''Flash'' is the fifth studio album by guitarist

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

, released in July 1985 by Epic/ CBS Records. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas
"Flash - Jeff Beck"
''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

''.

RhythmOne RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

. Retrieved 31 March 2020. The album reached No. 39 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart"Flash - Jeff Beck , Awards"
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''.

. Retrieved 31 March 2020. as well as reaching the top 60 in four other countries."Jeff Beck - Flash (album)"
''finnishcharts.com''. Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2020. Two singles also charted, the first being a reunion with singer

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

(from the Jeff Beck Group) for a cover of "

People Get Ready "People Get Ready" is a 1965 single by the Impressions, and the title track from the '' People Get Ready'' album. The single is the group's best-known hit, reaching number-three on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and number 14 on the ''Billboard'' ...

" by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

The Impressions The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, doo-wop, R&B, and soul. The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthur Bro ...

, which reached No. 5 on ''Billboards

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active ro ...

and No. 48 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, as well as the top 40 in four other countries. The second single, " Gets Us All in the End", reached No. 20 on Mainstream Rock. The

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

"Escape" went on to win the award for

Best Rock Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...

at the 1986 Grammys,"28th Grammy Awards - 1986"
Rock On The Net. Retrieved 31 March 2020. which was to be Beck's first of many such awards.

Overview

The album is unique for Beck in that it is composed mainly of songs with

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, save for two instrumentals in the form of "Escape" and "You Know, We Know", written by his longtime collaborators

Jan Hammer Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as his film scores f ...

and Tony Hymas respectively. Designed to be a foray into

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

in order to capitalise on that sound at the time, ''Flash'' was produced by

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

for that reason. Such was the desire by the record company to score a hit album, Beck uncharacteristically found himself singing on "Get Workin'" and "Night After Night", at the insistence of Rodgers.Rosen, Steven (1989)
"Jeff Beck Interview (1989)"
Modern Guitars Magazine. Archived fro

on 5 January 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2020. "Ambitious" and "People Get Ready" feature a rare instance of Beck playing a

Jackson Soloist The Jackson Soloist is an electric guitar model introduced by Jackson Guitars in 1984, although prototypes were available before then. The design is a typical "superstrat"; it varies from a typical Stratocaster because of its neck-thru design; t ...

rather than his usual

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...

. Despite its success, he has since expressed his disdain for the album, calling it a "record company goof" and "a very sad sort of time" for him. "Ambitious" had a notable presence on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

shortly after the album's release, primed by a phenomenon of the era that saw a brief run of multiple

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s within the same video. The only common thread among these was a young Hasid who seemed to be completely lacking in situational awareness. The main gag in this piece is

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and go ...

trying to land a major audition. The CD edition of ''Flash'' included two bonus tracks, "Nighthawks" and "Back on the Streets", which were originally released as

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. Another track from the album's recording sessions, " Wild Thing" (a cover of

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", " With a Girl Like You" and " Love Is All Around", all ...

), was released only as a

promo single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

and never on the album,"Jeff Beck – Wild Thing"

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

. Retrieved 31 March 2020. but would later be featured on Beck's 1991 compilation album ''

Beckology ''Beckology'' by guitarist Jeff Beck was released in 1991 as a 3 CD career retrospective. Beckology covers the work of a guitarist widely acknowledged as one of the most influential and gifted exponents of the electric guitar, from early days ...

''.

Critical reception

''Flash'' has received mixed reviews.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

gave it three stars out of five and described "People Get Ready" as "a fine performance".

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

at ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' called the album "one of Beck's best ever" and praised it as having "awesome guitar prowess and startling commercial daring", but remarked that the collaborations with Rodgers and Baker "almost don't work".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

at ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' gave it a 'B' grade, labelling it as "funk-metal fusion" and "the best LP of eck'spathologically spotty career"; the latter due to Rodgers' production.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals (tracks 6, 8), guitar, producer (tracks 3, 4, 9, 11) *

Jimmy Hall Jimmy Hall (born April 26, 1949) is the American lead singer and harmonica player for the Southern rock group, Wet Willie. Hall was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and reared in Mobile, Alabama. He first gained notoriety in 1970 as the lead vocalis ...

– lead vocals (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 10), backing vocals *

– lead vocals (track 4) * Karen Lawrence – lead vocals (track 11) *

–

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

(track 3) * Tony Hymas – keyboard (track 9), producer (track 9) *Duane Hitchings – keyboard *

Robert Sabino Robert Sabino is an American rock keyboardist.(14 July 1996)Star Turns From a Home in the Firehouse ''The New York Times'' ("Mr. Sabino, a well-known keyboardist, attracted a record producer, Nile Rodgers, who lived in Fairfield County, to some o ...

– keyboard *

Carmine Appice Carmine Appice ( , born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is also Vinny Appice's ...

– drums *Jimmy Bralower – drums *Barry DeSouza – drums * Tony "Thunder" Smith – drums *Jay Burnett – percussion *

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bass player, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang ...

– bass *Tina B – backing vocals *Curtis King – backing vocals *David Simms – backing vocals *Frank Simms – backing vocals *George Simms – backing vocals *David Spinner – backing vocals Technical * David Charles – engineering *Jason Corsaro – engineering *Eddie DeLena – engineering *Rob Eaton – engineering *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

– engineering *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– engineering *Eric Mohler – engineering *Tony Tavener – engineering *Nigel Walker – engineering *Andy Wallace – engineering *

– producer (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10) * Arthur Baker – producer (tracks 2, 7)

Charts

Album

Singles

Awards

Notes

References

{{Authority control Jeff Beck albums 1985 albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Nile Rodgers Albums produced by Arthur Baker (musician) Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance