Flash

1. Ambitious
2. Gets Us All in the End
3. Escape
4. People Get Ready
5. Stop, Look and Listen
6. Get Workin'
7. Ecstasy
8. Night After Night
9. You Know, We Know
10. Nighthawks
11. Back on the Streets

Recensione

The main attraction here is a moderately successful cover of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready," with Rod Stewart on lead vocals. But other than that, "Flash" says it all: this is a relentlessly commercial, thoroughly tacky pop record with little of Beck's personality or brilliance - despite his low-key lead vocals on a couple of tracks, and the usual outrageous guitar fireworks. Instead, the bland and pompous Jimmy Hall fronts on half the songs, and a few others have incidental vocals courtesy of assorted session players. Old hands like Tony Hymas ("You Know, We Know"), Jan Hammer ("Escape"), and Carmine Appice show up here and there, but make little impression among the horde of backing musicians (including Doug Wimbish). It's one dull, mechanical, high-paced synth-pop dance song after another - not to mention the lyrics, which are embarassingly stupid in several places ("Ambitious"). All of it seems to be the fault of producer Nile Rodgers. What a shame that this was Beck's only offering over a stretch of nine years.

In 1986 Beck guested on Philip Bailey's "Back It Up," and in 1987 he played lead guitar on Mick Jagger's solo record Primitive Cool.