What do chess and an interstellar messenger of peace have in common? Nothing, I'd venture, but it didn't stop Ray Bennett from laboring on this stellar concept album all the same. Like any FLASH album, the comparisons to early YES are invited and no doubt appreciated. There are plenty of moments here that'll transport you to strange new places, provided you're willing to put in the same amount of effort you did on "Tales of Topographic Oceans".
Bennett and Peter Banks in particular connect on some passages that click as well as Chris Squire and Steve Howe. It occurs to me when I listen to "Out of Our Hands" that this might be the lost YES album I've been looking for. Certainly it's closer to the mark than Steve Howe's Beginnings, In The Can or Two Sides of Peter Banks. Almost every song on here has some redeeming moment of magic, from the opening of "The Bishop" (which prefigures Gang of Four by at least a few years) to the tripping guitar lines on "Dead Ahead". Maybe I've grown used to Colin Carter's voice by now but he does seem better suited to the music this time, suggesting Jon Anderson's voice with clipped wings. Where Anderson soared, Carter is entrenched, holding steadfast in the midst of Banks' acrobatic leads and Bennett's bold bass lines.
The result is a style that produces some fine moments, including "Man of Honour", "Shadows" and delightful "Psychosync". As busy as Bennett is with writing most of the material and playing bass, his keyboard contributions are cursory, which results in some missing music. If sections feel like they need to be fleshed out on occasion, it's to be expected with FLASH. Their purpose was never to replace YES, but rather to build something different from the same foundation. Sadly, "Out of Our Hands" was their last album, and another avenue to nirvana was closed. This record (and, in fact the entire FLASH catalog) are well worth rediscovery -- the Dead Sea Scrolls of the Yesstory, in a manner of speaking.
01. Open sky (0:40) 02. None the wiser (King) (3:17) 03. Farewell number one (Pawn) (1:37) 04. Man of honnor (Knight) (4:45) 05. Dead ahead (Queen) (4:38) 06. The Bishop (4:21) 07. Psychosync (Escape) (4:50) 08. Manhattan morning (Christmas '72) (6:24) 09. Shadows (It's you) (3:20)
Peter Banks: Peter Banks / guitars, Moog & Arp synths, banjo, backing vocals Ray Bennett: bass, piano, clavinet, Mellotron, Arp synth, accoustic guitar, banjo, backing vocals Colin Carter: lead vocals Micheal Hough: drums, congas, tablas
This second FLASH`s album was recorded as a quartet. Keyboard player Tony Kaye, who never was an official member of the band and who was only a guest on their first album, didn`t participate in this album and went to form his own band called BADGER. So, this album has a lot of guitars and very few parts on which Peter Banks plays the ARP synthesizer.
I think that it is unfair to underrate Peter Banks as a guitarist, because in this album he also shows that he is a very good guitarist with his very own style. Bassist Ray Bennett, who also was the main composer of the songs in this album, also shows that he is a very good bassist, and there are some similarities between his sytle of playing the bass with the styles of John Entwistle and Chris Squire. Singer Colin Carter is also good, and there are some very good vocals arrangements done with Banks and Bennett. Drummer Michael Hough is a more "Rocker" drummer, but he also plays some interesting things.
"Lifetime" and "Monday Morning Eyes" are, IMO, the best songs in this album. I think that FLASH deserves more respect as a band, because this album, despite the lack of a keyboard player, shows them as a very good Progressive Rock band.
01. Lifetime (10:05) 02. Monday morning eyes (5:03) 03. Black and white (12:04) 04. Stop that banging (1:50) 05. There no more (11:35)
Peter Banks: acoustic electric & Spanish guitars, Hooter, ARP synth, backing vocals Ray Bennett: bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (2) Colin Carter: vocals, percussion Mike Hough: drums, percussion, cymbals, badinage
This is an album clearly made in the shadow of that great progressive rock band Yes. However, unlike Starcastle and other such followers, Flash have a genuine excuse. The band was founded by Peter Banks and Tony Kaye, both of whom were unceremoniously ditched by Yes despite also being founder members of that esteemed group. While it's hard to dispute the fact that both Banks and Kaye were replaced by superior musicians (Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman respectively), neither deserved to be treated with such disrespect, and this album is an excellent riposte to their critics. Flash preserves that sound of 60s Yes which somewhat ironically reached its zenith on 1971's The Yes Album. Small Beginnings in particular is an epic track which could have slipped quite comfortably onto that masterful album. It has all the hallmarks, with storming riffs (with some of Banks's best ever playing), an inventive rhythm section (bassist Ray Bennett and drummer Mike Hough), and even a nice organ solo from Kaye, while vocalist Colin Carter sounds very much like Yes frontman Jon Anderson.
01 - Small Beginnings 02 - Morning Haze 03 - Children Of The Universe 04 - Dreams Of Heaven 05 - The Time It Takes
Peter Banks: acoustic electric & Spanish guitars, Hooter, ARP synth, backing vocals Ray Bennett: bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (2) Colin Carter: vocals, percussion Mike Hough: drums, percussion, cymbals, badinage Tony Kaye: organ, piano, ARP synth
