The Official Flying Colors Thread

[JayOctavarium]

I listened through it once today while doing crap around the house. I enjoyed it, but it can't hold a candle compared to the first album

[jingle.boy]

I listened through it once today while doing crap around the house. I enjoyed it, but it can't hold a candle compared to the first album

Or the 2nd.  The overall quality declines with each album.  I mean, I love Casey's voice, but nothing grabbed me with this release.  My guess is that it will not make my 'purchase-worthy' list.

[kaos2900]

I still think More is unlistenable and I haven't listened to it since it was released, I think (I skip it every time I play the album), but I would say the rest of it is really cool.

The opener is a very solid rocker, I had Cadence stuck in my head yesterday the whole day, and Guardian, while a little long, is pretty good too.

I agree that Last Train Home is longer than it should and some sections just feel like they had a jam session inside of it before going back to the proper song.

Crawl was really cool, even though I expected it to be a bit more "epic-ish".

MVP of the album? To me, Dave LaRue.

The middle 'solo' section of Last Train Home is the only good thing about that song. The first third and last third are boring and as cool as the second third is I don't want to sit through the first part.

This album is perplexing to say the least. I love the first two albums but this sounds like such a dramatic departure from the Pop/Prog focus of those. This more Prog/Fusion and they seemed to forget the Pop melody focus which made the first two albums so fun to listen too.

[RoeDent]

There is melody in there. It just doesn't grab you immediately. It has to be given time to sink in. The Loss Inside chorus is starting to pop into my head from time to time.

[bluefox4000]

I still think More is unlistenable and I haven't listened to it since it was released, I think (I skip it every time I play the album), but I would say the rest of it is really cool.

The opener is a very solid rocker, I had Cadence stuck in my head yesterday the whole day, and Guardian, while a little long, is pretty good too.

I agree that Last Train Home is longer than it should and some sections just feel like they had a jam session inside of it before going back to the proper song.


this exactly i'm upwards of 20 plays (i do not give up easily, lol.  i still can't remember a thing.

there are no hooks here.......it's frustrating.


Crawl was really cool, even though I expected it to be a bit more "epic-ish".

MVP of the album? To me, Dave LaRue.

The middle 'solo' section of Last Train Home is the only good thing about that song. The first third and last third are boring and as cool as the second third is I don't want to sit through the first part.

This album is perplexing to say the least. I love the first two albums but this sounds like such a dramatic departure from the Pop/Prog focus of those. This more Prog/Fusion and they seemed to forget the Pop melody focus which made the first two albums so fun to listen too.

[Stadler]

Radiant Records must have screwed up again because my copy came in the mail over the weekend while I was travelling, and so I listened to it today on the way down to the show. Only one listen, I will grant you, and I was very critical of the first single release, but I share very few of the criticisms on this thread. 

It was a shade proggier than I would like - I think of Flying Colors as a modern day Asia - but it was far from boring.   Nothing quite struck me like Kayla but then again the second album didn’t have anything like that either for me.  There have been too many releases lately that have been one and done; I will listen to them once then they go on the shelf, but this one I think I’ll give a little more time to.  I think Steve Morse is on fire, I think Dave LaRue is on fire, and actually I think this is some of Mike’s better drumming lately. 

Since it took a while for Second Nature to really sink in, right now I put this behind the first album but ahead of the second one.  I can’t wait to see this live. 

[The Letter M]

So I just got my Third Degree 2-CD limited edition in the mail today, and as I was ripping the discs to my computer, I was trying to find where I put the Bonus free downloads for Pre-Ordering Live In Europe 6 years ago (live versions of "Blue Ocean" and "Love Is What I'm Waiting For" from Hamburg) and I can't find them on my harddrive. Does anyone have them handy?

Also, it seems the band also released "Kayla (Live In Hamburg)" in some versions of Live In Europe as a bonus track, but my copies don't have that. Was that a European release exclusive?

Anyways, back to Third Degree, the nearly 9-minute bonus track is pretty interesting, but I'll need a few more listens before I can really form an opinion on it. I will say, so far, it doesn't sound like I would have liked it on the album as it is, but we shall see if my feelings change on it over the week. The alternate mixes of the other songs are fun diversions, especially the acoustic version of "Love Letter". The instrumental mixes are really nice, and do have alternate arrangements from the standard album's tracks, so you do get something different than just the album version without vocals.

-Marc.

[Stadler]

I listened to that bonus disk on the way home from the show; if you ask me, that's essential listening.  It's not just the backing tracks with no vocals; it's actually a remix, and in my opinion it's a showcase for Steve Morse.   If you've heard the "Barn Jams" from David Gilmour, it'll give you a rough idea of what we're talking about. 

[Kwyjibo]

Yes, as I said before, it's cool that they rearranged the songs and recorded some new parts for it. Much better than your typical instrumental bonus tracks, where they just remove the vocals.

[Stadler]

I would almost say, I can see myself listening to those more than the album.  Not that the album is bad or "boring" or anything, but there are four songs there, and as a whole, they are very consistent stylistically and thematically, and so make for (I didn't check the times but I would guess to be about) 25 minutes of really good listening.  I could see burning a disk or a playlist and going to this often, while working or driving or something like that. 

[devieira73]

Listening a lot this album. It's definately a grower. I was not too sure on the first listen... You're not alone I thought was the worst song they recorded when they released it as a single and now I really like it - the great melodies really showed up after some listenings. I think what differ this album from the first two is that the melodies aren't so acessible. I think there's a much more Steve Morse influence in this departament than before, reminding me a lot the melodies from Steve Morse Band, like it has vocals. But I think the band stayed true and sucessfully to its mix of pop and a few prog.
My faves: The Loss Inside (great rocker), Cadence, Geronimo (great bass song), Love Letter, Crawl and Waiting for the Sun (reminded me in places something of the Van Hagar era). But I truly apreciate all the songs.
And, yes, Dave LaRue rules! Sometimes his tone and style remind me a lot Geddy Lee's PoW/HYF era.
All that been said, I think this is the "less good" album from the 3, just because the first one is totally magical and the second have Peaceful Harbour and Cosmic Symphony, that are my fave songs from them. But nevertheless, IMO a strong discography until now.

[Stadler]

Given that I still cry to this day when I hear "Better Than Walking Away" (that was two years, plus/minus, of my life right there), the first is still the best, but for me, 2 and 3 are two of a perfect pair, and "Love Letter" has REALLY shown itself to be better than the initial release suggested.

As an aside, I don't know what it is about initial releases; when I was 25 I would get singles from the records and be all "whoa! I can't wait for the record!".   But now?  Other than Transcendence by Devin Townsend, I am 0-fer however many on "pre-release singles" and the subsequent record.  I'm seriously trying to stay away from them from now on. 

[RoeDent]

Video trailer for the new album, with a band interview. Something I find intriguing is how LaRue says they feel they've "pushed the ball forward", and yet many of the opinions here would suggest otherwise. I enjoy Flying Colors' music very much, but I am inclined to think that this album doesn't feel like an advance on Second Nature. It sounds like Flying Colors. But both views can't be right. Either they have pushed the ball forward or they haven't.

[Mladen]

I've spent a week with the album and cannot say I'm impressed by it. Stylistically and in terms of sound, it's the same band. However, when it comes to melodies and hooks, this album doesn't really offer a lot to me. Geronimo and The Loss inside could qualify as highlights, but compared to the best songs on the debut (and even on Second nature), they're a bit lacking. It's not the length of the songs, the tunes would still be underwhelming even if the songs were trimmed down.

At this point, I feel like the debut was a fluke. I know that sounds harsh, because Neal hardly ever disappoints, but they didn't really get me with this one. Still, the ones that dig it are lucky. 

[The Letter M]

Video trailer for the new album, with a band interview. Something I find intriguing is how LaRue says they feel they've "pushed the ball forward", and yet many of the opinions here would suggest otherwise. I enjoy Flying Colors' music very much, but I am inclined to think that this album doesn't feel like an advance on Second Nature. It sounds like Flying Colors. But both views can't be right. Either they have pushed the ball forward or they haven't.

I can sort of understand how Dave feels that way. It some ways, it does feel like they have pushed their musical "ball" forward a bit, and that they have developed their sound from their first two albums. There is a certain tightness that I can feel in some of the songs, they seem to have gelled well after three albums. They also spent a lot more time on this material than they did on the last two albums, it seems, so I think that has something to do with it.

That mini-interview was interesting, but a lot of it was what I expected them to say, so their feelings on the new songs and album are pretty typical from them, but it was nice to hear more from Dave and Steve and hear their feelings about it.

I hope by the time they record a live album from this mini-tour that they play more songs from Third Degree, just to let them have their time in the spot light. The problem with the typical studio-live-studio-live release cycle is that, for a new band, they release the same songs over and over, so with every new album, I *want* to see them play the new material live, so the eventual live releases don't feel like such retreads of their previous tours. As of their NYC show, though, they've played 5 songs from each album, which seems like a good balance, but I wouldn't mind seeing them swap out one or two songs from their previous two albums for two newer songs.

-Marc.

[Stadler]

^ Well, it's not a stretch to say that the first album is an outlier.  It's got the more concisely written tunes, it's got an outside producer, it's got a more sparse set of arrangements...  I like all three, but CLEARLY the 2nd and 3rd are different than the debut.   I used Asia above as a comparison, but really, YesWest is the better example.  The first album came out of the blue, had I think four singles, produced by an outside guy, etc. and the next two (studio) records were very much more in the standard Yes vein, longer songs, more instrumental breaks, largely self-produced.... 

[The Letter M]

^ Well, it's not a stretch to say that the first album is an outlier.  It's got the more concisely written tunes, it's got an outside producer, it's got a more sparse set of arrangements...  I like all three, but CLEARLY the 2nd and 3rd are different than the debut.   I used Asia above as a comparison, but really, YesWest is the better example.  The first album came out of the blue, had I think four singles, produced by an outside guy, etc. and the next two (studio) records were very much more in the standard Yes vein, longer songs, more instrumental breaks, largely self-produced....

That's a fair comparison, I think, as YesWest was originally intended to be one thing, but became another. I think comparisons to YesWest, Asia, Yoso, even Circa, are warranted. They've got that pop/prog crossover appeal that seems to wear its influences on its sleeves, which is fine by me. I enjoy the arrangement sand performances overall, so it's just more highly enjoyable music for me to digest! To be honest, there aren't a lot of bands like that these days that fill that void for me, so it's good to hear it from musicians I like.

-Marc.

[MinistroRaven]

Flying Colors track-by-track guide to new album Third Degree: https://www.loudersound.com/features/flying-colors-talk-us-through-new-album-third-degree

[KevShmev]

I'm starting to like Guardian quite a bit, and You Are Not Alone suddenly is a lot better.  Hmmmm, maybe this album has hope after all! 

[Adami]

I forgot to comment on the NY show!

First, very cool meeting Axeman and Stadler. Still waiting for him to post that pic.


The show itself was.....fun!

The opening band was okay. Seemed like a solo artist and his hired guns, which it turned out to be, but it was okay. Nothing special, but he's talented.

Flying Colors was interesting. Lots of technical problems. Drum techs doing something on the kit for like the entire show. Snare cut in and out a lot. For the last song or few, the kick drum mic got messed up but no one noticed or fixed it.

Some other weird flubs. Casey forgetting the words, people singing really off key, Neil playing the harder parts on Infinite Fire (I think) really poorly. But you know what? They laughed it off. They had fun. It was flawed and very human, which somehow made it more appealing. So I was really into it.

If they had been on stage playing technical perfection at album tempos, it would have been...cool I guess....but not very fun or exciting. So I'm glad the band doesn't do any of that. Seeing the screw ups make it a more unique experience.

Also the video they played for You are Not Alone was really helpful with the song.

[ariich]

It's definately a grower.

I agree it's a grower. It's still not as good as the first album. And it doesn't have the highs of Second Nature, but it also doesn't have anything as out-of-fit as Open Up Your Eyes, so on balance it's probably roughly on a par with that overall.

[RoeDent]

Flying Colors track-by-track guide to new album Third Degree: https://www.loudersound.com/features/flying-colors-talk-us-through-new-album-third-degree

I'm gonna read through this and all, but why didn't they put the tracks in album order?! That's the order, dammit! 

[utopiarun]

When I first heard the album, I was seriously meh. Since then, it's all I play and it's terrific! I'm still not 100% on board with the 2 long songs but I need to listen to them more. You Are Not Alone and Love Letter are in my head constantly.

I saw the show last night at Keswick. I'm glad they got all the kinks worked out from the NYC show because they were on their game last night! Started a little sluggishly, Casey looking down, etc and then they started to cook. Casey telling the story about You Are Not Alone and his vocals were just great. Steve Morse, what can I say the guy is just a virtuoso. It's funny, you have a band with MP and NM and they are kind of the background guys in this band, which is OK, the balance is great. Dave LaRue as usual was wonderful too.

Going to see Renaissance tonight at the Keswick!

[ytserush]

Video trailer for the new album, with a band interview. Something I find intriguing is how LaRue says they feel they've "pushed the ball forward", and yet many of the opinions here would suggest otherwise. I enjoy Flying Colors' music very much, but I am inclined to think that this album doesn't feel like an advance on Second Nature. It sounds like Flying Colors. But both views can't be right. Either they have pushed the ball forward or they haven't.

I agree with him. I told a friend of mine that very thing on the way down to the show last night and after watching them on stage last night that I think they really became a band with this record. It just seems so obvious to me. There's not a dud on it. They went places on this record that they've never gone before and it just feels right.

[ytserush]

^ Well, it's not a stretch to say that the first album is an outlier.  It's got the more concisely written tunes, it's got an outside producer, it's got a more sparse set of arrangements...  I like all three, but CLEARLY the 2nd and 3rd are different than the debut.   I used Asia above as a comparison, but really, YesWest is the better example.  The first album came out of the blue, had I think four singles, produced by an outside guy, etc. and the next two (studio) records were very much more in the standard Yes vein, longer songs, more instrumental breaks, largely self-produced....

That's a fair comparison, I think, as YesWest was originally intended to be one thing, but became another. I think comparisons to YesWest, Asia, Yoso, even Circa, are warranted. They've got that pop/prog crossover appeal that seems to wear its influences on its sleeves, which is fine by me. I enjoy the arrangement sand performances overall, so it's just more highly enjoyable music for me to digest! To be honest, there aren't a lot of bands like that these days that fill that void for me, so it's good to hear it from musicians I like.

-Marc.

To a degree (oops) maybe, but I think Flying Colors has a more diverse palette than Asia or Yes-West had and I love both of those bands too. Also this band situation does seem more organic than those other bands and that can take them to different places too.

[ytserush]

When I first heard the album, I was seriously meh. Since then, it's all I play and it's terrific! I'm still not 100% on board with the 2 long songs but I need to listen to them more. You Are Not Alone and Love Letter are in my head constantly.

I saw the show last night at Keswick. I'm glad they got all the kinks worked out from the NYC show because they were on their game last night! Started a little sluggishly, Casey looking down, etc and then they started to cook. Casey telling the story about You Are Not Alone and his vocals were just great. Steve Morse, what can I say the guy is just a virtuoso. It's funny, you have a band with MP and NM and they are kind of the background guys in this band, which is OK, the balance is great. Dave LaRue as usual was wonderful too.

Going to see Renaissance tonight at the Keswick!

The show did start off a bit weird which is shame because Blue Ocean is a fave of mine. I kind of liked what Casey did with the audience participation with Peaceful Harbor. I thought it was a really cool moment, but it killed the momentum of the song for me. Wouldn't have minded if they played it with that and again without it.

I think Neal Morse wasn't really feeling well but he gave it his best. I think he really likes being in the background of this band anyway where he can just play, sing and enjoy the moment without worrying about it too much.

I thought it was the best show of the three tours I've seen.

Noticed Renaissance was going to be there, but I;m not into them enough to catch them live.

[ytserush]

I'm going to call it now. I think this album is the best of the three as a whole.

After about 25 listens at home, in the car and seeing the show last night the conclusion is inescapable. Other two albums are pretty great too (Well about two-thirds of the second one anyway) but this one just seems special  in the way that the first one is but a bit further down the road.  Maybe the increased time together writing helped I don't know.

 If they played Last Train Home, the set might have been damn near perfect. I hope a live album or official bootleg is forthcoming.

[The Letter M]

If setlist.fm is to be believed, it looks like the PA show got one less song than NY did (and it was a new song, too). I wonder why...was it curfew issues, or maybe they just didn't feel like playing it last night? Either way, it'll be anther 5 days til their next show, and the last one until the December European tour, so hopefully by Europe, they'll have all the tour kinks ironed out and they'll have a tight set by then. I'm sure a European show will be recorded for release as I'm sure those crowds are a bit livelier than some of the American ones, but I wouldn't mind getting the NY show as an Inner Circle "official bootleg" type show.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I agree with him. I told a friend of mine that very thing on the way down to the show last night and after watching them on stage last night that I think they really became a band with this record. It just seems so obvious to me. There's not a dud on it. They went places on this record that they've never gone before and it just feels right.

I know what you are mean.  Now that the record is growing on me, I can get over it not being like the first album (which was basically just me being stubborn ) and appreciate the growth.  This effort seems more natural and organic than Second Nature, which, while good, sounded like a band that couldn't decide if they want to be a pop rock band with some prog flavors or a straight prog band.  This one is full experimental, and it sounds like they were all-in.

I think Neal Morse wasn't really feeling well but he gave it his best. I think he really likes being in the background of this band anyway where he can just play, sing and enjoy the moment without worrying about it too much.

Based on a few clips I've seen, I get that as well in regards to Flying Colors.  Sometimes, it's just fun to play and sing without having to be the conductor and/or frontman on stage, which is more or less his role with the Neal Morse Band.

[MinistroRaven]

Our interview with Dave Larue.

https://www.sonicperspectives.com/features/interview-with-dave-larue/

 

[The Letter M]

Now that the album has been out for over a week, has anyone come up with an alternate track order, perhaps one that includes "Waiting For The Sun"? I haven't had a chance to sit down and really do a rearrangement of the running order of the album, and I like including all the original studio songs on an album/playlist/CD-r if I can, so I'm trying to find a spot for WFTS.

Our interview with Dave Larue.

https://www.sonicperspectives.com/features/interview-with-dave-larue/

 

Thanks for sharing that, that was a fun read! I'm glad that Dave feels so strongly about the new album and that the band is moving forward musically speaking. The more I listen to the album, the more I hear that the songs really had their time to be worked on and weren't rushed out in a week (though to be fair, the first album had the voice of Peter Collins directing the music as well, so that helped them shape it more). Would love to see what Casey and Steve have to say about the new album as well!

-Marc.

[MirrorMask]

I found on an italian site an interview with Mike. Relatively standard, nothing mindblowing:

https://www.metal.it/interview.aspx/1317/flying-colors-spotify-ha-ucciso-l-industria-musicale-mike-portnoy-drums/

Some bits here and there:

- He recounts what we all already know, how his different bands differ from each other and what's the dominant style of them
- Third Degree was written in two sessions, one in December 2016 at Steve Morse's house, when they wrote 7 songs, and then in December 2018 at Mike's when they wrote the other 3 songs
- Casey was the singer they wanted, to have a more mainstream / pop feel, because "he comes from the world of Radiohead, Muse, Coldplay and U2". He makes the distinction of the band - Casey the more mainstream voice, him and Neal Morse the prog guys, and the other two the ones oriented on the instrumental music. They wanted all of this to mix, but with the focus on an "easy listening" vibe (which the debut clearly accomplished IMO).
- About drummers that impressed him: talking about modern ones, he mentions Zoltan Chaney, who is very fun to watch live, while if he thinks of the more technical side, he can't answer 'cause YouTube is full of great drummers.
- Artists collaborations, and if there's anything he hasn't done yet: he mentioned he was lucky to have worked with almost all his idols, citing Billy Sheehan, Ritchie Kotzen, Steve Morse, Alex Skolnick and Dave Ellefson, while one he'd like to work with, surprise surprise (not really), is Mikael Åkerfeldt. He also mentions the "legends" for whom he would quit everything to go running to them: Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend or Roger Waters.

He concludes saying that it's a nice time to be a musician, if you look at it from the creative side, but it sucks financially because Spotify killed the industry and people expect music for free, thus depriving young bands of a chance to make it big and earn something from their music.

[KevShmev]

Hmmm, I forgot about Waiting for the Sun being a bonus track.  I bought the album digitally and that song is not available on iTunes.

Nice interview.  I knew Geronimo sounded classic rock-ish, but couldn't put my finger on what band, and then I read the Steely Dan part of the interview and was like, "ah, that's it!" 

[Stadler]

Sorry for the delay...

First, always a pleasure to see Axe (I love his stories) and a real pleasure to finally meet Adami.  Really nice man. 

I clearly saw the same show as Adami, but some of the things he noted weren't that noticeable to me and others were very noticeable.

I didn't get the lyric flubs, but I got a real vibe of Casey as reluctant front man.  Not that he didn't want to be there, but maybe he's humbled by the horsepower behind him, and in a good way.  I really enjoyed his performance, and it was good to see someone step up that I haven't seen 1000 times before.   I liked the fluidity of his performance; the "I didn't think this through" comment during the sing-a-long, the walking into the audience...  I worried his voice would be weak live, but he killed it vocally, in my opinion.

I noticed too the flub from Neal; not that he was checked out, he wasn't, but he was certainly in loose-y-goose-y mode, in my opinion.  It was very reminiscient of the Sons of Apollo show; Mike and Neal (Derek) in back, and the lead instruments - Steve, Casey and Dave (Ron, Jeff, and Billy) in front. 

Steve Morse KILLED IT.  I was so impressed with him.  Like the Steve Hackett show a couple weeks ago, I was surprised how much guitar is in that band, and it really came through live.  When Casey went into the crowd during "Cosmic Symphony", Steve was playing this really cool line for about five minutes straight, and it was really really impressive. 

I think Adami has it right: it was a really fluid show, and they were clearly having fun and enjoyed being there.   Not perfect, but just enough stellar playing to show that they're the real deal.  I can only imagine how cool it would be to just see them in a rehearsal room. 

[KevShmev]

Good stuff. 

In a just world, this band would be popular enough to be a mostly full time band and we'd get albums and tours from them on a regular basis, but it's not a just world, so we have to enjoy what we get when we get it.