SEVEN SECRETS

Two months of intense gigging was the aftermath of ''Future legends'' for Fruupp, which ended on November 29th 1973 with a memorable concert in Belfast with the Ulster Youth Orchestra.At the beginning of 1974 the group returned to the Escape Studios in Kent to record the follow-up of their debut.With six basic cores already written and another working song appearing in the process, the album was entitled ''Seven secrets'' and it was ready after two months of recordings.Its official release date by Dawn was scheduled on April 19th.

The result was another well-crafted album of a Symphonic Rock approach and Fruupp sound more or less like a less raw BEGGARS OPERA version.Its basic characteristic remain the Classical arrangements and the good melodies next to the usual rockin' textures.The keyboards of Stephen Houston are again the driving force, mostly his ethereal Hammond organ, which drives the rest of the group to mellow but really strong orchestrations.Some beautiful melodic lines played on harpsichord and piano are also contained in Houston's armour.The vocals remain senstive and warm with plenty of polyphonic choirs, while the guitar work McCusker is rather supporting, still quite competitive with interesting STEVE HACKETT vibes.At this point though originality starts being an issue, as influences by the early-70's British Prog movement are all over the place.The music though appears pleasant and enjoyable all the way with the group taking care of proceeding in long compositions with multiple variations, even if these are quite smooth and lack a high amount of energy.

No question, this is a decent purchase candidate for all fans of 70's Classic Prog.Delicate, elegant and well-executed.Recommended.