Yes - Fly From Here (Deluxe Edition)

Year of Release: 2011
Label: Frontiers
Catalog Number: FR CDVD 520
Format: CD
Total Time: 47:32:00

The big surprise announced by Yes last fall was that Trevor Horn would produce their new album. Not only does he contribute keyboards and vocals to these proceedings, he co-wrote the bulk of Fly From Here with Geoff Downes. The band photo in the sleeve has Horn front and center. He, of course, produced Fly From Here as well, so Drama fans can rejoice that there is a Drama II of sorts. This is further evidenced by the Drama tunes trotted out on the most recent tour with new singer Benoit David, much to the delight of most fans.

It was over a year ago, according to Horn, that he approached Squire about recording "Fly From Here," a song nearly included on the Drama album. Perhaps this necessitated the inclusion of Downes and the dismissal of Oliver Wakeman, who had toured with Yes in the stead of his father Rick. So the whole thing feels like more of a maneuver than a band and one can't help but sense the precarious and temporary nature of the new Yes ... again.

Indeed, when I opened my deluxe box set (which includes the CD, a bonus making-of DVD, a hefty-weight vinyl version of the album, a t-shirt, a numbered lithograph and a poster) I considered filming myself; symbolizing my feeling that this would be the last new Yes album I was likely to ever open, but also the enormous effect and influence that Yes music has had in my life. But without Jon Anderson - and indeed without a truly strong complete album in some time - I was not expecting to be overly impressed.

Horn has once again proven his mettle as a master producer. He succeeds in fusing the separate projects together to create a new Yes sound that is contemporary and retrospective. It might be summed up as Drama meets The Yes Album. His true genius here is the way he blends the vocals. In case you hadn't noticed these chaps are aging a bit and Horn makes the most of what remains of the vocal ranges, especially Chris Squire's. The album is keyboard heavy given Downes' compositional credits but Horn is savvy enough to understand how crucial Squire's bass is to the Yes sound.

The "Fly From Here" suite, five parts plus and introduction - side one of the vinyl - ends up being the weakest song of the lot, despite its expansion to epic length. Here Steve Howe's guitars seem like afterthoughts - poking in where needed to complete the Yes palette. The composition lacks the spiritual fire of the classic Howe-Anderson mode. That's not to say "Fly From Here" is bad, however; it's actually quite listenable as is anything with Howe's imprint and Horn makes Howe's guitars sound more robust than they have in ages. It's lyrically weak, however, although the metaphor of moving on from Jon Anderson can't be denied.

Nowhere is this metaphor more evident than the Howe composition "Hour Of Need," which reads like a letter to Jon: What's the cost? / Can the ends justify the means? / There's a need / So many mouths to feed.

But the key lyric in all this lies within "Into The Storm," a song that reflects on the band itself: One thing learnt from all these years / As stupid now as we were at first / Maybe that's the way it goes / When you try to change the world. That might just be the most honest stanza ever written by this band. "Into The Storm" is a great song and is the only group composition on Fly From Here. However, it's the group of Oliver Wakeman, Howe, Squire, David and White with an added credit to Horn. This may be the one composition that survived the presumed writing sessions with Wakeman. It's also the only writing credit given to David. Although it can be assumed that the album's lyrics are largely not his, he does an admirable job of singing them (and sounding like a Horn clone).

Another standout is "The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be," sung by Squire and co-written with guest keyboardist Gerard Johnson and British composer Simon Sessler. The vocal blend is excellent and the track really swings back to a Yes vibe after the lengthy "Fly From Here" suite.

The Trevor/Downes composition "Life On A Film Set" fares better than the title track, due largely to Howe's substantial contributions.

Howe's solo guitar piece, "Solitaire," is also exceptional, one of his most memorable since "Sketches In The Sun."

All in all, Fly From Here is surprisingly good. One hopes that the band rushes in to make another album rather than let time and circumstance chip away at the fragile foundation that appears to be holding them together.

Rick Tvedt is the treasurer of the Madison Area Music Assocation in Madison, Wisconsin and is/was a member of The Sled Dogs, whose lone CD thus far, Salute, we reviewed in these pages in May 2003 -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Fly From Here - Overture (1:53) / Fly From Here - We Can Fly (6:00) / Fly From Here - Sad Night At The Airfield (6:41) / Fly From Here - Madman At The Screens (5:16) / Fly From Here - Bumpy Ride (2:15) / Fly From Here - We Can Fly (Reprise) (1:44) / The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be (5:07) / Life On A Film Set (5:01) / Hour Of Need (3:07) / Solitaire (3:30) / Into The Storm (6:54)

Musicians:
Chris Squire - bass, backing vocals; lead vocals (7)
Steve Howe - guitars, backing vocals
Alan White - drums
Geoff Downes - keyboards
Benoit David - lead vocals

Guests:

Oliver Wakeman - additional keyboards (2, 6, 9)
Trevor Horn - backing vocals, additional keyboards
Luis Jardim - percussion
Gerard Johnson - piano (7)

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: July 21st 2011
Reviewer: Rick Tvedt

Artist website: www.yesworld.com
Hits: 4193
Language: english