A Retro-Review: Yes
I would like to take a departure from my usual writings.
...come to think of it, I don't know that I have "usual" at this point in my blog.
Anyway, I wanted to do a music review.
It has to do with the most recent entry from the band Yes (remember them from the 80's?), entitled Fly From Here. Though it came out in 2011, I thought I might offer something of a retro-review.
If you have kept up with their career over the years, you will be aware of the fact that the roster for this band is huge. With the exception of Chris Squire, the bass player, there is no one who has appeared on every album, and that catalogue is extensive, going back to their first record, simply entitled Yes in 1969.
In 1980, the longtime front man, Jon Anderson, left the band. Pushing forward, the remaining members added to their mix Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes. The album the created, Drama was one of those that I found quite enjoyable musically. Squire's bass playing excelled with some fantastic riffs on "Does It Really Happen" and "Tempus Fugit" and while the vocals weren't as typical as Anderson's, they still had a Yes sound about them. From all I have read, the only problem was that on tour, the new lineup couldn't hit those high notes that Anderson seemed to do so easily.
The next Yes album was 90125 in 1983, which ushered in the Trevor Rabin years and produced some great music.
After Rabin's departure, Yes seemed to keep trying to capture their old sound. Albums like The Ladder had echoes of the pre-Rabin Yes, but they never quite seemed to hit the mark. Their last album with Anderson, Magnification had some high points, but whenever a progressive band brings in an orchestra, it seems as if they are trying the "new" idea that everyone else has tried before (and Yes had already had an orchestral take on their music on the album Symphonic Music of Yes in 1993). Peter Gabriel, as a case in point, has released his own music with an orchestra backing him on the album New Blood and Scratch My Back. But there, as with Metallica, the point was to recreate the old music with a new sound. Yes tried to compose an album with the orchestra as the instrumentation for their sound on a new album. In some places it worked, but it wasn't spectacular I hate to say.
Then Fly From Here emerged.
To my ears, it sounds remarkably like the album Yes might have done had Trevor Rabin not been brought in to the mix. It certainly has the feel of a follow up to Drama (perhaps because Downes and Horn return, though in slightly different capacities), and Benoit David.
The sound of the album is a bit more acoustic and keyboard driven than Drama, but it has its moments, such as "Fly From Here pt.1". The song "The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be" sounds very much like a follow up to Magnification's "Can You Imagine" with Squire at the vocal helm. I find his voice to bring a different level of emotion to the mix - though a strong backing vocalist, I enjoy his front man work with Yes.
The acoustic element isn't new to Yes. But the emphasis on it seems to be a bit more than usual. Fly From Here certainly doesn't have the drive of "Machine Messiah" or "The Calling." In some ways, the fat, full sound of "The Calling" or the 90125 music is notably absent. And it is hard to recapture the lyrics from songs like "Close to the Edge", "Siberian Khatru." Those things I do miss. But, as Eddie Van Halen once said, "If you want to hear the old stuff, go home and listen to it." So, keeping in mind I can always listen to the old stuff, I am pleased when the 'new' stuff brings both a sense of continuity and a freshness to it instead of a caricature of the band, as so often happens.
The album returns to the idea of the long Yes songs with the "Fly From Here" songs - broken up into six parts with a conclusion in the last song, "Into the Storm." The "Fly From Here" songs tell a bittersweet story of emotions and relationships via an empty airport. The imagery is well communicated, and the empty night airport is a vivid scene, with the idea of flying away from it all a metaphor of both hope and slight desperation.
The entry that I found weakest was "Solitaire." Though Steve Howe has had instrumental pieces on Yes albums before, this one almost felt like a placeholder. After I listened to it, I thought that it was 'nice' but I would have liked to have heard more from the larger band. Especially since "Solitaire" is placed on the heels of "Hour of Need", which while far softer from the Drama days, is a great entry into the harmony and blend that Yes can still accomplish.
Yes is never predictable, but it is nice to listen to Fly From Here because it does echo the style and creativity that was Yes 'way back when.' In many ways, this album returns to elements in Drama. It also serves as a nice encore to the long show that is the musical history of Yes.
I have read that Yes is talking about a new album. Being the fan that I am, I look forward to that possibility. But if they never do, Fly From Here is a good ending to a long, creative, and imaginative endeavor by a talented group of musicians.
...come to think of it, I don't know that I have "usual" at this point in my blog.
Anyway, I wanted to do a music review.
It has to do with the most recent entry from the band Yes (remember them from the 80's?), entitled Fly From Here. Though it came out in 2011, I thought I might offer something of a retro-review.
If you have kept up with their career over the years, you will be aware of the fact that the roster for this band is huge. With the exception of Chris Squire, the bass player, there is no one who has appeared on every album, and that catalogue is extensive, going back to their first record, simply entitled Yes in 1969.
In 1980, the longtime front man, Jon Anderson, left the band. Pushing forward, the remaining members added to their mix Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes. The album the created, Drama was one of those that I found quite enjoyable musically. Squire's bass playing excelled with some fantastic riffs on "Does It Really Happen" and "Tempus Fugit" and while the vocals weren't as typical as Anderson's, they still had a Yes sound about them. From all I have read, the only problem was that on tour, the new lineup couldn't hit those high notes that Anderson seemed to do so easily.
The next Yes album was 90125 in 1983, which ushered in the Trevor Rabin years and produced some great music.
After Rabin's departure, Yes seemed to keep trying to capture their old sound. Albums like The Ladder had echoes of the pre-Rabin Yes, but they never quite seemed to hit the mark. Their last album with Anderson, Magnification had some high points, but whenever a progressive band brings in an orchestra, it seems as if they are trying the "new" idea that everyone else has tried before (and Yes had already had an orchestral take on their music on the album Symphonic Music of Yes in 1993). Peter Gabriel, as a case in point, has released his own music with an orchestra backing him on the album New Blood and Scratch My Back. But there, as with Metallica, the point was to recreate the old music with a new sound. Yes tried to compose an album with the orchestra as the instrumentation for their sound on a new album. In some places it worked, but it wasn't spectacular I hate to say.
Then Fly From Here emerged.
To my ears, it sounds remarkably like the album Yes might have done had Trevor Rabin not been brought in to the mix. It certainly has the feel of a follow up to Drama (perhaps because Downes and Horn return, though in slightly different capacities), and Benoit David.
The sound of the album is a bit more acoustic and keyboard driven than Drama, but it has its moments, such as "Fly From Here pt.1". The song "The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be" sounds very much like a follow up to Magnification's "Can You Imagine" with Squire at the vocal helm. I find his voice to bring a different level of emotion to the mix - though a strong backing vocalist, I enjoy his front man work with Yes.
The acoustic element isn't new to Yes. But the emphasis on it seems to be a bit more than usual. Fly From Here certainly doesn't have the drive of "Machine Messiah" or "The Calling." In some ways, the fat, full sound of "The Calling" or the 90125 music is notably absent. And it is hard to recapture the lyrics from songs like "Close to the Edge", "Siberian Khatru." Those things I do miss. But, as Eddie Van Halen once said, "If you want to hear the old stuff, go home and listen to it." So, keeping in mind I can always listen to the old stuff, I am pleased when the 'new' stuff brings both a sense of continuity and a freshness to it instead of a caricature of the band, as so often happens.
The album returns to the idea of the long Yes songs with the "Fly From Here" songs - broken up into six parts with a conclusion in the last song, "Into the Storm." The "Fly From Here" songs tell a bittersweet story of emotions and relationships via an empty airport. The imagery is well communicated, and the empty night airport is a vivid scene, with the idea of flying away from it all a metaphor of both hope and slight desperation.
The entry that I found weakest was "Solitaire." Though Steve Howe has had instrumental pieces on Yes albums before, this one almost felt like a placeholder. After I listened to it, I thought that it was 'nice' but I would have liked to have heard more from the larger band. Especially since "Solitaire" is placed on the heels of "Hour of Need", which while far softer from the Drama days, is a great entry into the harmony and blend that Yes can still accomplish.
Yes is never predictable, but it is nice to listen to Fly From Here because it does echo the style and creativity that was Yes 'way back when.' In many ways, this album returns to elements in Drama. It also serves as a nice encore to the long show that is the musical history of Yes.
I have read that Yes is talking about a new album. Being the fan that I am, I look forward to that possibility. But if they never do, Fly From Here is a good ending to a long, creative, and imaginative endeavor by a talented group of musicians.
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