Fly from here Part II - we can fly.

Sorry but this is not a D I D post, but those who know me, will know, that I'm a big Yes fan and the new album came out yesterday, so here's my thoughts. (actually if you don't know me I'm still a big Yes fan!)

I set out here my thoughts on the soap opera that is, and has been, Yes. The album has been available as a pre-order on iTunes for a couple of weeks and having listened to the previews, it didn't sound that great. I also found a stream of the track that heads this post and that sounded better, but I was familiar with it as it was the song that the Drama period Yes played live but never recorded and it appears on "The Word is Live" boxed set.

So here's the thing that I suspected, that was proven last night, be very careful with iTunes previews, they can distort an album. Last night I listened to the album on Spotify (here) and frankly I'm impressed! In short, it rocks, in both meanings of that phrase. So much so that I bought it and have played it twice since!

The trio of Steve Howe (guitar) Chris Squire (bass) and Alan White (drums) always were a tight rock unit at the heart of the band and that shows on this album. Keyboards from Geoff Downes (best known for his work with Howe in Asia) add to this and Benoit David's vocals are close enough to Jon Anderson's to keep the "Yes" sound without sounding like an impersonation.

The main piece on the album is a five part suite "Fly from Here" which is based on the "we can fly" segment but adds to it so that across the different parts various themes and melodies appear and reappear but each part remains it's own. The other tracks are better than I thought they would be (i.e. not filler), particularly "Into the storm" and "Life on a film set". There's also the obligatory Steve Howe acoustic guitar workout, a Chris Squire song and a potential single in "Hour of Need"

Steve Howe's son Dylan (an accomplished jazz drummer in his own right) tweeted recently, that having listened to an advance copy, that he though that it was a bit like "Drama" part 2, referring back to the Yes album from 1980. Indeed it is. Firstly it is produced by Trevor Horn, who sang on Drama and 4/5th's of the band that performed on Drama appear on this album too . Furthermore three of the tracks, were written by Trevor Horn & Geoff  Downes as demo's for their next Buggles release, around the time of Drama's recording. They are available as a bonus tracks on the recent reissue of the subsequent "Adventures in Modern Recording" album. If CD's had been around at that time, "Fly from here" might have made the "Drama album, but the restrictions of  vinyl meant that there simply wasn't space for it. They did however add it to the live set for the Drama tour and a live version of "Fly from here part 1" appears on the 2007 live boxed set "The Word is live"

Now I might just have get a ticket to see them in Brighton in November.