When you look at the members of Flying Colors — guitarist Steve Morse (Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, ex-Kansas), drummer Mike Portnoy (Transatlantic, Winery Dogs, ex-Dream Theater), Neal Morse (Transatlantic, Spock’s Beard), bass player Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band, Steve Vai) and singer, guitarist and songwriter Casey McPherson (Alpha Rev) — it’s hard to believe the band could be anything more than a one-off “project.” But the 2012 Flying Colors album and its subsequent 2013 tour were so good, a second round seemed in order. Or, in this case, Second Nature, the band’s sophomore hat into the ring.
Made during a handful of sessions and a lot of Skyping, Second Nature is a significant step forward for the band in terms of dynamics, songwriting and chemistry. It’s much more much intricate and progressive than the first one, yet it retains the melodic sensibility that McPherson brings to the table. The opening track, ‘Open Up Your Eyes,” clocks in at over 12 minutes, with an epic four-minute instrumental intro that defines where much of the record goes — hardly predictable or premeditated, rather more of an exploratory nature, a second nature, if you will, of the players involved. McPherson comes in and the whole piece instantly aligns, even as the musical passages leap around and over hurdles lesser vocalists wouldn’t know how to angle. Fortunately, McPherson, with strong backing vocals from Neal Morse and Portnoy, has a solid handle on how to maneuver the torrential tides of Flying Colors’ musical muscle.
If the band ever had a chance for radio airplay, “Mask Machine” would be the one to show off the band’s might. A video of the song gives the viewer a wide-eyed peak at the players in their element, with just enough visual opulence to keep it interesting. The song easily lends itself to more, but the emphasis is on the musicianship — its best foot forward for credibility in a screwy business. The balance of heavy and light is dutifully covered with “Bombs Away” and “The Fury Of My Love,” while “A Place In The World” goes long on the prog, morphing from a Kansas-like opening into the more streamline style of the first Flying Colors album. “Love Without You” follows a similar path.
As the record winds down, a sense of fortitude grips its direction. “One Love Forever” rises from a nurtured Celtic nest before “Peaceful Harbor” colors the airwaves with a Zen-like calm of starry-eyed romanticism, swimming in a choral pool of redemption. The lingering layers of Flying Colors are ever-present, even in its most unambiguous form. Which leaves it all up to the album’s other 12-minute piece, the multiple-suite “Cosmic Symphony,” which leaves nothing, even its bold title, to chance. Portnoy keenly pointed out in press leading up to the release of Second Nature that not having an outside producer as they did on the first album gave the band license to expand on where and how the music evolved. “Cosmic Symphony” takes that idea and runs it all the way to the end zone. If they’re able to pull any of this off live, witnesses and their offspring would talk about it for generations to come. For now, I’m definitely holding out for thirds.
~ Shawn Perry
