Subjective correction: only obsessive Yes fans who were there in 1973 like Tales without any hint of realistic criticism. (NB my tongue is firmly in cheek here - no need for anyone to get upset).Originally Posted by JIF
Bigger and totally objective correction: I never said I like Open Your Eyes!
:-)
I remember when Tales came out, I thought it was some of the most beautiful music I'd ever heard. Even the rare times when I heard it unstoned! As a friend of mine back in the day said at the time, "I can't let a day go by without hearing at least one side of it!" I felt that way too at the time. What a glorious trip that album was!
Was I dreaming or did you say you liked Tormato more than TFTO? No worries. Getting back on track, I think it would be a crime for Yes not to record just because Steve is unsure. I mean, c'mon Steve. People have said that Steve's talents were wasted in Asia, but he did record three albums with them after the original lineup reunited. I think that Steve should give Yes the same amount of time and commitment. I'm only saying that Yes should record a new album to show off Jon Davison's singing skills in a studio setting, and his writing skills too.
Last edited by JIF; 04-14-2013 at 10:08 AM.
Squire, White, Downes and Davison all talk about recording an album later this year. There appear to be concrete plans for a spring release next year, with subsequent touring in support. They (including Howe) have been working on material since Davison joined and appear to have some material ready.
But Howe... I think "cautious" is the right word. He's more enthusiastic in some interviews, more cautious in others. I think some of that is just that he likes to keep his cards close to his chest. Even if he was 100% signed up to the plans, he wouldn't want Squire talking about them in interviews. However, it's clearly more than that. I don't think he's opposed to new music -- he did 3 albums with Asia and continues to work on new solo/trio material. I don't think it's particularly about money. He appears frustrated with the reaction to new albums that old bands receive. He feels the band were unprepared when doing Fly from Here, which went through huge changes in its making.
Howe seems to feel that if Yes are doing a new album, they should do something spectacular. Some reports suggest that the others are happy to do an album of unconnected songs, but Howe feels the album should be bigger than that, have a clear focus, maybe include epic songs.
So,the big question is what happens next. My guess would be that Howe has slowed the process down, pushed for more development time, but that the band will record later this year.
Henry
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
The other thing to remember is that journalists can misinterpret what musicians are saying, they can misunderstand. A musician may be entirely consistent in his/her thinking, but we get a series of newspaper reports saying apparently contradictory things. Howe, it seems to me, is trying to express some quite nuanced ideas and that doesn't always come across. Squire, on the other hand, tends to give safe answers to journalists.
Henry
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
Well, I bet, by that time, Asia was paying a lot more of Howe's rent than Yes was.....(well, he was gone from Yes by then, but you know what I mean, with Yes' sales on the decline from GFTO forward until 90125)....
I think Yes needs to run all decisions whether they be personal or profession past Jif for approval. They make to many mistakes on thier own.
I'm going to have to side with Steve on this one. Topping CTTE would be next to impossible (musically, and chart-wise) but I believe it could be done. FFH seems a mash of unconnected music forced into a 'concept' setting, with no clear focus or 'flow'. It's not what I would call a 'Classic Yes Album', and I believe that's what Steve wants to go for. Jon A. always seemed to lead with his ideas, and managed to get everyone on board with them. I hope Steve steps up and puts his foot down. Do we really want just another collection of unrelated songs ??
'Concrete plans for a spring release' sounds good ! With the Spring Tour becoming the Summer Tour and now the World Tour , nobody's sitting at home, phoning it in. Everyone's nearby and playing, maybe throwing a few new ideas around. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't most of 'Tales' written on the road ?? A single album of epic Tales/Awaken material would be great, make it a double album if there's 'hit singles' for the radio, or Cinema/Soundchaser songs laying around !!!
LOL!
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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I liked Fly From Here although I don't consider it a classic. It does have songs that stay with me and is an album I will listen to again and again because it just has a certain familiarity to it without being overplayed. Is it their best work? Of course not but I found FFH to be a lot more memorable than, let's say, the last batch of Asia albums released by the reformed original quartet. I'm not sure Yes is capable of producing a classic album on par with their 70s output but I think that if they sat down and really worked on the writing that they could certainly do one that pleased Yes fans.
Hey, you don't see me making fun of you, do you? So, don't make fun of me. All I'm saying is if Steve is willing to record three albums with Asia(post reunion), then Yes should be given another shot.
Most Yes albums(except Tales) had an unrelated collection of songs. I don't see how the songs on FFH weren't related. Except three, most songs on that album were unfinished Buggles demos. So, that makes them related.
"Except three, most songs on that album were unfinished Buggles demos."
I've always found that a little worrying- was there really such a paucity of new (or at least decent) material that they had to go back 30 years for such a large proportion of the album?
I'm also wondering why Steve Howe felt it was worthy doing three new Asia albums in light of his comments on Yes doing new material. 'Fly From Here' charted far better than any of those Asia albums.
And I would agree that Yes should IMHO really make an album with one clear direction- that has been a problem on virtually everything they've put out since and including 'Big Generator'. ABWH and, though I'm not too fond of either project, 'Talk' and the 'Keys' albums are about the only exceptions to this.
Last edited by JJ88; 04-14-2013 at 11:02 AM.
Yup. My hope is that after playing three awesome albums of music over and over and over again, the standard for quality and innovation is so high in their collective brains that any suckitude in the new material is quickly filtered out. I mean, how do you come off a tour like this and then go "Yep... let's record some mediocre crap" with a clear conscience?
It may surprise you that they probably didn't think FFH was mediocre when they recorded it.
Folks go into the studio and do what they do; sometimes magic happens, sometimes a competent and good record happens, sometimes a mediocre record happens and sometimes a downright bad album happens. But the artists rarely think in those terms: they go in to do the best they can at the time.
I suppose if they're thinking, "Damn, one more album for the bloody contract and I don't want to do this," they're pretty much guaranteed to get uninspired results, viz, ELP's Love Beach or the Mama and the Papas' People Like Us.
Which wouldn't be Yes's case, so that point is irrelevant to the topic. Why did I make it?
All this talk of "Fly From Here". Just listened to this for the first time yesterday and quite liked it. I'll take this over the mediocre crap heard daily on the radio any day of the week. I agree, they probably did not think "Fly" was mediocre. Why would they?
Regards,
Jon
Nice to see you're one of those people who are self-aware!
Well, I'm sorry to say that I do think it's rather mediocre, especially when held up to some of the group's other (and best) work.
Yes, it's better than a lot of the stuff on the radio today, but that's really quite faint praise, innit?
True, but I don't think its realistic to expect a band to pull off what they were doing at their musical peak, in this case their work in the early to mid '70s. As I said before, my initial impressions of "Fly" are very positive. Particilarly impressed with the contributions of David and Howe.
Regards,
Jon
I would like to know if your opinion changes after a few listens. I like FFH as much as the day I bought it(got it from Amazon on release day, because I pre-ordered it).
I was speaking generally -- not about FFH in specific. I happen to like the album, though I'm hoping the next one is representative of what this lineup is capable of.
The point I was trying to make was that going into the studio after touring such powerful music will hopefully rub off, both in terms of the writing and also in terms of filtering out the weaker ideas.
JIF, I will let you know.
Regards,
Jon
It appears that they had plenty of brand new material that they decided not to use, presumably because they felt it wasn't as good or didn't fit as well as the old Horn/Downes material.
That said, if a song's good (or bad), why does it matter when it was written? Half of The Yes Album is recycled older material and no-one complains about that.
Henry
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
I just got a feeling of deja vu(and I'm not talking about the CSNY album), but this subject has been beaten to death. It's a shame that almost two years after the release of FFH, people can't(or won't) get over the fact that Yes used older material. Then there's Henry sounding like a broken record(no offense) and stating that Yes as done this many times. You don't need to defend FFH to the haters, Henry, because they'll never get it.
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