FLY FROM HERE

So, how does one listen to the first new album in a decade from YES, indisputably the poster group for Prog Rock? Because that first listen really matters: it colours one's subsequent approach to the music. Get it wrong and it might be years, if ever, before the music makes sense.

You set aside expectations as much as you can. You refrain from doing your research: don't read about it in advance, don't even find out which of the twenty or so ex-YESsers are actually playing on the album. Don't read reviews...

Er. But seriously, do you really need to be told you need to listen to this with an open mind?

I listened with a closed mind, sadly. Listening for nothing but any echo, however faint, of that insane period in the early-mid 70s when YES were possessed by mad music-lovin' space alien prog gods with power and funk and glory and beauty. I never actually heard the music on the album. I listened for the absence, not the presence, of music - and so, of course, I heard it. Absence. It wasn't until I heard them live in Auckland that I actually 'heard' the album, or at least the 'Fly From Here' suite, because it snuck up on me: I was there to listen to the classics, so had no expectations.

So what do we actually have here, as opposed to what we don't have?

First, a genuinely powerful epic long-form classic. It's a little simpler than I'd like but it is classic symphonic prog: intro-main theme-variations-breakdown-reprise. The titles of the subsections make this explicit. Second: a series of five rather dispensable rock tracks redolent of 80s rock. Third: excellent musicianship by three of the band members. SQUIRE plays well, even vigorously at times: his work on the title track is superb, reminding me more than a little of this bloke I remember in a 70s band - can't quite put my finger on it... HOWE and DOWNES use their instruments mostly to add solidity and colour without ever being outstanding. BENOIT DAVID, sadly, is a disappointment. He's a small grey speck almost completely obscured by the long shadow of JON ANDERSON. His voice is apologetic rather than commanding. Selected for his similarity to ANDERSON, DAVID struggles to impose himself.

But the worst criticism must be leveled at the drum machine... hold on, it says ALAN WHITE played on the record. Surely not? WHITE single-handedly (well, it sounds like he's playing with one hand and no feet) rips a star off the rating for this album. Imagine if the band had used a drummer interested in syncopation, who could inject a little bit of funk, or swing - who worked with SQUIRE to counterpoint the melodies. That's all we needed here to make these songs pop from the speakers, but we don't get it. The drumming is insipid. I imagine when they fished WHITE out of the cryo- revival unit they didn't notice the red lights blinking. Listen to his work on the final song, 'Into The Storm'. The chaps are really trying, bless them, funky Tormato-era bass, melodies tripping over themselves, and WHITE's flat rock-by-numbers snare-on-the-third-beat drumming. And I am deliberately targeting his best performance on this record: for the worst, listen to the lettuce-limp 'Hour Of Need'. No, don't.

'Fly From Here' is a genuine entry in the YES canon. I think it represents a nice freshening of their late 70s period, and the eponymous six-part suite is worth the price of the record.

But don't take my word for it...

Share this YES review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to russellk
• Report this review (#1283998)
• Buy YES music online with PA partners
• Show all YES MP3/Stream
• Go to YES page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Fly from Here page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for YES related discussions