FLY FROM HERE

YES is back! I have to say that I was surprised to hear that this new album was coming out a few months ago since it's now been 10 years since their previous effort, Magnification. After an absence that long, I quite honestly never expected to hear anything new from Yes again.

I guess the question you may be asking is, "Do I WANT to hear something new from Yes?" After all, most of the 80s and 90s did not give us much to look forward to. However, starting with parts of the Keys to Ascension, then (after a brief detour to record what is probably the worst Yes album ever, Open Your Eyes... oh yes, your time is coming), The Ladder and (especially) Magnification, by the late 90's/early 00's Yes seemed to be having a little bit of a creative renaissance.

Well, for me the answer is a resounding YES! To my ears Fly From Here is the best album from the group since Drama.

Speaking of Drama, yes, the title suite does sound somewhat similar to that album. Overall though, "Fly From Here" is a bit less dark than Drama in sound and lyric. Although like a lot of suites "Fly From Here" tends to be more a collection of songs than a single, epic-length piece of music, I find it does hold together well both musically and thematically.

The stand alone tracks on the second half of the album may not be as good as the title suite, but only slightly. I found Squire's "The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be" to be very positive and I although the lyrics to "Life On A Film Set" were a bit repetitive, I enjoyed the music on that track as well.

Howe's two tracks were also very enjoyable. I liked the vocal harmony on "Hour of Need" and the short instrumental was a nice change of pace.

"Into The Storm" was a good album closer and I'd say it was probably the highlight outside of the title suite. Again, it reminded me a bit of the Drama album, but with a much more modern sound that was influenced by something like Spock's Beard.

I supposed I should also make mention of the new singer, Benoit David. He's fabulous. He sounds like a cross between Jon Anderson and Trevor Horn to me and I liked both of their vocals. The only thing I guess I can really say is that it may have been neat if they had gotten someone who sounded completely different from Anderson, but I can understand why they didn't and David's voice works perfectly with the material recorded on Fly From Here.

Don't get me wrong, this album is the classic 1970s albums (nor do I think it tries to sound like them). What I can say is that in terms of the quality and enjoyment I got from it, Fly From Here is the best Yes album of the past 30 years.