Epic left off new YES album because they didn't have time to record it!

[Rufus]

Unbelieveble!!!! Just hope this album won't sound incohesive because of the rush it was made?

Yes frontman Jon Davison has revealed the band had to abandon an epic track they were hoping to include on upcoming album Heaven & Earth – because they ran out of time to record it.

Hectic schedules meant every man in the veteran prog outfit was recording material at the same moment as they rushed to complete sessions before continuing their current world tour.

Davison, who makes his studio debut with Yes on the July release, tells ProgReport: “We finished recording just in time – we had to leave.

“We were doubling up in the studio. Chris Squire and I were working on background vocals and Steve Howe was finishing guitars. Geoff Downes was in Wales, Alan White was in Seattle and they were both sending tracks.

“We were just kind of throwing everything in at the last minute, then we only had two or three days before we had to start this tour.”

The tight timeframe forced Davison and Squire to stop work on what the singer describes as a “big prog piece.” He says: “That’ll probably be on the next album. We’ve got a bunch of extra material because things were just left undone.”

Yes return to the UK at the end of the month for a tour featuring performances of The Yes Album, Close To The Edge and Going For The One in full:

[iguana]

their schedules were / are crippling. YES’s current workload is momentous; i am surprised that they did actually manage to get an album done before being sent on tour again. downes, before this, had to finish an ASiA album, not to mention filming an incredibly complex video clip...

i am not too bothered about lack of an extended epic because i have always preferred them in a 10minute format. and that's supposedly well represented on the new one.

[happytheman]

Nice to hear things have gelled with Davison... there will be a "next" album... all is well in Yesland!

[Mt. Pleasant Farm]

I will be seeing Yes this evening and tomorrow evening. Really looking forward to it.

[ronmac]

I'm guessing that their promoter is not too happy about these statements.

Great way to lower expectations.

[Scott Bails]

not to mention filming an incredibly complex video clip...

[Sylvan]

I think it was Jon and Geoff (not Chris) who were unable to finish a "big prog piece."

[bondegezou]

Unbelieveble!!!! Just hope this album won't sound incohesive because of the rush it was made?

The original interview is at http://progreport.com/jon-davison-yes-interview/ and well worth a listen. Downes has since confirmed Davison's comments, saying, "It's 15 minutes long with 6 or 7 different sections."

I don't think the album was rushed any more than many albums. They actually spent a long time working on material before going into the studio. But it does sound like they have quite a bit of material that hasn't been used on this album.

Henry

[bondegezou]

I think it was Jon and Geoff (not Chris) who were unable to finish a "big prog piece."

Yes, whoever Rufus is quoting has misunderstood.

Henry

[JAMOOL]

wasn't Fragile rather rushed as well? this seems like a good thing to me, it means there's stuff left around for another album

[Rufus]

wasn't Fragile rather rushed as well? this seems like a good thing to me, it means there's stuff left around for another album

When Fragile was recorded they were young, hungry & creative. Most if not all artists/bands eventually lose that creative spark as they grow older. Can't see the new album coming even close to Fragile?

[bondegezou]

wasn't Fragile rather rushed as well?

The first four Yes albums were all made pretty quickly, as was Drama. The albums that had really long recording blocks were later, most notably Big Generator.

Henry

[Akustika]

Sometimes comments can be taken out of context. On March 7th, Geoff Downes tweeted when he left LA that his parts were finished & the rest of the band would finish up w/ RTB the following week. Based on his tweets, he was in California recording the YES album from about the beginning of January.

As for the “Big Epic song”, I got the impression that it came along too late in the process to make it onto this record…?

[bondegezou]

As for the “Big Epic song”, I got the impression that it came along too late in the process to make it onto this record…?

Yes. I don't think they even tried to record it. They wrote more than 1 album's worth of material, but they then had a clear idea of what they would record.

Henry

[JAMOOL]

When Fragile was recorded they were young, hungry & creative. Most if not all artists/bands eventually lose that creative spark as they grow older. Can't see the new album coming even close to Fragile?

I guess what I'm trying to really say there is that A) I'm still in awe of the Yes catalogue from 71 to 74, and B) I would be more afraid of an album that was worked on for years than one that they had to do quickly.

[ronmac]

The first four Yes albums were all made pretty quickly, as was Drama. The albums that had really long recording blocks were later, most notably Big Generator.

Henry

Oh, well, then, that's a good sign for the new one!

[Dan Roth]

But it does sound like they have quite a bit of material that hasn't been used on this album.

I can picture the PE threads once Heaven and Earth is released: "This album is ok, but what we really want is that lost epic and missing tracks!"

[ronmac]

I can picture the PE threads once Heaven and Earth is released: "This album is ok, but what we really want is that lost epic and missing tracks!"

Don't forget labeling the next release "Heaven and Earth Leftovers."

[Dan Roth]

Don't forget labeling the next release "Heaven and Earth Leftovers."

Ha! So true! And when the Leftovers album comes out, there will be the outcry of "Why didn't they buckle down and write more new material for this? See? They can't make it with out Jon A!" It's a no-win cycle for the band.

[JJ88]

It seems some are falling into the trap of assuming a prog album's quality is based on a song's length. 'The Yes Album' and 'Fragile' didn't have much over the ten minute mark but those are two of the best albums they ever made. It's better to have too much material available than not enough.

[Nicky Cupcakes]

I can picture the PE threads once Heaven and Earth is released: "This album is ok, but what we really want is that lost epic and missing tracks!"

I don't see the need to wait until release date to start that thread

[Scott Bails]

I can picture the PE threads once Heaven and Earth is released: "This album is ok, but what we really want is that lost epic and missing tracks!"

Exactly.


I still don't understand how the length of time it takes to record an album, or the time between when a song is written and when it's recorded has anything to do with whether it's going to be any good or not.

[JKL2000]

"Loaf of Prog Left Unpinched"

[cavgator]

Exactly.


I still don't understand how the length of time it takes to record an album, or the time between when a song is written and when it's recorded has anything to do with whether it's going to be any good or not.

Don't know what their problem was. How hard is it to record waterfalls and singing birds for five minutes and jam it into the middle of one of their other songs?

[Plasmatopia]

"Loaf of Prog Left Unpinched"

I hate when that happens.


It's interested to hear that the early Yes albums were recorded "pretty quickly". I can't say I've read a lot of Yes interviews, but I'd gotten the impression that the recording process was somewhat painful and arduous...with purposely exaggerated references to "taking a week to get a good snare sound", etc. And Bruford didn't seem too enamored with the process of recording in those days, judging by his book.