Squire, Chris and Billy Sherwood - Conspiracy

Year of Release: 2000
Label: Eagle Records/Cleopatra-Purple Pyramid
Catalog Number: EAGCD126 / CLP 0819-2
Format: CD
Total Time: 52:19:00

On Conspiracy longtime friends Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood continue fine-tuning the modern Yes-sound which has already been offered to us by means of the Open Your Eyes album. Squire and Sherwood are of two different generations and that can be heard on the entire album. Squire doesn't need to deliver "Fish Out Of Water - Volume 2" so he restricts his collaboration to delivering his know-how and technical skills. Sherwood wants to continue World Trade in a different way; he's young and has to support a family and thus needs as much in finances as he can put his hands on. Yet there's a proverb which says: "opposites attract." So the combination of both men works rather well, sort of an ennobled form of AOR.

Buddy Jay Schellan helps out on drums whilst Yes-man Alan White is given room to improvise as well. "Days Of Wonder" is a nice song made immortal by that typical uncertain voice of Chris Squire who sings on no fewer than six of the ten songs on this album. The atmosphere of 90125 can be felt during "Violet Purple Rose," which sports the guitar of the legendary Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Bozzio Levin Stevens). Probably unhappy with the way this song turned out on a Yes-album, we are once again treated to a version of "The More We Live," this time in a very slow tempo. "Watching The World" is one of my favourites probably due to the "catchy" chorus and the structure of the song. However I do think it's much wiser to invest your money in brand-new bands because this little album to me is more like an evening course in ruminating!

There are various versions of the album out, including a brand new 2005 version. The last three tracks listed are "hidden" bonus tracks. However, there are also versions that have "The Big Peace" (15:31) and "Comfortably Numb" (6:53) as the bonus, including that new version. The total time included here is the version as reviewed by Bobo, which made no mention of the bonus tracks, so maybe that was a UK/US feature only...? - ed. Dec 2005

Tracklisting:
Days Of Wonder (4:59) / Light In My Life (4:01) / Violet Purple Rose (4:58) / No Rhyme (4:54) / Lonesome Trail (6:36) / The More We Live (4:46) / Love Conquers All (4:51) / You're The Reason (5:08) / Watching The World (5:20) / Red Light Ahead (6:46)

Hidden bonus tracks: / Open Your Eyes (4:57) / Man In The Moon (3:32) / Say Goodbye (6:07)

Alternate bonus tracks: The Big Peace (15:31) / Comfortably Numb (6:53)

Musicians:
Billy Sherwood - guitars, vocals, keyboards, percussion, drums
Chris Squire - bass, vocals, acoustic guitar
Jay Schellan - drums (1, 8, 9), tom toms (4)
Alan White - drums (5, 7), keyboards (5)
Steve Stevens - guitars (3)
Jimi Haun - guitar solo (7)
Michael Bland - drums (3)
Mark T Williams - drums (2)

Discography:
Conspiracy (2000)
Conspiracy - The Unknown (2003)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin UK

Added: March 11th 2000
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: conspiracymusic.net
Hits: 1762
Language: english