OUT OF OUR HANDS

I own this third album by Flash as part of a two-albums-on-one-CD together with the self-titled debut album. It is quite strange that the first and the third album are released together like this, while passing over the second album. The second album seems to be harder to find now, and I have not heard that one yet (but I do intend to soon).

This third album is similar in style to the debut. The differences are that this album is a bit more guitar-oriented and has shorter tracks. I enjoy both albums. The songs are melodic and feature good guitar work, good bass guitar, good vocals and good drums as well as some keyboards (even if Tony Kaye was no longer with them at this time). The guitar sound is often similar to that of Steve Howe and the bass guitar sound is similar to that of Chris Squire but certainly not as distinctive as these players. The sound of Flash is a bit anonymous compared to the likes of Yes, (but then again most bands are!) They seem to lack a strong musical identity of their own.

The lead vocals are not similar to those of Jon Anderson. The harmony vocals on the other hand are sometimes a bit Yes-like. There is nothing wrong with the lead vocals, but they do not stand out - they are not really distinctive or unique, but rather anonymous.

Judged as a successor to Flash's debut album and compared to the two first Yes albums, Out Of Our Hands holds up quite well. But while Yes continued to evolve with each subsequent album, Flash seems to have been stuck somewhere between Time And A Word and The Yes Album. In comparison with The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To The Edge, this falls very far behind. Still, I would say that Flash holds up pretty well in the extended Yes family-tree among band like The Syn, Badger, Asia, GTR, ABWH, Conspiracy, etc.

If Peter Banks had stayed in Yes and Steve Howe had never joined, Flash gives us a very good idea of what Yes might have sounded like. It is good but not essential Prog. This album is recommended for Yes fans and fans of early Symphonic Prog.

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