SUNBURST

''Symphonic Pictures'' sold no less than 12000 copies and the fascinating following live shows made SFF one of the very succesful bands in Germany.The next year the talented trio entered Dieter Dierk's studio to record the second album.In order to come up with a more spontaneous result they even recruited bassist Eduard Brumund Ruther to play during the sessions.''Sunburst'' was released in 1977 again on Brain label.

Already from the opening tracks it is clear that Schicke, Führs & Fröhling were determined to produce a different style compared to their debut.So ''Sunburst'' ended up as a compilation of diverse tracks with SFF leaving the highly symphonic attitude of the debut for more flexible still quite demanding compositions.A couple of tracks have a strong TANGERINE DREAM influence, being Electronic pieces of hypnotic soudscapes with melodic guitars surrounding and a very spacey atmosphere overall, not quite conveincing yet decent material.The rest of the album is split between Symphonic Rock and powerful Fusion stylings, where Führs' Mellotron shines again along with his synth acrobatics.Nice keyboard breaks and piano interludes are all over the place.These are combined with Fröhling's fiery guitar solos and rhythms, however ''Sunburst'' has a strong felling of improvisation from the very start.The awaited interplays are really good and even a track has a powerful GENTLE GIANT atmosphere due to Führs' dominant clavinet.

Not so tight or grandiose as their debut, but ''Sunburst'' has a lovely atmosphere and you can sure tell these guys were definitely talented.Recommended to fans of keyboard-driven proggy adventures.