CD Details

FLASH

FLASH
1972 , UK , EAN CODE 5013929726628 - EURO 13.00

Label: ESOTERIC RECORDINGS

ALBUM REVIEW
I like all three of Flash's studio albums about the same, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be this self-titled debut. This is the only Flash album featuring ex-Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye, who hooked up with his former guitarist Peter Banks for only the studio sessions. As might be suspected, the Banks/Kaye combo makes Flash the most Yes-sounding record in the band's discography, and in many ways this is a more natural successor to Time and a Word than the (significantly more progressive and spacey) Yes Album. That isn't to say that Flash is comparable in quality to The Yes Album or any of Yes' subsequent symph prog classics. Flash is clearly a second (or third) tier prog group- a band that devoted progsters should enjoy but not a band that I would consider recommending to the casual listener. There are still enough great guitar-driven arrangements here to warrant a "very good" rating of 3.5 stars. Guitar-oriented being the key word there, as Banks routinely steals the show with a variety of memorable electric and acoustic parts. Especially impressive are "Children of the Universe" and "Dreams of Heaven"- two mini-epics with loads of soloing and more than enough interesting touches to placate even the snootiest prog aficionado. The opening "Small Beginnings" is also very good, albeit several minutes too long. The folkier "hippie music" of "Morning Haze" and the laid-back proto-prog of "The Time It Takes" are less remarkable, demonstrating the relatively limited songwriting prowess of Banks even at this early stage. Luckily, neither track seriously detracts from the flow of the record, and Flash remains an album that I enjoy listening to in its entirety. (Walter 12 - Rate your Music)