Progressive Savage

Maiden Voyage by Flagship

After first listening to Flagship’s Maiden Voyage I considered it a pretty lousy recording instead of a highly praised album I’ve read about. But somehow I kept coming back to this CD and in time I even begun to like it. Obviously I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece of symphonic prog–maybe because of lack of any substantial experience with the genre–but rather a funny crossover prog, somehow similar to Metal Majesty or Gamma Ray’s pop-like songs from Power Plant (It’s A Sin and Heavy Metal Universe, or rather Happy Metal Universe, for example).

On a strict instrumental level Maiden Voyage is a rich, well thought out and really interesting keyboard-driven album with the omnipresent piano (yay!). The impression of seriousness is broken by occasional chirpy musical theme–like the one in the middle of Heart is the Center–and cliched lyrics combined with frivolous vocal lines, which is precisely what at first put me off but later captivated me, making me come back to this CD again and again. Just listen to the refrain parts of You are and The Throne, which happened to be my two favorite tracks of the album and you’ll know what I mean. Come to think about it, the refrain of The Throne sounds quite like Unitopia’s Don’t Give up Love.

Unfortunately the most praised song, Ground Zero, guest starring Kerry Livgren from Kansas is in my opinion the weakest track of this album. Christian Rivel’s voice doesn’t sound as well as on other tracks and Per Hallman’s vocal appearance doesn’t help at all. The way the chorus “waiting for ground zero” is sung simply irritates me and song’s slow pace bores. It’s the only track on this album that I tend to skip, which by itself is said ’cause it makes this not-so-long recording (47 minutes) even shorter.

To sum it up, I’d say Maiden Voyage is a good listening as long as you’re not taking it too serious. Also, it may require some time before you’ll begin to appreciate the work done here. I like listening to this album when I’m in mood for some cheerful songs and want to give myself a break from pompous or sometimes grave recordings in my musical collection. I usually play it along with Gamma Ray’s Power Plant and enjoy pop-like compositions in more symphonic/rock arrangements.

Country: Sweden
Released: 2005
Website: www.flagship.se
Line-up: Carl Johan Grimmark (electric lead & rhythm guitars), Christian Rivel (vocals), Per Hallman (backing vocals, lead vocals on Ground Zero), Kristofer Eng (bass), Mick Nordström (drums), Linus Kase (keyboards & backing vocals)
Guests: Kerry Livgren (guitar solo Ground Zero), Björn Klingvall (violin & viola), Michael Rank Jensen (acoustic guitars), Thomas Vikström (backing vocals)
Track list:

1. Heart is the Center 7:41
2. You are 6:53
3. The Throne 8:43
4. Hold on to Your Dream 6:38
5. Windy City 7:33
6. Ground Zero 9:39