FLYING COLOURS

Ruphus managed to keep the same lineup on consecutive albums for the first time with 'Flying Colours' but once again the group seems to be searching for a sound, which generally means in search of commercial success. That's okay I suppose, but not usually a good sign for a progressive band. And that becomes apparent quite quickly here as well, with the band delivering an opening almost boogie-rock number in "Footlovers Diet" that sounds a bit like the lackluster rock of Juanita Haan and Babe Ruth toward the end of their career.

"Frysja" is an interesting number though, a mellow but sometimes funky instrumental that calls to mind Gerry Rafferty's "The Ark" on 'City to City' that released the same year as this record. And "Early Riser" starts off promisingly enough with a blast of guitar and Sylvi Lillegard's strong vocals, but quickly morphs into the same sort of laconic fusion that dominated the band's third and fourth albums. The title track is more of the same although I will say Kjell Larsen is more inspired on guitar than I've heard him since their second record.

"The Rivulet" is more laid-back and jazzier, but features some very complex violin work from guest musician Trond Villa, apparently a Norwegian journeyman who has also appeared on albums by Folque and Shine Dion. "Joy" is heavy on keyboards with vocals I can't quite follow as they tend to be buried by the guitar and keyboard mixes.

The closing "Moody Moments" is the longest song the band recorded since "Brain Boogie" in 1976, and features more scat scaled vocals and lengthy funk guitar and almost new-age keyboard passages. The song doesn't do much for me personally but I suppose it does show the band was capable of putting together an epic length (if not epic-sounding) track.

After two consecutive heavy fusion records the band seems to have decided to try and expand their sound a bit, and as a progressive group they deserve some credit for that effort. The results are mixed, but mostly on the strength of "Frysja" and the opening "Footlovers Diet" I'm going to go with three our of five stars for a rating and a mild recommendation, especially considering this was a 1978 release and as such was better than most of what came out that year simply because it wasn't boogie rock, punk or disco.

peace