YES- Fly From Here - The Return Trip

[marblesmike]

Burning Shed has the vinyl up for sale now.

[Mister Triscuits]

Burning Shed has the vinyl up for sale now.

As well as a picture disc LP and a book of related Roger Dean artwork on postcards.

[Top Cat]

LOL....
I'm pretty sure all those items were already available on the Pledge site for purchase. Got to clear the inventory as they say.
And yes, they say a GIF can say a thousand words.

[iguana]

so finally got round to getting it. my verdict: i prefer original version by an intercontinental runway’s length. BD’s vocals carry far more warmth and empathy and the partial loss of howe’s exceptional steel guitar flights throughout the ending of “sad night” are a travesty beyond words. i have the original BUGGLES version and losing this not inconsiderable element of YESification is just plain wrong. “madman” was a high point of the original FFH but forfeits much its intrinsic [sic] drama and suspense that the band conveyed by merely performing the track by all these superfluous production gadgetry that horn continues to be so keen on (otherwise the high point on other projects). while the grating “eyeeeeah”’s in “the man you […]” were annoying enough on an otherwise rather pleasant and heartfelt track now they are bordering on the ridiculous as horn gets away re-enacting his creepiest mickey mouse impression. “don’t take no” is H&E material (hence: feeble and undercooked), but i have always liked the extended version of “hour of need” which serves as a late and coy reminder of alan white’s erstwhile rocksteady greatness. however – once more – the blend of howe’s and david’s vocals was much more easy on these ears.

that is all there is to be said from my end … while i do get the sentiment behind this, given horn’s centrality to all of this material, “return trip” lays forth one more version of the problem that YES has had for a number of albums now: losing the plot and transferring responsibility to a single person for guidance and salvaging which often results in complete artistic hegemony. ask rabin, elias, anderson et al. – and be sure to add sherwood to this list soon if you haven’t already. horn has done a backwards somersault and has buggled a YES record instead of the other way round.

it's not a YES album. it's a YES project. it's a strong b(r)and. that is its problem.

[Top Cat]

so finally got round to getting it. my verdict: i prefer original version by an intercontinental runway’s length. BD’s vocals carry far more warmth and empathy and the partial loss of howe’s exceptional steel guitar flights throughout the ending of “sad night” are a travesty beyond words. i have the original BUGGLES version and losing this not inconsiderable element of YESification is just plain wrong. “madman” was a high point of the original FFH but forfeits much its intrinsic [sic] drama and suspense that the band conveyed by merely performing the track by all these superfluous production gadgetry that horn continues to be so keen on (otherwise the high point on other projects). while the grating “eyeeeeah”’s in “the man you […]” were annoying enough on an otherwise rather pleasant and heartfelt track now they are bordering on the ridiculous as horn gets away re-enacting his creepiest mickey mouse impression. “don’t take no” is H&E material (hence: feeble and undercooked), but i have always liked the extended version of “hour of need” which serves as a late and coy reminder of alan white’s erstwhile rocksteady greatness. however – once more – the blend of howe’s and david’s vocals was much more easy on these ears.

that is all there is to be said from my end … while i do get the sentiment behind this, given horn’s centrality to all of this material, “return trip” lays forth one more version of the problem that YES has had for a number of albums now: losing the plot and transferring responsibility to a single person for guidance and salvaging which often results in complete artistic hegemony. ask rabin, elias, anderson et al. – and be sure to add sherwood to this list soon if you haven’t already. horn has done a backwards somersault and has buggled a YES record instead of the other way round.

it's not a YES album. it's a YES project. it's a strong b(r)and. that is its problem.

I love both versions. There are times Horn sounds like Benoit David and other times Benoit David sounds like Horn.
It's a wonderful well written album full of melody, textures and typical high stand performance by Yes members.
As a Trevor Horn fan(producer, writer, performer), it's a nice window into his vision of how the piece should've sounded years ago.

To be honest, sometimes when I'm listening to one or the other, it's hard for me to tell which version I put on.

[SunshipVoyager1976]

I like 'em both for different reasons. As I never wanted an Anderson- esque tribute band singer in the lead vocal spot (this despite my admission that he is technically a better singer than TH), the quirkiness of Horn's voice (and the continuity/ connection to Drama it brings with it) gives the slight edge to Return Trip for me. I like Horn's production tricks as well.. either way, a highly pleasant album that I was never going to see as anything more than a late career curiosity anyway.

[julioscissors]

I also enjoy both versions. I think Horn brings an earnestness to the vocals, especially for the ones the old Buggles tracks. However, David does an excellent job on the original - very crisp clean vocals. His version of "Into the Storm" is the superior one, but for "Life on a Film Set" and the first two movements of "Fly From Here" I prefer Horn.

I'm happy to have both. "Fly From Here" is I think the best modern Yes album, and one of the few post-Drama releases that I listen to on a regular basis.

[floyd umma gumma]

Now that I've had a few years to digest the original FFH, and several months to consider Return Trip - I do think it is one of the better Yes records of the past 25 - 30 years. As time passes, H&E seems more and more to me like something that should not have come out until they had some better material. Now it's starting to look like ARW can't seem to create much in the way of new music, so perhaps FFH is the last strong statement by any version of that band. A lot of folks keep clamoring for a new Yes record, but I don't think they should put anything out if it's going to be on par with H&E. Whether it's ARW or the official Yes - if they are going to put something out, they should sit down and listen to Yessongs for a few days first, and remember that they were a great rock band at one time.

[yamishogun]

Now it's starting to look like ARW can't seem to create much in the way of new music, so perhaps FFH is the last strong statement by any version of that band.

Wakeman said in February that ARW/Yesf will release an EP while Anderson later talked about an album for next year. I've thought since 2016 and even more so in 2017 that it is likely that YesF will be the ones to have the last strong Yes album. I don't think YesO can pull it off given what happened with H&E but hope springs eternal.

[Paulrus]

...and remember that they were a great rock band at one time.

Emphasis mine. When's the last time this band really rocked? The curse of aging, I suppose. The Chris Squire Experiment were ferocious as a live act. Then they handed the material to Jon Anderson who imbued it with magical wonderment and completely neutered it in the process. Seems like Steve Howe has lost the plot regarding being a rock musician as well.

[julioscissors]

I don't think YesO can pull it off given what happened with H&E but hope springs eternal.

I trust Rabin and Anderson to do something worth listening to. Davison can also write really good songs - "Salvation Station" and "Dear Daddy" were amazing with Glass Hammer, but I was disappointed with what he did with Yes. My guess is it wasn't him, but his writing partners on Heaven & Earth.

[aith01]

I trust Rabin and Anderson to do something worth listening to. Davison can also write really good songs - "Salvation Station" and "Dear Daddy" were amazing with Glass Hammer, but I was disappointed with what he did with Yes. My guess is it wasn't him, but his writing partners on Heaven & Earth.

I feel exactly the same way.

[Koreabruce]

My guess is it wasn't him, but his writing partners on Heaven & Earth.

Possibly. But was Davison writing the lyrics on H&E? I'm one of those few who actually likes a majority of that album, but it also has to be one of the most cliche-ridden collections of song lyrics I've heard in years.

[Dan Roth]

In a new wide-ranging interview, Trevor Horn was asked about the Return Trip album:

Q: Why did you get Fly From Here deleted in favour of a new version with your voice instead of Benoit David, and will it ever be commercially available?

Horn: It is commercially available! You just have to contact the right website. Why was it deleted – I redid it because the band asked me to. I think they had a difficult experience with Benoit.

[Sean]

I think Benoit had a difficult experience with them as well.

[abhorsen]

True on both accounts but the album with Benoit's vocals is much better than the album Horn sings over. Just my opinion. I have enjoyed the original since release. Maybe it has to do with liking the natural sound of BD's voice as heard in his excellent band Mystery, but FFH was of its time, refelctive of that band and his three plus years as of the release. The album sounds like it was written for his vocal range. Horn produced and did a great job as he usually does behind the desk. To wait a number of years and then decide let the singer from Drama record his voice over what he has already produced just seemed like a needless bath in nostalgia, needless regret and Benoit washing. Just unecessary. But heck, it's truly Steve's band after Chris died and Steve does what he will.

as long as we are on the subject, however, it is interesting to me to imagine Rick Wakeman using his GFTO/Tormato era rigs (even the Birotron!) to record over all the keys played on the 80's YesWest albums with Rabin and Kaye handling the keys originally.

[Top Cat]

Who cares if there are two versions, as a Benoit David AND Trevor Horn fan I enjoy both of the versions and own the new version on vinyl(and digital download).
I love the Drama album with Horn and to me this was a continuation of it.
At any point I may grab one over the other and play it.
It's funny tho, in the classic sense of Yes music, I don't think of it as a Yes album. It's like the illegitimate child of the band. You still love it, but not sure where it fits. lol

Artists usually feel the final version is never the best and if given the opportunity to redo it years down the road, many will grab the chance.
The band took to Pledge to see what the interest was and they had enough support to go forward with the project which basically was Horn muting the David tracks and recording his vocals, then remixing.

I wasn't aware Horn deleted anything. The pressings of the first version were all they did and it costs money to do a second, third, fourth run. If sales were slow towards the end of the last run it makes no business sense to spend the money. But maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by Horn deleting or I missed some news story about the album where Horn callously rid the world of of Benoit's vocals so he could insert his own instead.

We should all be thankful if we own the Benoit David version, just tell yourself you've got a collectors item.

[Steve983]

Its amazing how that world class producer Trevor Horn made his voice sound so great on The Return Trip when he couldn't sing a right note on the Drama tour

[revporl]

It's on Spotify now, if you didn't manage/want to buy a copy

I quite like it but prefer the Benoit one, just.

It sounds like what it is, a follow up to Drama, that came nearly 40 years later via quite a bit of age related wear and tear on the people who made it. All things considered, it's v good, and probably the last time we'll hear Alan White playing properly.

[Smörgåsbord]

It's on Spotify now,

At last...

[Flightwave]

I’m super late to this party, but it’s a truly magical album for me.

My son, who has sensory disorders, loves listening to the We Can Fly suite. We use the suite as exercise for his occupational therapy. We create a story loosely based on the lyrics and he always has so much fun riding on my shoulders as we pretend to fly. He turns 6 years old this weekend and wants to “perform” a section of it on piano. It’s basically just him banging away on the instrument but still fun and sweet to watch.

This album is personal to me on so many levels. The lyrics and musicianship are top notch from start to finish. An amazing release in my book. Thanks and love to everyone involved.

[Paulrus]

I’m super late to this party, but it’s a truly magical album for me.

My son, who has sensory disorders, loves listening to the We Can Fly suite. We use the suite as exercise for his occupational therapy. We create a story loosely based on the lyrics and he always has so much fun riding on my shoulders as we pretend to fly. He turns 6 years old this weekend and wants to “perform” a section of it on piano. It’s basically just him banging away on the instrument but still fun and sweet to watch.

This album is personal to me on so many levels. The lyrics and musicianship are top notch from start to finish. An amazing release in my book. Thanks and love to everyone involved.

Nice story... thanks for sharing (and it would be great to get this to the band somehow.)

[Soc Prof]

HDtracks.com has a 24 bit/44.1 download available. It sound excellent, especially Howe's acoustic guitar playing.

[Sean]

I’m super late to this party, but it’s a truly magical album for me.

My son, who has sensory disorders, loves listening to the We Can Fly suite. We use the suite as exercise for his occupational therapy. We create a story loosely based on the lyrics and he always has so much fun riding on my shoulders as we pretend to fly. He turns 6 years old this weekend and wants to “perform” a section of it on piano. It’s basically just him banging away on the instrument but still fun and sweet to watch.

This album is personal to me on so many levels. The lyrics and musicianship are top notch from start to finish. An amazing release in my book. Thanks and love to everyone involved.

That's such a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing it!

[chescorph]

Great story, I bet members of Yes would love hearing it....ah, the power of music!