Which paper is this?Originally Posted by Sean
Which paper is this?
Interesting publication. Thanks.
http://www.insiteatlanta.com/yesband.asp Interview too!
The recording process became a bit of a last-minute rush, due to Yes’ busy schedule.
Oh man, I’m tellin’ you, it was down to the very last minute! We were tripling up, as they say. Steve and Geoff were in the main control room with Roy, doing final tracks; Chris and I were upstairs, doing background vocals; Alan was sending percussion files from Seattle. Finally we just put it in Roy’s hands and said, “Ok, here ya go. Good luck and be in touch.” And we left on tour!
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See, now Rush would never let that happen.
ETA: woops, it did happen in 2002 with Vapor Trails, although I love that original version. Most of those songs were brilliant but the clipping shouldn't have been there.
We were a bit hesitant, but in the end it all worked out beautifully.
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Apparently there are other views...
Last edited by yamishogun; 07-04-2014 at 11:19 PM.
Ok, so I've lived with the album for a few days now and feel like I have some better-formed thoughts. I guess I don't get the virulent hatred for it. It is definitely mellower, but, as another poster mentioned, that doesn't have to mean inferior. Is it a masterpiece worthy of standing in the canon alongside CttE and Relayer? Not by a long shot. Is it the putrid drivel that was OYE or the worst songs on The Ladder? Not by a long shot. These are just my opinions, so no disrespect to those who don't share them. I come to this as a 30+year fan with the critical ear of a professional classical musician, for what it's worth.
Believe Again: A mellow opener, but very nice melodically. Davison's vocal is radiant with just enough Andersonian elements in the lyrics. I want to hear the real CD of this and get more of the subtle layering that Downes does with his orchestration. Howe could stand to be more forward. Squire's lines on the chorus are tasteful and the overall song structure is simple, but works. The middle section could stand to be about eight bars shorter, as no real development happens beyond the repetition with the keyboard flourishes. Howe's closing solo is appropriate.
The Game: The introduction unfolds in a typically Downesian manner. Nice layering of the acoustic guitar with the electric piano in the background. The chorus is very catchy. This is pop, but it's "Yes-pop", which isn't necessarily bad. Nice subtle changes in the keyboard voicings on the second verse. Very strong vocal from Davison. The feel of this song is VERY Squire, even though his bass is somewhat understated. The soft, high bass work interweaving with the acoustic guitar on the verses is very effective, though. Howe comes out nicely on the final chorus and solo. The chorus is definitely an earworm. If you like it, that's not such a bad thing. Maybe the chorus didn't need to be repeated quite so many times.
Step Beyond: This is one of the poppiest things they have done, and it will probably divide listeners the same way "Lightning Strikes" did (I kind of enjoyed LS). It's far more effective, in my view, than "Don't Go", which I think was absolutely horrid. I like Downes' keyboard line. Some will find it annoying. Squire's bass is fun and almost funky, with some tasty twists and turns on the "Beg, Steal..." section. White also shows more life in his groove than he has in a long time. What I really DON'T like is the basic verse, which sounds like a campfire song or something. The bridge is VERY good, I think, with a nice development and chord progression. It obviously has a tongue-in-cheek element to it, and those looking for "Son of Relayer" will be reaching for the skip button.
To Ascend: One of the most Andersonian tracks, to my ears. The lyrics borrow a bit from him ("eyes of a child"), but have a good bit more flow than Anderson's new-age-stream-of-consciousness gobbledigook of the last few years. It's a ballad and a rather pleasant one, but could have used a contrasting section before the return of the last chorus to give it more "Yessish" development. Instead it lumbers along pleasantly at mid-tempo. To my ears, this wouldn't be out of place on an Anderson solo album.
In a World of Our Own: Yes does a relationship song. The production gives it a very simple pop background, along with the shuffle feel. Downes goes mostly for piano and keeps things tasteful but sparse. For me, bluesy elements have to be carefully placed in Yes to not sound awkward or forced, like too much of the wrong seasoning in a dish. The lyrics also are very straightforward, which is no bad thing, except I prefer to keep a bit of mysticism in my Yesmusic. It has a Beatle-esque feeling at times. The organ riff section (with rather good soloing from Howe) seems a bit forced and "tacked on". Maybe this would have been more effective as a pop song a couple of minutes shorter. The "Living in a World of Our Own" line seems to be repeated a bit too much. Not a bad song, but maybe too much out of character with the rest of the music?
Light Of The Ages: A nice, expansive opening with tasteful Howe pedal steel on top unfolds nicely into Davison's opening vocal, which channels Anderson in the best way. Back into space and the clouds. This is more where Yes belongs. The shift into minor in 6/4 time has a light, but punchy bass and drum interjection under a gentle piano ostinato. The vocal line over it creates a very nice textural and rhythmic contrast with a good release of the tension when the chorus comes. This is verse-chorus form, but with some extra little twists and turns that actually make it very "Yessish". Howe's minor guitar section at 5:14 could have developed and gone off into a more contrasting section, but instead the chorus (somewhat abruptly) returns. This is where things could have been more interesting but the promise wasn't quite fulfilled, in my view. The minor section of the chorus repeats and fades out with Howe guitar shadings. Pleasant enough, but a little predictable, and thus the mid-tempo feeling remains.
It Was All We Knew: Howe is my favorite Yesman, in many ways, but I don't understand why this song had to be on the album. The verse isn't bad, but the chorus is very uninteresting and almost Andersonian (in a bad way) in its "tweeness". Squire has some very tasteful lines on the verse that show off his great ear for countermelody. It tries to get a little "rockier" at about 2 minutes in, but it seems very out of place with the rest of the song. This basically sounds like a Howe demo that probably should have remained one.
Subway Walls: This is more like it! I could do without the string patches in the opening section, as it does remind one a little of the DeBeers diamond commercial (composed by Karl Jenkins, formerly of Soft Machine fame, interestingly enough). The verse intro goes into a major mode development of the opening chord sequence, then into a harder rocking section under the vocal with wah-wah bass and punchy drumming from White. This piece works much more naturally than some of the other recent long-ish Yes songs, like "New Language", for example, which, outside of its intro, does little for me. I think it also has a much better melody than Homeworld. The middle section in alternating 7/8-4/4 (or 15/8, if you prefer) is sparse and rocky, in a good way. Downes throws in some bluesy, fat Hammond and Howe's tone has more dirt in it than he has had in a long time. There is a "sting" to it on this solo that is almost "Fripp-ish". The return of the chorus modulates nicely on the end and leads into a recap of the opening riff's progression, but over Downes' tasteful piano and Squire's snaky bass instead of faux string orchestra. The closing vocal coda comes in over a double-time feel in the drums with Howe soloing over the top of it. There are definitely Drama-esque elements to the piano section leading into the coda.
Individual performances:
Davison: First-rate singing with just enough evocation of Anderson to give it Yes credibility. Many steps above Benoit.
Squire: Not doing his rapid-fire repeated notes, but lots of subtle and interesting lines and countermelodies, which I'm sure will sound even better on the full CD. Much more interesting than most of what he did on The Ladder and far more consistent than Magnification.
Howe: Surprisingly not as much acoustic as we have come to expect from him. "Believe Again" notwithstanding, he also has a bit more punch and dirt in his sound than he has had in recent years, particularly in comparison with The Ladder, where he sounded buried in a Jon Anderson solo album, and Magnification, where he was fighting for space with the orchestra.
Downes: I have always liked his orchestrations, which I think are done with great care, including how he arranges things like "Awaken" in concert. I think he just has a great ear for sound. If one can get past the fact that he's not a "lead" keyboard player like Wakeman or Moraz and view him as more of a "colorist", then I think his skills as a musician become more apparent. I have always liked his intros and I think those are well-used on this album. As an earlier poster said, maybe he and Davison need to write together more, because "Subway Walls" shows a lot of promise.
White: I'll begin with the caveat that I am hot and cold on Alan White. He has had moments of brilliance (Relayer, Drama) and lots of uninteresting times as well. I thought the playing on Magnification was particularly bland and I have felt that his recent live performances I have heard indicate that it might be time to step aside. That being said, I think he has more groove on this album than he has had in quite a while. Not stupendous, but not bad, either.
So, I think I'm going to enjoy this album when I hear it on the full CD. I'll withhold judgment on the production until then, but I really don't have the big problem with it that others seem to have. They went for a more close-mic'd and more "live" sound on some songs, which is not typical Yes, but it seems like they know what they wanted to do, whether we like it or not. Are there a couple of skip tracks? Sure, but, with the exception of CttE, Tales and Relayer, EVERY Yes album has at least one skip track for me. As far as lyrics go, I think these are better Yes lyrics than many of JA's recent contributions. Davison hints at just enough of the Andersonian mysticism and does just enough of his own thing to keep things fresh. I don't get all the nasty comments I'm reading about the lyrics. I guess Davison will never touch the greatness of "Give our ego some pleasure time" or "Hep Yadda"
Sorry for the long post. I was just typing as I listened and will be interested to read more of the thoughts of others. Happy listening to all!
Last edited by progfan1; 07-04-2014 at 10:47 PM.
Wow, the caliber of these puff pastry interviews speak for themselves. :-)
From the article:
"That’s an incredible step, to go from last-minute, fill-in vocalist to writing a huge chunk of material for a new Yes album. How did that come about?
Yeah, you’re right. I think it was after the tour, we finished in Hawaii. Chris Squire stayed there for a while and got married. I called him while he was there and said, “Hey, thank you for the opportunity of the tour.” He mentioned then that he’d be back home in Arizona in a week or so and we should think about getting together to look at ideas. He wanted to see what I could offer the band, from a songwriting perspective. We got together and started writing, and two of those songs made it to the new album. So, from early on, we were talking about this album. And that was so exciting to me– it was the most amazing thing. I really got involved, taking time to write and record some demos to be ready to share them with the band. It became a very intense period, because I’d travel to the different areas of the world and work with the band, one-on-one. Then early this year, we all came together and began piecing it together in a very collaborative way. Everyone was involved in the arranging process, bringing it to life, and it was really nice to know that they trusted me on that level."
Squire got married again?
"It was a cruel song, but fair."-Roger Waters
It's interesting to read a detailed review, even if I don't agree with much of it. But what are
"Squire's lines on the chorus are tasteful"
"almost funky, with some tasty twists"
"keeps things tasteful but sparse"
"with tasteful Howe pedal steel on top"
"Squire has some very tasteful lines on the verse"
"Downes' tasteful piano"
What the hell is tasteful music?
I'm into inspiring Yes, not tasteful Yes , even if I don't quite get that meaning.
While your view of this album is pretty near opposite that of mine, I think you've hit on one of the main issues likely to divide supporters from detractors--the question of whether Yes music should be "tasteful," which generally (though not exclusively) implies a certain polished reserve not normally associated with Yes, who are often more prone to excess, for better and for worse. Obviously, as a long time Yes-fan, I love many of their traditionally "excessive" qualities (though some aspects of Jon's "schtick" were beginning to wear thin with me from about Union onward)--but I can also appreciate their more subdued, gentle approach on the new album. I can see why a pretty big cross-section of the fans will probably not be willing to accept such a consistently "tasteful" album from this particular group (the loping keyboard motif of "One Step Beyond" notwithstanding).
Last edited by NorthNY Mark; 07-05-2014 at 12:53 AM.
Sorry, Charlie. I don't want Yes with good taste, I want Yes that tastes good!
I really like the new album so far, but find this review pretty excessive in a lot of ways. There was one paragraph where I think the reviewer really hits the nail squarely on the head: "First of all if you’re looking for a quick hit, look elsewhere, this album is a slow burner. A grower, one that teases you and tempts you, revealing its secrets slowly and seductively, listen after beguiling listen. You’ll find songs slowly sneaking into your subconscious, humming tunes, singing along as you play the album." I used many similar words and phrases in my own preliminary review that I posted here briefly before taking down (I'll re-post it when the album is officially released). On the other hand, his praise is so effusive that it sometimes comes across as unwitting parody--for example:
"In a World of Our Own, with some great musical work by Yes, Downes keyboards shining throughout, White kicking back with a funky dirty blues beat, Howes guitar cutting through the sound left, right and centre, with some languid blues and Davison’s honestly direct lyrics, as different as his predecessors as possible, with it’s tale of love gone sour, this is Yes gone film noir, meant to be listened to in a seedy underground blues club, black and white, smoky atmosphere, Davison as the blues singer, a lazy swing underpinning the whole track. Its Yes Jim, but not as we know it."
Funky dirty blues beat? Film noir? A seedy underground blues club??? For "In a World of Our Own"?!? Surely we can't be listening to the same gently lilting shuffle song here. And while I refrain from commenting on grammar in forum postings, I think it's fair to expect a posted "review" to demonstrate a grasp of the most basic rules of punctuation--the frequent comma splices and missing apostrophes started to become very annoying once it became apparent that they were probably not random typos.
Last edited by NorthNY Mark; 07-05-2014 at 01:04 AM.
Could have been *much* more "tastefull"!
This is exactly where I'm at -hearing a hidden hook, riff, or harmony I'd missed just about every listen
I have a serious earworm infection, that's hitting me constantly
One thing that even the more positive reviews don't seem to touch are the lyrics, which I really have gotten into
Along with all the elements that made classic yes what it was, the positive vibe / Andersonian mysticism was always a wonderful part of it for me, and they've really pulled it off - I'm looking forward to having the CD jacket and seeing who wrote what, hoping it's a lot of JD's words
For me, they are wonderful
Rand made a point of the majority of rips many have posted about are from a 192 kps bitrate rip, I have a 320 kps that a friend shared but hopefully the CD will sound better, (usually not the case to my ears, but we'll c)
Apparently an epic was in the works as well, so that means a large part of the *next* release may already be there for the taking, which bodes well
Amidst all my spin, I will say that I wish they'd make the effort to learn a few more of the songs to play live, I'm going to be pinning for them while they are playing Fragile and CttE
BG
"When Yes appeared on stage, it was like, the gods appearing from the heavens, deigning to play in front of the people."
I've listened to this album a ton of times to try to get into it, its just not good, IMHO. Like I said, there's some really nice vocal runs by Jon D, but theyre trapped in really poor songwriting. Real disappointing, as for some reason I thought hed inject new energy in the band.
One positive of HE being so bad is its prompted me to re-evaluate Fly From Here. Still wouldnt put it in the top tier of Yes albums, but the material on FFH blows this stuff away, Horn retreads or not..
...At least we have these album tours, which Jon will sing strongly on, which are great...
In the latest 'Prog' magazine the articles touch on the 'leak' and there's a comment from one of the band members that it isn't the final version that's been leaked - something about 'de popping' or something?!? I didn't really understand the comment.
There's also confusion over the 'epic' that was recorded. Downes and Davison worked on it, apparently, but none of the other band members seemed to know anything about it...
I know the EPIC they should create and it all comes from this monumental piece that hardly anyone ever brings up for Yes discussion.
I started to wonder a few days ago if the leaked might be an earlier version. My guess that even if there is a later version, the songs aside from Subway Hall won't be strong enough. Too bad they didn't wait until after summer to put it out.
Too bad there's no song on the Yes called,Subway Hall. If you meant Subway Walls well then your post makes perfect sense except for waiting after the Summer to put it out. Concerts usually work better if the audience knows the music.
It Was All We Knew: Listening to this right now and for some reason it reminds me of Whiskey In The Jar by Thin Lizzy.
Sleep deprived. They could have played Subway Walls and say it is on the new CD coming in October.
That quote about the leaked not being the final is odd considering Henry and Anil among others had the final version while ago.
Finally heard "Subway Walls." Seriously, think about it: it's the Asia/Buggle guy who comes up with the powerhouse of the album. I listen to it and say, "Hey, guys, listen to this Geoff guy, he seems to have a lot on the ball." If JD and GD write more together for the next Yes album, we might have something.
I think my only complaint about the songs is I think the sound of the vocal harmonies tend to turn the vocal sound into a slush without any punch. *sigh* SHER-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD…...
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
I just finished listening to H&E again for the first time in several days, and I stand by my initial impression: there was a very good album floating around in those songwriting bits, but it didn't get made. None of the pieces seem finished, except probably "Subway Walls." H&E sounds and feels like a demo. My conclusion is that Yes needs someone to act the part of the jerk who can goad them into producing first-rate material.
Clipboard01.jpg
Cover of the new issue of PROG.
Just read that lengthy article in the new PROG magazine, and it was an entertaining and informative read! Really enjoyed it.
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.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Plenty of tix left for Radio City starting at $35- Only thirty - five bucks to see Yes in NYC. Shouldn't be any seats left at that price.
"Henry Cow always wanted to push itself, so sometimes we would write music that we couldn't actually play – I found that very encouraging." - Lindsay Cooper, 1998
"I have nothing to do with Endless River. Phew! This is not rocket science people, get a grip." - Roger Waters, 2014
"I'm a collector. And I've always just seemed to collect personalities." - David Bowie, 1973
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