New Yes Album...

RWA · October 09, 2011, 10:10:33 AM

Forgot about this new album.....
Listening to it on Spotify right now. Very nice! More melody... less wankery weirdness. I think I like this one! 8-)

David · October 09, 2011, 11:03:13 AM

I was listening to "Big Generator" 3 days ago, my 1st daughter asked me : "Who's this lady singing ?".
Yesterday, I played "Fly from Here", and my 2nd daughter said "I like this girl's voice".

Therefore :
1. My girls both can't ear properly good music ;
2. there are now excellent clues to say that Benoît David has definitely been a good choice

RWA · November 05, 2011, 01:06:10 PM

Is it me..... or is the 'Fly From Here' epic one of the finest things they've ever done?! :shock:
I love it! 8-)

Pedro · November 05, 2011, 02:47:54 PM

Not to my ears....but we're all different. It's not in the top 5 Yes albums in my opinion but that doesn't mean it's bad....just not to my taste.

Geetar · November 06, 2011, 11:33:40 AM

Quote from: "Pedro"It's not in the top 5 Yes albums in my opinion but that doesn't mean it's bad....

Indeed; though there's a Lynsey de Paul album lost in a box in the attic somewhere that I've played more times than this......

Trapezium Artist · November 06, 2011, 12:05:58 PM

Quote from: "RWA"Is it me..... or is the 'Fly From Here' epic one of the finest things they've ever done?! :shock:
I love it! 8-)

Although a big Yes fan since about 1973 (holy moley), I still haven't got my act together to buy this new album. Without the cosmic pixie, it can't be right, etc. etc. ...

That said and as I have no doubt said here before, I have always had time for Drama and very much like "We Can Fly From Here", recorded live during the Drama era and appearing on "The Word Is Live".

So, if anything is going to persuade me to buy the new album, it's a positive review of the 21st century version of that song. Which you've just delivered, sir ...

Mikey · November 06, 2011, 06:06:10 PM

Can it still be descibed as a new album?

Trapezium Artist · November 06, 2011, 11:14:04 PM

Quote from: "Mikey"Can it still be descibed as a new album?

New inasmuch as it's from this year and the prior album, Magnification, came out ten years earlier: I think it qualifies on that count. (Good grief; is that really true? Ten years since Magnification? Astonishing ...)

Or are you saying that because the name and main song derive from something written more than 30 years ago, it hardly counts as new? Can't argue with that ...

owen · November 06, 2011, 11:45:32 PM

To me it sounds like second rate Asia, with a squeaky voice and a drum machine. Even Squire's bass is lost in the mix. And that's the problem for me: it's a Buggles album with Steve Howe on (occaisional) guitar. Not sure if Alan White even showed up. One look at the song writing credits pretty much showed that they had to sack O Wakeman so that Trevor Horn had someone to write with. No one else had much creative input. Though I suspect I'm being a little unfair on their singer

Mikey · November 07, 2011, 05:16:13 PM

Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"Or are you saying that because the name and main song derive from something written more than 30 years ago

No, its been out a while now

catherine · November 09, 2011, 10:13:17 AM

Saw them last night in Cambridge and it was a really enjoyable evening. Benoit wasn't at all bad; everyone else was good. (But my goodness, they're looking old these days - last time I saw them was 7 years ago and time has not been kind to them since then). Geoff Downes was tinkling the ivories, which surprised me as I was expecting a Wakeman.

Catch them if you can!

catherine · November 09, 2011, 10:17:27 AM

Quote from: "Trapezium Artist"...the prior album, Magnification, came out ten years earlier: I think it qualifies on that count. (Good grief; is that really true? Ten years since Magnification? Astonishing ...)

I'm seriously out of date then - the most recent one I have is The Ladder... (how on earth did Magnification pass me by? Was I asleep at the time?) Just as well I didn't buy the rather nice £30 Yes tie-dye t-shirt at the gig last night as I think I can feel a couple of album purchases coming on...

MrBabou · November 09, 2011, 08:14:06 PM

Quote from: "catherine"I'm seriously out of date then - the most recent one I have is The Ladder... (how on earth did Magnification pass me by? Was I asleep at the time?) Just as well I didn't buy the rather nice £30 Yes tie-dye t-shirt at the gig last night as I think I can feel a couple of album purchases coming on...

Honestly, you haven't missed much skipping Magnification... Well, in my opinion anyways.

About the new album... I was very hesitant to get it. Not because of the lead singer change, but simply because Yes has fallen very far from expectation with their previous albums (or simply for their lack of albums :cry: ). Magnification is probably the most boring Yes album ever, The Ladder had very good moments, but not all good, Open Your Eyes had just a couple of good songs. The last excellent album was Talk (again, IMHO), and that's way back in 1994. That's 17 years ago!!! That's longer than most bands even exist for :lol: . So I did the thing I'm not supposed to do: I downloaded the album. Well well well... to my surprise, I was enjoying my first listen of the album :shock: . And then, the more I listened, the more I liked. I eventually bought it in store, because I was enjoying it too much. That's when I say, even on my tight budget, "I have to get this!".

Since then, I don't think there's been a day passing by where I didn't listen to at least one track on the album. It's been SOOO LOOOOONG since I've enjoyed a Yes album this much. It's refreshing. I don't know if it's the coming of the new lead singer that sparked something up, but for me, this is a new start for Yes. Of course it does not sound like Fragile, but it doesn't sound like 90125 either. Sort of in the middle where Drama was.

Verdict: buy!

D S · November 10, 2011, 08:47:48 AM

Quote from: "MrBabou"About the new album... I was very hesitant to get it. Not because of the lead singer change, but simply because Yes has fallen very far from expectation with their previous albums (or simply for their lack of albums :cry: ). Magnification is probably the most boring Yes album ever, The Ladder had very good moments, but not all good, Open Your Eyes had just a couple of good songs. The last excellent album was Talk (again, IMHO), and that's way back in 1994. That's 17 years ago!!! That's longer than most bands even exist for :lol: . So I did the thing I'm not supposed to do: I downloaded the album. Well well well... to my surprise, I was enjoying my first listen of the album :shock: . And then, the more I listened, the more I liked. I eventually bought it in store, because I was enjoying it too much. That's when I say, even on my tight budget, "I have to get this!".

Since then, I don't think there's been a day passing by where I didn't listen to at least one track on the album. It's been SOOO LOOOOONG since I've enjoyed a Yes album this much. It's refreshing. I don't know if it's the coming of the new lead singer that sparked something up, but for me, this is a new start for Yes. Of course it does not sound like Fragile, but it doesn't sound like 90125 either. Sort of in the middle where Drama was.

Verdict: buy!

Spot on! That is exactly my view of the last few albums and this one. There have only been a couple of decent tracks on each album since Talk but this one is a real grower. Looking forward to seeing them on Saturday. 8-)

catherine · November 10, 2011, 10:09:21 AM

Here they are, having a bit of a Status Quo moment...

More photos available here.