The Official Yes Thread

[King Postwhore]

A radio rip of Believe Again on Soundcloud!

https://soundcloud.com/thecheezmusic/01-believe-again-radio-rip

[Mister Gold]

A radio rip of Believe Again on Soundcloud!

https://soundcloud.com/thecheezmusic/01-believe-again-radio-rip

I dig it! Very beautiful. The chorus has a bit of an Owl City vibe to it, which I actually really like.

[FreezingPoint]

Listened to it a couple of times. I like it and think it will sound great in CD quality, which is always a big plus. Maybe the chorus could have a bit more impact or go someplace a bit more, but I still enjoy it.

Its not really that proggy, but it does sound beautiful. I'm kind of surprised that this is the opening song though. It doesn't feel like an opener at all to me. Maybe like a track 2 or a closer or something. Interesting decision. I wonder how it will fit with the other songs on the album.

[jammindude]

I REALLY like this.    It has a similar pop feel to "Wonderous Stories"...but fleshed out with a proggy instrumental section.

[ColdFireYYZ]

I like how Jon Davison sort of brings back the "hippie" vibe that was missing from Fly From Here, but otherwise I thought the song was pretty bland and plodding.

[Orbert]

New promo photograph.  I love how the old-timers are all gray and cranky looking, except Alan who is always smiling, and Jon just looks happy and somewhat humbled to be in a band with these freakin' legends of prog.

[FreezingPoint]

Reviews:

https://thequietus.com/articles/15654-yes-heaven-and-earth-review
https://popdose.com/cd-review-yes-heaven-and-earth/
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/62981/Yes-Heaven-and-Earth/
https://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/06/25/yes-heaven-and-earth-2014/

Not glowing, that's for sure.

I believe that Frontiers has released a couple of samples on YouTube. They are all very friendly to the ear, but honestly, not that inspiring.

[ColdFireYYZ]

The full album is out there....

Only listened to it once and found it extremely bland and lifeless. Alan White was hardly noticeable, the bass lacked the punch Squire's known for, and there were hardly any memorable moments from Howe. However, I will say that I did enjoy Davison's voice and there were some decent keyboard parts from Downes, but that still couldn't save the album for me.

And I don't dislike it because it's a poppy album and not very "prog". I like a lot of their 80's stuff but Heaven & Earth lacks decent songs IMO. I really wanted to like this but it ended up being a huge step down from Fly From Here.

[Jaq]

It's very, very, very laid back, yes. About the only thing really memorable to me was the vocal melodies, which were pretty solid, but if you're looking for something with, well, fire, you're not getting it here.

[Milzinga]

Was anyone at the show in NY tonight? I was hoping to see the full set, other than CTTE and Fragile I don't know what they plan on playing, hopefully someone posts the set soon!

[adace]

The full album is out there....

Only listened to it once and found it extremely bland and lifeless. Alan White was hardly noticeable, the bass lacked the punch Squire's known for, and there were hardly any memorable moments from Howe. However, I will say that I did enjoy Davison's voice and there were some decent keyboard parts from Downes, but that still couldn't save the album for me.

And I don't dislike it because it's a poppy album and not very "prog". I like a lot of their 80's stuff but Heaven & Earth lacks decent songs IMO. I really wanted to like this but it ended up being a huge step down from Fly From Here.

Completely agree with this. What used to be an innovative prog rock band is now an elevator music band. No energy or passion on this album. I'd say it's time for them to call it quits.

[The Letter M]

In a mini-review I posted in Randy George's wife's Facebook status update about the new album (Yeah, I really did), I said that this album is Yes-Lite, even more so than their 90's work. This is very...well, airy, sugary, light and fluffy Yes. There's not a lot of ROCK in this PROG, if you can call it that at this point.

Granted, I *love* Yes, from their debut all the way up to the Keys stuff. I think every album is at LEAST two-thirds good - even the Rabin ones! Heck, I even enjoy Union more than this! At least that had some bite and push to it. This new one is just...too soft for me. You'd think after touring on their classic albums that they would be inspired by themselves to create an album in the vein of old, hard-rocking Yes.

Okay, I get that they're a different band now than who they were back then, but this just feels like an awkward direction for them. They were doing so well from The Ladder onward, but this album feels...like a step (or two...or three) backwards. It may sit at the bottom of my list with Open Your Eyes. I'll have to back and listen to OYE and see if I like it more than H&E. That'll be the true litmus test.

-Marc.

[Nel]

Looking at the track times, liking Fly From Here, liking Jon Davison's singing from Glass Hammer... this is not what I wanted to hear from reviews at all. 

From what everyone's saying, this album seems like it's going to be Yes' imitation of Glass Hammer's impression of Yes. Hoo boy.

[Mladen]

I'm really digging it at the moment, honestly. It's certainly the lightest and softest Yes album to date, but then again, the guys are over 65 as far as I know, so I'm not surprised. What gets me going is that classic Yes beauty in the melodies, some of the tunes are truly gorgeous and the overall vibe is extremely uplifting at positive. Believe again and Subway walls do a great job with opening and closing the album in a memorable way, and the latter is quite prog. It was all we knew is pretty catchy, and In a world of our own has to be the closest Yes has ever come to power pop, it reminds me of Jellyfish or something Flying colors could come up with.

[The Letter M]

Looking at the scores on ProgArchives, it's not at all surprising to see what their new album stands at at the moment:
https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=105

Their new album is the 2nd lowest rated album so far, even if it only has about 60 ratings. Once it reaches about 700 or so (which seems to be the average for their albums since Big Generator), I'm sure a more fan-wide average rating will stabilize, but I don't see it getting much higher.

Heck, the Rabin albums are all higher than H&E, as well as Union. It only beats Open Your Eyes, which I did go back and listen to the other night. While it's not as proggy as the Keys stuff, or even parts of Talk, it still ROCKS. From the first track on, you still get the sense that there's that Yes-rocking-sound in there, and that it has a direction and push. Heaven & Earth still feels stagnant to me, but it's slowly growing, I think. I do agree with Mladen, the opening and closing tracks are pretty good, as are a couple in the middle of the album, but half an album is still only half an album.

I still wonder what that long track is that Jon and Geoff worked on sounds like. I really hope they put that out ASAP. Perhaps they shunted all their mediocre material out first only to "revitalize" the Yes name with a stronger, 2nd album with Jon Davison?

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

https://www.dprp.net/reviews/201439.php

If anyone's interested, the DPRP have posted their RTR for the new album. It's surprisingly unsurprising.

-Marc.

[Grizz]

I just got my first Yes album, Close to the edge.
Holy shit.
Now if only I didn't miss it played live 8 miles from my house last week in addition to Dave Matthews Band up in Hartford.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

I just got my first Yes album, Close to the edge.
Holy shit.

The only appropriate response.

[Lolzeez]

Holy crap the new album blows. I don't care what you think of the album overall but that Super Nintendo keyboard sound just sucks.

[Mister Gold]

I just got my first Yes album, Close to the edge.
Holy shit.
Now if only I didn't miss it played live 8 miles from my house last week in addition to Dave Matthews Band up in Hartford.

Check out Relayer asap; it's my personal favorite of the lot.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

I just got my first Yes album, Close to the edge.
Holy shit.
Now if only I didn't miss it played live 8 miles from my house last week in addition to Dave Matthews Band up in Hartford.

Check out Relayer asap; it's my personal favorite of the lot.

@Mister Gold: You might as well check out every album of theirs from The Yes Album through to Relayer. One of the most perfect string of albums in music imo.

[Mister Gold]

I just got my first Yes album, Close to the edge.
Holy shit.
Now if only I didn't miss it played live 8 miles from my house last week in addition to Dave Matthews Band up in Hartford.

Check out Relayer asap; it's my personal favorite of the lot.

@Mister Gold: You might as well check out every album of theirs from The Yes Album through to Relayer. One of the most perfect string of albums in music imo.

Going for the One is rather excellent as well! I'm just partial to Relayer myself.

[The Letter M]

I just got my first Yes album, Close to the edge.
Holy shit.
Now if only I didn't miss it played live 8 miles from my house last week in addition to Dave Matthews Band up in Hartford.

Check out Relayer asap; it's my personal favorite of the lot.

@Mister Gold: You might as well check out every album of theirs from The Yes Album through to Relayer. One of the most perfect string of albums in music imo.

Going for the One is rather excellent as well! I'm just partial to Relayer myself.

I'll also have to put in my two cents for the run of The Yes Album to Going For The One. The first two albums are good, but not GREAT, per se, and I would only suggest them if you enjoy early Yes and want to complete the "Bruford-Years". And I would only suggest Tormato and Drama if you want to complete the pre-breakup albums before Yes disbanded for a couple years. For me, the latter is better, but there's a few good songs on Tormato, and it still has the same line-up that made GFTO and TFTO, as well as the future Keys material.

-Marc.

[Mosh]

Drama is awesome. It's worth hearing.

[The Letter M]

Drama is awesome. It's worth hearing.

Indeed it is, and it's also one of the shortest Yes albums, which is a shame because there's some great playing on that album, especially from the rhythm section. Chris and Alan really knock it out of the park on that album.

It is also the best Anderson-less Yes album to date, with Fly From Here (or Drama-2) in 2nd place.

-Marc.

[Orbert]

Well, I finally picked up Heaven & Earth.  I actually had trouble finding it.  The only brick and mortar stores around here anymore are Best Buy, and the first two were sold out.  The one farthest from my house had one copy left.  I suspect the first two weren't sold out because it's so massively popular; more like they each had one and someone bought it.

Anyway, I agree with what's been said so far.  It has no balls to it.  Moments of almost-rock, but not quite.  Sure, it sounds nice, New Jon's voice is great, similar to Old Jon (probably more like Starcastle's Terry Luttrell though), we get occassional cool licks by Steve, the keyboards are nice, but man, that's about it.  Yes has no filler songs IMO, but there were sometimes mellower songs between the real barnburners to let you catch your breath.  These weren't bad songs by any means, just more relaxed.  Well, this is like a whole album of those kind of songs.  Nothing particularly wrong with them, just not very exciting.  I kept waiting for just one song to really kick, actually rock out, and it never happened.  After eight songs, I just went "Whoa, that's it?"

I wasn't expecting another Close to the Edge or anything, but I was expecting more than this.  Especially after, as has been pointed out, these guys have been touring the classic albums.  I was thinking they'd be inspired by 70's Yes, be thinking like that, and create something more like that.  Instead we get an entire album of meh.

[Nel]

Been feeling the exact same way. There's a few cool instrumental moments. Jon's voice is great. But overall it's fluff. There's nothing to it. No balls, nothing memorable, it's the Care Bears version of a Yes album. And when I said this:

From what everyone's saying, this album seems like it's going to be Yes' imitation of Glass Hammer's impression of Yes. Hoo boy.

It's that! It's exactly that! This album sounds exactly like four of the last five albums Glass Hammer put up since Jon Davison joined them. Yeah, they were trying to be Yes-lite before then, but it became really obnoxious over the last four years. And Heaven And Earth sounds exactly like those recent albums: A tired, desperate attempt to sound like Yes, but coming off as a Yes-lite that can't come up with anything close to the creativity Yes had last in its glory days, and instead meanders along, with song lengths over five minutes for only the sake of being long.

If what I've read is right and they wrote more material than this, but are saving all the "good" material and that epic they wrote for the next album, then bad move. Either they should have mixed up all the songs a bit more so each album was half and half or everything here should have been scrapped completely. It's a shame, really. I don't have hopes for the "good" material. I really don't. I feel like the Fly From Here suite was only good because it was older material, because besides "Into The Storm", I didn't like the rest of the songs from that album, and just feel like they're creatively spent at this point.

EDIT: You know what? I honestly feel like I'm being too harsh, and will give it a few more spins. I did like the instrumental section in "Believe Again", for what it's worth, but I can't remember how it goes, only that I liked it.

[Orbert]

So this was unexpected.  I really enjoyed my second listen through the album.

The first was done on the way to work, a time when I usually play something upbeat to get me going.  My commute to and from work is generally my best listening time, as it's a long stretch of uninterrupted time with full control over the sound system.  I was thinking "Okay, new Yes, here we go!"  And as noted, I was not blown away.  It all sounds nice, some great music by some great 70-year-old men (with a 50-year-old lead singer), but not exactly mind-blowing.

Last night we had band practice right after work.  Yeah, a Friday night, but it was the only night everyone was available, and we have a gig tonight.  Work was hell, practice was good, so last night, dead tired, I put Heaven & Earth on for its second official listen on my drive home.

I loved it.  Sure, I was tired, but I also needed something chill after a long day at work and two hours of loud practice, and this was perfect.  And now that the initial shock was over, I was better able to appreciate where the music was coming from.  Expecting something totally bland, I instead was able to appreciate the relatively upbeat part.  The times when Steve cut loose with his "solo over everything" stuff, the restrained drumming of Alan which is still incredibly tight and perfect as always, the keyboards always did sound good, and Jon's voice might even have a little more emotion to it than I'd first thought.  Chris is still the root of the band and still was too reserved.  But I wasn't expecting anything, and was very pleasantly surprised.

You know how new albums, especially by bands like Yes, can take a few listens to really grasp?  This was like that.  I'm actually looking forward to my third listen.

[The Letter M]

Ya know, I have said it's very "Yes-Lite" and it is, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. I've been spinning it here and there over the last week or so and it has grown on me. I do like it a bit more now and I even find myself humming one or two of the tunes that I've happened to remember.

It'll take awhile to get used to, but I'm sure it'll grow on me. Is it as good as, say, The Ladder or Magnification? Nah, and it probably won't, and in fact I think I still like Fly From Here a little more, but it's not their worst album.

-Marc.

[Nel]

It's grown on me a bit. Certainly better than a Glass Hammer album, but it's still largely uninteresting. What's doing it for me are the instrumental sections. They may not be the best one's in Yes' career, but they're more interesting than the vocal sections. Though Davison's still a good fit for the band.

[Orbert]

As much as I love some of the vocals in Yes, it's always been the instrumentals that have drawn me to them, so I agree completely.  Just hearing great musicians like this is a treat.

[425]

I just got my first Yes album, Close to the edge.
Holy shit.

Basically popping in here to say this exactly. I also got Fragile, which I like and I'm sure I'll grow to like more than I do right now, but is overshadowed for me at present by Close to the Edge.

So I gather that I should go next to everything from The Yes Album to Going for the One. What about the 80s era, like 90125? I know that's one of their more popular albums; I gather though that it is somewhat of a less proggy one. Is it still worth getting at some point down the road?

[jammindude]

I just got my first Yes album, Close to the edge.
Holy shit.

Basically popping in here to say this exactly. I also got Fragile, which I like and I'm sure I'll grow to like more than I do right now, but is overshadowed for me at present by Close to the Edge.

So I gather that I should go next to everything from The Yes Album to Going for the One. What about the 80s era, like 90125? I know that's one of their more popular albums; I gather though that it is somewhat of a less proggy one. Is it still worth getting at some point down the road?

Beyond the singles, I think it actually carries with it some "neo prog elements".    It's certainly an 80's synth album, but even when I look back at it now, I sometimes forget that there is really incredible musicmanship on that album.

However, of the 3 "Yes-West" albums, my favorite (and most proggy) is Talk.   Completely under-rated album, and a very nice blend of 90125's pop stylings, and the classic 70's albums attitude of "...let's let this one breathe a bit..."

[orcus116]

I must be the only one here who was completely underwhelmed by the song Close To The Edge after all of the praise for it. I've listened to it a couple times and found it incredibly uninteresting.

[Mosh]

Close To the Edge took a long time to click with me. It's a dense song, but it's actually really simple in structure. It helped me to sorta zoom out and look at the bigger picture of the song and it see it that way, rather than a multi-part epic.