IT'S ALL UP NOW - ANTHOLOGY

During their short (but prolific) career, ther band issued four albums. All of them have been released in the CD format. Individually as well as in the form of a combination of two albums per CD. All these items are quite pricey. So, I can only recommend this double CD set which holds almost all of their work. You can get this one for as little as 11 ? (including shipment) on Amazon's marketplace. For this price, you'll get some sweet and pure symphonic prog music (mixed sometimes with jazz).

If "Camel" or "Rousseau" are appealing to you, chances are high that you will be interested in "Fruupp".

As most of my fellow reviewers have mentioned, one song per album has been omitted. And, as incredible as it might appear, they didn't pick up the poorest ones to skip! At least it is my opinion for three out of the four.

One of the true gem of their first album "Future Legends" has been forgotten : "Olde Tyme Future". A pure symphonic jewel and one of the best song from this album (which is the best from the band). I can hardly forgive this. Unbelievable!

IMO, their second album is the weakest of their discography. Too jazzy-oriented. Even if "Faced with Shekinah" was only very good during the second half, it featured a fully "Trespass-esque" and interesting mood which was absolutely not the case with "Three Spires" or "Elisabeth". The title track of this album shouldn't have sit here either. Just a sixty-five seconds masquerade.

From their third album "The Prince of Heaven's Eyes" the incredibely poor and dull "Jaunting Car" was skipped. Good news : it was a totally useless instrumental.

And finally, from "Modern Masquerades" their fourth and last album. Even if "Mystery Night" was not a superb song (it ended up almost like a jazzy jam) it was far much better than the major blunder "Janet Planet" which was totally boring. "Why" being a mellow ballad not too much convincing could have been skipped as well.

I know that track selection for a compilation is not an easy job. But when you have decided for space problem to avoid only one song per album you have released, I believe that the task is not daunting to select the right one.

Anyway, as I have said in the introduction, this "Anthology" sells at a bargain price. Less than three ? per original album. Definitely well worth the money.

Three stars.