. A guitar solo after with string backup takes us back to clearer meadows. A great interlude moves the song to a strong finish with the original vocal section returning, thus 3/5 on a track that could have been excellent.

Track two opens with crackling sfx and guitar/piano. Accentuated Irish accented singing follows to establish their ruinous hold. This is interspersed with vocal harmonies and better singing. Various pleasant instrumental sections follow until a reprisal of earlier vocals occurs. 3/5

Track three opens with a more Americana (might be Irish folk which is what American folk is derived from anyways?) beat/instrumentation, terrible. An interlude without vocals it's fine (I don't rate short songs like this, they're score is entirely derived from their surroundings) .

Track four opens with rock guitar and frantic piano chords. The singing on this one is alright, I like the brief turn to falsetto but dislike the bridge. 3/5

Track five opens with the closing of track four because this album can be viewed as one song and this is side two. This track is actually quite amazing. The singing is very touching. It's followed by a shout after a lull, which kicks the song into a powerful guitar solo. Gentle piano and flute follow, guitar chords come in quietly, so beautiful. The band builds up again for different singing, less calm more vigorous still sublime. Drifting vocals through audio panning open the song up for a ridiculous bass/keyboard section, very otherworldly in its brilliance. Eventually the band works to an ah ah ah part that drives towards the songs finishline. The second vocal part returns, delivered more powerful. Guitar soloing over bass/keys, aided by percussion closes the song on a happy note. A surprise 5/5 song.

Track six starts right away with classical esque piano that is joined by crystalline vocals floating above. This is a good short song 4/5, nice and pretty.

Track seven starts with guitar in the Melodic Symphonic Progressive Rock style Fruupp resides within. Quickly piano overtakes the composition. The guitar then returns and the song becomes piano runs over prominent bass. Sadly vocals come when the song should have ended. They are okay, really striking me as unnecessary bloat to the song/album though. This song is fine.

Track eight closes the album like it started gentle vocals, string keys, percussion and bass. This is followed by a mediocre guitar solo that goes on a bit to long. Another okay song.

Overall I find this to be without a doubt Fruupps worse album and wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they are a fan of silly music or musicals. Without the storytelling singing at times this album could be 4/5.

Ps "Knowing You" I do recommend, that song is excellent.

The first two tracks are pretty plain Fruupp songs, pretty by the numbers for the band.

Gormenghast is a powerful song made beautiful by the lyrics being about Mevryn unfinished novel series. It is fitting Fruupp be a band to use his work as an inspiration since they to have an unfinished album that will likely languish for an eternity as unreleased. Everything just comes together on this song.

The other excellent track is Sheba Song which is about Queen Sheba. It is lovely.

The rest of the tracks aside from the pretty piano ballad Why, are all okay.

Overall this album has a lot of average spread across a few tracks and pure excellence on two tracks, ergo easy 4/5, great album and definitely the best Fruupp album to my ears. (Mel Collins saxophone really adds something wonderful here)

I found this Belfast-based band roughly ten years ago by the 2-cd compilation It's All Up Now (2004) which I have reviewed here. Of their four studio albums between the short period of 1973-1975, this last one is actually my favourite. The original keyboardist Stephen Houston had found faith and jumped to a Christian band called Liberation Suite. In Fruupp he was replaced by John Mason. Perhaps his participation is a crucial reason for the album to be so elegant.

The highlight is the nearly 11-minute track 'Gormenghast', composed by Mason and inspired by the fantasy trilogy of Mervyn Peake. It flows very beautifully with a dream-like atmosphere with some livelier sections to make it dynamic. Comparisons to e.g. HAPPY THE MAN, Focus and Caravan are justified.

With the exception of the irritating, 60's spirited song 'Janet Planet which features a horn arrangement, Modern Masquerades is a fine, mature and sophisticated prog album. It was produced by Ian McDonald, who is best known as the original member of King Crimson. The opening track 'Misty Morning Way' has laid-back melodies in the vein of CAMEL but contains more jazz groove in its vocal harmonies. Piano oriented 'Why' is a moody ballad.

As a whole the album may be slightly too mellow and polished for many prog listeners, but despite one bad track -- not mellow, nor polished --, this is easily a four-star album for me. I also like the cover art; a pity I don't remember which painting (most likely from the Renaissance era) it is based on.

"Future Legends" opens with the title track, a short classical piece of music which acts as a prelude to "Decision", a lively and rumbunctious number that gallups along nicely with a pounding rhythm and builds up to an impressively rousing finale. An awesome opening to the album. "As Day Breaks with Dawn" follows next, with a melodic classically-inspired opening, which breaks out into a powerful thrumming Genesis-like number with the singer sounding remarkably like Peter Gabriel. Yes, we're definitely in Genesis territory here, with a somewhat heavier sound, and very good it is too. Onwards now to Track 4 and "Graveyard Epistle", a song which begins as a melodic ballad before breaking out into some very proggy, heavy and intense riffing. In true prog fashion, there are constant changes of tempo, staccato breaks and a few key changes thrown in too, to keep the listener entertained and enthralled. We're halfway through the album now and this is sounding very good indeed!

Side Two opens with "Lord of the Incubus". It's a grand-sounding title and the music is impressively grand too, Again, it sounds like a song Genesis could have recorded in their classic prog years. There's a thumping rhythm section and the guitarist is really in his element here as he demonstrates his virtuosity with some masterly soloing. Track 6 "Olde Tyme Future" has a more sedate pace, with some beautifully melodic keyboard motifs. The cryptic lyrics are shrouded in mystery but with music this good, who cares about the lyrics anyway!? And now we come to the penultimate and longest song on the album, "Song for a Thought". It's a seven and a half minute long magnum opus which opens in fine rollicking style and then transposes into a laid-back mellow and melodic groove in the middle section. before the resounding and reverberant grand finale, which might just blow your socks off. It's melodic, it's dramatic, and it'll leave you feeling euphoric. The final song is a brief and gentle vocal reprise of the classical title track which opened the album. It's a perfect ending to a magical album full of proggy tales of mystery and imagination.

This is a very impressive debut album from this Northern Irish band that's likely to appeal to fans of the classic Peter Gabriel years of Genesis. It's hard to pick out a highlight of the album, because "Future Legends" is full to the brim with great songs. If you're looking for a band with the musical talent and melodic finesse of Genesis with a somewhat heavier edge, then you'll be in prog heaven with this superb album. This prog masterpiece is such a delight to listen to that you may be inspired to give Fruupp's following three albums a spin too. A must-have album for any discerning collector of classic British prog.

If you only wanted the absolute cream of the crop when it came to Fruupp, you might hold out for just Future Legends and mmmmmaybe also spring for Seven Secrets or Modern Masquerades if you were feeling generous, but this boxed set is sufficiently generously priced and compactly formed that I consider it a reasonable enough way to get this mid- tier act's work into your collection.