Angels & Ghosts

Released December 2001. Voiceprint/MintSpy VP237 (CD).

1. Watch Your Step
2. Hold On
3. Who
4. Everything Changes
5. It’s Alright
6. Mister
7. Baby
8. Cool Religion
9. Lay Your Head Down
10. Nightingale
11. Don’t Miss A Beat
12. Terpsichore
13. Indian Food
14. Radio Interview
15. Never Stand Behind An Old Piano

Produced by Ray Bennett

Reviews

by All Music, François Couture
This collection culls lost tracks and demo tapes spanning Ray Bennett’s entire career, from his days as bassist for the British art rock group Flash up to 1997, when he began work on his first solo album Whatever Falls. An uneven set, like most similar albums, it includes huge time gaps. Most fans will be more interested by the tracks from the 1970s. “Watch Your Step” is a good Flash song never released on an album. “Hold On,” “Who,” and “Everything Changes” date from the mid-’70s and follow a sound similar to the late group (“Who” features Flash guitarist Peter Banks — Yes completists, take note). “It’s Alright” also has that Brit rock & roll feel, even though it dates from 1989. After that we jump to the 1990s. From that point onward, Angels & Ghosts looses much of its interest. Only the die-hard fans will find something worth listening to in keyboard-ridden demos like “Mister F,” “Baby,” and “Indian Food.” The CD ends with two more tracks for ’70s sake: an excerpt of a (badly recorded) radio interview in 1977 and a snippet of Flash going bonkers in the studio (“Never Stand Behind an Old Piano”). As long as you clearly understand what you will find on this album (in terms of Flash material and such), you should not be disappointed. Of course, the non-fan has no reason to take a peak here.
Source http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jbfqxql0ldje

by DMME.net
It’s been a long time between the break-up of FLASH and the band’s bassist’s first solo effort. The collection of antiques charts the story of missing in action.

Ray moved out of sight once the combo he shared with former YES men, Peter Banks and Tony Kaye, was well over. And here’s an answer to those who ever wondered where the band’s name might come from: “Watch Your Step”, an obscure 1973′s single, borrowed its incendiary riff from “Jumping Jack Flash” while its B-side, “Never Stand Behind An Old Piano”, is an additional proof of their ability to rock the joint. Between the two recordings placed are pieces that never surfaced – only because all the projects were abandoned way too early. Some of them included ex-FLASH members, like Colin Carter-sung “Hold On” with Bennett’s funky bass, or “Who” and “Everything Changes” featuring Banks’ smooth lines and Sidonie Jordan’s soulful delivery. There’s not a plenty of details in Ray’s liner notes yet a fleeting feeling of how great all this could have turned out.

The rest had been laid down in guitarist Ed Fritz’s company in 1989-1993 before Bennett ventured into work on his “Whatever Falls” album. The change is remarkable for maturity on display, at first playfulness is full-on, as intense “It’s Alright” and nervous “Cool Religion” witness, to calm down later through “Lay Your Head Down” salamander crawl to “Don’t Miss A Beat” spacious progscapes. Ray Bennett certainly didn’t miss a beat in his time – we did! With a prospect for blank spaces to be filled, a crime of hiding away these fascinating tunes is forgiven.
Source http://dmme.net/reviews/reviews21.html