Yes - Open Your Eyes

Year of Release: 1997
Label: Beyond Music
Catalog Number: BYCD3074
Format: CD
Total Time: 72:08:00

Yes' latest all studio release, Open Your Eyes, isn't really the best album Yes have ever produced. Continuing in the more pop progressive end of the genre, there doesn't seem to be much difference between this Yes, and the Yes of the past few albums. Loosely, this is a concept album, where each song reinforces the theme of the title. While that seems recursive to say, some play on the theme in a spiritual sense (opening eyes to a greater wonder) others in a romantic sense...well, I suppose could also be a spiritual sense if we were to really pick the lyrics apart. This is Yes, nothing is really that obvious is it?

Comprising the band this time out for those tracking such things: Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Alan White, Steve Howe, and a new to the band, though not new to the prog scene, Billy Sherwood.

The album begins big, brassy, and in your face (though they will never be mistaken for a metal band). The instruments are upfront in the mix, the harmonized vocals getting lost during several tracks.

The opening three tracks are dense and leave no breathing room for any instruments and the vocals are shrill. But, things improve starting with track 4, and while the universal peace theme of "No Way We Can Lose" may be wishful thinking and the composition itself a bit overly sunny for a typical Yes tune, it is one of the better tunes on the disk. Maybe not very progressive, especially compared to previous Yes output, but it is one of the few that are allowed to breathe, where each instrument is allowed some space.

The next track, "Fortune Seller" is typical modern Yes, and really could have appeared on any of the last couple of albums. My personal favourite is the acoustic "From the Balcony," just Anderson on vocals and (I believe) Howe on guitar.

"Man On The Moon" seems more nursery-rhymish on a first listen (Yes does Doctor Seuss), but overall isn't a bad tune.

"Wonderlove," sappy lyrically but, yet again, another well arranged song. "Love Shine" is rockier than "Wonderlove," but here again a bit on the overly sentimental end.

Overall this is an average album, that gets better as it moves along.

Tracklisting:
New State Of Mind (5:59) / Open Your Eyes (5:13) / Universal Garden (6:16) / No Way We Can Lose (4:56) / Fortune Seller (5:01) / Man In The Moon (4:40) / Wonderlove (6:08) / From The Balcony (2:43) / Love Shine (4:38) / Somehow, Someday (4:47) / The Solution (23:47)

Musicians:
Jon Anderson - lead vocals
Steve Howe - guitars, mandolin, banjo, and vocals
Billy Sherwood - guitars, keyboards, and vocals
Chris Squire - bass, harmonica, and vocals
Alan White - drums, percussion and vocals
Igor Khoroshev, Steve Porcaro - additional keyboards

Discography:
Yes (1969)
Time And A Word (1970)
The Yes Album (1971)
Fragile (1972)
Close To The Edge (1972)
Yessongs (1973)
Tales From Topographic Oceans (1974)
Relayer (1975)
Going For The One (1977)
Tormato (1978)
Yesshows (1980)
Drama (1980)
Classic Yes (1982)
90125 (1983/2004)
90125 Live - The Solos (1985)
Big Generator (1987)
Union (1989)
Yesyears (1991)
Yesstory (1991)
Highlights: The Very Best Of Yes (1993)
Talk (1994)
Keys To Ascension I (1996)
Keys To Ascension II (1997)
Open Your Eyes (1997)
Yes, Friends And Relatives (1998)
Beyond And Before: BBC Recordings 1969-1970 (1998)
Something's Coming (1998)
Friends & Relatives (1998)
The Ladder (1999)
Millennium Collection (1999)
House Of Yes: Live From The House Of Blues (2000)
Yes, Friends and Relatives - Volume Two (2001)
YesSymphonic (ep) (2001)
Magnification (2001)
Keystudio (ep) (2001)
3 For 1 Box Set (2001)
Original Members Of Yes (2001)
Extended Versions (2002)
Friends And Relatives: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 (2002)
Yestoday (2002)
In A Word (2002)
Yes Remixes (2003)
Friends And Relatives: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 2 (2003)
Roundabout: Best Of Yes Live (2003)
The Yes Story Gold (2003)
The Ultimate Yes - 35th Anniverary Collection (2004)
(Re)Union (2004)
Topography: The Yes Anthology (2004)
Inside Yes 1968-1973: A Critical Review (2004)
The Word Is Live (2005)
Live And Solo: The Collection (2006)
Greatest Hits Live (2006)
An Evening Of Yes (2006)
Yesstories: Group & Solo Tales (2006)
Essentially Yes (2006)
The Definitive Rock Collection (2007)
Roundabout & Other Hits (2006)
Live At Montreux 2003 (2007)
Works (2007)
The Best Of Yes: 1970-1987 (2007)
Symphonic Live (2009)
The BBC Recordings 1969-1970 (2009)
Introducing Yes (2009)
Wonderous Stories: The Best Of Yes (2009)
Union Live (2011)
Fly From Here (2011)
In The Present - Live From Lyon (2011)
Heaven & Earth (2014)
Songs From Tsongas (2014)
Like It Is: Yes At The Bristol Hippodrome (2014)
Progeny: Seven Shows From Seventy-Two (boxset) (2015)
Like It Is: Yes At The Mesa Arts Center (2015)
Topographic Drama - Live Across America (2017)
Fly From Here - Return Trip (2018)
From A Page - Studio Tracks Plus In The Present Live From Lyon (2019) Yes50 Live (2019)

9012LIve (VHS/DVD) (1985/2005)
Greatest Hits Video (VHS/DVD) (1991/2001)
Yesyears: A Retrospective (VHS/DVD) (1991/2003)
Yes: Live - 1975 At Q.P.R. (VHS) (1993)
Live In Philadelphia 1979 (VHS/DVD) (1996/2003)
Keys To Ascension (VHS/DVD) (1997/2001/2009)
The Union Tour Live (DVD) (1999)
House Of Yes: Live From The House Of Blues (VHS/DVD) (2000)
The Best Of MusikLaden Live (VHS/DVD) (2000/2003)
Live In Amsterdam (VHS/DVD) (2002)
Symphonic Live (DVD+CD) (2003)
Yes: Special Edition EP (DVD) (2003)
YesSpeak (DVD) (2003)
YesAcoustic (DVD) (2004/2006)
35th Anniversary Concert: Songs From Tsongas (DVD) (2004)
YesSpeak - YesAcoustic - 35th Anniversary Edition (DVD) (2005)
Critical Review 1968-1973 (DVD) (2005)
Greatest Video Hits (DVD) (2005)
Inside Yes Plus Friends And Family (DVD) (2006)
Acoustic Live (DVD) (2006)
Total Rock Review (DVD) (2006)
Close To The Edge: Rock Milestones (DVD) (2007)
Live At Montreux (DVD/BR) (2007)
The Lost Broadcasts (DVD) (2009)
Rock Of The 70s (DVD) (2009)
Union Live (2011)
Live Hemel Hempstead Pavilion October 3rd 1971 (2014)

Genre: Symphonic Prog

Origin UK

Added: August 11th 1998
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: yesworld.com
Hits: 3238
Language: english