A customer review on amazon...Love this guy!!! 4.0 out of 5 stars Strong come-back album. Flash is back! By B. Robindale, Boston, Mass. - Sadly, I wasnt around in the heyday of progressive music. But coming from a large family of talented musicians who were, I was raised in a house where it was normal to hear Tchaikovsky and ELP back to back on any given afternoon. While most of my generation have not even heard of Yes or ELP, Ive long been a devoted fan of the great musicianship of this amazing time period in rock music history. So along comes a new Flash album! In 2013!!! Really? In 2013? This, I had to hear! Though Flash has always been one of the lesser-known bands of that period, my constant thirst for new music and hearing word of a new Flash album brought me to anxiously purchase their new CD. Short Version: This is not a comeback album by a band hoping to relive glory days of the past while offering up a mere shadow of previous works. This is a legitimate rebirth of a band that will be drawing more and more attention to themselves as this album receives more exposure. Highlights: The album features the reunion of Ray Bennett and Colin Carter, the main song writers of Flashs best early material. And the song-writing on this album could easily be argued to be among the best in the Flash library. In fact, I could argue this may well be the best Flash album to date, when one breaks it down in detail and compares albums in this method. Carters voice sounds more mature and complete than at any time in his career. His remake of Manhattan Morning is gripping. His interpretation of NINs HURT is sincere and captivating. Night Vision and Ten Thousand Movies find Carter in top form. The bass work of Ray Bennett has always been a key signature of Flashs sound: fluid and aggressive, driving and creative. He does not disappoint on this CD. A strong argument could be made that Bennetts bass work on this new CD may be among the best bass work out today by ANY rock bassist. Its hard to pick a song thats a highlight here, all the bass work shines throughout. Theres also a new guitarist. Though some reviews here argue that Flash is not Flash without Peter Banks (RIP), I strongly disagree. Bennetts approach (yes, Bennett is also the new guitarist!) anchors the new Flash sound in a way that Banks would not be able to; clearly not for lack of ability, but because Bennett interpreting Bennetts music would naturally be more faithful than Banks interpreting Bennetts music--and of course, vice versa. So this is no slight to Banks, who was obviously a great guitarist and without question, every bit an equal reason for Flashs original success. Two different styles and approaches, thats all. Bennetts approach, though equally technical at times, is clearly more focused on melody and substance. No lacking for nice guitar parts on this album. The nay-sayers that claim Flash has lost its technical and complex edge are not listening close enough. This music is equally challenging and complicated in its own way, more through composition and structure rather than through displays of purposeless virtuosity, which is very often the downfall of lesser creative modern prog bands. But if you want virtuosity, the new album offers that as well. Again, Bennetts bass work certainly quantifies the album in this area, and though only the first Flash album truly featured keyboards, (compliments of Banks former Yes band-mate Tony Kaye), of all Flash recordings this album easily has the finest keyboard work. One needs only to listen to the impressive keyboard flourishes throughout Night Vision, or the intricate piano work of the albums closing track, Richerd of Venice, to know that newly acquired keyboardist Daugherty is more than capable of filling this role in Flash. The drumming is spot on, though the drumming of original member Mike Hough was more creative and adventurous. Conclusion: Based on the quality of writing and musicianship displayed on this new album, we certainly have not heard the last of Flash. If this album is any indication of what Flash has up its musical sleeve, they are genuinely back. I think this album is at the very least as good if not better than any recent release of major prog-super-groups or recent more modern progressive bands. Hopefully they will be appearing in the Boston area at some point on tour. Ill be there! Check this album out. A strong piece of work. A very solid come-back album. 4 stars.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 07:55:01 +0000
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