Flying Circus
Seasons 25

Time flies, it is now over 25 years, quarter of a century, since the debut album of German band Flying Circus was released back in 1997. To commemorate these years the band rerecorded the songs of that album and released Seasons 25, an album with a cover that has a different logo and placement of the title. It is also an album that shows a very updated sound compared with the debut despite the fact that the persons in the band aren’t that changed over the years – it is still something of a different band now with greyer hair and such. But what about the album, worthwhile or not?

Well, the differences will be obvious to anyone listening, in the CD-version I got the original in remastered version was included so I listened to them both and concluded that quite a lot is different from 25 years of evolvement. The most obvious is that the singer sounds better today, less of a typical rock voice. But there are many more things that differs, better tempo, more diverse, things like that. Their somewhat progressive hardrock is interesting and sounds better with a more powerful voice, a better production, and a more confident band, like what we hear on the reissue of Seasons. I actually put away the remastered debut quickly as the new one was a lot more interesting in every aspect, but of course this may be different if you have a relation to the original, which I don’t have.

I like the intro part of the first track Jewel City, such a nice way to introduce the album, and then to end it they reprise the same thing. They didn’t do that on the original, just one aspect that have improved the new version, another one is to make the title track acoustic. There are a few strong tracks, a few impressive moments on this album. I also like how the band actually updates the songs and not just rerecord the same thing today, that makes this album worthwhile as a celebrative release of their debut, 25 years is also a good time for reissuing an album, something I think should be done very restrictively.

As good as this album is, the previous album 1968 was a lot better, it isn’t a particularly memorable album. It is one that doesn’t remain in my consciousness, and a good album should do that. Fans of the band will probably find this one very interesting, and a good showcase from the band, and I don’t doubt that many will find this one quite interesting. It has a fresh, yet nostalgic feel that can be quite appealing – it can certainly be worth checking out, but don’t expect it to blow you away.

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