Jon Anderson - Song of Seven Remaster

[fiberman]

I got Jon to sign this and CTTE at a record store promotion in 1981 outside of Philadelphia and he was most gracious. Also my favorite solo record of his.

And I'm sure Ed Sciaky was not far away.

[arturs]

Bonus tracks aside this is one of my favorite albums of all time.

So7 has been a real grower for me. I bought it possibly on the same record-buying trip when I bought Drama. To my teenage ears Drama was a great manly man album. Something I could proudly play for all my Sab and Zep-loving friends. They all liked it BTW. But So7? No way I was gonna play that for my fellow 9th grade headbangers. Way too wimpy.

Over the years though its low-key magic won me over. I can't say So7 is a better album than Olias, but it more soulful and more immediate. Animation continued the streak of winning albums for Mr. Anderson. And then of course he re-joined Yes and (some of the) rest is history.

[floyd umma gumma]

Is this strictly a CD - format? I assume digital as well - but I don't see any mention of vinyl.

If they produce a vinyl version I would buy that, my original copy is a bit worn. Now that vinyl is (once again) outselling CD's I would think most re-issues would include the LP format

[yesstiles]

The title track is Jon's songwriting pinnacle as a solo artist. I would pay hundreds to have heard a Yes version of it with contributions from Howe. Wowzers.

Works now.

Darn it. Every time I click on it the page just says "This site can’t be reached"

[Dan Roth]

Is this strictly a CD - format? I assume digital as well - but I don't see any mention of vinyl.

If they produce a vinyl version I would buy that, my original copy is a bit worn. Now that vinyl is (once again) outselling CD's I would think most re-issues would include the LP format

I would think that if there was a vinyl reissue here, it would be listed on the Esoteric site. Does Esoteric even press up vinyl for their reissues? I don’t recall seeing any amongst their various releases.

[Halmyre]

Lol - "five or ten minute medley" -
4 To Be Over
5 Perpetual Change
6 The Prophet
7 Long Distance Runaround
8 Wonderous Stories
9 Rejoice
10 I've Seen All Good People
11 The Revealing Science Of God
12 The Remembering
13 Ritual
Even if they'd given only one minute for each, they'd have struggled to squeeze it into 10 minutes! If you check out any of the bootlegs from the tour, the medley is a around 25-30 minutes.

I had a ticket for the Edinburgh gig - either the night before, or the night after, I guess. For the first & only time in my life, I bought the first ticket - front row, centre. I loved Song of Seven, & was so excited for the gig...

...only to find out there was a good reason that I got the first ticket - more or less nobody else in Edinburgh was interested in the gig, leading to its cancellation at the last minute, due to lack of ticket sales.

: I have to confess, at the time I hadn't heard Tales from Topographic Oceans or Relayer, so all I recognised was the more well-known stuff. Hang my head in shame.

Can't remember how big the crowd was at the Apollo.

[Steve983]

My first ever gig was on the Song of Seven tour at The Royal Albert Hall in 1980 with Jon so this album holds a special place for me. The hall was full as far as I recall although I remember that some of the gigs were cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. Although my old cd sounds pretty good I am tempted to get this new one. After all, I've bought all the Yes albums about 6 times anyway so why not this one

[Nearfest2]

What we really want is Olias, I still have my 25 year old Japanese import of that which does need an upgrade. Word is that SW is remixing it but don't know that's fact or fantasy.

Well, there's the SACD version: https://www.amazon.com/OLIAS-SUNHILL.../dp/B00HB54FUS

[bondegezou]

What we really want is Olias, I still have my 25 year old Japanese import of that which does need an upgrade. Word is that SW is remixing it but don't know that's fact or fantasy.

Anderson said that he's talked to Wilson and he wants Wilson to do a 5.1 remix of Olias. He didn't say whether Wilson agreed! So it's somewhere between fantasy and fact.

Henry

[Farpoint Kevin]

I have to admit, I really enjoyed about 2/3 of this album....Haven't listened to it in forever. I guess it's time to dig the CD out and give it a spin.

[per anporth]

My first ever gig was on the Song of Seven tour at The Royal Albert Hall in 1980 with Jon so this album holds a special place for me. The hall was full as far as I recall although I remember that some of the gigs were cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. Although my old cd sounds pretty good I am tempted to get this new one. After all, I've bought all the Yes albums about 6 times anyway so why not this one

I'm guessing that you know that there's a decent (but not complete) bootleg of this show? - from a BBC recording, broadcast on Alan Freeman's Saturday afternoon show on Radio 1...

[Steve983]

I'm guessing that you know that there's a decent (but not complete) bootleg of this show? - from a BBC recording, broadcast on Alan Freeman's Saturday afternoon show on Radio 1...

Yes thanks, one of the guys at Yesfans even designed a nice cover for it too.

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[Steve983]

Anderson said that he's talked to Wilson and he wants Wilson to do a 5.1 remix of Olias. He didn't say whether Wilson agreed! So it's somewhere between fantasy and fact.

Henry

Haha! Nothing new there then. Actually I would be happy with a good remaster, I love SW'S remixes but the mastering or lack of often sounds flat.

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[JJ88]

ISTR Wilson is a big fan of Olias. But who knows if the multi-tracks even still exist.

[Fracktured]

And I'm sure Ed Sciaky was not far away.

If this was the signing he did in king of Prussia I was there but don’t remember Ed being there.

[Sunlight Caller]

I'm guessing that you know that there's a decent (but not complete) bootleg of this show? - from a BBC recording, broadcast on Alan Freeman's Saturday afternoon show on Radio 1...

It’s a shame this cannot be added as a bonus disc, it really is a good recording and performance. I saw the show at The Birmingham Odeon, and to my distant recall it was pretty well attended. I saw Drama there around the same time and it too had a good turnout, but there was some animosity to the then misunderstood Buggles chaps, which was quite horrible to hear. I thought both gigs were great for what it’s worth.

[Steve983]

It’s a shame this cannot be added as a bonus disc, it really is a good recording and performance. I saw the show at The Birmingham Odeon, and to my distant recall it was pretty well attended. I saw Drama there around the same time and it too had a good turnout, but there was some animosity to the then misunderstood Buggles chaps, which was quite horrible to hear. I thought both gigs were great for what it’s worth.

Same for me, I saw Yes for the first time shortly after at Lewisham in South London, the audience were rather hostile it could be said. Poor old Trevor, he couldn't sing one right note!

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[Paulrus]

It’s a shame this cannot be added as a bonus disc, it really is a good recording and performance. I saw the show at The Birmingham Odeon, and to my distant recall it was pretty well attended. I saw Drama there around the same time and it too had a good turnout, but there was some animosity to the then misunderstood Buggles chaps, which was quite horrible to hear. I thought both gigs were great for what it’s worth.

You UK chaps were lucky to see that tour (although it sounds like there was crap promotion.) We US west-coasters had to wait til the Animation tour before seeing post-Yes Jon.

But the first time I heard anything off SoS was 1980 and our SoCal cable TV service was including "Days" as part of their menu background music playlist. I immediately recognized Jon's voice and tracked down the album. I think I bought it and Yesshows.

[Steve983]

You UK chaps were lucky to see that tour (although it sounds like there was crap promotion.) We US west-coasters had to wait til the Animation tour before seeing post-Yes Jon.

But the first time I heard anything off SoS was 1980 and our SoCal cable TV service was including "Days" as part of their menu background music playlist. I immediately recognized Jon's voice and tracked down the album. I think I bought it and Yesshows.

Yes although of course Jon never played any more solo uk gigs for a long long time. Ah, I remember buying Yesshows between Christmas and new year late 1980 as a us import, got it sooner than the UK release I think, love that album, especially Gates where the audience just roars it's delight at the end.

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[JJ88]

I was re-listening to late 70s/early 80s Yes yesterday so I'll give this another listen.

The missing link between Tormato and Drama/Song Of Seven are those Paris sessions (some of which is still unreleased). I don't really rate any of that stuff and think Drama was far superior. Although the credits on Drama are kind of interesting, given 'Run Through The Light' and 'Does It Really Happen' originate from when Anderson/Wakeman were still there.

[per anporth]

Those Paris session recordings are dreadful... About the clearest thing you can hear is the hastening of a band's falling apart by a wholly inappropriate producer!

[happytheman]

I'm guessing that you know that there's a decent (but not complete) bootleg of this show? - from a BBC recording, broadcast on Alan Freeman's Saturday afternoon show on Radio 1...

Here's the Yes medley folks are talking about.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWbugbsgAk
The Medley including;
a. To Be Over
b. Perpetual Change
c. The Prophet
d. Long Distance Runaround
e. Wonderous Stories
f. Rejoice
g. I've Seen All Good People (Pt 1)
h. Revealing Science Of God
i. I've Seen All Good People (Pt 2)
j. The Remembering - High The Memory
k. Ritual - Nous Sommes du Soleil

[Unfrankie Valli]

Olias was the one-off magnum opus so I accepted Song of Seven on its own terms straight away. It was on one of a handful of cassettes I took with me for my first year at college and I just about wore it out.
I loved "God you know he wears a blue T-shirt too / With God inscribed in heaven on both sides", and still do. It's typical head-in-the-clouds but down-to-earth funny Jon.

[SunshipVoyager1976]

Those Paris session recordings are dreadful... About the clearest thing you can hear is the hastening of a band's falling apart by a wholly inappropriate producer!

Whom they re-hired to co-produce "Heaven and Earth"- their worst album (IMHO)- coincidence?

Probably. 😜

[Steve983]

Those Paris session recordings are dreadful... About the clearest thing you can hear is the hastening of a band's falling apart by a wholly inappropriate producer!

They just didn't have any decent songs and were falling out with each other, they should have just taken a year off.