Genre: progressive
Rating: ** (2 stars)
Title: Out of Our Hands
Company: Capital/Sovereign
Catalog: SMAS-11218
Year: 1973
Country/State: UK
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG
Comments: minor ring wear; gatefold sleeve; original inner sleeve'; small cut out hole top right corner
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4861
Price: $10.00
Flash's third album "Out of Our Hands" found the group releasing a dreaded 'concept' album. (I can already see some you hitting the backspace key.) So what's this thing sound like? Well if the band's first two studio sets recalled early Yes, you probably wouldn't be shocked to learn that the same comparison extended to material like 'Open Sky', 'Man of Honour' and 'Manhattan Morning'. Largely penned by bassist Ray Bennett, the plotline was largely lost to me, but then my intellect has steadily declined with extended exposure to rock and roll. I'm really guessing here, but the story line seemed to establish some sort of connection between chess and an alien bringing the Earth a message of peace ... Clearly it was way beyond my limited analytical skills - feel free to send me a note with the true story. In a way the story line probably didn't matter all that much since Colin Carter's voice wasn't the thing that attracted listeners to Flash. Mind you, Carter wasn't a bad singer, rather he was just kind of got lost surrounded by the rest of the band. It's interesting that even though I'm not a big instrumental fan, instrumental segments in tracks like 'Dead Ahead' and 'The Bishop' provided the album highlights for me. Not my favorite of the three studio sets, but not the worst either.
Given the album hit # 135 on the US charts I can only guess that legions of Yes fans were looking for a readily available substitute.
"Out of
Our Hands" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Open Sky (Ray Bennett) - 0:48
2.) None the Wiser (King) (Ray Bennett) - 3:17
3.) Farewell Number One (Pawn) (Ray Bennett) - 1:37
4.) Man of Honour (Knight) (Ray Bennett) - 4:45
5.) Dead Ahead (Queen) (Ray Bennett) - 4:38
(side
2)
1.) The Bishop (Ray Bennett) - 4:21
2.) Psychosync (Farewell Number Two) (Ray Bennett) - 4:50
3.) Manhattan Morning (Christams '72) (Colin Carter) - 6:24
4.)
Shadows (Its You) (Colin Carter) - 3:20