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Flash is the fifth studio album by guitarist Jeff Beck, released in July 1985 by Epic/CBS Records.[5] The album reached No. 39 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart[6] as well as reaching the top 60 in four other countries.[7]

Flash
Studio album by Jeff Beck
Released	July 1985 (1985-07)
Genre	Pop rock AOR hard rock instrumental rock
Length	41:09
Label	Epic/CBS
Producer	Jeff Beck Tony Hymas Nile Rodgers Arthur Baker
Jeff Beck chronology
There & Back (1980) Flash (1985) Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop (1989)
Singles from Flash
"Ambitious" / "Nighthawks" / "Escape" Released: 1985[1] "Gets Us All in the End" Released: 1985[2] "Stop, Look and Listen" / "You Know, We Know" Released: 1985[3] "People Get Ready" / "Back on the Streets" Released: 1985[4]

Two singles also charted, the first being a reunion with singer Rod Stewart (from the Jeff Beck Group) for a cover of "People Get Ready" by Curtis Mayfield/The Impressions, which reached No. 5 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock and No. 48 on the Hot 100, 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 "Escape" went on to win the award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1986 Grammys,[8][6] 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, save for two instrumentals in the form of "Escape" and "You Know, We Know", written by his longtime collaborators Jan Hammer and Tony Hymas respectively. Designed to be a foray into pop music in order to capitalise on that sound at the time, Flash was produced by Nile Rodgers 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.[9] "Ambitious" and "People Get Ready" feature a rare instance of Beck playing a Jackson Soloist rather than his usual Fender Stratocaster.[10] 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.[9][11]

"Ambitious" had a notable presence on MTV shortly after the album's release, primed by a phenomenon of the era that saw a brief run of multiple cameo appearances 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 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. Another track from the album's recording sessions, "Wild Thing" (a cover of The Troggs), was released only as a promo single and never on the album,[12] but would later be featured on Beck's 1991 compilation album Beckology.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Rolling Stone	Favourable[13]
The Village Voice	B[14]

Flash has received mixed reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic gave it three stars out of five and described "People Get Ready" as "a fine performance".[5] David Fricke at Rolling Stone 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".[13] Robert Christgau at The Village Voice gave it a 'B' grade, labelling it as "funk-metal fusion" and "the best LP of [Beck's] pathologically spotty career"; the latter due to Rodgers' production.[14]

Track listing

Personnel

Technical

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1985	Swedish albums chart	27[7]
	New Zealand albums chart	34[7]
	Billboard 200	39[6]
	Dutch albums chart	43[7]
	German albums chart	60[7]

Singles

Year	Title	Chart	Position
1985	"Gets Us All in the End"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	20[6]
	"People Get Ready"		5[6]
		Swedish singles chart	15[7]
		Belgian singles chart	22[7]
		Swiss singles chart	24[7]
		New Zealand singles chart	35[7]
		Billboard Hot 100	48[6]

Awards

Event	Title	Award	Result
1986 Grammys	"Escape"	Best Rock Instrumental Performance	Won[8]

Notes

References

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