Yes - The Quest

ok then, excuse me for forgetting about Procol Harum. 

Procol Harum aren't many 

A lot of older bands & artists have put out good music in their later days (Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Judas Priest, UFO, Glenn Hughes, that Kraan album from last year was great, Kansas, Rush and many others). 

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Just to add Procol Harum to the list

TBF, the choice of members is pretty solid and I think Froese's widow gave them her blessing, if such things matter. 

I've no problem with bands surviving certain members, but in the case of Yes those members were iconic in sound and presence. Billy is a fine musician and he has every right to accept an offer to join, who wouldn't? But his sound is just an average, if competently played, bass tone. Chris was iconic, that rickebnbacker growl and his vox. Peerless. Same with John Anderson. It would be the same for Steve if and when he hangs up his guitar.

The Quest is ok, and that's about all you can say. The tyranny of mediocrity. Worth a listen, some nice moments, but it just lacks.

Kind words:  "Leave Well Alone" had a couple of groovy moments.  "Future Memories" is a pretty song.

Everything else was... Weak.  I'm quite certain I'll never listen to this album ever again (unless a track is playing over the supermarket speakers, in which case I'll have to speed up my shopping and get out of there).

Lewian wrote: Is it worse that they still call it Yes (which they have the right to do as much as they want), or rather that you because of this feel obliged to listen to it?

Interesting question, and I can only reflect on it from a very personal stance. Other than that they have the right to call themselves "Yes", I don't feel obliged to listen to it. But, because they call themselves Yes I felt compelled to listen to it in its entirety. If this was just an unknown band I would have abandoned after the second or third track... But (again), because they call themselves Yes, I have expectations that they present us innovative, creative music.

Yes, in my opinion, have always been progressing compared to their previous works, not always to please their fans, but they were always trying to explore new territories. Maybe the Talk album was  the last example of their forward thinking approach of music. Afterwards, again in my opinion, they were more and more harking back to ancient glory and formulas of Yes music. That forward thinking approach - apart from the creativity - is absolutely lacking since a long time. So, to make a long answer short: yes, I think it is worse that they still call it Yes - worse for the Yes legacy and worse for what Yes music stood for. This mediocrity is unworthy of Yes music so I can only suspect financial reasons to continue to use this b(r)and name...

Yes is (was?) my all time favourite band, considering their output up till 2001 (the Magnification album). What they've been doing since hurts to think that this - too - should be considered Yes music.

it's not the same thing with sports. 

Also not true that the album is uninspired because there are no original members. This current line-up has created something that I for one find uninteresting, that's all.