''Modern Masquerades'' is the fourth and final

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Northern Irish

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Fruupp Fruupp were a 1970s progressive rock band, which originated in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but developed a fan base in Great Britain. They were relatively popular, particularly on the student scene and as a supporting act, opening for such bands a ...

, released on 14 November 1975 in the United Kingdom on the Pye label's underground and progressive music imprint Dawn Records. Recorded from August to September 1975 at

Basing Street Studios Basing Street Studios was a recording studio in a former 17th century chapel at 8–10 Basing Street, in Notting Hill, London, England. Originally established in 1969 as Island Studios by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, the studi ...

in London, it was produced by multi-instrumental musician Ian McDonald, best known as a founding member of King Crimson and Foreigner. In addition to the production role, McDonald also played

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

and percussion. ''Modern Masquerades'' proved to be the only Fruupp's recording without founding keyboardist Stephen Houston who had been replaced by John Mason in early 1975. The supporting tour commenced in Hastings on 5 December 1975 and finished in Manchester on 2 February 1976. American hip-hop artist Talib Kweli used "Sheba's Song" as the basis for his track "Soon the New Day" from the album ''

Eardrum In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear The outer ear, external ear, or auris externa is the extern ...

'' (2007) which reached number 2 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Fruupp

*Peter Farrelly – lead vocals, bass guitar *John Mason – keyboards, vibes, vocals,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

arrangements *Vincent McCusker – lead guitars, vocals *Martin Foye – drums, percussion, vocals

Additional musicians

* Ian McDonald –

, percussion, French horn arrangements; producer *Greg Bowen –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Terry Johnes – French horns *Barry Castle – French horns *Frank Ryecroft – French horns *Peter Civil – French horns

Technical personnel

Chris Kimsey Christopher Kenneth Kimsey (born 3 December 1951 in Battersea, London, England) is an English record producer, mixer and musician most famous for having co-produced The Rolling Stones' ''Undercover'' and '' Steel Wheels'' albums. He was also an ...

– engineer *Dave Hutchins – assistant engineer *Martin Cropper – art direction *Richard Strong – art direction *Martin Goddard – photography *Robert Howe – illustration

References

{{Authority control Fruupp albums 1975 albums Albums produced by Ian McDonald (musician)