OUT OF OUR HANDS

Third and last strike for Flash, and yet again a sexist (dildos and tits growing out knuckles in front of a peeping eye) artwork, this time in a gatefold sleeve, but this was definitely not enough for this out-of-steam Yes clone. Unchanged line-up, and a fairly different soundscape and much shorter tracks, the longest by far being 6-mins+. What's fairly different about OOOH is the return of keyboards after the almost kb-empty ITC album. But these are in the hands of Banks (who'd shown us he was limited on the ARP synth) and mainly Bennett, with piano and a bit of (discreet) mellotron. The other thing that strikes is that most of the Yes-influenced are almost gone, but it doesn't make the proghead anymore at ease, though, because we are in a proto-AOR with Yes prog touches. Bennett is again the more prolific writer (5.5 of 9) with Carter

Most of the tracks hover in the radio-friendly format, but apparently failed in their mission, and I can easily see why: may be too complex for being a "hit", but also that certain originality that eludes them as well and Carter's voice being borderline irritating in the long run. Actually, despite the AOR sound, this album is no less prog than its two predecessors, the proggiest being the four-part Yes-ian Psychosync track, answering the Farewell Number One tidbit on the other side of the vinyl. Also noteworthy is the album-lengthiest Manhattan Morning, a sometimes interesting mid-section, where the Tron is very discreet and Banks' guitar finally seems to find its own sound. Somehow Flash had a lot more legitimacy (because of their origins) at being Yes clones or sound-alikes than bands like Druid or Starcastle or Flame Dream, but by the start of their third album, they has the merit to realize it wouldn't lead them anywhere. Rather different than s/t and ITC, OOOH is no worse than they are, and might even have a tad more merit.

I am a normal heterosexual pervert like most the males in developed western countries, but I do think that Flash covers are tacky, tasteless and sexist but then again maybe the decision to use these was to hide the fact that their music was not that good. All three Flash albums received a recent Cd re-issue on the wonderful Esoteric label, to replace the out-of-print One Way Record reissue dating from the mid-90's. Despite being much less derivative, many proghead look down at this album