RUPHUS

There's a lot to like on Ruphus' third album "Let Your Light Shine", but this production also strikes me as very much a two-sided creation. The first side catering to those who like their jazz-rock to be free-flowing, elegant and oriented towards distinct moods and atmospheres, while the other side appears to be more geared towards those who appreciates quirky features, expressive instrument details and the use of dramatic bursts, strong contrasts and other choices with a subtle disruptive effect. Those who love and treasure both sides of this particular coin obviously the ones that should set aside some time to get familiar with this production.

Those who fancy symphonic progressive rock that literally is vintage and time typical should find plenty to enjoy on Ruphus' second album "Ranshart". Liberal amounts of keyboard layers, a more subtle guitar presence and liberal amounts of vocal harmonies combined with lead vocals, flute and Mellotron should come across as very much familiar elements indeed, and while perhaps not a stellar classic this is a good album in general and one that should please the tastes of an audience as specified very well indeed.

The music is mainly soft mellowish jazzyrock fusion with mostly nice sounding keyboards like fender rhodes and tasteful guitars, accompanied by steady, funky grooves and bluesrock-vocals. Mostly instrumental with lots of build-ups and very capable keyboard and guitar solos.

The band also remind me a bit of dutch fusion band Solution, but the vocals are more bluesy like Frumpy and Heart (heavy and soft singing like Ann Wilson). Only Heart has heavier guitars and Ruphus has more keyboards.

Recommended for those who like the softier, bluesier side of progrock.

Despite the changes in the line-up Ruphus still has obvious hints from early Yes, the main difference concerns the vocals, not that emotional as the former singer (in the vein of German Inga Rumpf from Frumpy). Most of the five melodic and harmonic compositions (between 4 and 9 minutes) contain catchy beats and the pleasant vintage sound of the Hammond organ, Minimoog synthesizer and the unsurpassed Mellotron. The track Easy Lovers, Heavy Moaners starts with wonderful twanging acoustic guitars, Fallen Wonders delivers fiery work on the electric guitar and Pictures Of A Day is loaded with beautiful, folky sounding flute, from soaring to sparkling.

My highlight is the final song Back Side (8:10). It starts with a swinging rhythm featuring Hammond runs, Minimoog and Mellotron violins, and fuelled by dynamic rhythm-section (a big plus on this album). The powerful female vocals evoke Jon Anderson, and also bands like Druid and England come to my mind, due to the Anderson-like vocals and the vintage keyboards. Halfway the music turns into Vintage Keyboard Extravaganza: first a Mellotron flute solo, then a flashy Minimoog solo with lush Hammond and finally a bombastic atmosphere with strong vocals and Hammond, yet another sparkling Minimoog solo, with lush Hammond, again fuelled by the excellent rhythm-section. Wow, this is Ruphus inits full splendor!

To me this reissue sounds as a pleasant and solid effort, between Classic Prog and melodic rock, emebellished with wonderful work on Hammond, Mellotron and Minimoog.

My rating : 3,5 star.

This review was recently published on the Dutch progrock website Background Magazine, in a slightly different version.

Ruphus was founded early 1970, the band signed with famous record label Polydor in 1973 and released six studio albums and one compilation between 1973 and 1979. During the years their sound gradually turned from harder-edged prog to more jazzrock oriented. Ruphus had good album sales after their breakthrough album Let Your Light Shine (1976), then got some airplay and toured successfully in Germany. Due to multiple line-up changes the band dissolved eventually in the early Eighties, but in the 2000s Ruphus did a number of reunion concerts.

An important part of their sound on this debut album is the interplay between the Hammond organ and the harder-edged guitar, reminding me of the Early British Progressive Rock Movement (somewhere between Atomic Rooster and Fruupp). Most songs contain catchy beats and sumptuous eruptions, blended with male vocals (with a strong accent) and female vocals, her raw, powerful and emotional sound evokes to me female singer Inga Rumpf (from contemporary German band Frumpy). The strong element in Ruphus its music is delivering variety in atmospheres and instruments, topped with a passionate approach.

A fiery electric guitar solo and a swirling Hammond solo, blended with duo vocals, in the opener Coloured Dreams.

First acoustic rhythm guitar and synthesizer flights, and then a swinging mid-tempo with powerful drums and a flute solo in Scientific Ways.

Bombastic Hammond, fiery wah-wah guitar and a powerful saxophone solo in Still Alive.

First a dreamy atmosphere with flute and piano and then a swinging rhythm with wah-wah guitar and in the end subtle piano in The Man Who Started It All.

From bombastic with Hammond and raw but very passionate female vocals (evoking Inga Rumpf from Frumpy) or a churchy organ sound, to dreamy with mellow organ and a catchy beat with rock guitar, and in the end subtle acoustic guitar in the compelling Trapped In A Game.

Powerful Hammond and wah-wah guitar in the titletrack.

The highlight and most varied composition is the epic final song Day After Tomorrow. It starts with swinging Hammond, a Yes- like bass sound and vocal harmonies (evoking The Byrds), then dreamy with a churchy organ sound, gradually turning into a bombastic final part featuring intense vocals, strong drums, delicate piano work and in the end topped with inspired duo vocals, very compelling and a splendid conclusion of this album!

I am very pleased with the way Ruphus has captured that unique early Seventies prog spirit (passion, skills and adventure), a true gem in the Norwegian prog history!

This review was recently published in a slightly different version on Dutch prog website Background Magazine.

This is a good album, and one that hasn't lost all that much with age. It is very much a product of it's time and it's era, but still strikes me as good music that Father Time has been rather kind with. If hard, organ and guitar driven progressive rock of the early 70's is something you appreciate, then this is an album that merits an inspection for sure. And I'd wager a guess that this remixed version of the album will give the superior experience as far as enjoying the best qualities of this album is concerned, as the task has been handled by someone with a very good ear for sound indeed.

Forget about the past of the band and consider Ruphus to be a reborn Prog act, because the progressive content on ''Let your light shine'' is often overpowered by the enthusiasm of the members for their new direction.For the most of its part the album comes as a combination of ethereal Jazz Fusion and soft Progressive Rock with strong Nordic and Canterbury influences, they do sound a bit like the jazzier side of FOCUS, but there are no Hammonds or Mellotron in here, instead the music is layered by delicate synth and piano entries and Kjell Larsen's smooth guitar plays.Gudny Aspaas was asked to return, but she is rarely found in a heavily instrumental album.But when she enters the scene, be sure to get prepared for some efficient and dreamy wordless vocals in the vein of Annette Peacock, as heard in BRUFORD's albums.The compositions are fairly jazzy-oriented, lacking the freedom of Jazz though (propably a good thing), with the band choosing to surround the jazzy solos and interludes with mellow progressive tunes, breaks and textures.Some great flute parts by bassist Asle Nilsen in a light Canterbury vein and excellent drumming by Thor Bendiksen.The 10-min. farewell ''Brain boogie'' is a beautiful piece of relaxed Jazz Fusion with discreet funky vibes, nice electric piano, calm instrumentals and some notable COS and RETURN TO FOREVER comparisons, possibly the highlight of this effort.

''Let your light shine'' just prooves how talented this band was.They changed direction in short time and they could play Fusion music with efficiency and passion.Very nice collection of jazzy and progressive instrumentals with an ethereal atmosphere.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

With ''Ranshart'' Ruphus abandoned the diverse yet excellent sound of their debut for a more focused style towards Classic Symphonic Rock, which was more or less influenced by YES and other British Prog bands.They offered a complicated Progressive Rock with poppy sensibilities during the vocal parts but a very high level of composing and technique, delivered in long, refined and mostly interesting arrangements, full of keyboard colors and tricky guitar parts.Their music had a good sense of melody and lots of changing soundscapes, based on the very good keyboard textures as displayed on organ, synthesizers and Mellotron, while all guitar and bass lines have this unmistakable YES flavor.The ideas are always very rich and interesting despite the obvious lack of originality with plenty of odd meters and shifting gears as well as some fine multi-vocal arrangements.However the piece that really shines through is the long instrumental ''Pictures of a day'', very much along the lines of FOCUS and KAIPA, featuring lovely flute lines, melodic guitar parts, obscure Mellotron themes and a generally very symphonic sound.

Add another great album in Ruphus discography.It lacks the more genuine style of their debut, but their brand new approach is always charming and professional.For all fans of Classic 70's Prog...3.5 stars.

I have this habit of randomly selecting an entry, an album listed on PA, then read the reviews. Today it happened to be this work.

I was greatly bemused by the low ratings as - from memory - it is a fine album. Dusting off my old copy has confirmed that indeed, it's quality offering. Pure Jazz-Rock of a better variety. Largely keyboard driven with fluid and professional input on guitars and competent rhythm section. Comparisons with Brian Auger, Robin Lumley (Brand X), Return To Forever, electric Herbie Hancock , Gary Boyle (Isotope) spring to mind. So what's wrong here?

For a Heavy-Prog outfit to deliver such quality Jazz-Rock with ease, surely is a sign of great talent. Unfortunately the female singer is spoiling some of the efforts. She has a reasonable voice most of the time, not unlike Gail Moran, Flora Purim with a touch of Ursula Dudziak. Still, I wouldn't miss her presence and the good thing is that much of the album remains instrumental.

The compositions, the delivery would please any Jazz-Rock fan immensely and merit 5 stars from me. Sadly, the vocals take some shine away and bring to mind again that "less would have been more". Still, a solid 4 is appropriate.

Just figured I'd throw that out there before I give this album some general assessment. What we have here is the debut from one of the first prog bands from Norway, and man does this thing cook. The opening track sets the tone, essentially a hard rock tune with a generous amount of Hammond organ banging to compliment the heavy guitars and bass. A pretty sweet rockin' riff too, with only the slightly jazzy style of the drums keeping this song from full Deep Purple worship. But there is also the vocals...and that's what sets this band apart.

I don't tend to give such a high score to an album, even if I really dig it, unless it has something unique to offer or something I haven't heard before that endows the album a with specific individual vibe. In this case it's the dual male / female vocals sung with a wide-eyed enthusiastic passion. Gudny, without a doubt, is one talented and maybe more than a bit crazy vocalist who has no time for terms like subtlety or restraint. From her introduction on the first track, she's already reaching for ridiculous high notes in an almost unhinged fashion, but damnit she sounds great with a killer tone. Rune, for his part, does the male foil role more than adequately, dishing out strong vibratos and taking the lead in some of the tracks. The overall vocal dynamic is great and adds a lot of character to the album.

Talent-wise the band can certainly jam, but some little gaffs can be heard here and there, such as the bass player's occasional struggle with the difficult runs during the title track, but it's a small trifle. What's more important is that I can feel the wild enthusiastic aura permeating from each of these songs. This gang took inspiration from Purple to Yes to King Crimson to Uriah Heep and swirled them into their own blend, keeping tunes varied, unpredictable, and especially engaging. Seriously, some of these tracks are teeming with fantastic hooks and exceptional melodies flowing through them.

Again, though, "Trapped In A Game" is some next level thing. A sort of prog-torch song with a ton of soul and a bizarre organ mid-section that morphs into some drumming fury, it's one of those go-to songs when I'm in the mood for some serious female pipes soaring over rock music of any kind. A Gudny Aspaas showcase, she puts on a damn clinic straight from the heart, really reaching for those notes with powerhouse lungs. A spectacle in itself.

Other highlights include "Scientific ways", which reveals the more adventurous 'proggish' nature of the band after the more straightforward rockin' opener, the smooth saxophone soloing displayed in "Still Alive" (which also boasts a groovy bass-line and some oddball lyrics), and "Day After Tomorrow" ends things on a suitably bombastic note. If there's anything this album doesn't possess, it would be a dud. Every cut is essential. Granted, I will say that the vocals may not be for everyone...in that I can imagine some folks would find them overbearing, but I love them. New Born Day is great stuff performed with sheer exuberance, and deserves a high recommendation for anyone interested in the roots of Scandinavian progressive rock.