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Fruupp

Future Legends

Review by Gary Hill
This was the debut album from Irish progressive rock band Fruup. The sound here calls to mind acts like Flash and Nektar quite a bit. That said, there more folk prog built into it than that implies. I’ve reviewed this along with three other albums from this band as retro reviews for this issue, but they are all part of a new box set, also reviewed this time around. While I like all of these on their own, the box set is the way to go, really. It should be noted that the track reviews used here are from that box set.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019  Volume 5. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.
Track by Track Review
Future Legends
Classical instrumentation brings thing in with pretty textures. This piece is gentle and makes for a nice introductory piece.
Decision
This comes in with a driving prog rock sound. The opening section runs through for a short time before they explode out into a much harder edged jam from there. This is fast-paced and dramatic. It also has bits of symphonic texture. It drops to a mellower, jazzy kind of bouncy movement for the vocals. They fire upward with more energy in a melodic prog jam for the next vocals. Then the piano takes over as they fire out into a short jazzy bit. We’re taken back into the song proper for the return of the vocals. A scream heralds a movement into a powerful, rocking symphonic prog jam that’s pretty purely on fire. This really becomes quite a journey. There are some operatic vocals for a time. The closing section features seriously hard rocking guitar.
As Day Breaks With Dawn
Coming in quite mellow, this makes me think of early Genesis just a bit in the first parts of the cut. There are some definite classical music elements built into this piece. After the one-minute mark it shifts to a harder rocking guitar based jam. The vocals come in over the top of that, and this is more mainstream rock ad less prog in a lot of ways. Then around the two-minute mark it drops down to a decidedly mellow and almost psychedelic section for the next vocals. More rocking stuff returns later before this number is done.
Graveyard Epistle
I really love the fast-paced prog jam that opens this thing. It’s a real powerhouse with number of changes. It drops way down to a mellower movement for the entrance of the vocals. It’s slow moving, but gradually rising upward. It has a beauty and almost dream-like quality to it. They fire out into more fast stuff after that vocal section. After that fast movement, they take into a cool jam that’s informed by world music melodies at times.
Lord of the Incubus
This is another powerhouse progressive rock piece. There is a cool psychedelic element at play throughout a lot of it. It has an excursion into old-time rock and roll jam. The cut is quite dynamic and seemingly in a constant state of flux.
Olde Tyme Future
There is some cool organ music built into this thing. The cut has a dreamy kind of psychedelia turned mellow prog vibe to it in a lot of ways. It gets into more rocking zones as it continues. The section with all the non-lyrical vocals is so cool.
Song For A Thought
Coming in with a rocking guitar based jam, this is classy stuff. It’s fast paced and cool. The cut shifts to a mellower movement to continue. There are some cool guitar fills built into it here and there. It has a dreamy kind of almost psychedelic edge at play. This cut has some intriguing passages, at times making me think of Nektar just a bit.
Future Legends
This is a short reprise of the opening tune with some vocals. It’s a nice way to bookend the album proper.
  
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