New YES album "The Quest" out 1 Oct

[julioscissors]

It definitely is a step up from the H&E material, but after a couple of listens it sounds unfinished to me.

The good bits for me are Billy's playing and about half of Geoff's tones.

The drums sound sort of lethargic, I don't think Steve parts are particularly inventive - particularly those in the last half of the song.

I'm on the fence about Jon's melodic approach. I'll have to give it a few more listens to see if it clicks with me.

The outro is plodding and could've used some sort of crescendo or rising tension. Instead it's just sort of "there".

On the whole, it's OK. Maybe a bit better than I was expecting in places.

[Dan Roth]

In case anyone missed it, there is an actual video of it now, not just the audio.

[mozo-pg]

I like the video and the music sounds decent. I quite like Steve's contribution to the track. I wish Genesis would make the same effort to continue creating new music but that's obviously a pipe dream. I'd repeat that I can hear Steve all over this and it's a nice contribution. Geoff also sounds decent.

[Farpoint Kevin]

I just listened twice and I like it. I think a few more listens and the melodies will start to click. That's always been the case for me and Yes music. The first time I heard CTTE I thought it was pure chaos. Now it's possibly my favorite album of all time by anyone. So I'm willing to give this one a couple more listens. But my reaction from the beginning was good...I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'll leave it to others to describe what they think could have been done better, and I'll just dwell on the positive: Production sounds good to my ears. You can hear everything and nothing sounds thin or wimpy. Bass is driving and fun and drums are strong. Guitar tone is edgy and pleasant. I agree with others that Geoff does an outstanding job on the keys. And I love the lyrics...Never would have guessed I'd hear a song with "Snowflower Elder" in the lyrics and it wasn't sung by Jon Anderson. So, good job guys! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the album.

[Flightwave]

From Burning Shed:


Available as a limited deluxe glow in the dark double vinyl/2CD/Blu-ray boxset including slipmat, enamel badge, poster and 36-page booklet.

Also on very limited orange double vinyl (exclusive to Burning Shed), double black vinyl, double CD and double CD/blu-ray in an Artbook.

[bondegezou]

Yes, thanks for the correction - Benoit David.

For those unfamiliar with David Benoit:



Henry

[bondegezou]

Jay is a great drummer and his passion and energy are driving this song quite nicely.

Jay is a great drummer, but "The Ice Bridge" is all Alan White!

Henry

[bondegezou]

I don’t have the musical knowledge to discuss how melodies are constructed. I’d certainly like to learn more about it, but I have a feeling that much of the discussion would go over my head. Is there something Davison does that other musicians don’t typically do?

I think what I dislike about Davison’s vox is the lack of bite. Anderson has an urgency in his delivery that Davison lacks. It’s not a technical fault; it’s clearly a choice he makes.

As Jacob said, Anderson is a brilliant vocalist and melodist. Tough for anyone to follow him!

I'm not a musician, so I won't be good at answering this, but go to 0:40 in the track and Davison's opening lines. There's less instrumentation around him here, so easier to hear what's going on. Listen to his vocal melody. He's not singing the "obvious" melody of the song. In a number of places, he jumps to a much higher note. That's what we're talking about. He's also (deliberately) not quite on the rhythm.

Henry

[Top Cat]

Jay is a great drummer, but "The Ice Bridge" is all Alan White!

Henry

Thanks Henry, that's good news, because I think he sounds great on this.

[bondegezou]

The outro is plodding and could've used some sort of crescendo or rising tension. Instead it's just sort of "there".

I am very much enjoying reading everyone's comments, both positive and negative. I find myself agreeing with most of them (positive and negative)! Probably my biggest negative would be that the final section -- which we now discover has a name, "Interaction" -- doesn't really go anywhere. You could chop a minute off the song and not lose anything. I get halfway through the end and then just jump back to the beginning! You can see they were going for something like the trading solos at the end of "South Side of the Sky" when they play it live.

Henry

[bondegezou]

From Burning Shed:


Available as a limited deluxe glow in the dark double vinyl/2CD/Blu-ray boxset including slipmat, enamel badge, poster and 36-page booklet.

Also on very limited orange double vinyl (exclusive to Burning Shed), double black vinyl, double CD and double CD/blu-ray in an Artbook.

There are four colour variants if you want to collect them all!

Glow in the dark in the big deluxe box
Black regular release
Transparent light blue from InsideOut (and maybe elsewhere?)
Orange from Burning Shed

Henry

[Top Cat]

The outro is plodding and could've used some sort of crescendo or rising tension. Instead it's just sort of "there".

huh? I thought it was high energy right to the end and ending perfectly.
But you know that's the beauty of music, we all hear something different at times, it's also about our mood, our setting and what are expectations are.
I just listened for the 2nd time after Dan posted the new video, and I like it even better.
If you're a Yes fan I hope it grows on you, because I had all but written this band off, even after buying their live albums(except the newest), and I've got a big grin on my face this morning.

[Scott Bails]

After a quick listen, it's light-years ahead of anything on H&E. I need to do more of a "close listen" to hear what some others here are discussing, but I definitely like it.

I hope that Downes' work on this song continues throughout the album.

[Garyhead]

It could be a James Bond Movie theme song!

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Nice track. It really misses the soaring harmonies that Chris Squire used to provide and the outro is repetitive. It also seems to be largely in 4/4, so the compound rhythms of old Yes are absent. About what I expected at this point in their career.

[auxfnx]

im quite disappointed that they are offering glow in the dark vinyl for the deluxe box set release, which has now put me off getting it and instead going for the standard vinyl release. glow in the dark vinyl is always, by the nature of its production, much lower quality and quite noisy, so for this to be the type included in the deluxe box is baffling. i guess they expect the deluxe box to be more of a display item and so have prioritised aesthetics over the quality. but would have liked some of the other frills! instrumental and 5.1 mix I will miss

[Scrotum Scissor]

im quite disappointed that they are offering glow in the dark vinyl for the deluxe box set release, which has now put me off getting it and instead going for the standard vinyl release. glow in the dark vinyl is always, by the nature of its production, much lower quality and quite noisy, so for this to be the type included in the deluxe box is baffling. i guess they expect the deluxe box to be more of a

[jamesmanzi]

I would've said quite the opposite: Jon D is singing in his own style here.

Agreed. One of the first things that jumped out at me when the vocals started was that Jon D sounded nothing like Jon A. I mean, in general, I don't think he does anyway - I think people often conflate singing in the same unusual register as "sounding alike." But the timbre of Jon D's voice is quite different from Jon A's in general, and very much in practice here.

[jamesmanzi]

It has the sound of post-reunion Asia.

Thankfully. Honestly when you compare the attempt to create an album of short prog-pop songs with H&E to what the Asia reunion albums sound like, H&E becomes even more befuddling.

[jamesmanzi]

You can see they were going for something like the trading solos at the end of "South Side of the Sky" when they play it live.

Totally what I thought of too. As I mentioned above, the file trading system of recording doesn't allow much for it, but live this song will jam, as the kids say. When the drums and bass have the opportunity to interact with the energy of the soloists on top, it will be a different animal.

[chescorph]

Howe sounds much more full bodied than he has recently, as noted above, more like he does on the last 3 Asia sets. I also like the busy bass line and Downes shines on this track. And here’s to Alan, he sounds good. Bit of Glass Hammer sound, which is a good thing!

[aith01]

It's growing on me a bit, after listening to it a couple more times today. It's a solid tune, even if the outro goes on a bit too long without much to hold my interest. Still, if the rest of the album is up to this standard I think I'll be pleased. Here's hoping!

[dpt3]

My first impression was that it was very 80s neo-prog, like Yes had finally decided to show those young whippersnappers in Marillion, Pallas, and Pendragon what's what, or maybe if Asia had shifted to a proggier direction circa 1985.

It's grown on me with repeated listenings. I think the weird vocal melody is actually one of the ore interesting aspects of the song. I'm not 100% sold on it, but it sounds like there may be a bit of ancient exponential overdrive left in the band, so I'm cautiously optimistic about the album.

[aith01]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: This does not sound like Saga to me. There are no snappy rhythm changes, and it's lacking any kind of tight syncopated interplay between guitar and synths.

Still, I think I like it.

[ScottAM]

Everything's relative:

After I finished listening to it on YouTube, the next song up was ARW's live version of "Heart of the Sunrise". That band sounded SO much more energetic and inspired than The Quest Yes did. On the flip side, the piped-in audience cheers on that album are truly shocking - who the hell EVER would have thought that would be a good thing? Makes a superlative performance almost unlistenable!

On different listening to The Ice Bridge on YouTube, the next song up was Neal Morse Band's "Bird on a Wire". I know (most) of that band is 12 - 20 years younger than Yes, but there's something to be said for how energetic a band in their 50s & 60s can still be, writing engaging material.

All of that said, The Ice Bridge is growing on me. About as much as I would have thought they could land on, but nothing beyond that. Sounds a lot like Into The Storm Part II to me.
Enjoying all of your comments and agreeing with most of them!