SUNBURSTSchicke & Führs & FröhlingSymphonic Prog |
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The opening track "Wizzard" clearly indicates what SFF music is all about. It has all components of rock music and a bit of jazzy elements even though not that heavy. The music is dynamic with more than one time tempo changes. This is quite usual to any bands under the banner of prog, but the band has taken it into different level. The other song that represents good example of how fusion would sound like by combining energy and music textures is "1580" the album concluding track. This is probably my best favorite track of this album. It has an energetic music flow and good improvisations. In fact some nuances of spacey music are also embedded in the music of SFF. One thing I forgot to mention when I reviewed quite a number of Ozric Tentacles albums was that the components of SFF music are there as well in Ozric music. The difference is on the intensity of "spacey" nuance where Ozric put more emphasize on it.
"Sunburst" is an album with tight composition and strong song writing by each member of the band. Yes, fans of jazz-rock fusion music would adore this album, I believe. Keep on proggin' ..!
"Wizzard" is perhaps my favourite track on this album. This is an uptempo song with some excellent drumming, guitar and mellotron. "Autumn Sun In Cold Water" is a good song with prominant drumming. "Artificial Energy" is a pastoral song with lots of atmosphere and some good guitar sounds. "Driftin'" reminds me of IONA at times with lots of mood and tempo changes.
"Troja" is another favourite of mine with some good guitar that comes and goes. Mellotron comes in after 3 minutes and the song has a powerful ending. "1580" opens with piano as drums, moog and piano melodies come and go. "Explorer" opens with electronic sounds, and it's 3 minutes before the song really kicks in with lots of mellotron.
As good as this is it still pales in comparison to their debut "Symphonic Pictures". I still recommend it though as it's very well done. 3.5 stars.
This review is from: Sunburst (Audio CD Esoteric Reactive 2010 Reissue) This was the second SFF album, and preceded the Fuhrs/Frohling duo work `Ammerland'. Like the debut `Symphonic Pictures' this also calls at all stations from the reflective bongo driven `Artificial Energy' featuring some very Jade Warrior styled guitar, to heavy fusion influenced material very obviously influenced by Mahavishnu. There is a fabulous range of instrumental colours and tempo changes throughout the album. It is always very tightly composed music and never veers off into indulgence and extravagant solos. There is a trace of King Crimson here and a little Patrick Moraz there, but this is really very confident music by musicians who could hold their own.
Once again the mighty Mellotron is to the fore and is used widely and wisely. The guitars range from acoustics to electrics and there is a rich array of keyboards including Moog, Clavinet, String Ensemble, Electric Piano, Piano and (ahem) Bassett ! (This would appear to be an organ) The recording by Dieter Dierks is superb by any standards.
The album is concise at 7 pieces in 35 minutes but packed with ideas none of which outstay their welcome. It doesn't have a fragmentary feel at all, indeed it flows together beautifully like a finely crafted piece of furniture. It all adds up once again to some thoroughly enjoyable and accomplished music which doesn't try too hard to impress. This is quality first division 70's instrumental music and should be an essential purchase for any progressive afficionado.
After repeated listenings the result is the same: track after track you expect something to happen and it doesn´t. Not exactly boring, but neither exciting. Good production and absolute no highlights. It is easy to understand why they were never big. Even for 1977 there was plenty of better things to hear, prog or otherwise. A typical case fo good musicians lacking some strong songwriting skills and an identity. This CD is surely for collectors and hardcore fans.
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.
The music is fully instrumental and features a semi-jazzy rythm section, vintage synths/keyboards in spades and some nice guitar playing too. There´s a mellow and ambient atmosphere to the procedings, but there are also more dark and dramatic moments on the album like some of the parts in "Troja". The album is well produced featuring a warm and organic sound production and paired with some excellent musicianship "Sunburst" comes off as a quality release. Some of the compositions are slightly shallow/forgettable (as an example I don´t particularly find the ambient and repetitive nature of "Artificial Energy" that exciting), but when Schicke, Fürhs & Fröhling shine, they shine brightly.
I prefer "Symphonic Pictures (1976)" to "Sunburst", but "Sunburst" is still a great album in it´s own right and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.
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