Description

2020 re-issue

Ruphus managed to keep the same line-up on consecutive albums for the first time with Flying Colours but once again the group seemed to be searching for a sound, which generally means in search of commercial success. That’s okay I suppose, but not usually a good sign for a progressive band. And that becomes apparent quite quickly here as well, with the band delivering an opening almost boogie-rock number in Footlovers Diet that sounds a bit like the lackluster rock of Juanita Haan and Babe Ruth toward the end of their career. Frysja is an interesting number though, a mellow but sometimes funky instrumental that calls to mind Gerry Rafferty’s The Ark on City To City that released the same year as this record. And Early Riser starts off promisingly enough with a blast of guitar and Sylvi Lillegard’s strong vocals, but quickly morphs into the same sort of laconic fusion that dominated the band’s third and fourth albums. The title track is more of the same although I will say Kjell Larsen is more inspired on guitar than I’ve heard him since their second record. The closing Moody Moments is the longest song the band recorded since Brain Boogie in 1976, and features more scat scaled vocals and lengthy funk guitar and almost new-age keyboard passages. The song shows that the band were still capable of putting together an epic length (if not epic-sounding) track. After two consecutive heavy fusion records the band seems to have decided to try and expand their sound a bit, and as a progressive group they deserve some credit for that effort.

Track list:
1. Foodlovers Diet
2. Frysja
3. Early Riser
4. Flying Colours
5. The Rivulet
6. Joy
7. Moody Moments
a) Part One: The Moment
b) Part Two: Gloom
c) Part Three: Exaltation