Monday, June 13, 2011

Yes - Fly From Here (2011) (1.0)

6/13/11 3:50PM
Single "We Can Fly"



not bad, but since it's 4 minutes and the whole song/suite is like 24 minutes, it's hard to tell how good this will be. I will say, Benoit David doesn't sound bad, almost like a slightly lower version of Trevor Horn.

6/3/11 12:08PM



2:54 Sample of "Fly From Here." I haven't heard it since I'm at work. L8ter.


5/24/11 1:21AM

Yesfans.com topic
Wikipedia page
Japanese Listing June 22nd Release (although July 12th is the Frontiers Records release Date)



1. Fly from Here - Overture
2. Fly from Here - Pt I - We Can Fly
3. Fly from Here - Pt II - Sad Night at the Airfield
4. Fly from Here - Pt III - Madman at the Screens
5. Fly from Here - Pt IV - Bumpy Ride
6. Fly from Here - Pt V - We Can Fly (reprise)
7. The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be
8. Life on a Film Set
9. Hour of Need
10. Solitaire
11. Into the Storm

3/15/11 3:19AM



This is the title of apparently their upcoming full-length, that is projected to be released in July.

"“At the moment, we just finished recording our first studio album since 2001,” Chris Squire said during a phone interview last week.


[...] [Which] would be called “Fly From Here.”


“It’s the title of the main song,” he said.


Squire also confirmed [...] Trevor Horn produced the album. The players, Squire continued, would be the same one attendees will see on stage when the band performs Friday [...]:


Guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, keyboardist Oliver Wakeman, lead singer Benoit David and Squire.


Except for one change.


At Horn’s insistence, “Fly from Here” will feature [...] Geoffrey Downes on keyboards, as opposed to Wakeman, Squire said.


“We have no exact date and the album is not even mastered yet,” Yes’ publicist responded via e-mail. “So unfortunately we have no information yet but was told it would be out sometime in July.”




Guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, keyboardist Oliver Wakeman, lead singer Benoit David and Squire."


"At Horn’s insistence, “Fly from Here” will feature [...] Geoffrey Downes on keyboards, as opposed to Wakeman, Squire said."

Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Benoit David along with Oliver Wakeman and Geoff Downes as a guest. Trevor Horn produced it.

I'm going with this Wikipedia link, honestly, because a lot of the press and forum posts are frankly, too unclear and too long to weed through.

The "sequel to Drama" part of this has me curious, since Drama is my 2nd favorite Yes album, and with Downes and Trevor Horn involved, this may be the closest thing the band ever makes to that record.

Benoit David, the jury is out on, despite how well he can sing the Yes catalog live. If Trevor Horn actually does some singing on this album, I will be happy. The song "We Can Fly From Here" I guess is a song from the Drama-period that never was finished, nor was it included on the Drama remaster. But you can check it out here:



I guess it was included on the In A Word boxed set, one that I'm sure most Yes-aholics like a friend of mine, are very familiar with. But being a huge fan of Drama, it is rather cool to hear for the 1st time, despite the obviously lower production quality.

The fact they are re-recording it, and it's going to be an epic, of maybe 11 minutes? I can't deny my curiosity is raised.

Yes are a band who I love a good chunk of their studio work, but most of that, not being post-Drama.. The Ladder, some of the ABWH, and Keys 2 Ascension music ("Mind Drive" namely).

Their last album, 2001's Magnification while wasn't bad, I never got too into. Although it was better than most of their 80's and 90's albums I guess.

But without Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, I must admit, I was kind of skeptical about how good this might be. Even with my love of Drama. But now reading some things, and the inclusion of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, I must admit, I'm a little more optimistic here.

But I must add, all the *drama* with Yes and their lineup changes, along with even just trying to find some simple, concrete information with this, is frankly, a huge pain in the ass. C'mon guys! it shouldn't be this hard to find specific details about the band and this album.. All the fans on Yesfans.com along with progressiveears.com and some other places keep bickering and speculating things. Trevor Rabin is back? how many songs Downes may play on. Benoit David's role. Blah Blah Blah.

Throw me a fricking bone here I can report! lol. In most cases, it's not all that hard to find this stuff. But in Yes's case, there's way too many reports and opinions that conflict. Why do they always have to be the band with the Soap Opera and fans who all claim to know everything? lol.

I just roll-my-eyes from afar, and wait for the music, rather than get as bent out of shape as so many of their fans seem to do. Thank god.