FUTURE LEGENDS / SEVEN SECRETS

Future Legends / Seven Secrets is a CD re-release of Irish symphonic prog rock act Fruupp´s first two albums on one CD. As with most releases in this vein it´s a very good idea and an oppertunity for someone like me who doesn´t have the original albums to get acquainted with Fruupp´s music at a reasonable price. It should be noted that one track from each of the original albums have been omitted for the two albums to fit into the single CD format. Fruupp is not a very prolific group from the period and they only released 4 studio albums in their short existence between 1973 and 1975.

Future Legends (1973):

Fruupp plays some Peter Gabriel era Genesis inspired symphonic prog here on their debut album Future Legends. It´s very well composed and performed. All songs are good but nothing really stands out.

The sound quality isn´t really good, but for the time it´s ok.

The album starts with the classical intro Future Legends and then continues with Decision which is a good symphonic prog rock song. All songs have quiet and more rocking passages and the singing ranges from melodic to more rock sounding moments. There are even a jazzy vers in the song Decision. So there is nothing wrong with the diversity in the music. I´m entertained throughout the whole album. The influences are very clear though and at the end of the song: As Day Breaks With Dawn it´s almost a ripp-off of Gentle Giant´s vocal harmonies. It has to be mentioned though that this is the only place they sound like Gentle Giant. Fruupp´s overall sound is more in the vein of Peter Gabriel era Genesis.

The musicians are good without being outstanding.

This is a pretty average symphonic prog rock album from the early seventies and I´ll rate it 3 stars with the hope that Fruupp will get better on later albums.

Seven Secrets (1974):

Seven Secrets is the second studio album from Irish symphonic prog rock act Fruupp. Their debut was a pleasant and pretty good symphonic prog album, but I was never really excited about it and my overall impression with the album is that it´s pretty average for the genre. My impression with Seven Secrets is just about the same.

The music on Seven Secrets is very inspired by the big symphonic prog bands from the seventies and I think I hear a bit of Yes, ELP and lots of Genesis in Fruupp´s sound on Seven Secrets. I love this kind of music, but the problem with this genre, as it is with most genres, is that there are only a few excellent leaders and way too many imitators. I´ll say that Fruupp is an imitator. It´s not that their music is a Genesis clone or anything like that, but their sound is just not very personal. Let´s put it this way: When I listen to the music on Seven Secrets I´m not instantly reminded that it´s Fruupp I´m listening to. It could be just about any other seventies symphonic prog band playing.

The songs are generally very melodic and at times very classical music influenced ( listen to the beginning of Elizabeth). The vocals are not very exciting and doesn´t bring much to the music and I much prefer the instrumental parts. Wise as wisdom is my favorite with it´s mellow mood.

The musicianship is good, but again I have to point out that the vocals are not that well done and the vocal melodies are average at best. Fortunately the instrumental sections are worth investigating.

The production isn´t the best or most intriguing. The sound is average as the rest of the music.

I realize that my review hasn´t sounded very positive and I actually didn´t mean to sound this negative, because Seven Secrets is a good album, it just never reaches excellent in my book and therefore it deserves a 3 star rating. I liked the debut just a little more.

Conclusion:

Future Legends / Seven Secrets is a worthy purchase if you want to get acquainted with Fruupp´s music, but personally I don´t find that music very interesting and while this is not bad music it´s average at best. A 3 star rating is deserved IMO. The two albums on one CD initiative should be praised even though omitting tracks from the original albums is not something I would normally condone.