FLY FROM HERE

Okay, so I am admittedly a huge fan of Yes and I even gave "Drama" 5 stars which I still and always will believe it deserves. So, with the return of Trevor Rabin and Geoff Downs (both from the "Drama" lineup) and the long standing band members Steve Howe, Alan White and Chris Squire, I thought we had something that would really work here. But wait, who is this Benoit David? Why isn't Trevor singing lead this time around? Oh well, it's bound to be another great album like "Drama" right? Even without Jon Anderson? It all worked before!

Not this time. This sounds like Yes cover band. Oh wait a minute, it almost is! The lead singer here sounds like a poor man's version of Jon Anderson, he sounds like a cheap imitator. Even with the amazing musicians who are Yes regulars sound like they are forcing everything. Everything about this album screams out Imitation Yes.

Okay, so we do at least have a 24 minute multi song suite, so that looks interesting, right? Don't be fooled. It is a song that was already demoed to be a song by The Buggles (Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes new wave band) and it was rejected from any original track listings on any of their albums. So how in the hell did they think it would be worthy of a Yes album? Do you know what it sounds like? It sounds like a Buggles song.

I can't help but be disappointed here. This album just lacks emotion and heart felt dynamics. It sounds like a bunch of amateurs trying to copy a progressive rock formula. The only thing going for it is the sound is well produced, but that is all wasted by having to listen to a plastic sounding imitation. No originality here either. Everything just sounds like a poor rip off.

I don't like being so negative, but I hold some very high standards for a band I have loved throughout the years, a band as hugely influential as Yes. This album is a shame for me, it makes me hesitate to admit my love for Yes. But, Yes afficianados will understand, I'm sure. Yes is still one of the best, just not in this incarnation. This isn't Yes, it's only a bad imitation. I wish they would have released this under The Buggles moniker. At least then everyone would have expected the results, not that it would have made them any better.

Where is the band that I loved so much? This gets 2 stars only because the production is great, the rest of it is awful.