New Studio CD, First In Nearly A Decade, Slated For 2011
HOLLYWOOD, CA (October 29, 2010) - Grammy Award winners YES, one of the most influential and ground-breaking progressive rock 'n' roll bands, today announced the signing of a new worldwide recording deal with the Italian-based record label, Frontiers Records. Songs such as "Roundabout", "I've Seen All Good People", "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", and countless others, have served to place the group upon the pantheon of rock 'n' roll history. But history is still yet to be written, because Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White, along with Oliver Wakeman (Rick Wakeman's son) and new lead singer Benoit David, will enter the studio to record the group's first new CD in a decade. It is anticipated for release before Summer 2011.
Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino said: "I am truly honored and excited to have these Rock and Roll pioneers on the label. YES have written some fabulous pages in the history of this music and I look forward to keep on writing new exciting chapters with them!"
"Having the two new guys in the line-up has inspired the impetus behind the need for YES to return to the studio," explains Chris Squire, while Steve Howe adds, "The new lineup has shown that we can operate well as a touring band, so now to expand that to recording would broaden our repertoire and the inclusion of Oliver and Benoit on new recordings will show a new leaf in YES music's continuing development."
One of the most popular concert attractions of all-time YES's remarkable career has served to re-define the boundaries of rock. Proving to be a dominant force for more than four decades, YES has sold over 33 million albums worldwide. Their symphonic use of sound and innovative musical style has made each of the group's players are virtuosos in their own right.
In 1980, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman left Yes, and Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White pulled in a new lead singer and keyboard player to record a new album. Young prog fans up and down the country screamed in protest (this one included).
Against the odds, the album, Drama, turned out very well indeed.
In 2010, thirty years later, with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman out of Yes, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White pull in a new lead singer and keyboard player to record a new album. Old prog fans around the world sigh gently but can't be bothered getting very worked up.
I'm not even sure I care about this new album.
Sigh. Yes have been such an enormously important part of my life, but all good things come to a natural end. I never thought I'd find myself wishing that this one would follow suit.
Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"In 1980, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman left Yes, and Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White pulled in a new lead singer and keyboard player to record a new album. Young prog fans up and down the country screamed in protest (this one included).
Against the odds, the album, Drama, turned out very well indeed.
In 2010, thirty years later, with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman out of Yes, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White pull in a new lead singer and keyboard player to record a new album. Old prog fans around the world sigh gently but can't be bothered getting very worked up.
I'm not even sure I care about this new album.
Sigh. Yes have been such an enormously important part of my life, but all good things come to a natural end. I never thought I'd find myself wishing that this one would follow suit.
Pretty much sums up my feelings as well.
One wonders if the new Yes album will be a worthy addition to their catalog. I'm certainly willing to give it a listen. And yet, for some reason I'm more than anxious to get my hands on the planned Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Trevor Rabin album, suspecting it will be quite good.
Just got the new Anderson / Wakeman CD "The Living Tree". Hope it's good.
Quote from: "gr8gonzo"One wonders if the new Yes album will be a worthy addition to their catalog. I'm certainly willing to give it a listen. And yet, for some reason I'm more than anxious to get my hands on the planned Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Trevor Rabin album, suspecting it will be quite good.
Is it planned, or merely a rumour ?
I read a recent interview with Trevor Rabin and he indicated it was going to happen, they just haven't started working on it yet. He's just completed an instrumental jazz-inspired album (I'll skip that one).
Newbie here, but I used to moderate over at yesfans.com where I have been a contributor since 2003 (although recently I have defected because of the 'It's not Yes without Jon' theme to every discussion.
I am really looking forward to the new album - and have it on very good authority that the recording and writing is going well.
As I have the Roer Dean Yes logo tattooed on my person and appear in the credits of one of their DVD's, I for one am hopefull that they will be a band for another decade! :D
Time will tell I suppose and I will listen to it even though I not chuffed about Jon getting elbowed out of the band. Another decade? I'm not so sure that will happen, may depend on how the new music is received.
Jon, Rick and Trevor eh? Now I must admit, although I was never a massive fan of the Rabin era Yes (but still bought the albums), this has aroused my interest.
Here's that Rabin interview. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, you can scroll about 2/3rds of the way down to the section marked 'New Albums.'
//http://guitarinternational.com/wpmu/2010/10/21/interivew-with-composer-guitarist-and-recording-artist-trevor-rabin/
Quote from: "keithd"Time will tell I suppose and I will listen to it even though I not chuffed about Jon getting elbowed out of the band. Another decade? I'm not so sure that will happen, may depend on how the new music is received.
Jon, Rick and Trevor eh? Now I must admit, although I was never a massive fan of the Rabin era Yes (but still bought the albums), this has aroused my interest.
My thought exactly.
Just listened to "Forever" from Rick and Jon's new album. It's an ok piece but it is soooo formulaic. No-one does that piano-with-strings-sustain sound as well as Rick does....or so bleedin' often. It's soo old now...in my opinion. No new tricks any more?
Quote from: "Pedro"Just listened to "Forever" from Rick and Jon's new album. It's an ok piece but it is soooo formulaic. No-one does that piano-with-strings-sustain sound as well as Rick does....or so bleedin' often. It's soo old now...in my opinion. No new tricks any more?
Oh! It was OK!! But there were no clowns, no lions, tigers or bears, candy-floss, toffee apples ... no clowns.
(Not 100% sure if the YouTube version I just listened to is from the CD or a rough cut, but JA's voice sounds pretty much on the edge ... and I agree, Pedro, very formulaic; could have come from any of JA or RW's rather generic solo albums made over the past decade or so; way too New Age for my tastes these days.)
I have it from good sources that actually Trevor Horn is producing the new album or at least the one song he has written for YES but never got around recording with them called We Can Fly From Here.
Quote from: "ChrisX"I have it from good sources that actually Trevor Horn is producing the new album or at least the one song he has written for YES but never got around recording with them called We Can Fly From Here.
Well, that's an interesting piece of news, although not 100% true, inasmuch as there
is a recording of Horn playing We Can Fly From Here with Yes, albeit live in New York in 1980 and not in the studio.
It's on the live compilation 3 CD album "The Word is Live", issued by Rhino Records in 2005. While I don't have the whole album, I do have We Can Fly From Here (I think Rhino made it available as a free taster download), and I have to say that it's quite brilliant: a real Drama-era gem.
Then again, having got used to Trevor Horn and Chris Squire (I think) singing it, I'm not sure I need a studio version sung by anyone else ...
Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"In 1980, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman left Yes, and Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White pulled in a new lead singer and keyboard player to record a new album. Young prog fans up and down the country screamed in protest (this one included).
Against the odds, the album, Drama, turned out very well indeed.
IIRC, it was only (quite) long after the event that Drama 'clicked'. It certainly wasn't helped by the tour... :(
Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"In 2010, thirty years later, with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman out of Yes, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White pull in a new lead singer and keyboard player to record a new album. Old prog fans around the world sigh gently but can't be bothered getting very worked up.
I'm not even sure I care about this new album.
Sigh. Yes have been such an enormously important part of my life, but all good things come to a natural end. I never thought I'd find myself wishing that this one would follow suit.
Very much agreed: If it comes out on Spotify etc I'll give it listen - hoping to be pleasantly suprised - but not really expecting great things :roll:
Quote from: "Tricky"Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"In 1980, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman left Yes, and Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White pulled in a new lead singer and keyboard player to record a new album. Young prog fans up and down the country screamed in protest (this one included).
Against the odds, the album, Drama, turned out very well indeed.
IIRC, it was only (quite) long after the event that Drama 'clicked'. It certainly wasn't helped by the tour... :(
You may well be right about that, although I'm pretty sure I bought the album on Day One (August 22 1980, thank you Wikipedia) and saw the tour at the Edinburgh Playhouse at the end of November 1980, thirty years ago this month (ouch), so I must've liked the album enough right from the start not to be put off going to the concert. And while I'm afraid I don't have any particularly clear memories of the gig any more, I certainly don't recall thinking it was awful.
But it's certainly true that it took a while before it was possible to take a more objective view, without being overly influenced by the shock departure of Anderson and Wakeman, and their replacement by The Buggles. I still think it's a very under-rated album, along with Tormato. Not all of either is great, but much of both is.
As I'm sure I've related on the forum before, a fellow Yes-head friend slathered this new Buggles+Yes combination with the vitriolic moniker "The Buggers". Then again, for historical completeness and in case, against all odds, he's listening, the same school friend did cause a minor ripple in my otherwise very conventional grammar school world by admitting to me that he liked to come to school on occasion going commando, as he enjoyed being able to play pocket billiards to entertain himself during the day.
I still haven't quite figured what he expected me to do with this unsolicited information :shock:
Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"Quote from: "ChrisX"I have it from good sources that actually Trevor Horn is producing the new album or at least the one song he has written for YES but never got around recording with them called We Can Fly From Here.
Well, that's an interesting piece of news, although not 100% true, inasmuch as there is a recording of Horn playing We Can Fly From Here with Yes, albeit live in New York in 1980 and not in the studio.
It's on the live compilation 3 CD album "The Word is Live", issued by Rhino Records in 2005. While I don't have the whole album, I do have We Can Fly From Here (I think Rhino made it available as a free taster download), and I have to say that it's quite brilliant: a real Drama-era gem.
Then again, having got used to Trevor Horn and Chris Squire (I think) singing it, I'm not sure I need a studio version sung by anyone else ...
Actually i think the studio version is going to be sung by Trevor, but D.B will be lead vocalist for the remainder of the record.
Well, for what it's worth, I am looking forward to the new album. New blood (Benoit and Oliver - and I do like some of Oliver's solo stuff), Trevor Horn producing. And although I love Jon's voice, I have found some of his writing a bit too off with the fairies in later years, and though I will always cite Rick as one of my musical heroes (As witnessed by the huge number of his gigs I've been to) I too am wondering about his piano/strings and piano/fairground ride/disney keyboard sounds of recent times.
As for how Jon has been 'treated' by the band, perhaps Messers Peter Banks and Tony Kaye might be able to speak to how that felt when Jon fired them. :)
Quote from: "MarkOneMusic"Well, for what it's worth, I am looking forward to the new album. New blood (Benoit and Oliver - and I do like some of Oliver's solo stuff), Trevor Horn producing. And although I love Jon's voice, I have found some of his writing a bit too off with the fairies in later years, and though I will always cite Rick as one of my musical heroes (As witnessed by the huge number of his gigs I've been to) I too am wondering about his piano/strings and piano/fairground ride/disney keyboard sounds of recent times.
As for how Jon has been 'treated' by the band, perhaps Messers Peter Banks and Tony Kaye might be able to speak to how that felt when Jon fired them. :)
Indeed and agreed.
In 2006 I was in a London eatery where Chris and Pete were both present, but did not speak to each other. Now that is a looong feud!
Quote from: "Simon B"Newbie here, but I used to moderate over at yesfans.com where I have been a contributor since 2003 (although recently I have defected because of the 'It's not Yes without Jon' theme to every discussion.
I am really looking forward to the new album - and have it on very good authority that the recording and writing is going well.
As I have the Roer Dean Yes logo tattooed on my person and appear in the credits of one of their DVD's, I for one am hopefull that they will be a band for another decade! :D
You might know my wife, Mrs One, AKA imagescapegirl over at yesfans
People just like to complain about things, and yes it gets annoying...
Shall I quote my own signature?
Quote from: "Pedro"Just listened to "Forever" from Rick and Jon's new album. It's an ok piece but it is soooo formulaic. No-one does that piano-with-strings-sustain sound as well as Rick does....or so bleedin' often. It's soo old now...in my opinion. No new tricks any more?
Saw Wakeman and Anderson last night at the O2 Indigo. A smart combination of the new "formulaic" stuff following by the Yes faves. Turn of the Century was just perfect.
Having listened to the freebie available I had low expectations for Jon's voice - needn't have worried - he was great.
Even bumped into him beforehand while he was being shown round the BME exhibition and was able to focus him for long enough to get him to sign my ticket!
Quote from: "MarkOneMusic"Quote from: "Simon B"Newbie here, but I used to moderate over at yesfans.com where I have been a contributor since 2003 (although recently I have defected because of the 'It's not Yes without Jon' theme to every discussion.
I am really looking forward to the new album - and have it on very good authority that the recording and writing is going well.
As I have the Roer Dean Yes logo tattooed on my person and appear in the credits of one of their DVD's, I for one am hopefull that they will be a band for another decade! :D
You might know my wife, Mrs One, AKA imagescapegirl over at yesfans
Indeed I do Mark! See you both on 6th - not long now!