JON ANDERSON & THE BAND GEEKS: TRUE

After sharing the stage on a tour that reviewed the legendary discography of Yes, Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks decided to join forces to develop "True" (2024), a proposal that ends up paying tribute in a large part of its content to the legendary British band.

Anderson is solvent and plethoric, with a surprising vocal performance that is hard to find bumps, which are to be expected due to the natural deterioration that the relentless passage of time demands. Very well accompanied by the band led by Richie Castellano, which is not limited to the role of mere accompaniment to the singer, but provides great textures and atmospheres that complement and enrich the work.

"True" is constantly overflown by the convoluted silhouettes and structures that were part of the history of Yes, as in the energetic "True Messenger" and "Shine On" that could have been part of the eighties "90125" and "Big Generator", but above all in the progressive seventies sonorities of "Counties and Countries" with the Wakemanian keyboards of Chris Clark, or in the unvarnished beauty of "Make it Right" and the stupendous introduction that Castellano's Spanish guitars create for Anderson's melancholic singing with sparks similar to the "Turn of the Century" of "Going for the One", and in the enormous "Once Upon A Dream", one of the best on the album, with opening verses reminiscent of "The Revealing Science of God" from "Tales From Topographic Oceans" and a central part twinned with the fantastic "Awaken", also from "Going for the One".

And the more intimate Anderson is also present, both in the spiritual and emotional "Build Me an Ocean', and in the grateful recognition of his wife in the closing piece "Thank God".

A far cry from the orchestral and participatory "Change We Must" (1994) and even further from the conceptual "Olias of Sunhillow" (1976), two of Anderson's most outstanding albums, "True" is probably his best work in decades.

4 stars

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