FEATURING RAY BENNETT & COLIN CARTER

I'm a sucker for good throwback prog. With my advancing age I adore any new album that brings me back to those days of buying a stack of used records and discovering that progressive (or art rock back in those days) gem. Wobbler, The Flower Kings, and a number of other groups give me that feeling now that most of the old bands, if they are even around any more, often are unrecognizable from their early sound. Well after a 40 year absence, Flash has returned to the scene (thanks go out to Sherry Noland, who has graciously kept us in the loop as Ray Bennett and Colin Carter were recording). And the album sounds very much like their 70s releases. Carter's voice has barely changed, only losing a slight amount of the upper registers - a good thing, in my opinion, as I'm never too pleased with the sound of men singing so high. Bennett, who plays guitars, bass and keyboards, is as good as ever. The album opens with an orchestral flourish on Night Vision, and then settles in to that familiar sound. Their sound still, to me, brings up images of what Yes might have sounded like had they not cast off Peter Banks and Tony Kaye, yet still advanced their progression into symphonic prog. The similarity is no coincidence, as the members of Flash and Yes came from the same scene, and some played together when forming their style. Other songs, to my ears, remind me a bit of Kansas, with some broad themes that bring up the American Midwest. Grand Canyon, with lyrics that don't seem to have anything to do with the title, sound quite a bit like Rush. And the next song, Morpheum, is the coolest on the album, a smoky jamming piece, much like Corvus Stone (a recent favorite of mine). Bennett does great work on the guitar, playing some great solos, and shines even more on bass, where he plays around the music like a young Chris Squire. And the music itself is great. Some tracks appear to be settling into familiar patterns, but never stay there too long, instead veering into unexpected twists and turns. My only complaint is in the production, where the drums, and often the vocals and even the guitars, sound too compressed, giving the music a slightly mushed sound, like it is being played on a 70s era radio. Otherwise, this is a grand comeback.