Yes-Time to get Jon Anderson & Rick Wakeman back in the group

[NogbadTheBad]

No Jobson, No Yes.

He could lurk in the back of the video and spent 2 hours getting ready to come on stage.

[Progatron]

He could lurk in the back of the video and spent 2 hours getting ready to come on stage.

But the twist will be that he is wearing the "A" outfit.

[tom unbound]

No Jobson, No Yes.

[trurl]

That is such a genius idea. Call it Hell Yes!! or something like that

[Dan Roth]

No Jobson, No Yes.

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[bondegezou]

Has actual work (recording) begun on this yet?

Writing has been going on for over a year and demos have been recorded, but proper studio work is due to start in January.

Davison is an employee, I believe. That is, I think they pay him a wage and he doesn't have co-ownership of the band. However, I also believe that they welcome his input as a composer as an equal. Yes has always seemed welcoming to the writing input of its newer members. (That David didn't contribute much to FfH says, I suggest, more about his comfort with writing than any opposition to that input from his band mates.) Reports to date have that Davison has been actively writing for the new album, and Squire, White and Howe are all enjoying writing with him.

Henry

[bondegezou]

Given that they often seem to find themselves dry of ideas, I'd wager they welcome another writing contributor - if he's any good. It's funny, Steve Howe seems to come up with plenty of material, but perhaps most of that is only useable in a solo guitar album context.

I suggest that the idea that Yes "find themselves dry of ideas" is a fan myth that has grown based on a misinterpretation of what happened while making Fly from Here. David said of that album, "At the end of the day we recorded so many tracks that we could do almost two albums." And we know multiple more ideas were considered but didn't get as far as being recorded. So, they might not have been entirely happy with all that material, but they had plenty of ideas knocking around then.

And whispers I'm hearing now suggest they have ideas/demos aplenty for the next album (including various ideas from Davison and material that Davison/Squire/White co-wrote in sessions together).

Henry

[Frumious B]

I think it's one thing to generate material for a project, get all the "right" retro sounds and do your best 70s pastiche and another thing to write a song with some heart, soul, heft and substance to it that you want to play over and over again. People talk about Jon Davison like he's some gifted young whiz kid when he's actually fairly close to the same age that Jon Anderson was when he was doing ABWH with the entire current Yes' setlist over a decade in the rear view mirror. I can't say I've heard anything of Davison that makes me excited about the prospect of him co-writing a Yes record.

[Frumious B]

The thing that makes the idea of Anderson, Howe, Squire and White patching things up appealing to me is that these are guys who have freakin' lived this music their entire adult lives. They were there. They know all about the triumph, the jubilation, the struggle and the heartache...through hell and back again. Anderson has stared death right in the face and lived to sing about it. If the working relationships could be reestablished I think this could be a great recipe for mature modern Yes music that doesn't overly trade on past glories and is an honest reflection of who these guys are and where their heads and hearts are today.

[happytheman]

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Whenever I see photos from this era it always amazes me how much Chris' facial features changed over the years.. Jon is Jon from the first album to the present.. Alan / Steve (other than less hair) look the same.. Bruford the same.. Rabin I could still pick out of a line up.. But Chris.. look at the shots from Fragile era and compare to 90125 to Fly from Here..

[bondegezou]

The thing that makes the idea of Anderson, Howe, Squire and White patching things up appealing to me is that these are guys who have freakin' lived this music their entire adult lives. They were there. They know all about the triumph, the jubilation, the struggle and the heartache...through hell and back again. Anderson has stared death right in the face and lived to sing about it. If the working relationships could be reestablished I think this could be a great recipe for mature modern Yes music that doesn't overly trade on past glories and is an honest reflection of who these guys are and where their heads and hearts are today.

Anderson, Howe, Squire and White reunited in 1990 and in 1995, staying together through to 2004. I imagine if they reunited in 2014, the result would be broadly similar. I don't really see what would be radically different to those previous reunions. (Anderson's near-death experiences in 2008 haven't obviously had a profound impact on his solo songwriting, for example.) Maybe it would be...

I liked much of what happened with those previous reunions. I like Keys to Ascension 2, The Ladder and Magnification. A band today with Anderson, Squire, Howe and White could be great. I'd certainly be at the front of the queue to hear what they can offer. But I have to say the evidence base doesn't support your comments.

I come back to this same point. You take a band like Led Zeppelin, or Genesis with Gabriel and/or Hackett: the potential in such reunions is largely untested. You could write flowery prose about what such a reunion would be like and there would be enough doubt that, with a bit of enthusiasm and love, we could all fall behind such optimism. But Yes have reunited and re-reunited and re-re-reunited. I think we know what's likely to happen.

I think it's one thing to generate material for a project, get all the "right" retro sounds and do your best 70s pastiche and another thing to write a song with some heart, soul, heft and substance to it that you want to play over and over again. People talk about Jon Davison like he's some gifted young whiz kid when he's actually fairly close to the same age that Jon Anderson was when he was doing ABWH with the entire current Yes' setlist over a decade in the rear view mirror. I can't say I've heard anything of Davison that makes me excited about the prospect of him co-writing a Yes record.

Davison is something of an unknown. Personally, I really like what I've heard from him so far, but I can absolutely understand your caution. (I don't think his age is particularly relevant.) That he is an unknown offers the possibility of something really exciting. You're able to get all excited about the possibility of an Anderson reunion, so I would have thought that you should be able to understand (if not agree with) the optimism fuelling some fans' views of an album with Davison.

Faced with uncertain outcomes, you presume the one with Anderson will be fantabulosic, but the one with Davison, you're all skeptical. You offer uplifting rhetoric about a reunion with Anderson ("great recipe... mature... honest reflection... heads and hearts...") but cold-hearted cynicism about an album with Davison. It seems to me that both scenarios have good and bad possible outcomes, but one scenario, the album with Davison, is actually in the works, so whatever our expectations, we'll hear the reality soon enough.

Henry

[Scott Bails]

Faced with uncertain outcomes, you presume the one with Anderson will be fantabulosic, but the one with Davison, you're all skeptical. You offer uplifting rhetoric about a reunion with Anderson ("great recipe... mature... honest reflection... heads and hearts...") but cold-hearted cynicism about an album with Davison. It seems to me that both scenarios have good and bad possible outcomes, but one scenario, the album with Davison, is actually in the works, so whatever our expectations, we'll hear the reality soon enough.

Henry

Bravo.

[Patelena396]

Anderson, Howe, Squire and White reunited in 1990 and in 1995, staying together through to 2004. I imagine if they reunited in 2014, the result would be broadly similar. I don't really see what would be radically different to those previous reunions. (Anderson's near-death experiences in 2008 haven't obviously had a profound impact on his solo songwriting, for example.) Maybe it would be...

I liked much of what happened with those previous reunions. I like Keys to Ascension 2, The Ladder and Magnification. A band today with Anderson, Squire, Howe and White could be great. I'd certainly be at the front of the queue to hear what they can offer. But I have to say the evidence base doesn't support your comments.

I come back to this same point. You take a band like Led Zeppelin, or Genesis with Gabriel and/or Hackett: the potential in such reunions is largely untested. You could write flowery prose about what such a reunion would be like and there would be enough doubt that, with a bit of enthusiasm and love, we could all fall behind such optimism. But Yes have reunited and re-reunited and re-re-reunited. I think we know what's likely to happen.



Davison is something of an unknown. Personally, I really like what I've heard from him so far, but I can absolutely understand your caution. (I don't think his age is particularly relevant.) That he is an unknown offers the possibility of something really exciting. You're able to get all excited about the possibility of an Anderson reunion, so I would have thought that you should be able to understand (if not agree with) the optimism fuelling some fans' views of an album with Davison.

Faced with uncertain outcomes, you presume the one with Anderson will be fantabulosic, but the one with Davison, you're all skeptical. You offer uplifting rhetoric about a reunion with Anderson ("great recipe... mature... honest reflection... heads and hearts...") but cold-hearted cynicism about an album with Davison. It seems to me that both scenarios have good and bad possible outcomes, but one scenario, the album with Davison, is actually in the works, so whatever our expectations, we'll hear the reality soon enough.

Henry

I was not cynical at all about an album with Davison. In fact, I mentioned that I welcome it. I want the band to be forward thinking and to stay a creative entity and not a retro act who only keeps touring the classic material over and over again. If that is with Davison, I give him the benefit of being able to contribute some new and exciting ideas to the classic Yes formula. Also, I am a big fan of Downes so his input would be huge.

[Paulrus]

Anderson has stared death right in the face and lived to sing about it.

It would freaking wonderful if Jon *would* sing about it. Instead we get the umpteenth rendition of "Bring Me To The Wonderment". That's why I'm more interested in what JD can bring to the table at this stage.

My only question is will he offer something honest and personal, or will he try to write something that "sounds like Yes"?

[JJ88]

I thought FFH was respectable (though I do still think relying so much on old material didn't really prove their writing chops were still there...NOT a comment on the quality of that old material, something often overlooked here), but ultimately I agree, to be honest. I think it should happen sooner rather than later, before one of them dies.

I remain sceptical that a new album will ever turn up. If it does, great, but I'm not expecting it. If they are doing nostalgia, which playing three albums from the 70s clearly is, you may as well do that with the 'classic' line up.

I feel the band are at a crossroads. To me having one last blast of nostalgia, even just for one gig, is the most credible way to 'go out on top'.

[bondegezou]

It would freaking wonderful if Jon *would* sing about it. Instead we get the umpteenth rendition of "Bring Me To The Wonderment". That's why I'm more interested in what JD can bring to the table at this stage.

My only question is will he offer something honest and personal, or will he try to write something that "sounds like Yes"?

I don't see that those are necessarily conflicting. Davison had already gravitated to something fairly Yes-like anyway. His natural inclinations seem to fit the band's style already. Well, maybe not to everyone's ears. I guess what seems "honest and personal" comes down to the listener.

Henry

[bondegezou]

I thought FFH was respectable (though I do still think relying so much on old material didn't really prove their writing chops were still there)

I suspect Yes were focused on making the best album they could rather than worrying about what they could prove to the minority of the buying audience who worry about who wrote what when. I understand where that sort of fan analysis is coming from, but I doubt it had anything to do with what the band/Horn were thinking in the studio.

Henry

[JJ88]

I still think the album was good, regardless of all that. It's the one real positive of this era for the band IMHO.

[Frumious B]

It would freaking wonderful if Jon *would* sing about it. Instead we get the umpteenth rendition of "Bring Me To The Wonderment". That's why I'm more interested in what JD can bring to the table at this stage.

My only question is will he offer something honest and personal, or will he try to write something that "sounds like Yes"?

I think that Anderson's lyrics on The Living Tree and Survival And Other Stories cover a wider range of topics and offer up more introspection than this. I also think that the label and band can ill afford to let Davison "be his own man" as the money is riding on the band producing something that sounds like everyone's conception of how a Yes record is supposed to sound.

[jlneudorf]

I think that Anderson's lyrics on The Living Tree and Survival And Other Stories cover a wider range of topics and offer up more introspection than this. I also think that the label and band can ill afford to let Davison "be his own man" as the money is riding on the band producing something that sounds like everyone's conception of how a Yes record is supposed to sound.

And why can't he pull it off? He's a talented guy with a great voice. And as been previously mentioned, his music (with that other band) has been getting more Yes-like with each successive album. I for one can't wait to hear what they come up with. If in the future Yes welcome Anderson back into the fold I would be all for that as well. To each their own of course. Maybe you will be surprised. The proof will be in the final product which I'm sure will provide the fodder for endless debate here on PE.

Regards,
Jon

[ronmac]

I think that Anderson's lyrics on The Living Tree and Survival And Other Stories cover a wider range of topics and offer up more introspection than this. I also think that the label and band can ill afford to let Davison "be his own man" as the money is riding on the band producing something that sounds like everyone's conception of how a Yes record is supposed to sound.

Well, if the material is good enough and they actually promote it, I would much rather have Davison be his own man and not have to be in Jon's shadow. Many bands have had big changes and succeeded when the material was good.

[luvyesmusic]

I also think that the label and band can ill afford to let Davison "be his own man" as the money is riding on the band producing something that sounds like everyone's conception of how a Yes record is supposed to sound.

Frum, just curious as to what is your conception of how a YES record is supposed to sound versus the infinite number of thoughts or say, everyones? ;-) Most folks know I love the 70's classic stuff, but there are others; the stuff before that, some the 90125 stuff, Drama, YESWest and even some who think ABW&H is a YES-stuffish. ;-) Let's face it while there as been sometimes a series of 2-offs-stuff that sounds similar to eachother, most YES musical directions varies as much as the albums. What didn't vary was usually Jon singing and Chris doing backing vocals.

[Digital_Man]

Well to many YES fans(or at least those who consider themselves the "real" fans) there was only one YES and that was the one that existed from 71/72 to maybe up to and including GFTO. So in that sense they are YES fans for only five or six albums worth of material even though the band has music way beyond just that. It makes sense to a degree after all there are many fans of PG era Genesis who like nothing else the band ever did.

[klothos]

Well to many YES fans(or at least those who consider themselves the "real" fans) there was only one YES and that was the one that existed from 71/72 to maybe up to and including GFTO. So in that sense they are YES fans for only five or six albums worth of material even though the band has music way beyond just that. It makes sense to a degree after all there are many fans of PG era Genesis who like nothing else the band ever did.

The difference is that PG era Genesis was a prog band -- the body of work after that seemed to lose almost all elements of Progginess,,,,even the pop-era 80s deviation Yes took still had prog elements throughout those albums, and they eventually returned to their roots afterward.

[Digital_Man]

Hmmm, let's see:

Eleventh earl of Mar
Ripples
Unquiet slumbers for the sleepers
Mad man moon
Los Endos
Burning Rope
Duke's Travel's /dukes end
Duchess
Dodo/lurker
Second home by the sea
Domino parts one and two
The Brazilian
Fading Lights

Yep, no prog there!