Flash - Psychosync (2011)

After Peter Banks found himself replaced in Yes by Steve Howe, he set his sights on creating a new band. That band was Flash. The group formed in 1971 when Banks recruited longtime associate Ray Bennett (Gun) along with Colin Carter (Pete Bardens' Camel) and Mike Hough. Original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye rounded out the group. Flash had a sound that felt a lot like that of Yes on its first two albums, but perhaps with a more pop-oriented texture. The group also had a more free-form approach to its virtuosic jamming, seeming to prefer improvisation to well-charted music. Flash's first album, a self-titled one, was released the following year. Kaye did not stay around very long past that release. Rather than replace him, the group carried on as a four-piece. They released two more albums, In the Can and Out of Our Hands in 1973. The group broke up shortly later, but a live recording, Psychosync (originally a bootleg), was released by Voice Print Records in 1997. -- Gary Hill