FLAGS

Patrick Moraz and Bill Bruford were both members of Yes, but never at the same time. This collaboration between the two of them bears little resemblance to that band, however. This is more of a pure and quite typical Jazz-Rock album.

The first track is Temple Of Joy which is a composition previously recorded by Moraz for his self-titled, third solo album in 1978. I think this is a very good composition; possibly Moraz' best solo piece ever. I like both versions very much. The keyboard sound is not as thin here compared to the 1978 version and the drums are much more loaded and powerful here.

Many of the other pieces are based on just piano and drums. Moraz often sounds a bit like Chick Corea on this album, and sometimes like Keith Emerson, which is not a bad thing at all. However, I think the album would have benefited from having a couple of other musicians involved as well. Why not a bass player and a lead guitarist? Maybe Tony Levin and Robert Fripp? Or Chris Squire and Steve Howe?

I am not a big fan of either Patrick Moraz' or Bill Bruford's solo albums, I have always felt that these two players best works have been with Yes and other bands. Bill, of course, participated in making classic masterpieces like The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To The Edge before moving on to the very different King Crimson for Red and other albums. Moraz joined Yes a couple of years later and participated in making the excellent Relayer album, and before that he made a very good album with a band called Refugee. Flags is obviously nowhere near any of those classic albums, but I do think that it is equally as good as many of Moraz'and Bruford's solo albums.

If you like the jazzier side of things, this album is recommended. But if you are looking for anything Yes related, you might be disappointed. This is a bit too jazzy for my taste.