Thirteen days after “Omerta” we have another album with the name of Mike Portnoy behind the drum kit. This time with a more modern prog rock album. First things first, Flying Colors is a star studded supergroup. There is Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), Steve Morse (Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, Kansas), Neal Morse(ex-Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic), Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs, Planet X), Casey McPherson (Alpha Rev) and with them is producer Peter Collins who oversaw several albums by Rush and Queensryche. After a week in the studio we have in our hands the first album of this new project.
 
By the looks of it this album should be simply filled with amazing music. At some points you get what you expect. Combine sounds by Yes, early Genesis and some of the pop sounds of Beatles and you will get the picture of the whole album. In one hand you can hear some geek prog rock-jazzy sounds, and in the other some brit pop choruses that are more radio friendly.
 
“Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda” and “All Falls Down” are the songs that combine heavy elements and progressive rock. Great drum work from Portnoy, and impressive guitars. The one thing I enjoyed even in the mediocre or bad songs of the album (like “Everything Changes”) is the base lines by mister Larue. They are simply phenomenal.

McPherson’s voice is not great. He has the standard pop band voice which is not necessarily a bad thing. Combined with Neal Morse’s backing vocals they make the whole album pretty easy to listen.  
 
And that is the problem with the album. It may be pretty easy to listen but most of the melodies are pretty familiar and I hoped that the musicians involved would create something more. But nonetheless this album in the long run is pretty good and after all the one week the recordings lasted was not that much.
 
Let’s hope this album will not be a one-time thing and in the next album the band will work for a larger period of time and create a record that will remain a classic.