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Having been shown the door to slam by the rest of his Yes colleagues, Peter Banks spent a stint in Blodwyn Pig (most likely after Mick Abrahams had left) then built up his own group, made mostly from previous acquaintance though Yes, The Syn, Mabel Greer's Toy Shop etc.. No big names, except for Tony Kaye, that also had received the pink slip from Yes. Well Kaye was apparently never really a full-member of Flash, since he had his own projects to mind, including a David Bowie tour and his very own Badger group. So for this debut album, the line-up is your classic prog quartet, plus the singing belter. Released in early 72 on the small Capitol offshoot Sovereign Records with a shameless panty Hipgnosis gatefold artwork, the album was definitely aiming the charts, as did the album-opening track, released as a single. Actually, it did work somewhat as they were fairly successful in the US, where tons of kids bought the album mainly on account of the artwork.

It's quite obvious that Flash chose to open with their album capitalizing on their Yes heritage and Small Beginnings is a good shot at it, as you could almost believe it, if it wasn't for Carter's voice. As mentioned above, this track would see a shortened version released as a single and shot up to n°29 in the Billboard. It's fairly clear as well that Banks listened intently to the Yes albums that his former group did after his leaving and he obviously felt he had something to prove on this and the next album. Indeed most of the tracks on these two albums have more to do with Yes Album or Fragile than they had with Time And A Word or the Yes debut, which might have been less obvious. Morning Haze is a mostly acoustic ditty with almost delicate harmonies (I'm not a fan of Carter's voice or his dumb lyrics). The 9-mins Children Of The Universe returns to the Yes mould, mainly on the strength of Kaye's organ (both him and banks also play the ARP synth), but both Benett (bass) and Hough (drums) are capable as both had previous jazz-band experiences.

Just two tracks on the flipside and the almost 13?mins Dreams Of Heaven opens the hostilities on a semblance of Heart Of The Sunrise, before breaking abruptly into hard-rocking riff, veering jazzy just after wards, before changing again tempo and climate. Undeniably the album's centerpiece. The closing Time It Takes can only pale in comparison, but it's got its charms as well, even if the vocal lines are fairly uninspired

I find this relatively uninteresting but then again I seem to be in a minority. This is just derivative prog rock to me with "affirmative" leanings, with somewhat technical capabilities, but arriving nowhere-close to their target of Yes. I think that a lot of Yes-nuts like this because of the guitarist Peter Banks and the keyboardist Tony Kaye (later in Badger which is better) had their second chance after having received the boot. I'd never found the group worthy of owning an album of theirs, but had borrowed them from buddies, and borrowed the albums from my library system in order to write these baffling blunders. Maybe I would've been kinder to this band had they used more progish covers instead of blatantly appealing to young sex-hungry and virgins males teenagers

This is the only FLASH`s album that I have. It was re-issued in CD by One Way Records in 1994, a label specialized in re-issues of out of print albums. I also have listened to their second album ("Flash in the Can", which I listened in a FM Radio station). This first album is better, because their second album lacks keyboards (piano and organ), but it has some synthesizers played by Peter Banks. Peter Banks said in one interview in 1994 (for the "Notes from the Edge" website, included in the yesworld.com website), that Tony Kaye was never an official member of FLASH. He was invited to play keyboards after he left YES in 1971 because the producer of the album wanted keyboards. So, FLASH was mainly a band formed by Banks, and in their first album Banks also composed most of the songs with singer Colin Carter, but also there are two songs by bassist Ray Bennett ("Morning Haze" and "Children of the Universe"), who became the main composer in FLASH`s second and third albums. Tony Kaye`s piano, organ and synth (Banks also is credited as synth player) are very good, but are more in the background, serving mainly as support.But the synth sounds very early 70s, dated, very "basic", used with the same sound for a few solos.Kaye plays a brief but very good organ solo in "The Time It Takes", the most "quiet" song in the album, with also a synth playing a "wind" sound in the background. Peter Banks`s guitars are very good in all the songs, being the main instrument, sounding with more "freedom" than when he was in YES. He also played a "classical guitar" in "Dreams of Heaven", maybe at the same time as Steve Howe in YES, as this album and "Fragile" were both recorded in late 1971. Ray Bennet was also a very good bass player, sometimes sounding "heavy" and "melodic" like Chris Squire and John Entwistle (and he also sang lead vocals in "Morning Haze"). Drummer Mike Hough plays a mixture of rock and jazz drums, sounding more in the style of Alan White than of Bill Bruford. Singer Colin Carter sounds for me sometimes like GTR`s Max Bacon, but he is also a good singer. There are some vocal harmonies similar to YES. The songs are very progressive, with a lot of changes. This album sounds similar to YES in some parts only. FLASH had their own style since the beginning.

After his days in Yes and a very brief stay in Bloodwyn Pig, Peter Banks started Flash together with lead vocalist Colin Carter, soon to be joined by bassist Ray Bennett and drummer Mike Hough. Former Yes-colleague Tony Kaye agreed to play keyboards on this one, more as a special guest than as a proper member. So, the final result turned out to be pretty similar to "The Yes Album", regarding the melodic sensibility and the sense of excitement portrayed in the performances, but with a major presence of jazz swing and a general tendency toward working on a more concise number of musical themes. These elements make the listener aware of the caliber of Bank's input for the forging of the Yes sound: something that should be more acknowledge than it usually is. In fact, Banks seems to have found in Flash a proper vehicle for a freer expansion of his guitar skills and musical ideas, with Bennett acting simultaneously as the perfect companion for Hough and an effective partner for Bank's guitar riffs and harmonies. Bennett's role proves crucial in the foundation of a solid ground for the musical colours displayed by the guitar, the vocal melodies and the keyboards. Tracks, 1, 3 & 4 are the longest and most elaborated numbers. 'Small Beginnings' and 'Children of the Universe' are tight and cohesively structured, catchy enough to call the listener's attention, and complex enough to keep the progressive flame burning solidly. 'Dreams of Heaven' is the longest of the three, and also the least cohesive in terms of arrangement, but the jazz interlude jamming, the brief Spanish guitar solo that comes after the ad-lib opening, and the vocal melodies are really captivating - it seems as if the parts could shine brighter than the whole, while in tracks 1 & 3 the parts were fully integrated in the whole making it compact and fluid. The remaining two tracks are less ambitious, but not unattractive: 'Morning Haze' is a CSNY-ish acoustic piece with slight bluesy nuances, while 'The Time It Takes' is an eerie ballad in which the organ layers provide a proper landscape for Carter's introspective singing and Banks' soft picked leads. The whirling of a distant wild wind (played on ARP synthesizer) serves as a proper background for the fade-out, since it enhances the song's ethereal ambience. A great record this is, so it must be considered as an excellent addition to any good prog collection.

If nothing else, this record serves to provide listeners with a sort of answer to the hypothetical question, "What would Yes have sounded like had Peter Banks never left?"

The answer is, "Not too terribly different."

Howe and Banks have nearly congruent sets of influences, and oddly, very similar bags of riffs. This whole album has the weird feel of a Parallel Universe version of THE YES ALBUM. Of course, Tony Kaye's at the organ stool has a lot to do with that, but likewise Banks' guitarwork and arrangements are eerily similar to those found on THE YES ALBUM. On the other hand, Colin Carter, while a fine vocalist in his own right, is pretty far removed from Anderson stylistically. And the lyrics certainly lack Anderson's spacey charm.

Of course, this does look a bit pallid in the end when compared to its illustrious companion. But I don't accuse Banks of "imitating" Yes, nor cashing in on their success. He was IN Yes, so it's only fitting that his own band should sound similar.

This is an album clearly made in the shadow of that great progressive rock band Yes. However, unlike Starcastle and other such followers, Flash have a genuine excuse. The band was founded by Peter Banks and Tony Kaye, both of whom were unceremoniously ditched by Yes despite also being founder members of that esteemed group. While it's hard to dispute the fact that both Banks and Kaye were replaced by superior musicians (Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman respectively), neither deserved to be treated with such disrespect, and this album is an excellent riposte to their critics.

Flash preserves that sound of 60s Yes which somewhat ironically reached its zenith on 1971's The Yes Album. Small Beginnings in particular is an epic track which could have slipped quite comfortably onto that masterful album. It has all the hallmarks, with storming riffs (with some of Banks's best ever playing), an inventive rhythm section (bassist Ray Bennett and drummer Mike Hough), and even a nice organ solo from Kaye, while vocalist Colin Carter sounds very much like Yes frontman Jon Anderson.

The two other epics Children of The Universe and Dreams Of Heavens aren't quite as consistent but both have moments of great power. I love the break that occurs halfway through Children Of The Universe which leads into a Moog solo, with Banks then reasserting his general dominance of proceedings. Dreams Of Heaven is a piece that begins with some solo classical guitar by Banks before the whole band comes stomping through with a rhythm that screams Roundabout rip-off, but once again, around the 5 minute mark there are some excellent solo exchanges, with a breathtaking jazz solo from Banks a real highlight. The outro of this piece is also scintillating with Bennett and Hough propelled Banks to new heights.

The two shorter pieces are quite different in style from the storming epics. Morning Haze is a laid-back acoustic jam, with Banks playing some beautiful acoustic guitar, strong vocal harmonies too, while The Time It Takes is a moody, atmospheric ballad full of volume swells, guitar and keyboard washes and the sound of waves hitting the shore. It works surprisingly well as the album closer.

I would recommend this strongly to any prog fan in general, and deem it absolutely essential for those who enjoyed the first three Yes albums. ... 78% on the MPV scale

As I read the reviews for this album, I find that they are all slightly deceptive about the Flash sound.

Of course Flash had strong roots in Yes. But the Flash sound does not harken back to A Time and a Word (except for Dreams of Heaven), and neither does it echo the new style that Yes established beginning with the Yes album, wth one exception (that being that parts of Dreams of Heaven seem to foreshadow the "word pictures" that Jon began including in Yes lyrics, most notably in Siberian Khatru.) In fact it sounds like they took off from Time and a Word and then started moving in the same direction that Camel was to follow in a year or two, but with a nod towards the early prog band Fantasy.

Nevertheless, this is excellent prog. Peter Banks has really cleaned up his playing and Kaye is still at the height of his skills. Ray Bennett adds a lot to this grouping, with his strong bass and acoustic playing.

Dreams of Heaven is an epic as worthy of mention as anything else that other prog groups have released. It's a great piece of music that I enjoy often. Children of the Universe is another extremely strong song.

Sadly, Flash was quickly to fall back into mediocrity. But they started out great. 4 stars.

Flashy!

Flash tends to get compared to Yes, which is not strange since two ex-Yes members are in this group; Peter Banks and Tony Kaye. When Banks was replaced by Steve Howe he formed this group and Tony Kaye (who was replaced by Rick Wakeman at the same time) joined him.

There are some similarities between Flash and the first two Yes albums but it also bears some strong similarities to The Yes Album, I would say. Especially on the first track here, Small Beginnings, this song is not very far away from Yours Is No Disgrace in its style. The music of Flash also sometimes reminds me of the band Nektar.

The guitar work of Peter Banks is very good here, perhaps even a bit flashy at times, and it has clearly improved compared to his playing on Time And A Word. However, Banks guitar sound is not at all as distinctive and unique as that of Steve Howe. Tony Kaye has also expanded his horizons, while coming from only playing Hammond organ and piano he also plays a Moog solo in Children Of The Universe. Certainly not Wakeman-flash, but it adds to the piece.

Another similarity with Yes is in the tendency towards Yes-like harmony vocals. However, the actual lead vocals are very different compared to those of Jon Anderson, which gives some uniqueness to this group. There is nothing wrong with the vocals here, but they are not very distinctive (again, similar to the vocals by Nektar).

The material is melodic and strong and everything is very well performed. Judged as a successor to Time And A Word this is indeed a very good album. But in comparison with The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To The Edge, however, this falls very far behind - but then again, in my opinion, almost everything falls very far behind those incredible masterpieces! While Yes evolved with each subsequent album, Flash seems to have been stuck somewhere between Time And A Word and The Yes Album. But that is not a bad place to be stuck in and they do also add their very own touch to it making it worthwhile for all Prog fans.

Flash still holds up pretty well in the extended Yes family-tree among band like The Syn, Badger, Asia, GTR, ABWH, Conspiracy, etc. But they are not at the very the top of my Yes-related top list.

If Peter Banks had stayed in Yes and Steve Howe had never joined, this album gives us a very good idea of what Yes would have sounded like. And what we hear is very good. But still, luckily Steve Howe did join Yes and the rest is history, as they say.

This album is recommended for Yes fans and fans of early Symphonic Prog. It took some time for me to realise how good this was, but now I see its beauty.

After leaving (or getting kicked out of) Yes, guitarist Peter Banks and keyboardist Tony Kaye formed this band. Not surprisingly, Flash sounds quite a bit like early Yes. The opening track Small Beginnings appears to have been written after numerous listens to Roundabout. The two songs have a very similar structure. And copying Yes' hit did Flash well. A single edit of Small Beginnings managed to get a reasonable amount of airplay back then.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn't fare as well. While the tracks all still have a fair amount of that early Yes sound, the songs are all quite forgettable. And the recording quality is very rough.

But still, if you are a big Yes fan, this is a must.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

First Flash album selftitled from 1972 is to me a little underrated. like their second onea swell. Formed by two ex Yes members Peter Banks and Tony Kaye. This first Flash release sounds almost like The yes album but without the complexity of Yes album. Flash to me sounds a bit more rockier then Yes, but keeping the progressive elements on every piece. Tracks like Small Beginnings or Children of the universe are perfect Flash pieces, great and smooth in same time. I like that the pieces are complex enough not to become boring and are very well performed and written in same time. A good album in my book that worth 3 stars, but I don't think is their best out of 3. To me their most acomplished album is In the can, their second one, but I think I'm in minority here. So, a good album that worth be investigated for sure.

After being unceremoniously booted out of Yes, guitarist Peter Banks licked his wounds and set to work forming a progressive rock band of his own. Having been an integral member of Yes during their formative years, when they produced albums such as 1968's eponymous debut and it's orchestrally-themed follow-up 'Time And A Word', Banks was therefore well- versed in the rhythmic complexities of prog-rock. His distinctive guitar style had helped form Yes' very own musical identity and still to this very day Banks is considered one of the genre's foremost axemen. Despite being dumped by the band he helped found and replaced by Steve Howe, he remained positive; Flash was the result. Featuring another Yes refugee in the shape of ex-Badger member and Hammond organist extraordinaire Tony Kaye, as well as bassist Ray Bennett, drummer Mike Hough and vocalist Colin Carter, Flash sparked into life with this vibrant, self-titled debut album in 1972, the same year that would unfortunately see Bank's former employers release one of progressive rock's greatest records - the sublime 'Close To The Edge'. One wonders what kind of legacy 'Flash' would have if, say, it had been released a year or so later, but the fact remains that 'Close To The Edge' completely overshadowed pretty much everything back in 1972, and for good reason. However, despite the spectre of his old outfit hanging over him, Banks did manage to produce the goods; 'Flash' is a colourful and skilfully-played album with searing guitars and Carter's semi-screeched lyrics combining to impressive effect, and the album's eclectic nature means that it is much more than just another Yes-clone(here's to you you Druid and England). Though the album features just five tracks, pretty much all of them rock. 'Children Of The Universe' is suitably epic, with Banks impressive playing to the fore, whilst the beautifully simple 'Morning Haze' eschews the prog in favour of the rock with spectacular results. Only the over-ripe 'Dreams Of The Universe', with it's 13-minute running time, fails to truly set the pulse racing, but it still contains enough instrumental verve to fill most 'rock' albums several times over, with Ray Bennett's throbbing bass-lines particularly noteworthy. When compared to the true big beasts of prog, 'Flash' does maybe seem slightly lightweight. It lacks the complex nature of Yes' best moments, and, at times, comes across as more of a rock album than a creation of prog, but that's the nature of the genre. 'Flash' probably belongs in that second tier of great prog albums, alongside the likes of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' or Gentle Giant's 'Free Hand', which is certainly no bad thing. It may not be brilliant, but Banks and co came pretty close. Recommended.