I think this reviewer appreciates Yes, too, but he's on to something. There IS a difference and I think it has to do with Flash is a bit more reliably rock 'n' roll, and I guess he prefers that.  Pete and Ray and Colin 'blended' in a way Pete, Jon and Chris didn't (mostly Pete and Jon, I think). Flash gave Pete a better chance to stretch out.

Also, I see where he's coming from, but I disagree with his assertion that FLASH is what YES "should have" become.

Hi,

(... a slight review ... )

I don't like to "compare" bands. It's lke sitting at home, drunk, stoned (whatevvahhh!!!) and comparing women, and such and such and such and such, and the whole thing, after a while gets really off center, and ... at times ... disgusting.

It does not matter to me, how one describes YES, or one describes FLASH, and I, PERSONALLY, think that these reviews tend to take away the personality and individuality that FLASH had, which was different from the one in YES, which at the time was more group oriented, than the FLASH first couple of albums had been. It was obvious that there was something nice and good in there, although I am inclined to believe that in its infancy, they were not sure what to do, and riding the player that has the best ability to run with things, is one way of moving forward, however ... it will, eventually, show the limitations of the rest of the group.

Most honestly, btw, I bought FLASH's first two albums in 1974 and 1975, because of the covers. And that first album I had that cover on my wall for many years. I thought, at the time, that the music was nice, but was missing a dimention, and while still nice to play and listen to, I still think so some 40 plus years later.

HOWEVER, unlike YES, at least I did not feel that this band lowered its abilities and sounded better as it went on, whereas the other band, became a cookie cutter carbon copy of many of its best moments, and in my book, exceptionally boring! I have not bought a single album of theirs since RELAYER ... I simply do not find their work deep enough, and artistic enough to be worth my attention, and the majority of the lyrics, became somewhat insipid and just "politically correct" for the time, something that band did not do in the earlier days.

I tend to think that FLASH might have done better and stronger, if they had remained together and been able to take their early work further, and further, and eventually, likely come up with something to rival the likes of CTTE ... but it was not to be. The last stuff released, to my ears, is nice, but in my mind, it is sad. It feels like a throwback to a time and place, that is long gone, and trying to bring it alive again, seems OK for a song, but not an album. I hope these words are clear, because I admit that stating this might not sound correct to a lot of folks, specially Sherrynoland, whose efforts and posts have tried EVER so hard in the past few years to bring about some reactions, and by and far, she succeeded, and it would not be surprising to hear that she was the one that tried to get them together again.

All in all, a very nice band on its own, and as I said and think, I do not like to compare this band to YES, since it was not a "keyboard" band as much as the other one was, thus making the comparisons a bit more difficult to digest. The large and wide keyboard sound, made YES seem bigger than it was for a while, and this might have been what FLASH was missing, although it is my thought that the members were not interested in sounding like YES at all, thus keyboards not being a major component might have been an important idea, which made them sound more "Rock'n'roll" (as that reviewer stated), which, to my ears, unfortunately, makes the whole thing less valid and important, specially when at the time, "tripping" on long cuts and music was already being well developed in Europe, and I find it strange that FLASH members, would not have been aware of that to realize that simply to sound "garage'ish" was enough for them. I think that it made them come off as a "lesser" band, and I always felt that was unfair in many ways.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075V1DF6D//ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=geo02a9-20&ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&linkId=72ac7642898e7068eec57a4399424d0e" rel="nofollow - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075V1DF6D//ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=geo02a9-20&ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&linkId=72ac7642898e7068eec57a4399424d0e

I haven't had the time to dig into their material, but from what I've heard, there are very listenable moments. 

Check this out: 

Hi,

One could say that "Empire" was in the vein of the likes like "Renaissance", however it appears to have been more guitar driven than it was keyboard laden orchestral sound.

It is a shame that, at the very least, these folks kept going after the record companies, when it was obvious they did not have a feel for music, and never did. This example is very nice, and probably showed a nice thing going for the band, that ultimately fell apart and ruined what appears to have been PB's personal life (married to the singer Sydney Foxx) as well.

In the end, it is nice to see/hear this, and find that it should have gotten better attention than it did over 25 to 30 years ago. It's just sad to see so much great stuff just wasted ... because some folks kept expecting Godot to take care of them, and it didn't happen. This should have been privately released and sold, and it might have gotten more attention than it did, and the group/band giving up on their next 2 efforts (eventually) is a sad chapter in the lives of those involved, I imagine.

Really good listen.

Thanks!  I was wondering if Empire were going more in the direction of Fleetwood Mac = guitar driven sound, "hot dish" lead singer, lighter songs that could be marketed for radio etc.  They were based in LA after all.