Review Summary: Although The Flying Eyes do trudge along with a sense of purpose, the doors that they should be opening themselves were left unhinged by Jim Morrison and his crew
The Flying Eyes is a self titled compilation of two previous EPs from a band who seem to live and breathe classic rock. Right off the bat the initial riff and percussion brings back memories of old-school hard rock while providing grooves that are catchy and pack the punch you'd expect from this type of musical throwback. And while you will typically see the conventional composition of roaring chorus and moving verses, they do dabble in some interesting song structure in order to spare the monotony this formula can bring. Opener “Lay With Me”, an album highlight, does justice as an example of this with instrumental bridges and a pretty neat guitar solo. As it stands, its a personal favorite song in the band's catalog.
Imagine a heavier Cream with a bit of a weaker grasp on atmosphere and add a bit of stoner-rock aggression to help picture the instrumental side of the album to a tee. Unfortunately it truly is that easy to pinpoint, and the comparisons don't even end there. As soon as singer Mac Hewitt opens up his throat to belt out some words, the audience will immediately recognize the style these vocals present on the album. To put it bluntly, his singing is a near rip-off of Jim Morrison's. Perhaps the band is truly professing its love for the kings of the past, or just feels more comfortable on a path pre-laid. Regardless, they seem to have a strong grasp of their sound. It is worth noting that they attempt to put a satisfyingly heavier punch to the music which helps to provide a sense of justification in replicating these classics, giving the retro style a more snug fit in today's musical game. The evolution of blues rock has come a long way since the idols of the band first gained popularity and The Flying Eyes do adapt to that well, particularly by bringing along that stoner-rock guitar tone for the ride.
However the band just isn't doing anything new here. Not that this is an issue in its own right. A piece of music doesn't have an obligation to be inventive or extremely unique; there is however a burden of competition, especially in an age where albums can be just a click away. Here the music is good but it isn't even comparable to the blues and psych rock classics, namely albums like The Door's self titled, which could scratch the same itch The Flying Eyes are offering to take care of but at a professional level. Many might argue that you cannot fault a band for not living up to musical acts that are already held to impossibly high acclaim, but when a band is so obviously replicating their sounds, they are bringing the comparisons upon themselves. So while I would recommend this effort to anyone eager to lap up some new music in vein of The Doors that can hold its own in terms of quality or just someone interested in modern blues rock, there simply isn't enough originality or stand out songs to make it worth going out of the way for. A good album nonetheless.
