Schicke, Führs & Fröhling / SFF ~ Germany

Ticket To Everywhere (1979)

Ticket To Everywhere is the final album from the trio of Schicke Fuhrs & Frohling. It is also likely to have been the last album heard by most collectors and fans, whether they were following real time in the 70s, or tipped to the band via The Laser's Edge complete collection 2xCD set of the early 90s.

In my case, Ticket to Everywhere came first. One of those albums I found in my initial buy-every-70s-import-that-looks-interesting record collecting phase of the mid to late 1980s. It's an important sequence of events, because as a first exposure to the band, I quite liked it. I didn't think it was great mind you, but I found it to be a fine collection of instrumental progressive rock. It was only a couple of years later that I discovered their brilliant first two albums. And as such, somewhere down the line, I fell into the trap of listening to the mass opinion, and decided it wasn't very good after all. It's been over 25 years since I last heard this album, which would have been via the above CD that I bought immediately upon release. And that CD was pulled down from the shelf for this event as well.

Ticket to Everywhere has no chance of impressing if one is to listen to this album immediately after the predecessors, as the CD invites one to do. I recommend an independent listen, and without the comparison. Think of it as a one-off album. Now going in with that mindset, Ticket to Everywhere has really aged well in my case. The instrumentals tend to be more atmospheric, even majestic at times. The drums can be a bit over synthesized, and the compositions do not possess a ton of depth, but it's still far from throwaway background music. I find all the songs have nice melodies, and one could also view this as an electronic album, but rocked out with real drums and electric guitars. I find all the tracks to be excellent, save perhaps the middling 'Song From India', though none are extraordinary either. 

I even enjoy the album cover, as I've come to appreciate more and more  "real time" art. An airline ticket drawer with a Pan Am voucher is a view into our past, one that has disappeared without warning.

Ownership: 

1979 Brain (LP). Acquired in 1988.

1993 The Laser's Edge (CD) as part of The Collected Works Of Schicke • Führs • Fröhling. Acquired in 1993

1988; 1993; 10/26/18 (review)

Sunburst (1977)

SFF's sophomore release represents a mix of three different aspects of the band: Symphonic progressive, jazz fusion, and electronic. The former is shown via 'Troja', a track that is as great as anything on Symphonic Pictures. 'Wizzard' opens the album in fusion fashion, with a catchy synth line, and a mad rhythm section. 'Artificial Energy' recalls Jade Warrior at a similar time. And so it goes. 'Explorer' plagiarizes Yes a bit, and is the only demerit of an otherwise great album. One that is often overlooked by collectors of 70s progressive rock.

 
Ownership:

1977 Brain (LP). Acquired in 1990.

1993 Laser's Edge (2xCD) with Symphonic Pictures and Ticket to Everywhere. Acquired in 1993.

1990; 1993; 1996; 3/11/10; 11/1/15 (review)

Also own: Symphonic Pictures

7/13/16 (new entry)