Detailed Reviews [Ruphus - 1976 - "Let Your Light Shine"]

Prolusion. Norwegian band RUPHUS started out back in 1970, and until the band disbanded in 1981 they had an interesting career trajectory, releasing 6 studio albums along the way. "Let Your Light Shine" dates back to 1976, and was the band's third studio album. This is also the third of their albums that was remastered and reissued through Norwegian label Karisma Records in 2019.

Analysis. One of the remarkable traits about Ruphus is how they developed, and how quick their transformation as a band was. They started out as a heavy progressive rock band in 1973, switched to a more typical symphonic progressive rock orientation on their next album in 1974, and when this third album was launched the band had taken a sharp 180 degree turn to land firmly inside the jazz-rock spectrum. While I still find their debut album to be most interesting, there's no doubt that this band, in the formation they had in 1976, had the chops to create some magnificent music in their newly chosen genre as well. Opening cut 'Sha Ba Wah' is one of the highlights of the album in that regard, with busy instruments and nonverbal vocals switching back and forth in pace and intensity, with a strong groove and some funk-tinged details creating a smooth, elegant and enthralling musical landscape. Later on the band hits another high level on 'Second Corner', and instrumental where the rhythm section and the instruments combines in a tension-filled, finely flowing affair with space and room for all instruments to shine. Up to and including a nice little bass guitar solo tucked in somewhere around the halfway point. Where I find that the exploits of Ruphus as of 1976 fails to impress me all that much is when they opt to become more expressive. The dramatic vocal and instrument details of title track 'Let Your Light Shine' disrupting both flow, momentum and mood, and the concluding 'Brain Boogie' to my ears and my mind being to clever and to expressive just for the sake of it, adding and using elements that for me doesn't come across as serving any specific purpose other than being there. Which is obviously a good thing for those who require their jazz-rock to be more expressive and adventurous, but not as much for those of us more interested in flow, momentum and atmosphere.

Conclusion. There's a lot to like on Ruphus' third album "Let Your Light Shine", but this production also strikes me as very much a two-sided creation. The first side catering to those who like their jazz-rock to be free-flowing, elegant and oriented towards distinct moods and atmospheres, while the other side appears to be more geared towards those who appreciates quirky features, expressive instrument details and the use of dramatic bursts, strong contrasts and other choices with a subtle disruptive effect. Those who love and treasure both sides of this particular coin obviously the ones that should set aside some time to get familiar with this production.

Progmessor: March 2020
The Rating Room