After
Peter Banks found himself replaced in
Yes by
Steve Howe, he set his sights on creating a new band. That band was
Flash. The group formed in 1971 when
Banks recruited longtime associate
Ray Bennett (Gun) along with
Colin Carter (
Pete Bardens'
Camel) and Mike Hough. Original
Yes keyboardist
Tony Kaye rounded out the group.
Flash had a sound that felt a lot like that of
Yes on its first two albums, but perhaps with a more pop-oriented texture. The group also had a more free-form approach to its virtuosic jamming, seeming to prefer improvisation to well-charted music.
Flash's first album, a self-titled one, was released the following year.
Kaye did not stay around very long past that release. Rather than replace him, the group carried on as a four-piece. They released two more albums,
In the Can and
Out of Our Hands in 1973. The group broke up shortly later, but a live recording, Psychosync (originally a bootleg), was released by Voice Print Records in 1997. ~ Gary Hill