Flying Colors to record 2nd effort in a "few weeks"

[Scott Bails]

Yeah, I thought Casey did a great job, and really liked how he and Neal blended together. Even Portnoy's vocals are good on this record.

[progmeister]

Really? I guess maybe he's an acquired taste, but I liked his performance right away.

Actually "acquired" might be the problem. I've been familiar with him for almost 10 years. His voice is colorless and his writing is hopelessly mediocre. His band Alpha Rev, who's debut album was on Hollywood Records, had an ungodly sum of major label money spent on it at Top 40 radio, was managed by some of the Music Industry's biggest domos, was touted on VH1's "You Oughta Know" program, and still managed to completely bomb in sales.

[gilawi]

My mistake of using the "progressive" word in this reply. Their is music is nowhere Progressive. The fact I wanted to emphasized was that their music did nothing for me, and remembe that is my opinion. In fact, if you go to the Dutch Progressive Rock forum, there was a round table review (RTR) and it was not recommended. So I'm not alone in this appreciation.

[ThomasKDye]

I only wish they would bail on singer Casey Macpherson. He is SO not up to the standards of the rest of the band.

I'm so not with you on that. I think he's quite a find, and probably my main reason for liking the band as much as I do. He's got great pipes and I really prefer his voice to Neal's.

[JIF]

My mistake of using the "progressive" word in this reply. Their is music is nowhere Progressive. The fact I wanted to emphasized was that their music did nothing for me, and remembe that is my opinion. In fact, if you go to the Dutch Progressive Rock forum, there was a round table review (RTR) and it was not recommended. So I'm not alone in this appreciation.

Maybe they gave it low ratings for the same reason you did:expecting prog, but not getting it. I'm not trying to be harsh. I know that Flying Colors wasn't going to be prog BEFORE I bought the CD. So, I bought it knowing what I was getting and am quite happy with it.

[Plasmatopia]

I just hope this one is not limited to death.

[nosebone]

tough crowd

[arabicadabra]

I totally get why people don't like it - and it was my album of the year for 2012. The harmonic riches come in some of their note choices - the pre-chorus to "Blue Ocean" being a prime example, where the notes in those chords just have a color that surprises my ears - and as for what moves someone or doesn't, hey, none of us can control that. But it sure as hell moved me....

[Plasmatopia]

I love the music (I'd read the pre-release press and wasn't surprised it wasn't "prog"), but I simply can't listen to more than about 3 songs without listening fatigue. I wish it wasn't so, believe me.

Has anyone here heard the version that Neal put out via his Inner Circle thing? Any word on whether that one had more dynamic range/less limiting?

[dregsfan]

Indeed, Michael Brauer did a shite job of mixing. The drums, especially, sound bad.

I REALLY hope someone like Rich Mouser mixes the second effort.

[Progatron]

Has anyone here heard the version that Neal put out via his Inner Circle thing? Any word on whether that one had more dynamic range/less limiting?

I get the Inner Circle discs and this one ([i]Island Of The Lost Keyboards[/i) is pretty good. It's subtitled "Neal's Mix" so keep in mind you're hearing a lot of the bits that were mixed out of the official release. It's better sound, yes, but it's not the same mix. I haven't heard any complaints about it (these releases are not widespread so usually the only place to read opinions on them is the IC forum itself). Another IC release was Not For Flying Colors which features the songs Neal brought to the table that were not used.

[ScottAM]

I certainly can understand why some folks aren't enthralled with this album, but for me it's a real triumph. I love the diversity, the poppy prog approach with such musical prowess. Infinite Fire could be a Transatlantic track, a few others could be Jellyfish tracks, some alt. rockers in there, good singer-songwriter pieces, it's a great diverse package.

I personally am very happy with Casey at the lead vox position, I think he's a good wild card addition. Portnoy found him, btw. I think his Alpha Rev band is decent, too. Yes, they could have gone with many other choices, some of which might have been better or worse, but this is what they chose and I think it really works.

Looking forward to #2!

[dregsfan]

Did the tunes not used on FC end up on Momentum? If not, I suppose some of the material could ned up on the new TA, unless material once released to the IC is not re-visited.

[Man In The Mountain]

Did the tunes not used on FC end up on Momentum? If not, I suppose some of the material could ned up on the new TA, unless material once released to the IC is not re-visited.

None of the unused FC stuff was used for Momentum. And no, Neal has often released demos to the IC, and then later used them in other projects. The entire epic 'Seeds of Gold' from T2 was released in the IC as a demo a year or two before it came out on T2.

[Jefferson James]

If you read the press on the internet, you would've know that being a progressive rock band was never their intention. Maybe you should email the band, and have them personally give you your money back.

The official Flying Colors website isn't quite so clear:

It’s been such an inspiring challenge melding folk, prog, pop, and metal all into one big recording.

There’s bits and pieces of what you’d expect from each of us. However, the sum of all its parts led to brand new, unchartered territory for all involved.

Drawing from rock, metal, prog, jazz-fusion, they had the potential to fuse their diverse styles into a unique, cohesive sound.

The band was proud of what they had accomplished, but didn’t know how others would receive the somewhat unorthodox music.

I was expecting something a lot more "proggy" than the album based on the pre-release hype I'd seen; that said, it's an enjoyable album and I enjoyed seeing the band live (thanks to Garion's generosity).

[Rufus]

Whilst it:s my least favourite album from any project involving either Morse or Portnoy it was still a good album. I shall defo be buying FC2!

[Scott Bails]

Whilst it:s my least favourite album from any project involving either Morse or Portnoy it was still a good album. I shall defo be buying FC2!

You like it less than Adrenaline Mob?

Less than Systematic Chaos?

[Progatron]

You like it less than Adrenaline Mob?

Less than Systematic Chaos?

I love Systematic Chaos (well, most of it). "Repentance" is my favourite DT song ever, and I love the "Presence Of Enemies" split epic. I don't like "The Dark Eternal Night" at ALL though. There's usually one track on each DT album that I don't care for.

Now, Adrenaline Mob? Blech.

[Rufus]

You like it less than Adrenaline Mob?

Less than Systematic Chaos?

Must admit, have never heard Adrenaline Mob ! If FC is better than any DT album it would have to be their tribute to Metallica 'Train of Thought '!

[JIF]

Must admit, have never heard Adrenaline Mob ! If FC is better than any DT album it would have to be their tribute to Metallica 'Train of Thought '!

Adrenaline Mob is the kick up the ass that old-school. Who cares if it's not prog. It still kicks ass.

[Bill Evans]

howdy folks! sean suggested i pop by to the website and say hi. (sean and i go way back.) i'm glad people are excited for the new album. and yes, it's definitely happening. we're all really excited about it. the release is a ways off because even after finishing the album, our label will need to find a good release window during the year for it. (our label is awesome, by the way. when you buy our albums, we actually do get paid!)

i hope people enjoy our upcoming concert bluray/dvd/cd release…look for it in late summer. i just received the final mix yesterday, and jerry will have it mastered by the end of the month.

in terms of whether the album is progressive…i think most of you have it nailed. i'm very sorry to have disappointed someone looking for more something more proggy.

when i originally started putting the project together, my interest was in what i was calling "progressive pop." my influences were bands like kansas (with short proggy-pop kerry livgren songs like "carry on wayward son"), peter-collins era rush, pet-sounds-era brian wilson, steve more era kansas, spock's beard's snow album, and king's x. pretty specific, actually. everyone from those bands either ended up being involved, or was on-board at one time. the one thing i was never able to find was the right pop singer/songwriter. i wanted someone with pop charisma to take all this complex music and put it in a form that non-prog people could relate to. looked at over 100 with peter collins, but nothing. later, mike suggested casey…he was perfect. casey was on disney's hollywood records label (with miley cyrus, the jonus brothers, etc.) but was also an amazing songwriter. mike is amazing like that. mike is amazing like many things…the fact that he's a drummer is almost secondary. with casey, remember that he isn't just one of the singers for the band, he's also a songwriter.

thanks for listening,

bill

[Scott Bails]

Bill, given how you described what you were after, I think you nailed it.

Good luck with the coming sessions.

[Plasmatopia]

I get the Inner Circle discs and this one ([i]Island Of The Lost Keyboards[/i) is pretty good. It's subtitled "Neal's Mix" so keep in mind you're hearing a lot of the bits that were mixed out of the official release. It's better sound, yes, but it's not the same mix. I haven't heard any complaints about it (these releases are not widespread so usually the only place to read opinions on them is the IC forum itself). Another IC release was Not For Flying Colors which features the songs Neal brought to the table that were not used.

Cool! Thanks for the info. Not sure how I will ever get a chance to hear this though...

[Rufus]

Who's Bill ?

[Scott Bails]

Bill's credited as "Executive Producer" of Flying Colors' debut, but as you can tell from his post, he had a lot more to do with it than that.