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Moogtron III View Drop Down

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Posted: July 16 2011 at 06:46

Haven't heard the album yet but I love Dean's cover art.

Chris S

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Posted: July 16 2011 at 14:55

2 listens so far.....very enjoyable.....i mean if this is the level of prog these guys are bringing out in their retirement days, very few bands can match it. It has trevor horn's success formula all over it.....Kudos to one of the all time producers. It has a very restraine yet polished quality. i am standing corrected!!

<font color=Brown>Music - The Sound Librarian

...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR]

cstack3

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Posted: July 17 2011 at 00:46

Photos of Yes at their show in Atlanta the other night:

http://www.musicnewsnashville.com/archives/photos/2011/yes/

Based on their earliest tour reviews, I hope this band is tightening up the show! Also, I presume they will do another tour of FFH material? That's not being played much from what I can tell in reviews.

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Posted: July 17 2011 at 06:04

I've been reading all the naysayers comments regarding this album. I was initially uninterested in trying it, but I found streaming of the whole album and am giving it a try. So far it sounds like the criticizers are full of it.

http://totallyfuzzy.blogspot.com/2011/07/yes-fly-from-here-album-stream.html

Interesting background information about the album at this site.

Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Posted: July 17 2011 at 06:26

I dunno, this seems a bit simply and out of new ideas. It's all melodic and nice, but nothing mind-rocking. So not really anything new, I could say I'm a bit disappointed, but I didn't expect much.

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Posted: July 17 2011 at 06:47

It has some moments, but on the whole it's disappointing.

The worst part is Downes' keyboards. He mostly stays in the background. Yes keyboards are supposed to soar.

Next is Benoit David's vocals. No emotion.

Steve Howe saves the album.

Trust me. I know what I'm doing.

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Posted: July 17 2011 at 09:02

I saw a YT clip, similar to Heart of the Sunrise clip Rob put up and and this was of the new material. Again Benoit David's vocals are cracking all over the place on " Fly From Here".... I wonder what is going on? They may even have to let him go after this tour unless he has a serious cold and they could not cancel the gigs. Will be interesting to see if his vocals improve with their touring schedule... I am confused to say the least that a vocalist can fail so blatantly hitting several notes. I do like the studio album though, mainstream as someone said and yes Howe and Squire deliver. " solitaire" is a great Howe piece.

<font color=Brown>Music - The Sound Librarian

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cstack3

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Posted: July 17 2011 at 23:21

Slartibartfast wrote:

I've been reading all the naysayers comments regarding this album. I was initially uninterested in trying it, but I found streaming of the whole album and am giving it a try. So far it sounds like the criticizers are full of it.

http://totallyfuzzy.blogspot.com/2011/07/yes-fly-from-here-album-stream.html

Interesting background information about the album at this site.

Thanks for the link! Gave it a good, solid listening with headphones & I agree, it is much better than I was expecting. Benoit David does a great job on vocals and the overall production is sound.

However, I agree with much of what Lazland said in his review (below). Downe's keyboards are so subdued that they are nearly invisible, and he isn't up to past standards in Yes. Also, I find the lyrics to be insipid by past Yes standards. Like Lazland, I give it a 6 out of 10 stars.

Considering all the negative vibes that Yes stirred up with their treatment of bandmates Anderson and Ollie Wakeman, I really don't think this is a masterpiece that justifies the trauma inflicted upon one of the most dedicated fan-bases in rock history. It's a decent effort, but if this is the coda for Yes, I find it to be a sorry ending.

http://www.progarchives.com/review.asp?id=480386

akaBona

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Posted: July 18 2011 at 02:44

cstack3 wrote:

Photos of Yes at their show in Atlanta the other night:

http://www.musicnewsnashville.com/archives/photos/2011/yes/

Maybe they are little bit tightenig, even Downes shows some rockin' attitude in those pictures. Squire looks just like my grandmother (r.i.p.) and it's good the photogallery didn't include David dance pictures ...

Slartibartfast View Drop Down

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Posted: July 18 2011 at 07:07

cstack3 wrote:

It's quite possible that this album benefits in my ears from no expectations.

If any Andersons or Wakemans were harmed in the making of this album I won't be rushing out to get it. Bands more often go out with a whimper more than a bang anyway.

I see that they came by my neck of the woods. I wasn't paying attention so I didn't find out about it until after the fact. I wouldn't have gone anyway due to out of the way venue and having seen them live a couple of times before. DVDs are much less trouble.

Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

wilmon91

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Posted: July 18 2011 at 20:08

I have heard it 2-3 times, so here are my impressions..

The singer is extremely similar to Jon Anderson in both character and expression. The drums are very straight, basic and supportive, it could have stood out more I think! Mood-wise the album feels quite bright, comfortable and "safe", not much minor key harmonies.

1. Fly From Here – Overture (1:54)

Introduces a few themes that will recur later. A 5/8 theme. Nice sounds. Not a very solid piece, more a foretaste of whats to come.

2. Fly From Here - Pt I - We Can Fly (6:01)

The vocal sections are not nice, the ”Fly from here” chorus is very bland pop. But I like the instrumental stuff. The piano and strings is really nice . That remind me of the intro to ”Bangin on the Door” by Simple Minds (also a piano and strings thing) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN_xklo9ruA )

3. Fly From Here - Pt II - Sad Night At The Airfield(6:41)
Picking guitar intro. Highly mixed singing, but why auto tune? ? The two chords in the main theme are not interesting enough. Nothing wrong with simplicity, though. But those chords make me sleepy.

4. Fly From Here - Pt III - Madman At The Screens(5:16)
The 5/8 theme introduced in the beginning plays over a 4/4 beat. It's repeated too many times in this song, for me it isn't intriguing enough to endure that many repetitions. I like the "sailor beware" part. But it's two different themes playing alternatively, not satisfyingly integrated into one unity.

5. Fly From Here - Pt IV - Bumpy Ride (2:15) Playful instrumental part that plays in different keys. The "sailor beware" part comes in a again ,in a kind of misplaced way, then back to the playful part. Not good.

6. Fly From Here - Pt V - We Can Fly (reprise)(1:45)
"We can fly " chorus again which I really didn't like. The piano and strings section rounds it off with guitar on top. A mediocre ending I have to say.

7. The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be (5:08)
Soft harmonic rock. Good sound. Nice. But the processed singing sounds synth-like, it lacks personality. The chorus sounded a bit like "This World" by hackett. But those chords are also in "Your Move" (Yes) when I think about it. Parts of the verse remind me of "Fundamentals of Brainwashing" by Hackett. Well, a pretty nice song, but most is familiar, no new chord progressions.

8. Life On A Film (5:01)

Acoustic guitar intro, playing two familiar chords. Very nice chorus (”riding a tiger) . When the drums come in it feels a bit "pink floyd". Then comes parts of 5/8 + 6/8 in a bit similar way as in "Does it really happen?", quite okay for a while but is worn out after a while.

9. Hour Of Need (3:07) Good soft pop/rock song. Nice guitars. I like it apart from the way it ends..

10. Solitaire (3:30)

Howe-piece. Goes through varying passages. It's ok - could grow with more listens..

11. Into The Storm (6:54)

Starts in instrumental straight rock. I think the use of many vocal parts in the verse takes away a defined personal expression in the singing. Not very interesting. The 7/8 part is pretty nice and the guitar solo in the 12/8 part is nice although some harmonies there aren't very exciting.

Edited by wilmon91 - July 18 2011 at 20:31

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wilmon91

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Posted: July 18 2011 at 20:25

leonalvarado wrote:

7. The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be
On this song, the main vocalist is Squire instead of Benoit. The song, in a way, is pretty much a combination of all of Yes incarnations. It is a modern ballad of sorts. Many people will love this song, specially those who's favourite Yes incarnation was the one with Trevor Rabin as the lead composer. My personal jury still out on this one. There are passages I like but there are also many things that remind me of bands like Kansas and Toto (two bands I was never too keen on).

I also thought of Toto. Specifically a section in Toto's "Mr Friendly", the "He's standing in your way" part , that was similar to a section in the Yes song..

Edited by wilmon91 - July 18 2011 at 20:27

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Posted: July 18 2011 at 21:34

What do you guys think about the lyrics compared to other Yes albums?

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m2thek

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Posted: July 18 2011 at 22:41

I think they're equally meaningless

cstack3

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Posted: July 19 2011 at 00:31

brainstormer wrote:

What do you guys think about the lyrics compared to other Yes albums?

Equally meaningless, perhaps, but at least Anderson's mystical mumbo-jumbo kept you guessing! I find nothing redeeming about FFH's lyrics at all.

chopper

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Posted: July 19 2011 at 07:29

wilmon91 wrote:

Auto Tune? Are you sure, can't say I've noticed it?

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Posted: July 19 2011 at 07:50

I wont go track by track at this stage but it is growing on me - the album as a whole is uplifting and definitely better than Open Your Eyes. It is good to hear them after so many years and there is that definitive Yes sound. I need to hear it a few more times before a review but its great esp the title track magnum opus epic. I wish it was more prog though and not mainstream, but it will grow on me.

lazland

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Posted: July 19 2011 at 11:38

AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:

I wont go track by track at this stage but it is growing on me - the album as a whole is uplifting and definitely better than Open Your Eyes. It is good to hear them after so many years and there is that definitive Yes sound. I need to hear it a few more times before a review but its great esp the title track magnum opus epic. I wish it was more prog though and not mainstream, but it will grow on me.

It would have to have been pretty appalling to have been worse than that album.

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Posted: July 19 2011 at 14:15

http://leonblogaswords.blogspot.com/2011/07/fly-from-here-full-review.html

The links takes you to my full review of the album. I think you'll find it interesting enough.

rdtprog

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Posted: July 19 2011 at 14:43

Ususally a album doesn't grow on me with many listenings, and this case is no exception. The more and more i listen to it, the less i enjoy it. But i don't say it's a bad album . I am pretty sure it's not going to have the same impact on me in the future like CTE and Going For The One did. I think it's difficult to compare this one with any ohter cd's, it's more on the quiet side, but the melody are strong and the guitar playing of Howe is still amazing.

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