IN THE CAN

I first heard this album at a USO in Washington, D.C. back in march of 1973. I immediately loved the music. Later I found out that the guitarist was a former Yes band member, by the name of Peter Banks. This made it even better! I was thinking that I could get 2 yes albums per year instead of one. The major difference was lack of keyboards, which I thought was ingenious. This was the major difference to me between Yes and Flash. I was glad that a prog band was finally getting away from depending on keys to fill out their sound. This band was a refreshing change. I felt that prog should be going that way anyway. This was where I believed prog was heading and I wanted to go along.

Peter Banks is a top notch jazz player. He just sounds so good and creative on this record. Especially on "Black and White." Any prog head should love all the ideas running round in this tune. His guitar sound is innovative and he makes great use of special effects to make this original sounding and fresh. I believe that "Stop that Banging" and "There no More" are connected. I wished that the band would have went ahead and connected "Black and White" to it. This would have made a nice epic tune that would have exceeded 23 minutes in length.

On the top of things, "Lifetime" is more of a jam number than it is prog, but it does have it moments. It is well worth listening to regardless. Peter is playing his heart out and it is very polished. He does some of his best soloing on this. The jazz element really comes out. One thing that struck me on this song was a riff that Peter did in the middle of his solo. It is exactly the same as the riff Focus used on "Hocus Pocus." I have always wondered if he copped it from them or they got it from listening to Flash. If anyone knows for sure drop me a line.

I have got to say that "Monday Morning eyes" is just beautiful. Especially the last part where Peter goes wild with some excellent jazz guitar. You have to hear it to really appreciate how great his touch is.

There is nothing weak on the record and it is very interesting to listen to. Let me add that you have to get use to the Colin Carter's voice. It is somewhat harsh. I would compare his voice to the singer on Quiet Riot, though not quite as harsh. Also, the only thing I didn't care for was that side one was only 15 minutes in length. I wished it would have been about the same length as side two.

I consider this music to be essential to prog because of the decided absence of the keyboards. Like I previously mentioned, This is a strong release, but because of the fret hand tap and other current techniques for guitar, Peter does sound a little dated. At any rate, I am giving this 5 stars.