YES- Fly From Here - The Return Trip

[abhorsen]

Everytime the suite gets to Bumpy Ride, I want that song to morph into something that sounds more like Silent Talking. Maybe the only song I really enjoy from Union.

[spacefreak]

Wow, they even photo-shopped Benoit David out of the group photo. That's cold man, just cold.

Unethical but had been done before. Remember Ozzy Osbourne erasing Daisley/Kerslake's contributions from his first two solo albums and rerecording them via replacements.

[bondegezou]

For sale on line now, cd, vinyl, download?

Yes to all formats. Pre-orders available now.

Henry

[bondegezou]

I haven't been following Yes for many years. What was the lineup that recorded the original version of the album and who is replacing whom?

In short: the band was Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Alan White and Benoit David. David's lead vocals have been re-done by Trevor Horn.

Henry

[PixelDelirium]

Yes to all formats. Pre-orders available now.

Henry

So, if I pre-order the CD version do I also get the download? It offers it as an add-on but there's no way I'm paying another $11 on top of the CD price. Every time I pre-order directly from the artist (or via Pledge/Kickstarter) it seems like I'm left waiting to get the thing after everyone else was able to buy it on the release day from Amazon or elsewhere.

[iguana]

alrighty... i was going to spew my most vitriolic abuse over this – also within the light of this all new photogate – but i slept on it and now i won't.

“fly from here” is not a YES album. it is a YES product. it is a YES project with the business goal to have a product out on which the YES brand and logo can be attached with aplomb and legitimacy. the band started out as something called “in the present” to celebrate YES’ 40th anniversary in 2008 sans JA and RW (for well known reasons). as such BD and OW only ever were added guests who, sadly, never managed to outgrow their added guest role, even when ITP was eventually morphed into a new YES early in 2009, legalities permitting. as such the band remained a solid touring attraction but artistically in disarray.

hence the undenied artifice which prevails in “ffh” – revamped BUGGLES creations, some member solo stuff and one “communal” band song, but enough to warrant the YES tag. it is misguided to argue that there was a unanimous longing to recreate the (largely benign) “drama” experience and use that to build a new style and structure for YES. apart from personal friendship horn cannot be that interested in it whereas downes will happily jump onto any project as long as it's viable. in my book it was merely a way out to finally have something new out and to reach a certain level of interestingness by revisiting a YES mode that (uncannily in this period in time) started to gather some late appraisal – and rightly so!

these are my opinions only – “ffh” is best viewed as the boardroom construction that is is, therefore not dissimilar to “union”. it's one of my favourite YES albums because it sounds purposeful. YES, of late, always had difficulties in envisaging an artistic purpose and, thus, went well enough with external assistance. “h&e” is more communal (although the reliance on davison’s songs is palpable) but also more directionless. i can live with it because it probably sounds like it is meant to sound. not my cuppa and that's ok.

i'll probably pick this up as a companion piece to “ffh” and “drama“. it helps to have long given up the fantasy that YES is a bond of kindred spirits creating their own heaven and earth. they're not.

a new track sung by howe – now there is something to look forward to …

[bondegezou]

So, if I pre-order the CD version do I also get the download? It offers it as an add-on but there's no way I'm paying another $11 on top of the CD price. Every time I pre-order directly from the artist (or via Pledge/Kickstarter) it seems like I'm left waiting to get the thing after everyone else was able to buy it on the release day from Amazon or elsewhere.

I don't know. What does it say on the PledgeMusic site?

[EDIT] Hold on, I don't understand. Why do you need a download if you get the CD? Can't you just put the CD in your computer?

Henry

[bondegezou]

In short: the band was Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Alan White and Benoit David. David's lead vocals have been re-done by Trevor Horn.

In long: in 2010, Yes were Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Oliver Wakeman and Benoît David. They started studio work on a new album with Tim Weidner producing, but with the twist that the band would re-visit the Drama-era song "We Can Fly from Here" with Trevor Horn producing and possibly singing. Horn and Geoff Downes had originally written the song and performed it with Yes in 1980.

Sessions progressed, but plans altered. By the beginning of 2011, Downes had replaced Wakeman on keys, Horn was producing the whole album (with Weidner engineering) and more Horn/Downes material from c. 1980 was being used, about half the album in the end. Horn prepared guide vocals for most or all of the album for David to follow, and Horn contributed backing vocals and a few bits of additional instrumental playing. One piece has Squire doing the lead vocals (with David doing backing vocals), one has David and Howe doing co-lead vocals, and there's an instrumental without vocals.

Horn then decided to re-visit the album. He's re-mixed it and recorded new lead vocals, although it's not clear whether that means for every track. David is retained in the mix on backing vocals. It seems likely that Squire and Howe's lead vocal turns remain, and there's a bonus track from 2011 sessions also with Howe on lead vocals. Downes and at least one other member has done some additional recordings too.

Henry

[Frumious B]

It’s a decent record all ready and I expect the new version to be an upgrade.

[bondegezou]

Well, since they've mixed out his vocals and added Trevor Horn's, why would Benoit David's photo need to be on the album? Was he involved in any of the writing process? I can't recall whether or not he had anything to do with the writing of "Into The Storm".

David co-wrote "Into the Storm", but nothing else on the album. Indeed, "Into the Storm" is the only track on the whole album that David can be said to be the original singer on. Everything else was sung by someone else first, or an instrumental.

Henry

[rdclark]

Everyone else seems to already know, but let me ask: How is Horn's voice sounding these days? I know he's young compared to, say, Jon Anderson, but not every senior citizen can still sing.

ETA: I just listened to this -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6jUBnfkw6Y -- and he was sounding kinda creaky in 2012. Is this new version of FFH being offered on its own merit, or an some sort of alternate-universe Yes, or as a Trevor Horn vanity project, or what?

[Frumious B]

Everyone else seems to already know, but let me ask: How is Horn's voice sounding these days? I know he's young compared to, say, Jon Anderson, but not every senior citizen can still sing.

ETA: I just listened to this -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6jUBnfkw6Y -- and he was sounding kinda creaky in 2012. Is this new version of FFH being offered on its own merit, or an some sort of alternate-universe Yes, or as a Trevor Horn vanity project, or what?

He’s Trevor Horn. The dude could probably record me singing Fly From Here and make it sound like I was a champ instead of a chump.

[Rand Kelly]

I think JA should re-record Drama.

I was praying for that for almost a decade passed 1980.

[battema]

FFH was my favorite Yes release since Keys 2. Very little about the album doesn't work for me, and the synth work flipped my impressions of Downes as a keyboardist 180 degrees.

Horn's voice was solid on the Producers album a few years back.

I can't say Bumpy Ride is my favorite Yes instrumental but I am not at all bothered by it, and am glad they kept it. In the context of FFH as a blend of prog with New Wave 80's, it feels right.

It's cool sometimes hearing alternate versions of old favorites, so this should be a fun, albeit hardly life-altering, listen.

I'm down for a copy

[Koreabruce]

I was praying for that for almost a decade passed 1980.

Haven't seen you around these parts for a while. Good to see you back again.

[strawberrybrick]

alrighty... i was going to spew my most vitriolic abuse over this – also within the light of this all new photogate – but i slept on it and now i won't.

“fly from here” is not a YES album. it is a YES product. it is a YES project with the business goal to have a product out on which the YES brand and logo can be attached with aplomb and legitimacy. the band started out as something called “in the present” to celebrate YES’ 40th anniversary in 2008 sans JA and RW (for well known reasons). as such BD and OW only ever were added guests who, sadly, never managed to outgrow their added guest role, even when ITP was eventually morphed into a new YES early in 2009, legalities permitting. as such the band remained a solid touring attraction but artistically in disarray.

hence the undenied artifice which prevails in “ffh” – revamped BUGGLES creations, some member solo stuff and one “communal” band song, but enough to warrant the YES tag. it is misguided to argue that there was a unanimous longing to recreate the (largely benign) “drama” experience and use that to build a new style and structure for YES. apart from personal friendship horn cannot be that interested in it whereas downes will happily jump onto any project as long as it's viable. in my book it was merely a way out to finally have something new out and to reach a certain level of interestingness by revisiting a YES mode that (uncannily in this period in time) started to gather some late appraisal – and rightly so!

these are my opinions only – “ffh” is best viewed as the boardroom construction that is is, therefore not dissimilar to “union”. it's one of my favourite YES albums because it sounds purposeful. YES, of late, always had difficulties in envisaging an artistic purpose and, thus, went well enough with external assistance. “h&e” is more communal (although the reliance on davison’s songs is palpable) but also more directionless. i can live with it because it probably sounds like it is meant to sound. not my cuppa and that's ok.

i'll probably pick this up as a companion piece to “ffh” and “drama“. it helps to have long given up the fantasy that YES is a bond of kindred spirits creating their own heaven and earth. they're not.

a new track sung by howe – now there is something to look forward to …

I don't think FFH is that disingenuous, but re-releasing Return Trip and billing it as "The Drama Lineup" does give Howe/Downes/White/ now Horne a countermove to ARW's recent claim on Yes. But as Henry noted, the title track does have roots in the Drama era of Yes, and given that the band had done little new recording since 2001's magnificent Magnification, it was a good move (in hindsight) for the band at the time to check in with Horn/Downes as a route forward. IMHO, of course.

[yamishogun]

FFH was my favorite Yes release since Keys 2. Very little about the album doesn't work for me,

I'd say Fly From Here is better than Keys 1 & 2. In terms of minutes of music that I like (would play often) from an album:

The Ladder - 45/60 = .75 ( just dislike If Only You Knew)

Fly From Here - 33/48 = .69 (FFH Suite, Into the Storm)
-------------------------------------
Magnification - 26/60 = .43 (Magnification, In the Presence Of)

Keys 1 & 2 - 30/74 = .41 (That, That Is)
-------------------------------------
OYE - 20/55 = .36 (Open Your Eyes)

H&E - 15/51 = .29 (The Game, Subway Halls)

This is almost how I'd rank the past six except like Keys 1&2 less than Magnification even though it seems like a tie, while in terms of intensity the bottom two really aren't as high for me as the minutes of songs I like suggests. I'd also take FFH over The Ladder because of the FFH suite.

[battema]

I'd say Fly From Here is better than Keys 1 & 2.

IMHO FFH is a vastly more cohesive album than either of the Keys albums; that said, I do rather like several of the tunes from Keys despite their shortcomings: Mind Drive, That That Is, Children of Light, Footprints, Bring Me to the Power.

The only track that I don't overall love on FFH is the guitar solo. It isn't bad but doesn't light my world afire. I love Hour of Need, Riding the Tiger, and about 50% each of Into the Storm & The Man You Yadda Yadda Be. And the only part of the suite I think doesn't work is the transition out of Bumpy Ride into the finale, which feels kind of like an obvious splice to my ears.

[JKL2000]

I think all I've heard Trevor Horn's voice on is Drama and Video Killed the Radio Star. On Drama, was he trying to sound like Jon Anderson? I'm sure in a way he was, unless he just sounds like him and that's the only way he can sing. So do you think on this re-issue he'll be trying to sound like Anderson? Probably even more so, because his voice has probably naturally deepened since Drama.

[Mister Triscuits]

photogate

photogate.jpg
Yes-Featured.jpg
YES with Trevor Horn_0177-1-2.jpg
YES-Fly-From-Here-Rob-Shanahan-hi-res_preview.jpg

[Koreabruce]

IMHO FFH is a vastly And the only part of the suite I think doesn't work is the transition out of Bumpy Ride into the finale, which feels kind of like an obvious splice to my ears.

This is exactly what I thought the first time I heard it. One would think a producer of Trevor Horn's calibre could've devised a much better transition at the point.

[Staun]

Battle of the replacements. I find this to be just another polite, well meaning and boring Yes album. In this case, imo, the singer, whoever he is, can't save the music so for me the point of all of this is lost. Maybe it proves the point at just how important JA was to this band. Not just the music but the whole idea of Yes. I hope Jon is getting a kick and a good laugh out of this. Another artifact showing just how far this band has fallen. Truly regrettable.

[yamishogun]

IMHO FFH is a vastly more cohesive album than either of the Keys albums; that said, I do rather like several of the tunes from Keys despite their shortcomings: Mind Drive, That That Is, Children of Light, Footprints, Bring Me to the Power.

The only track that I don't overall love on FFH is the guitar solo. It isn't bad but doesn't light my world afire. I love Hour of Need, Riding the Tiger, and about 50% each of Into the Storm & The Man You Yadda Yadda Be. And the only part of the suite I think doesn't work is the transition out of Bumpy Ride into the finale, which feels kind of like an obvious splice to my ears.

I'd say the same about Keys and FFH except I like all of "Into the Storm" and don't think "The Man You Yadda Yadda Be" fits on the album. The guitar solo doesn't add much so skip it. I listened to the Buggles version of "Riding the Tiger" so much a year before FFH came out that I listened to it only a couple of times on FFH, so that makes it a good but odd song for me on the album.

[battema]

Battle of the replacements. I find this to be just another polite, well meaning and boring Yes album. In this case, imo, the singer, whoever he is, can't save the music so for me the point of all of this is lost. Maybe it proves the point at just how important JA was to this band. Not just the music but the whole idea of Yes. I hope Jon is getting a kick and a good laugh out of this. Another artifact showing just how far this band has fallen. Truly regrettable.

I'd personally travel anywhere in the world and physically tackle Herr Anderson to the ground before I'd let him put his hippy dippy ultra-hypocritical positive vibe wankery all over FFH. For me, the album is superior in part (but not completely) due to his absence.

[battema]

I'd say the same about Keys and FFH except I like all of "Into the Storm" and don't think "The Man You Yadda Yadda Be" fits on the album. The guitar solo doesn't add much so skip it. I listened to the Buggles version of "Riding the Tiger" so much a year before FFH came out that I listened to it only a couple of times on FFH, so that makes it a good but odd song for me on the album.

Yeah, it's an interesting fit, Riding the Tiger. First half drags a bit for me, but the second half is just plain lovely. It's also one of the last real cases where I felt White's drums had some fire about them (outside of Levin/Torn/White).

Also...in retrospect, I don't think my 50% of Into the Storm was quite fair. It's actually a pretty darn good tune, but for me personally it doesn't quite connect as strongly as the other high points on the album. But I don't hate it half the time or anything