MODERN MASQUERADES

This album works well for me and is right up there with Seven Secrets as my favourite Fruupp album. I might be in a minority here but Farrelly's vocals with his melancholic laid-back delivery suites the music perfectly. A really good mixture of melodic pop with progressive elements with a touch of jazz and even funk (in the case mystery might).

The whole album (even the more upbeat parts) tends to have a melancholic feel with being laid back the majority of the time. But don't get me wrong, when it has to, they can rock. A bonus for me is the electric piano (ala Waterloo Lily Caravan or Steely Dan) even though others consider it to be a weakness. The melancholic mood of the album leads me to believe (whether true or not) that the band may have perhaps thought this would be their swan song. Just listen to Germenghast and Why and I cannot see how it could possibly anything other than that. My favorite song has to be Mystery Might as it's definitely the most progressive song in the bunch mixing symphonic, pop, jazz and even funk (ala Eela Craig). Maybe their best song. Sadly, the It's all up - Anthology does not include this song. Germenghast being my 2nd favorite song (and my top 5 favorite Fruupp songs). There are some weak moments though (ie, Janet Planet and parts of Sheba's song) but the album tends to flow along nice.

Again, Farrelly's vocals tend to be laid back and reserved to the point where it's effective. Many may consider that a weak spot but I thought it to be a strength (a matter of personal taste) much in the same way that Kerry Minnear (of Gentle Giant) tended to have relaxing vocals whereas Derek Shulman would come in with a vengance on some of the songs. In many cases, I preferred the Minnear vocals due to it's relaxing delivery. In the case of Farrelly, it's exactly the same way.

To my ears, a much much better album than their previous one. A nice way for them to end. I seem to remember reading that they had plans for another album after this but it never came to fruition.

If you liked the sound of Caravan's Waterloo Lily and you enjoy synphonic mixed with a little bit of jazz/funk and the electric piano along with pleasant laid back and reserved vocals, you could do worse than to check out this album.