Second Nature
Mascot/Warner
Two factors are immediate deciders in whether Second Nature, the sophomore effort from supergroup Flying Colors (not to be confused with psych band Flyying Colours), is the album for you.
The first is the pedigree of the band itself – you’ve got Dream Theater, Deep Purple, Spock’s Beard and even Alpha Rev floating about in there. The second is the fact that the album’s opening number is 12 minutes long. Yep, we’re in the world where music is more science and sport than an artistic endeavour; where the technicality of the notes and the degree of difficulty within the time signatures mean more than actually saying anything of substance.
It’s all impeccably crafted and pristinely produced, but Second Nature sleeps when it comes to ideas beyond the construct. This is exceptionally clear when the album moves into ballad territory, especially on the particularly awful The Fury Of My Love. Of course, this will be music to the ears of those already devoted to this style, so perhaps it’s best to leave it with them.
Perhaps Second Nature can be summed up best by a quote from an ad for popular movie snack Pods: ‘Impressive? Yeah. Genius? Hardly’.
DAVID JAMES YOUNG
