Review Summary: Promising more chemistry, Flying Colors go further into their prog roots with their sophomore studio album, "Second Nature".
The band's longest song track yet, "Open Up Your Eyes" (TRACK 1, 3.5/5) opens things up with a bang, hooking with dreamy piano part, followed by a sometimes repetitious, yet extensively driving jam that showcases airtight rhythm, kinetic energy and even a healthy dose of groove and perk, all within dynamite musicianship, over the course of exactly four minutes and fifteen seconds. When Casey McPherson's heartfelt, if somewhat sentimental vocals come into play, occasionally punctuated by Neal Morse's and Mike Portnoy over-produced vocals which, well, continue to kind of need the effects, the quintessential pseudo-philosophical lyric about life and spirituality and what have you comes in with its usual charm and contrivances, although that's not exactly where the usual formula for a prog epic like this ends. This is by no means radically different from what Flying Colors has usually done, especially when you look at, say, the booming capper to their eponymous debut album, the 12-minute-long "Infinite Fire", but if it is to reflect the band's cutting back on jazzy sounds, metallic kick and commercialized superficialities, then it prepares you for a lot of the same, which doesn't exactly inspire much complaint out of me, because this is the kind of stuff that this project should always be doing: emotionally inspired and crazy entertaining songwriting, with airtight, intricate compositions that go brought to life by phenomenal musicianship, complete with versatile keyboard action from Neal Morse, wildly coordinated rhythmicity from Portnoy and Dave LaRue, and fiery guitar work from Steve Morse. To be so big, the almost 12-and-a-half-minute-long epic goes out simply flashing up a small ending with yet more gallopingly complex musicianship, although you do have to give it credit for not ending too big as a hook track, and for consequently preparing you for somewhat more superficial tracks, such as the subsequent one and first single on the album, "Mask Machine" (TRACK 2, 3.25/5), a somewhat poppy tune which, reminiscent to relatively watered down versions of a couple already relatively watered down hits by Muse, is superficialized by a somewhat basic song structure, and for featuring such commercial alternative rock traits as random "Woah" riffs from the harmonizing vocalists, but which is carried a respectable distance by more complex and virtuous musical moments that include flashy choruses and instrumentation, and is followed by the even less flashy "Bombs Away" (TRACK 3, 3.25/5), whose stoner rock-style verses and energetic choruses hook in a pretty basic way that can't entirely make up for flawed lyrics ("S-s-snackin' on Cheez Whiz, lost in the business!"), not like a much more progressive second half which features a couple of killer, metal-style guitar leads by Steve Morse, and a nifty guest violin spot by Shane Borth just after the three-and-a-half-minute mark that tightly harmonizes with Neal's keyboard in classic Kansas fashion. There's plenty about these two track that are strong, and it's not like their more superficial elements aren't mighty entertaining by their own right, while proving to be much more realized than a couple of the pop tunes on the "Flying Colors" album, but there's a certain something missing from them, and it is brought back in spades with something like "A Place in Your World" (TRACK 5, 3.25/5), a six-and-a-half-minute-long about being understood and embraced by others which is held back a good bit by its actually being even more lyric-driven, - especially considering that said lyric is penned and primarily sung by Neal Morse, until his duties are taken over by the only slightly, if at all less cheesy Portnoy - at the expense of a prominent celebration of instrumentation, but which all but makes up for its shortcomings with a raw, uncorrupted vibrancy.
For all of its lyrical and vocal shortcomings, in addition to some instrumental restraint, "A Place in Your World" offers some true emotional connection, something that is done a little more justice in something like "The Fury of My Love" (TRACK 4, 3.25/5), which is a little more convincing, thanks to McPherson's lovely, clean vocal performance, and a tonally rich composition that, at the end of the day, still knocks the ballad back a couple of notches, focusing less on instrumentation and so much on lyrics that are about as cheesy and superficial as one might expect them to be, given the song's title. As irony would have it, it's the album's shortest track, "Lost Without You" (TRACK 6, 3.25/5), that, among the popped-up tunes, does the most with only so much, being charged by McPherson's heartfelt vocals, and by a flashy composition that goes highlighted by yet another killer Steve Morse guitar solo, but still held so far back by its thematic superficialities, perky tone, and so on and so forth. Following the sweeping "Open Up Your Eyes" may not be a string of the really watered down pop-prog piece, but it is still a lot of either commercialized or musically compromised fluff that, no matter good as far fluff is concerned, just isn't up to par with the potential of this outfit, and then things suddenly change in the latter stretches, with the almost seven-and-a-half-minute-long "One Love Forever" (TRACK 7, 3.25/5), which never loses some questionable lyricism, and never adopts any real edge, follows its fun, world-style early phases with a second half that brings us far enough back to the complexities that we all know and love from prog for the track to almost stand out. The piece is more overlong than complex, sure, with flat spells that counteract the inspiration enough to keep the pseudo-epic from truly standing out, but it's nice to get a taste of the good stuff yet again, and you sure do get a fairly satisfying helping of it with the following track, "Peaceful Harbor" (TRACK 8, 3.5/5), whose haunting prelude, composed of an ambient keyboard rise and whimsical howling from McPherson, is lived up to by mostly truly effective lyrics, about the titular salvation, and by always effective slow spots, from which the ballad gradually rises, on the back of ever-expanding sound and songwriting complexities which come to a head by the second half, whose explosive, two-and-a-half-minute-long finale, powered by The McCrary Sisters' guest chanting and Steve Morse's soulful guitarwork, is an almost perfect way to round out the showcase's return to form. Downplaying flashy technical musicianship, and instead justifying its hefty runtime with an emotionally charged progression that goes out big, "Peaceful Harbor" is the perfect penultimate track, to the over 11-and-a-half-minute-long, three-part suite "Cosmic Symphony" (TRACK 9, 3.5/5), whose first phase, "Still Life of the World", is a little light in weight, distancing a bit with a very artificial-sounding drum pad beat, yet drawing you in with Neal Morse's playful piano parts, McPherson's spirited vocals, and a splendid, creatively coordinated bass solo by LaRue, before flowing into "Searching for the Air", a jazzier piece that doesn't overplay Neal Morse's problematic vocals, and keeps instrumentation hypnotically tight, until the smoothness breaks with a blistering, extensive guitar solo that wakes you up... before "Pound for Pound" brings you back down. Stylistic dynamicity is solid, but the epic, to be so long, is mostly mellow, and that's a bit of a challenge to one's patience, yet it feels justified by yet more of that true, enchanting emotional connection, reflected, not just in the heartfelt vocals (Decidedly McPherson's best performance on the album) and tasteful musicianship, but in a surprisingly powerful, intelligent lyric that never gets contrived with its philosophical and dramatic depth, so that when things finally do pick up, it feels as though they soar, on the wings of transcendent leads and crescendos. Perhaps the suite would reward even more deeply if it further explored the scale of its thematic value and range of emotion, style and ability, say, through a couple more phases and a runtime that flirts with about 20 minutes, rather than falls short of the actually less grand "Open Up Your Eyes", but the sheer realization of this extensive and expansive ballad is captivating, touching your heart and mind between the ripping highlights, until the sobriety comes to a head with a mellow outro that establishes a genuine sense of resolution in this showcase.
I had a bit of an issue with the quantity of material in Flying Colors' eponymous debut album, and while this follow-up isn't but two tracks shorter, and is ultimately actually longer in overall runtime, it does, in fact, feel a little bit tighter, with more range in the length and structuring of the tracks, and it helps that the showcase is airtight by its own right. "Open Up Your Eyes" is a big kick-off that doesn't close too big, while "Cosmic Symphony", while slightly shorter, is even bigger in its emotional intensity and ambition, as an album closer whose predecessor, "Peaceful Harbor" is a powerful and simultaneously tight and sprawling piece that proves to be an impeccable penultimate track, and everything in between all of that is very competent filler, but filler nonetheless. As I've said time and again, the "pop" pieces don't get lost in their superficiality quite like a few tracks on the predecessor, but as if the impact of this gifted group wasn't corrupted enough by the presence of tap-or-miss lyricist and vocalists like Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy, creative flow slows down with these more accessible musical sensibilities, and while I'm glad to see good old-fashioned prog brought more to the forefront, the considerable reduction of jazz and metal sensibilities limit a sense of dynamicity and, for that matter, uniqueness. Still, we're only looking at setbacks from the standard of progressive rock, and sure enough, just about everything on this album is some varying degree of solid, with memorable highlights that go anchored by sophisticated songwriting, complimented by Casey McPherson's heartfelt vocal stylings, and truly brought to life an almost top-tier lineup of instrumentalists. Portnoy was accurate in his boasts about how greater chemistry this time around plays a role in expanding the sharpness of this group's vision, because there is more wealth in the connection between the musicians, and more of a sense of fun that keeps entertainment value consistent, flavored up enough by quality music-making to make "Second Nature" yet another satisfying showcase of the potential and ability of Flying Colors.
3.25/5
