Flying Colors

Frequently, supergroups produce some of the least "super" and most underwhelming music out there. More often than not, we see great players and creative minds collaborating on albums with one another, only to discover, upon hearing these records, that none of the individual member's defining characteristics have been preserved. Instead, these supergroups-- the Chickenfoots of the world-- produce music that's bland and colorless; that is simply "there"; that is, without a doubt, "less than the sum of its parts."Thankfully, that is NOT the case with this new album. Instead, this record is some of the most inspired playing and most creative music that I've heard from any of the artists involved in quite some time. It is not watered down in the slightest, as supergroups tend to be. Nor can it be caricatured one way or the other; as "prog rock" or anything else. It defies labels. It is, simply put, five guys with unique attitudes toward music coming together to produce something genuinely fresh, new, and exciting. Sometimes it's prog, or metal, or 70's/80's rock, but listening to it you always get the sense that these five guys are playing this music and making it their own-- rather than coming down to from their expertise to play as studio-guys. Everyone shines here, and everyone's going all out. That maybe is why it's called "Flying Colors".Though I initially had my reservations that this album would simply become another Neal Morse solo project, that has not been the case. Neal's contributions are apparent, but the primary singer/songwriter here seems to be Casey McPhereson, who I sincerely hope will make this project the main outlet for his creativity henceforth. Although, at this point, I'm not sure who is responsible for which songs, the songwriting here is top-notch. Though many songs deal with the same religious themes fans of Neal Morse will be familiar with, at no place is this album as overtly "biblical" as Neal's solo-work. The thematic range is much broader- there are love-songs, songs about hardship, songs about faith, and so on, and while I sense that these topics are dealt with in sort of a "christian" way, they are still portrayed universally enough for non-Christians to appreciate them. Casey's voice, heard most often on the album, is a nice parallel to the other voices in the group and compliments the music nicely.Mike Portnoy and Steve Morse are at the top of their game here-- though the latter can do no wrong, the former displays once again why progressive music is his home. Over the years, Mike Portnoy's best drumming has not been in Adrenaline Mob, A7X, or the heavier, post-Six Degrees DT albums he has played on. Rather, it has been in Transatlantic and Neal Morse. This album is no exception. Mike is at the top of this game here, and locks in with bassists David LaRue's grooving style perfectly. I think this is his best drumming in a long, long time. It is further proof that, where Portnoy is a just a minor-player in the metal world, he is a prophet in the dominion of prog rock. As for Steve Morse? His playing is astounding. Every note on the album sounds so "right", like he could not have played a better note, or done with more or less. He truly is a master of the craft.What makes Flying Colors so special is that it is not just Transatlantic + Dixie Dregs + Alpha Rev. It's something much different, and something new. "Kayla" makes us tear up, while "The Storm" liberates us, and the chorus to "Infinite Fire" will call to us when for weeks, even when we're not listening to it. It's an emotional and exciting album, and I sincerely hope that this project will be more than a one-off thing.

I haven't reviewed many of the different purchases I have made because I believe that everyone has different opinions about the music they like and most of the time, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. One could try to opine about the "quality" of the music or musicians but even that doesn't matter to most fans who it does not matter whether or not the vocals are "processed" or not, so long as they like what they here. But I felt compelled to review the Flying Colors CDs I recently purchased because of a comparison that was brought to mind as I listened.First, I was surprised that I didn't notice this band when they first came out as I have been a Steve Morse fan since he broke out with the Dixie Dregs in the 70s. Of course if you know about his career, you know what bands he has played with since and also about his accolades such as his "Best Guitar Player" awards from several industry publications for several years running until he was declared ineligible due to his stranglehold on the award. I also have been a fan of Spock's Beard since hearing them for the first time in the 90s so the fact that this band remained under my radar for so long remains a mystery to me.However, this brings me to the comparison I noted above. This seems like the "Asia" for this band like it was for Steve Howe in the 80s. Steve, as most fans of Progressive rock know, left Yes to work on the side project that was Asia in the 80s when Yes was in one of their many personel changes periods. To me, the music of Asia was good but more leaning toward the popular music genre than the progressive. And consequently, Steve Howe's guitar, though recognizable, was not nearly as complex as the parts he played in Yes. It was almost like he wanted to continue to play and tour with a band, but he didn't want to be particularly challenged with the guitar playing when he did so. So Asia's music was pleasing and popular but not as complex as your typical progressive fare.And listening to Flying Colors brought this comparison to mind. The music is great but not quite in the Progressive Genre. Of course, there are no mainstream radio formats that you would here this on other than the specific streaming services that allow you to taylor your music listening to specific genres. I would imagine that since all these guys in this band come from a progressive band background, you would here this on progressive rock stations, but many people listening, would wonder why.The point that I tried to make earlier is that good music is still good music and this music falls in that category. The writing is good and the music is flawless. Some people would not agree because it does not sound like the typical popular radio fare, but that still does not diminish the music and if there were still AOR radio stations out there that played music other than "classic" rock, this would fit nicely in the rotation. But you can still here Asia on those stations if you tune in.