By Monk
People approach anniversaries in different ways. For many, they are a time for reflection, looking back at the achievements and events which have led them to this particular celebratory moment in time. Bands are no different. And, like the rest of us, they mark anniversaries in different ways. More often than not, it is merely with a retrospective compilation capturing what they regard to be the finest moments from their career to date, with maybe a collection of rareties and outtakes, or possibly a new song or two, tacked onto the end. Sometimes, they do something just a little bit different… To mark their pearl anniversary as a working act, German proggies Flying Circus chose to do something that lies between those two approaches…
Casting their eyes over their shoulders to pick their personal highlights, the band imposed on themselves what they describe as a “nostalgia ban” and took the rather bold decision to completely re-record, against the backdrop of COVID-imposed lockdowns, any picks from their career prior to 2011. Any other tracks recorded prior to 2020, were remixed, with only the two inclusions from last year’s concept album ‘1968’ remaining completely unchanged. One thing they retain in common with many such retrospective collections is that they also take a step forward, with a single brand new song, the Rush-esque socio-political commentary of ‘Dystopia’: but even here the band do not conform to convention or perceived “norms”, as the song is not appended as a seeming afterthought, but instead presented front and centre as the second track, reflecting the non-chronological running order of the album, as it jumps back and forth across the timeline of their existence.
Now, I’ll admit that I’m not familiar with the vast majority of Flying Circus’ back catalogue, having really been introduced to the band via the aforementioned ‘1968’ (represented here by the appropriately fiery fiddle play of instrumental ‘Derry’ and its epic centrepiece, ‘The Hopes We Had’), so I can only judge it on a standalone basis. And, I have to say that it goes some way towards reinforcing some of the comments I made in my review of ‘1968’, in that it helps to reinvigorate my faith in prog, ruined for me by the widdly-diddly mundanity of the Nineties and Noughties, as an artform capable of being challenging and entertaining in equal measure, especially when delivered with compassion and erudition, as it is on the 15 tracks which the band have gathered together for this celebration of their achievements.
The fact that the “older” songs have been re-recorded, with the benefit of both critical analysis and advanced technology, undoubtedly adds to the feeling of innate continuity which flows through the album: the fact that they have chosen not to start at the beginning and move to the present, but rather hop, skip and jump through their own time and space, does make it difficult to chart the evolution of the band and their sound, but also fulfils the challenge which they seem to have set themselves, and that is to both satisfy existing fans by presenting familiar material, albeit in a new setting, and to earn themselves new ones by proving that they can reinvent and reinvigorate both themselves and their sound to suit the modern age while staying true to their roots.
- ‘Flying Circus’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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