According to Steve Howe, the current line up of Yes are going to record a new album. Here's what he has to say:
We're planning to start recording some music in October together. We hope to finish up by early next year, then we would think there would be something out next summer. No guarantees, but there's a feeling that we're going to move on to it. We've been writing material, we've been talking to producers, and basically we think we've got something happening.
Will this include Jon Anderson?
It won't include Jon Anderson. Benoit David is our new vocalist from Canada. Basically, it works, it's practical, it's friendly. It's very constructive and it's working. We can't keep going thinking we're going to go back to something. Back is old. Back is problem. Back is baggage. Forward is adventurous and revealing. We say to people that this is the Yes that's working. This is the working Yes. You can have all the other lineups you like in your mind, but this is the line up that actually goes out and does the work. We're the perpetuation, the continuation, and the saga of Yes.
Sorry, call me "back" or whatever you like, Steve, but count me out.
I stuck with your vision of what Yes became in 1980, ironically because no-one in their right mind could see Horn and Downes as Anderson and Wakeman sound-a-likes (even though Trevor tried [too hard] on tour). And I'd go as far as to say that my loyalty (?) was rewarded, since Drama has stood the test of time since then.
But for me, 30 years on, this is a step too far, beyond the end of the road. Sherwood, Khoroshev, and even Oliver Wakeman as members; who cares? Benoit David as ersatz Anderson impersonator front man recording an album with the band? Pointless, stupid, daft. This is one album I won't buy, despite having multiple copies of every other one.
And to refer implicitly to Anderson as "baggage", well, I would have hoped for better from Mr Howe. I have no illusions about Anderson remaining a fully creative force; he's 65, for crying out loud, but Howe, Squire, and White are all in their early 60s too, so frankly this talk of being "adventurous and revealing" is, at best, delusional.
Very sad; Yes have been a huge part of my life. I feel sure I shall listen to Tales From Topographic Oceans (Messrs Anderson and Howe working together at their finest) until I spring my mortal coil, but, I fear, probably now tainted by this slow dribbling into irrelevance of the band.
Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"Sorry, call me "back" or whatever you like, Steve, but count me out.
I stuck with your vision of what Yes became in 1980, ironically because no-one in their right mind could see Horn and Downes as Anderson and Wakeman sound-a-likes (even though Trevor tried [too hard] on tour). And I'd go as far as to say that my loyalty (?) was rewarded, since Drama has stood the test of time since then.
But for me, 30 years on, this is a step too far, beyond the end of the road. Sherwood, Khoroshev, and even Oliver Wakeman as members; who cares? Benoit David as ersatz Anderson impersonator front man recording an album with the band? Pointless, stupid, daft. This is one album I won't buy, despite having multiple copies of every other one.
And to refer implicitly to Anderson as "baggage", well, I would have hoped for better from Mr Howe. I have no illusions about Anderson remaining a fully creative force; he's 65, for crying out loud, but Howe, Squire, and White are all in their early 60s too, so frankly this talk of being "adventurous and revealing" is, at best, delusional.
Very sad; Yes have been a huge part of my life. I feel sure I shall listen to Tales From Topographic Oceans (Messrs Anderson and Howe working together at their finest) until I spring my mortal coil, but, I fear, probably now tainted by this slow dribbling into irrelevance of the band.
I completely agree here. I mean Steve Howe's comments are totally disrespectful and it seems that there's been a falling out at some stage. As far as I'm concerned you cannot take away a major part of Yes and replace him with a tribute band vocalist. I don't doubt Benoit David is a good singer, but it's not just the vocals, it's the songwriting that will be missed and is an integral part of Yes music.
I was saddened to read Howe's comments and, after watching him on High Voltage last night, perhaps he should consider moving over as he seems to be past his best.
From another perspective:
I went to see them on the end of the UK tour last year. It was, in fact, very good. I'd go so far to say: brilliant.
Steve, Chris and Alan were the most relaxed on stage I've seen them in years, they genuinely engaged, there were lots of smiles, and they were all smokin' as far as musicality goes.
Benoit. Jeeze, I have never seen so much vitriol heaped on a guy across the web, because he dares to stand up there and sing 'And You and I' Pol Pot? Move over, Stalin? Get out, there is a new face in town worthy of our hatred. FFS! He's a singer. He sings well. No he's not Anderson, He's Benoit David. He has a similar voice, he loves the music and he has the chops to carry it off live.
Oliver. Look Oliver's a bloody good keyboard player. Go and listen to some of his solo stuff. His remit on the tour was to play his Dad's parts. As originally conceived (and some of Messers Kaye and Downes' parts too). He pulls that off superbly
I bought and downloaded the gig the day afterwards, thinking it was maybe the actual event and maybe the cold light of day it would not be so great. No I was wrong. They were great. Tight, together and musical.
I don't know what a new album might be, but I have hopes that with the injection of some fresh new blood with their own ideas, and not being shackled to Jon's etherial fairieland visions of fluffy joy, they might actually pull something exciting out of the hat.
I've always loved Jon's vocals, but his iron grip on the artistic direction of the band, particularly post Big Generator has been well documented, and to my mind held them back.
But, bloody hell... After all It's only music innit? It might be pants, it might be great.
Let's give 'em the benefit of the doubt and wait and see, eh?
I preferred Howe when he played the Cryptkeeper on Tales From The Crypt.
Yes without Anderson? No thanks. I'd buy a new Anderson/Rabin album in a heartbeat, though.
It's a similar story to that of It Bites, changing their front man, and there were(are still) people that get very bothered about it not being "right".
All it will be is "different"....it could still be "good".
I'm not a fan of BD from the YouTubes I've seen but that is because I can't get past the "he's trying to be JA" factor. I too have loved Yes for almost as long as I have loved music so I find the changes (and the apparent injustice) hard to take.
But, I will give the new stuff a fair chance (as I did with IB and I'm so glad I did) and only declare an opinion once it has been heard.
However, having heard the new song that Asia turned out at High Voltage and found it to be rather lack-lustre, I worry that the new Yes stuff could be a similar formulaic shadow of former glory....but we'll see....erm....hear. :)
Quote from: "MarkOneMusic"From another perspective:
I went to see them on the end of the UK tour last year. It was, in fact, very good. I'd go so far to say: brilliant.
Steve, Chris and Alan were the most relaxed on stage I've seen them in years, they genuinely engaged, there were lots of smiles, and they were all smokin' as far as musicality goes.
Benoit. Jeeze, I have never seen so much vitriol heaped on a guy across the web, because he dares to stand up there and sing 'And You and I' Pol Pot? Move over, Stalin? Get out, there is a new face in town worthy of our hatred. FFS! He's a singer. He sings well. No he's not Anderson, He's Benoit David. He has a similar voice, he loves the music and he has the chops to carry it off live.
Oliver. Look Oliver's a bloody good keyboard player. Go and listen to some of his solo stuff. His remit on the tour was to play his Dad's parts. As originally conceived (and some of Messers Kaye and Downes' parts too). He pulls that off superbly
I bought and downloaded the gig the day afterwards, thinking it was maybe the actual event and maybe the cold light of day it would not be so great. No I was wrong. They were great. Tight, together and musical.
I don't know what a new album might be, but I have hopes that with the injection of some fresh new blood with their own ideas, and not being shackled to Jon's etherial fairieland visions of fluffy joy, they might actually pull something exciting out of the hat.
I've always loved Jon's vocals, but his iron grip on the artistic direction of the band, particularly post Big Generator has been well documented, and to my mind held them back.
But, bloody hell... After all It's only music innit? It might be pants, it might be great.
Let's give 'em the benefit of the doubt and wait and see, eh?
I certainly respect your opinion, MarkOneMusic; you're right that these things are very much in the eye of the beholder.
Bu for many of us (including you, I'd venture), music is an absolutely vital part of our lives and we have strong opinions about it. The famous Bill Shankly quote (or any version thereof) about football could readily be transposed to music:
QuoteSomeone said to me 'To you football is a matter of life or death!' and I said 'Listen, it's more important than that'."
I think the point here is that yes, perhaps Benoit David loves the music and can sing, but he didn't write any of it. Let him play in a tribute band, by all means, but for me, it seriously devalues the meaning of a "band" when key members of the original writing group are replaced by impersonators. For all that I agree that Anderson has often strayed in the direction of the airy fairy, the rest of Yes were able to channel him and the resulting mixture was frequently astonishing. Yes without him is a different band and even the others used to realise that: recall XYZ and Cinema, the latter only becoming Yes again when Anderson rejoined.
Of course, the exception was when Yes were Buggled, but FFS, that was 1980, only just over ten years in to the life of the band, when they were still relatively young and their creative energies were still high. So then I was willing to believe that a new configuration could yield great results, and I think Drama bears witness to that, not only for Horn and Downes, but also Squire, Howe, and White.
But it's 30 years later now and I'm afraid I can't see them producing anything amazing any more, with or without Anderson. To keep up that pretence in order to play on our loyalties and drum up new sales, well, it's demeaning, frankly. Ultimately, I fear they risk debasing an amazing history of fantastic music: better to stop now (I can't believe that any of them really need the money) and leave us, the fans who made them, in a manner of speaking, unsullied memories of that past.
Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"I think the point here is that yes, perhaps Benoit David loves the music and can sing, but he didn't write any of it. Let him play in a tribute band, by all means, but for me, it seriously devalues the meaning of a "band" when key members of the original writing group are replaced by impersonators.
I do understand your feelings here, but 'impersonator' is I feel a bit disingenuous. Benoit was in a tribute act, sure, but he's also one of the founder members of Mystery, a prog band writing and recording their own original music.
http://www.unicornrecords.com/mystery/ (http://www.unicornrecords.com/mystery/)
New Yes music without Jon's input will be different, it might be rubbish, it might just be very interesting, but I'm keeping an open mind. Both Oliver and Benoit have musical ideas from outside that might bring something fresh and new.
But I do understand it's like messing with the recipe of a familiar favourite cake that mum always baked. Nobody should mess with mums cake recipe. It's sacrosanct.
Quote from: "gr8gonzo"I preferred Howe when he played the Cryptkeeper on Tales From The Crypt.
Yes without Anderson? No thanks. I'd buy a new Anderson/Rabin album in a heartbeat, though.
How about an Anderson & Wakeman album? There's one on the horizon :D
Is Bill Bruford unavailable?
Quote from: "gr8gonzo"Is Bill Bruford unavailable?
I doubt he's unavailable, but apparently he's chosen not to play live anymore. I read his book this summer, really hard work reading that. He certainly has a high opinion of himself.
Quote from: "keithd"Quote from: "gr8gonzo"Is Bill Bruford unavailable?
I doubt he's unavailable, but apparently he's chosen not to play live anymore. I read his book this summer, really hard work reading that. He certainly has a high opinion of himself.
With some justification...
...but in all the interviews I've ever seen/read he does seem a bit up himself.
could it be a Jazz thing?
Quote from: "Tricky"Quote from: "keithd"Quote from: "gr8gonzo"Is Bill Bruford unavailable?
I doubt he's unavailable, but apparently he's chosen not to play live anymore. I read his book this summer, really hard work reading that. He certainly has a high opinion of himself.
With some justification...
...but in all the interviews I've ever seen/read he does seem a bit up himself.
could it be a Jazz thing?
Granted he's one fine drummer, if not the most humble.
It's not really the fact that there is a new singer, I mean I love DRAMA so that's not an issue...it's more the way Jon was BOOTED out due to his illness. It's really the same way that I feel about what happened in Pallas. I've no gripe with singers, or anyone being replaced by whoever, it's the way they go about it that bothers me. It's not nice. Yes are my number 2 favourite band but to me they are just dead. It's over and I just wish they would see it themselves. Live it has just become music by numbers, no feeling, everything played at less than half tempo..it's not good at all. Benoit may well be a good singer, but on stage he is just TOO MUCH of a Jon clone. Everything her does is an attempt to BE Jon. If he tried to be mor ehimself then it might sound slightly better. A new album may be good, but I don't really know if I care that much anymore. Certain peoples attitudes, namely Mr Squire and Mr Howe, stink.
Maybe Jon's illness was also convenient for Howe, Squire & White to have more of say in the music Yes would/could create. Perhaps Benoit is just a frontman that will allow the others to create the type of music they want. Just a thought, maybe I'm completely wrong.
The fact remains that JA appears to have been elbowed out and that does not sit well with me. It's no secret that Rick Wakeman is pretty annoyed as well. Here's an extract from his website regarding the forthcoming shows with JA. notice the comment "true Yes fan".
Working with Jon is always special and these shows will undoubtedly reflect that. If I were a true YES fan, (which I am), I wouldn't miss these shows for the world. But as I'll be on stage, I'll have to buy the dvd to see what it looks like!"
I go through stages of listening to YES. Some of it I love and some of it I just don't get.... But that's probably because it's the origins of a lot of stuff I love today.
I will give this new line up a listen. I won't judge it until I have heard it. That is only fair...
Plus... It's new music to listen too and a new vocalist may add a new edge to the sound(even if he does sound like Anderson!!!). I'm intrigued. :)
It's obvious by reading these posts that the opinions differ greatly. I myself am totally not certain what I think of this. I almost feel like I agree with everything. I agree JA was just booted in an inappropriate manner, but also that a change might be good for an aging band. I agree that it's kind of weird to replace JA with a singer that sounds a lot like him, but then again I wouldn't want him to sound much different either. Etc...
I guess in my mind they should have changed the band's name. Not because I necessarily think changing the singer warrants changing a band's name automatically, but because it would at the same time represent a new start, or a new direction. New ideas can be brought in, and they wouldn't even need to sound like Yes, while they can still play Yes tunes live. If Yes had only existed for a few years I would not think the same thing. But in this case, and I think many would agree, Yes doesn't deliver anymore. Not as they used to. I wouldn't say they're dead, but certainly dying. A fresh start would be the next logical step (or attempt anyway), and that would be well represented by a new band name.
It doesn't feel right to me. I didn't see Yes on the last tour, as, to my mind, it wasn't really Yes... I think I prefer to cherish my memories of the Union tour and the 35-years tour. Hard to top either of those gigs.
Quote from: "catherine"It doesn't feel right to me. I didn't see Yes on the last tour, as, to my mind, it wasn't really Yes... I think I prefer to cherish my memories of the Union tour and the 35-years tour. Hard to top either of those gigs.
'Tis 'cos you is young, Catherine.
Wembley Pool, October 1977, Going for the One tour.
Wembley Pool, October 1978, Tormato tour (in the round).
Them's were gigs.
(Now I expect the even-older-brigade to pitch in with CTTE, TFTO, and Relayer tours, which'll really annoy me [cos I'm too young to have been to those] :x )
Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"Quote from: "catherine"It doesn't feel right to me. I didn't see Yes on the last tour, as, to my mind, it wasn't really Yes... I think I prefer to cherish my memories of the Union tour and the 35-years tour. Hard to top either of those gigs.
'Tis 'cos you is young, Catherine.
Wembley Pool, October 1977, Going for the One tour.
Wembley Pool, October 1978, Tormato tour (in the round).
Them's were gigs.
(Now I expect the even-older-brigade to pitch in with CTTE, TFTO, and Relayer tours, which'll really annoy me [cos I'm too young to have been to those] :x )
That was my first Yes gig, Relayer tour at the Capitol Theatre in Cardiff. I'll never forget the awe of seeing them live for the very first time. Those shows at Wembley were great too, still got all the concert programmes :)
Quote from: "MrBabou"It's obvious by reading these posts that the opinions differ greatly. I myself am totally not certain what I think of this. I almost feel like I agree with everything. I agree JA was just booted in an inappropriate manner, but also that a change might be good for an aging band. I agree that it's kind of weird to replace JA with a singer that sounds a lot like him, but then again I wouldn't want him to sound much different either. Etc...
I guess in my mind they should have changed the band's name. Not because I necessarily think changing the singer warrants changing a band's name automatically, but because it would at the same time represent a new start, or a new direction. New ideas can be brought in, and they wouldn't even need to sound like Yes, while they can still play Yes tunes live. If Yes had only existed for a few years I would not think the same thing. But in this case, and I think many would agree, Yes doesn't deliver anymore. Not as they used to. I wouldn't say they're dead, but certainly dying. A fresh start would be the next logical step (or attempt anyway), and that would be well represented by a new band name.
That's a valid point. It's not Yes without JA. They could have taken their new band in any direction they wanted and nobody would have minded but would have been curious at the result.
well and good, but I assume they still need to make a living. Changing the name wouldn't bring in the $$'s especially in the states. JA did seem to be doing some solo stuff when Yes were unable to tour as a result of his illness so I guess there's more than 1 side to the story. I suspect that the magic is gone, however...
Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"Quote from: "catherine"It doesn't feel right to me. I didn't see Yes on the last tour, as, to my mind, it wasn't really Yes... I think I prefer to cherish my memories of the Union tour and the 35-years tour. Hard to top either of those gigs.
'Tis 'cos you is young, Catherine.
Wembley Pool, October 1977, Going for the One tour.
Wembley Pool, October 1978, Tormato tour (in the round).
Them's were gigs.
(Now I expect the even-older-brigade to pitch in with CTTE, TFTO, and Relayer tours, which'll really annoy me [cos I'm too young to have been to those] :x )
I wouldn't have been allowed out for those gigs... :cry: but I'm very envious!
Quote from: "keithd"Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"Quote from: "catherine"It doesn't feel right to me. I didn't see Yes on the last tour, as, to my mind, it wasn't really Yes... I think I prefer to cherish my memories of the Union tour and the 35-years tour. Hard to top either of those gigs.
'Tis 'cos you is young, Catherine.
Wembley Pool, October 1977, Going for the One tour.
Wembley Pool, October 1978, Tormato tour (in the round).
Them's were gigs.
(Now I expect the even-older-brigade to pitch in with CTTE, TFTO, and Relayer tours, which'll really annoy me [cos I'm too young to have been to those] :x )
That was my first Yes gig, Relayer tour at the Capitol Theatre in Cardiff. I'll never forget the awe of seeing them live for the very first time. Those shows at Wembley were great too, still got all the concert programmes :)
QPR 1975 my first Yes gig, for a young 15 year old wearing a smelly afgan coat and carrying a bag of pork pies, it turned out to be an amazing day even though I missed the last train home and had to kip on liverpool street station.
Quote from: "davejd"...a young 15 year old wearing a smelly afgan coat and carrying a bag of pork pies, it turned out to be an amazing day even though I missed the last train home and had to kip on liverpool street station.
Now that's a proper gig experience! None of your Travelodge nonsense! :)