Shout out for new albums by old artists

[bondegezou]

There's an interesting new interview with Steve Howe at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/..._all_about.php This bit jumped out at me.

Do you think you will ever play on another Yes album?
We released Fly From Here last year, but it's something that I kind of fight myself about. You take bands like Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones, bands bigger than anything I've been in, and they make new records and nobody really cares. The people want to hear "Satisfaction." That goes with Yes as well, because people want to hear Close to the Edge. We like playing it. We love it, too. We love the new music but it doesn't have the familiarity. It is questionable what effect a new album has on well- established bands. Sometimes, you have to step back and ask yourself what you should be doing. I think The Who had one of the most disappointing results when they put out that last album. It was practically ignored and they are The Who. If we were to come out with something even as good as Close to the Edge, that would be a major achievement. The collaboration on those early records between Jon Anderson and I was amazing. There was a remarkable sense of teamwork. I don't know how we did it back then. It doesn't work the same way now.

I think we all recognise the truth in what he's saying. Audiences want the well-known songs and don't want new albums. Even here, Hackett's Genesis Revisited II gets more discussion than Beyond the Shrouded Horizon and the 40th anniversary box set of Larks' Tongues gets more discussion than the Travis/Fripp album Follow.

People praise the classics or new bands, but new albums by established artists are much criticised. Perhaps that's sometimes fair, perhaps sometimes not. We berate acts who merely tour the old material, but when they release new material, it gets a lukewarm reaction. Many of my favourite recent albums are by old acts. Trevor Rabin's Jacaranda may be my favourite album of 2012, and both Yes's Fly from Here and Steve Howe's own Time were up there for me in 2011.

Now, as far as I know, Fly from Here sold pretty well and the label are keen on a new release, and Yes are working on a new album, with Squire, Davison and White having written multiple songs. But it would be a sad day, I think, if Yes or bands like Gong, VdGG, Rush etc. stopped releasing new albums.

Henry

[Harbottle]

I think it would be sad if these bands stopped producing new music. In the last few years a lot of those bands you mention and many others (Ian Anderson, for example.) have produced albums that I've enjoyed as much as their 'classic' stuff. It seems to me that some of the prog artists from the seventies have found a second wind.

Today I listened to Rick Wakeman's studio recording of 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth'. That was good as well. And people like John McLaughlin and Soft Machine Legacy continue to impress me.

[Downbytheriver]

I agree with Henry. It would be a sad day if Yes etc. stopped releasing albums. I very much enjoy Steve Hackett's work but at the same time it lacks the kind of thing that can emerge from a band writing and recording together. Yes was a group effort and the sum of their parts was much bigger than the individuals. Much the same with Genesis. Maybe that's why I don't warm up to much of Steven Wilson produces. I can admire it but I don't feel the connection that I feel with a band and the synergy that can come about. I'm a huge Neil Young fan, but I much prefer it when he records with Crazy Horse.

[bill g]

It seems a lot of times artists new albums often don't have the magic of older albums-some truth to Steve's words regarding Close To The Edge and The Who. Or, you have the new Beach Boys album that is arguably their best since Pet Sounds, and it gets no airplay-times and tastes have changed. Steve Howe did have some beautiful music on Time though, and Tony Banks' orchestrated 'Six' is breathtaking. I'm always for new music by my favorite artists. I'd rather Genesis put out a new album than have remakes of old stuff, but I'll happily take Genesis revisited, since there wont be a new Genesis album. At this point if Tony and Steve keep up with new albums, I'll be happy with that.

[Progtopia]

Yeah, I do like to see those dinosaur bands keep going with new material, but you have to admit that there are some who just should've stopped. (I'm looking at you, Styx.)

[bRETT]

Yeah, I do like to see those dinosaur bands keep going with new material, but you have to admit that there are some who just should've stopped. (I'm looking at you, Styx.)

Styx pretty much HAVE stopped, though. To my mind, Steve is wrong-- the real fans of all the bands he named DO care about new material. Fans are excited that the new Stones single is good, and quite a few are massively disappointed that the new Aerosmith isn't. But any veteran band will have fewer real fans than it will hangers-on who come for the hits-- whether the band cares about pleasing those fans is up to them. I love Yes, but I'd never see them again if they were going to play the same set over and over.

[NogbadTheBad]

To me it depends on the band, King Crimson's last album, The Power To Believe was very well received & I'd consider it as good as anything they've done since the early 70's. It's not a recent album but it was 30 years after their peak.

Similarly Univers Zero, Magma & Present have all released excellent, well received albums, in the last few years despite having started as bands in the 70's.

As long as the bands still make music that's interesting and entertaining I hope they keep releasing material.

[JKL2000]

I'm always more interested in hearing new material than classics from bands like Yes.

[Progtopia]

Styx pretty much HAVE stopped, though.

I should clarify. They should've stopped well before they did.

[Scott Bails]

Well, the point is that an artist's fans want them to continue to release quality music.

That's not saying that we need masterpieces like Close to the Edge every outing, but I'm quite satisfied with Fly from Here. It's not the best album in their catalog, but it's solid, IMO. I'll continue to listen to it.

I want the artists I love to release new music because they have to. Their muse won't allow them not to. They're driven to keep creating, and they care enough to put all of their effort into the recording.

If they're not in that category, then they should probably continue to keep doing the nostalgia tours.

[jkelman]

Maybe that's why I don't warm up to much of Steven Wilson produces.

Maybe you'll feel it more with the new record, which was written with his new road band specifically in mind, and recorded much the way they used to be done back in the day. There may be a primary composer, but everyone in the band had input into how the music ultimately turned out, so perhaps that will appeal to you more.

[jkelman]

To me it depends on the band, King Crimson's last album, The Power To Believe was very well received & I'd consider it as good as anything they've done since the early 70's. It's not a recent album but it was 30 years after their peak.

Similarly Univers Zero, Magma & Present have all released excellent, well received albums, in the last few years despite having started as bands in the 70's.

As long as the bands still make music that's interesting and entertaining I hope they keep releasing material.

And, of course, VdGG!

[NogbadTheBad]

And, of course, VdGG!

Indeed - I meant to post them but forgot.

[Don Arnold]

Even here, Hackett's Genesis Revisited II gets more discussion than Beyond the Shrouded Horizon

I recently picked up Hackett's most recent two releases, including BtSH, and both are very very good, imo. In fact, I think Hackett has been on quite a roll since about Darktown.

[rojon]

People praise the classics or new bands, but new albums by established artists are much criticised. Perhaps that's sometimes fair, perhaps sometimes not. We berate acts who merely tour the old material, but when they release new material, it gets a lukewarm reaction.

It's a different time now for these 70's acts, they surfed the big wave, now its hard to make a ripple. But you cant expect the general audience today to love new material like the diehards or like in the past. (I'm not really a Journey fan, but were I to see them live I would suffer through new material waiting for Don't Stop Believing. But with a band like Yes, I could be on the other side of that coin.)

However, not a smart idea to announce you don't intend to record again, best to leave it unspoken, leave it hanging. Once all recording is in the past, you cross a line. You don't want to cross that line.

[moecurlythanu]

.
Similarly Univers Zero, Magma & Present have all released excellent, well received albums, in the last few years despite having started as bands in the 70's.

It seems to be that the odds of getting excellent new material from an older band increases in inverse proportion to that band's former popularity. (Imo, of course.) Why is that? Could it be...egos?

[Facelift]

It's certainly not impossible for these older bands to keep making good albums - they just don't do it very often, though. Magma recently did it, IMO, and so did Rush.

[bondegezou]

It seems to be that the odds of getting excellent new material from an older band increases in inverse proportion to that band's former popularity. (Imo, of course.) Why is that? Could it be...egos?

The bigger the name, the more the name sells the album rather than the music, the less attention the music gets?

Henry

[bondegezou]

(I'm not really a Journey fan, but were I to see them live I would suffer through new material waiting for Don't Stop Believing. But with a band like Yes, I could be on the other side of that coin.)

I can relate to that. I want the bands I know well not to play the hits, but I want the bands I'm less familiar with to play what I know. So I understand why, at a Yes show, "Roundabout" and "Starship Trooper" get the biggest cheers, but I try to cheer extra hard when they do "Into the Storm"!

Henry

[tom unbound]

But it would be a sad day, I think, if Yes or bands like Gong, VdGG, Rush etc. stopped releasing new albums.----quote----

Gong got mentioned !!
-- Their latest , and a double album at that, (original members too!) 2032 is a blast from the past with just the right amount of freshness thrown in. ------- Buy from the band's website !! http://www.planetgong.co.uk/bazaar/menu_xs.shtml They need the money more than E-Bay or Amazon --- support the band, not the 1% !!!---
The newest version of the band (seems that members change faster than Crimso or Yes) is touring now, and I expect a new album someday too.
----------- end of shout-out---------

[Big Ears]

The trouble is bands use the old name, but with different musicians. The only Yes 'original' is Squire. Accepting that Howe was a part of their best period, that makes two Yes nearly-originals. It is difficult to see them making an album as good as CTTE without Anderson and Wakeman, or even Bruford and Offord. At a push, they might get close to the Drama-era, but this would take a massive leap beyond Fly From Here.

The Who's Endless Wire album, even without John Entwistle, was still a good album, even if sales, according to Howe, were disappointing. I would rather see Yes put out an album as good as CTTE with few sales, than make another Fly From Here with massive sales. After all, Asia sold a lot of albums, but most were weak.

[polmico]

Man, isn't this all subjective? I thought Fly from Here was awful. So was Endless Wire. Not the way I'd like either of those bands to go out, but my opinion is just one opinion, and both albums have their supporters. On the other hand, the new Rush and VdGG are great. I liked the last Gong album, too. They can all keep going or call it quits.

[polmico]

[/B] and the 40th anniversary box set of Larks' Tongues gets more discussion than the Travis/Fripp album Follow.


Henry

I would love to talk about Follow. I'd be thrilled to talk about it. I've been waiting over a month to talk about it. I've been waiting since I ordered it at the beginning of October from DGM Live. Have I mentioned today how much I hate the customer service at DGM Live?

[enpdllp]

It seems to be that the odds of getting excellent new material from an older band increases in inverse proportion to that band's former popularity. (Imo, of course.) Why is that? Could it be...egos?

Egos, change of personnel, running out of ideas, etc. There are many reasons why a band's newer material might not be as good as their earlier efforts.

[SteveSly]

Yeah, I do like to see those dinosaur bands keep going with new material, but you have to admit that there are some who just should've stopped. (I'm looking at you, Styx.)

Although it has been a while I think their last studio album of new material "Cyclorama" ranked right up with the best stuff the band has done. I love the album.

Steve Sly