FUTURE LEGENDS

Fruupp's debut album is a good one. From Belfast, Northern Ireland, the band was founded by guitarist Vincent McCusker in early 1971. The band opened for bands such as Genesis, Queen, and King Crimson. This album has an awesome classic prog sound. This band is fairly unknown which I find very surprising considering their sound. The whole band is classically trained which definitely reflects in their sound. The production on some parts can be a little sub-par, but still some awesome tunes on here.

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.