FLY FROM HERE

3.5, really. I was quite surprised by Yes latest release. Granted, i had very little expectations on this one. First and foremost I´m and always was a big Jon Anderson fan. To me it is inconceivable to hear yes without him. Second, I was never a big fan of Drama. So I was not happy when I heard abou t his sacking and Wakeman´s leaving. And not really thrilled when I heard the Drama line up was back. Well, not completely. Geoff Downess was back on keyboards alright, but Trevor Horn is not the singer this time. But i was not that interested anyway. However, several friends talked endelessly about this record. So much so I decided to give it a shot. And I was quite surprised by how good it came across in the end.

Ok, this is not even close of their best stuff of the 70´s. But I found Fly From Here quite refreshing and inspired, something the latter Yes studio albums were not. The overall music is different, but charming. Steve Howe is the one that shines the most here, with his trademark guitar licks and solos soaring all the way through the CD (yet, not even him is overwhelming). The rest of the band sounds a bit subdue, but maybe this is what the new music asked for. I was surprised how discreet the once so flashy Downes is now. Still the music is quite good, even if much less bombastic than we would expect. I was totally blown away by the title track six part suite: it is one of their best songs ever and I loved Benoit David´s voice. He surely sounds a lot like Jon Anderson, but nothing here seems forced or unnatural. It looks like he is just that way and it works wonders here. I guess I had to change my mind about not swallwing Anderson´s departure. If you can´t have him, then I must admit David is next best thing.

Unfortunatly the remaining tracks are not as strong or remarkable as the first (something very common on any latter-day Yes album), but none is bad. The best is the closer Into The Storm, another fine moment in here. Solitaire is a little acoustic guitar piece. The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be, Life On A Film and Hour Of Need are ok songs. trevor Horn production is very good.

Conclusion: a nice surprise. The music may be different, simpler and lighter, but it is very good anyway. Yes lately was just repeating a formula and it was wearing down fast. This time they made a worthy record. With a little more efford on the songwriting department and some road work with the new line up and I´m sure they´ll come up with something really outstanding for their discography.

A good new start.