Flying Colors
Second Nature

The self-titled debut album by Flying Colors was the album of summer 2012 for me (thanks to its brilliant sound which I found very suitable for the summer season); so its sequel became personally the most anticipated album of 2014. The fear that “Second Nature” might not give me the same impressions as the debut was there, but it quickly dissipated. “Second Nature” is fully up to its predecessor and perhaps even has an extra gear.

We are once again faced with a varied and eclectic rock album, where each song has nothing to do with the others and thus cannot bore the listener. However, the sound is also refined and elegant, never “rough,” even when it veers towards harder territories. The expertise of the musicians that make up this supergroup allows them to incorporate various influences and a good dose of technique into a sound that seems still mainly directed towards the catchy sounds of pop-rock and hard rock. Regarding the prog influence, we can say that these are certainly more present than in the debut album; if there the long, elaborate, and fully prog track was only one, here there are even two, and the average length of the songs has slightly increased. It’s easier to encounter passages recalling prog; this doesn’t mean that prog is anything but one of many influences, and the group’s proposal remains clearly oriented towards more easy-listening rock. Flying Colors were not born to be yet another prog rock band copy of other projects involving Neal Morse, in fact, Neal himself was enthusiastic about starting a project that distanced itself from what he had done so far. It’s no coincidence if Progarchives doesn’t classify Flying Colors under any of the prog categories but instead lists them in the separate “Prog Related” section, where groups that are not considered progressive but have welcomed or have absorbed some influences are featured.

Opening the album are the 12 minutes of “Open Up Your Eyes”: now this is true progressive rock, roughly in the style of Transatlantic's suites (let's remember Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy are in the lineup), with continuous changes of rhythm and melody and a generally very “symphonic” imprint. But it’s just an isolated episode; immediately after, there is the energetic “Mask Machine” which is instead a direct but moderate hard rock track: a powerful bass line drives the song and hard but measured riffs play over it. Steve Morse’s guitar and Dave LaRue’s bass also dominate in the following “Bombs Away”: a hard rock track with a strong blues imprint noticeable in the riffs that characterize the verses (also accompanied by excellent bass slaps) but also in the long and showy solo; also worthy of mention is the remarkable melodic opening in the chorus.

The pop-rock ballad “The Fury of My Love” breaks the rhythm a bit, led by the piano with a vaguely symphonic taste almost on the verge of brit-pop. Then it returns to hard rock territory with “A Place in Your World”; the intro with a vaguely prog flavor should not mislead the listener, as it immediately gives way to an insistent rhythm and riffs that are once again hard but moderate (a bit like it happens in “Mask Machine”), accompanied by mellotron sounds and a nice Hammond adding emphasis to the sound; also here there is a significant melodic opening in the chorus while the ending seems blatantly copied and pasted from that of “The Root of All Evil” by Dream Theater. It goes back to more melodic and brilliant pop-rock with the subsequent “Lost Without You," characterized by delicate keyboards and guitars in the verses to then give space to a chorus with a bright and clear melody; it is probably the best track from a melodic point of view.

Now comes the track that made me jump out of my seat and must have produced the same effect on many listeners, “One Love Forever": here the group offers a track with a folk/celtic imprint, led by lively guitars, tambourines, and accordion sounds accompanied by organ; a song with a very sunny and festive atmosphere that seems to have been written specifically to make people clap at concerts and recreate this type of atmosphere; however, the track also has a slightly prog development, as it unfolds in the finale on organ passages that are perhaps a bit too repeated and rhythmic variations; the track seems a bit watered down and artificially elongated but has a touch definitely more prog than the others.

Also noteworthy is the subsequent “Peaceful Harbor”: it is a long ballad devoted to symphonic rock, centered on the acoustic guitar, organ accompaniment, and orchestral arrangements; a track that starts delicate and becomes more and more intense, reaching the exciting gospel choir finale. It’s an excellent prelude to the concluding “Cosmic Symphony,” the other fully prog track of the album. It is a mini-suite composed of three movements and with a decidedly peculiar, unusual structure, overall more interesting than the still excellent opening track; the track is not particularly dynamic from a rhythmic point of view but it is in terms of arrangements; the initial part is delicate and atmospheric and offers interesting ideas like a beautiful bass solo and nice electric piano passages, then the rhythm increases and everything seems to evolve towards something more lively but everything stops and it returns immediately to even more delicate rhythms than before, with guitar parts with a vaguely bluesy taste that seem more than ever inspired by Mark Knopfler.

In conclusion, Flying Colors have hit the mark once again and confirm themselves as an interesting entity in contemporary rock. Highly recommended for those who are now tired of the canonical and sometimes stale classic prog and are looking for something lighter yet rich and refined.