The Official Flying Colors Thread

[Zydar]

The Storm is a great, catchy song.

[unklejman]

This music is kind of like a bridge between the tried and true neo-progressive music and a band like Frost*. It just hit's the spot.

Actually, it would be cool if Jem Godfrey could work on the next album and incorporate some more modern sounding electronic elements.

[Dimitrius]

Dave LaRue lays down some fucking tasty licks on this album, I tell you what.

Also this!

[bobs23]

i really like it. casey's singing is great. not a big fan of sound though - very vocalocentric, not very detailed sound - great for background listening though. 

The final product from a CD sounds wonderful. Everything has nice space and detail.

[Jamesman42]

The Storm is a great, catchy song.

Yes.

Kayla is fucking great!!

Yes.

This music is kind of like a bridge between the tried and true neo-progressive music and a band like Frost*. It just hit's the spot.

Actually, it would be cool if Jem Godfrey could work on the next album and incorporate some more modern sounding electronic elements.

Fucking YES.

[Heretic]

Favorites are definitely Kayla, The Storm, and Everything Changes.

All Falls Down seems a tad out of place, though.

[skydivingninja]

All Falls Down is VERY out of place.  Especially when it jumps into the heavy riff after the chorus and it has that weird SYL effect (think songs like "Love") like it was recorded louder than it should have been. 

[Scrub206]

link to preorder?

[unklejman]

link to preorder?

https://www.mascotlabelgroup.com/fcshop/FC_shop.html

[Lowdz]

Hmm. First impression isn't as positive as some here. I like the clear production and SM's guitar when it's there. The rocking track sticks out like a sore thumb. Tasty riff though.
It's a bit too Beatles-y for me and I'm not struck on Casey's voice; I 'd prefer NM as lead vocalist actually. Some good tracks for sure, but definately hit and miss.

For the record I preordered a while back- but unless it improves with a few more listens I may cancel. 

[Jamesman42]

Too Beatles-y?

[Zook]

Flying Colors sounds like The Beatles? Well I guess I better start listening to The Beatles then!




























Just kidding.

[unklejman]

Love is What I'm Waiting for is Beatles-y, but that's about it for me.

[The King in Crimson]

Is there any *legal* place to hear a sample of this?  I'm kinda interested, but I'm not plunking down $15 just because, I have other things I can spend waste my money on!

Also, how are the lyrics? Are they typical NM-style lyrics or what?

[Jamesman42]

Lyrics are better than any NM record I can think of (solo wise).

[ariich]

Is there any *legal* place to hear a sample of this?  I'm kinda interested, but I'm not plunking down $15 just because, I have other things I can spend waste my money on!

There are some samples in the EPK that was posted earlier in the thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsYw_nGwlOM

There's no legal way to hear the whole thing other than advance/promo copies, so you'll have to wait until it comes out before it appears on streaming services like Spotify!

[The King in Crimson]

Cool, thanks. 

Listening: Sounds interesting!

[Nekov]

This album delivers. There are one or two songs I don't care for but the rest of the album is very good. And Infinite Fire gets the prize.

[Nihil-Morari]

Listening now! 

[unklejman]

I really want so see some interviews with McPherson, since he is kind of the outsider. What were his thoughts going in?  Did the music turn out anything like he expected?  Is he a prog fan?

[The Letter M]

After a dozen listens or so, with only one in head phones (and a couple in the car), I'd have to say...this is better than I expected it to be, and I was expecting it to be AMAZING, so it's beyond that.

They weren't kidding when they said this album had a good mix of their styles, sounds, and respective genres thrown in. I don't know TOO much about Steve Morse or Dave LaRue, in terms of their playing styles, but what they've provided on this album is just STUNNING, especially LaRue's bass mix. It seems like whenever Neal records an album, his bass mixes just get better and better. He is 3 for 3 (Trewavas on The Whirlwind, George on Testimony 2, and now LaRue on Flying Colors).

There's a LOT of tasty guitar riffs on here from Steve, some great key work from Neal, and above-par drumming from Mike. He knows exactly when to show off and when to hold back on here, and he doesn't over play (well, maybe a LITTLE, but he IS Mike). Casey's voice is just amazing. I keep imagining I'm hearing the song on the radio because of his pop-sounding voice, but then I realize I'm listening to rock legends behind him and go "Whoa, wait...is this really happening?" and as the songs and album progress, it becomes a magical melding of their talents. I'd have to say, the sum is greater than it's parts on here, and each song is great in it's own way. I've grown to love the first four tracks in order, and the last few.

I think this album has the potential to be a Top 5 album of 2012 for me. It's going to grow and grow and age from a great album to an even greater one. Even my girlfriend, who isn't into prog (or any music I listen to) TOO much liked this album. Not sure if it was Casey's voice, or the song writing, but this album has wide-spread appeal, so I hope this album really takes off.

On a side-note, IF they plan to tour, I've wonder what they'd play to fill out half their set? I'd *love* to see them play "Mystery Train" by Transatlantic (well, HALF of TA is Flying Colors, so why not??)...also, any songs from Neal's first two solo albums would be awesome, especially the 20 minute epic "A Whole Nother Trip".

-Marc.

[unklejman]

I'm sure we will probably hear some Dixie Dregs material with both Steve Morse and Dave LaRue. I'd definitely welcome some Steve Morse Band material as well.

[Jamesman42]

Yeah, the bass is probably my favorite thing about the album, though don't let that downplay the good songwriting and other musicians. It just sticks out to me.

[njdtfan]

Just finished my 2nd listen. Pretty good, but it will have to grow on me a bit.

[unklejman]

Man this music is so good...

[Ben_Jamin]

I want to join but you know I'm gonna wait.

[skydivingninja]

@marc: I don't think they should play any Neal stuff for that long.  Not just because I'm not a big fan, but because I don't think 20 minutes should be devoted to any one project, especially one that would leave Casey by the wayside.  It's not like a pure Neal Morse side project either (I doubt he could have gotten the non-Portnoy guys).  It's much more collaborative and if they do play live they should structure the show like that.  Like, a bunch of FC stuff, We All Need Some Light, a Dregs song or two, an Alpha Rev song, some covers, and maybe one average-length Neal or Spock's tune.  No DT included cuz no one in the band can sing that haha.

[Nekov]

@marc: I don't think they should play any Neal stuff for that long.  Not just because I'm not a big fan, but because I don't think 20 minutes should be devoted to any one project, especially one that would leave Casey by the wayside.  It's not like a pure Neal Morse side project either (I doubt he could have gotten the non-Portnoy guys).  It's much more collaborative and if they do play live they should structure the show like that.  Like, a bunch of FC stuff, We All Need Some Light, a Dregs song or two, an Alpha Rev song, some covers, and maybe one average-length Neal or Spock's tune.  No DT included cuz no one in the band can sing that haha.

Well, they could play hollow years. I think that'd be nice.

[Ultimetalhead]

@marc: I don't think they should play any Neal stuff for that long.  Not just because I'm not a big fan, but because I don't think 20 minutes should be devoted to any one project, especially one that would leave Casey by the wayside.  It's not like a pure Neal Morse side project either (I doubt he could have gotten the non-Portnoy guys).  It's much more collaborative and if they do play live they should structure the show like that.  Like, a bunch of FC stuff, We All Need Some Light, a Dregs song or two, an Alpha Rev song, some covers, and maybe one average-length Neal or Spock's tune.  No DT included cuz no one in the band can sing that haha.

They could play Constant Motion. Mike sings pretty much everything on that one.

[unklejman]

No DT included cuz no one in the band can sing that haha.

Um hello? Instrumentals! Although I'm sure there's  a good amount of DT songs McPherson could sing.

[skydivingninja]

Well I thought of instrumentals too, but I'm not entirely sure of Casey's proficiency with the guitar.  Otherwise he's just in the background, and I think that this band is more of a fusion of 4 artists' styles (LaRue and Morse are basically a package deal considering how much they've played together), so it would be cooler to see all five play the songs they choose to play.

Or they could not tour at all and this discussion will be absolutely meaningless! 

Good thinking to whoever brought up Hollow Years though.  That would work nicely. 

[Nekov]

Good thinking to whoever brought up Hollow Years though.  That would work nicely. 

  Thanks. Maybe not Casey but Neal could sing that one. I think it falls within his range.

I was listening to Infinite Fire while I was on my way to the office today and I'm loving it so much. MP's cymbal work is just way too good, Neal's keyboard arrangements that appear here and there are very interesting and Steve's simple riffs combined with Dave's powerful bass playing make a fantastic song.

[unklejman]

Come on guys there are more interesting DT songs than Hollow Years that this group is fully capable of... like Misunderstood.

And they want to tour, it just depends on the Deep Purple tour schedule.

[Dr. DTVT]

I don't know how proficient the others are, but we know Portnoy can jam.  I'd be happy with a short 5 minute jam thrown in to give Casey a break if he needs it.  I guess I'm just used to DT working in breaks for JLB.  I doubt it, but maybe there is also a song or two that didn't make it on the album.  Just thoughts.

[The Letter M]

Good points all around, guys. IF they do a TA tune, I really hope it's "Mystery Train" and not "We All Need Some Light". Even Mike has grown weary of playing it, and Neal has done it on almost every solo tour he's done since he left SB/TA way-back-when, so I'd rather hear Mike and Neal bring back the less-played "Mystery Train". It's quirky and Beatles-esque and seems like it'd be a good fit with Flying Colors.

AS for DT tunes, I'd like to hear "Hollow Years" or even "I Walk Beside You", but singing that might be a problem, but I'm sure they could figure it out. Assuming they play the whole album, that's pretty much one 60-minute set, and leaves another set of about 60-70 minutes of music they'd have to fill. If you want to be democratic about it, you could say maybe 10-15 minutes of each member's own music: So for Neal, perhaps a solo tune (or two) OR a couple TA songs ("For Such A Time" could debut perhaps?), especially since Mike would be there; then perhaps a few Dregs or DP tunes from Morse/LaRue; then a couple Casey songs, perhaps from Alpha Rev (which I've yet to check out). Then there's always the possibility of non-member-band covers, like Beatles, or whoever else they're all likely to be influenced by (maybe some songs by The Who?).

-Marc.