FLIGHT - ECHOES OF JOURNEYS PAST

With a psychedelic ‘70s vibe, ala Swedish neighbors, Hällas, the 6:09 "Hypatia", kicks things off. Echoing, nearly a cappella vocals are quickly usurped by a jangly guitar led instrumental passage, prior to the actual verse. These Norwegians don't play by the rules! The guitar tones are from a bygone era. Just check out the multiple voiced backed hard rock on "Valley Of The Moon". Then there's that wayward keyboard interrupting the aforementioned six-strings.

Lightly strummed guitar (akin to Neil Young/Crazy Horse) greets "Comet Of Gold". Not something unheard of on Flight albums, just not so protracted. A second, more aggressive guitar rides beneath the sedate melody, until late, when it becomes the dominate force, raising tempo and intensity of the tune, as a whole. However, before it concludes, the electricity winds down, eventually disappearing completely, to be replaced (for a brief bit) by keyboards. The title track comes next. At 4:17, it is the shortest proper tune and the most conventional Flight track. Taking a lighter tone and higher pitched vocal, "Paths To Nowhere - Elysian Fields" inhabits the same territory as Sixties Brit-pop. ("Moondance" is a 98 second, practically acoustic, intermezzo, leading into the mammoth closer).



Speaking of the 9:28 "Mystic Mountain" finale, it's broken into four subsections, entitled: I. The Gates of the Destroyer / II. Transformation / III. Return to Forever / IV. Stardust. A repetitive string of guitar notes rises from the silence. Reaching crescendo. As the voice kicks in, it feels like a rock opera overture (Jesus Christ Superstar/Tommy). The premise established, the guitars go on, ahem, a journey. An infectious bounce, on the backbone of keyboard interplay, is established and given room to run, before the guitars return: setting up a "follow me, if you can" scenario between the strings and keys.