DRAMA by Yes: Lost Classic or Justified Dud?

I wonder who farted btw

howe is a vegan, so him.

this has leaked btw (actually it's already out in japan).

certainly the best thing with the Yes name on it since 90125; you could say it's a bit too smooth, maybe, and the buggles demos and drama-era yes-castoff 'we can fly from here' are the best things on it by far, but it's better than it has any reason to be. new vocalist is completely fine and doesn't ape anderson through the whole album. doesn't really sound like 'drama' either.

Digging it, actually. Only a few songs in. Nice glossy spacious old school Horn production. : )

"i saw you at the air race yesterday, april showers. . . ."

this new one reminds me that rio came out a little while after drama

Alright - my opinion: It seems to lose its way after the "Fly From Here" suite (yep. With an "Overture" and everything.) though the Chris Squire-sung track is an enjoyable enough attempt at the "90125/Big Generator" vibe. The solo Steve Howe track is filler - why didn't that just end up on one of his own records? "Life On A Film Set" ( another Buggles leftover) has an odd early Crimson/ELP feel and it almost works. Overall it feels...lackluster, down to the playing. No amazing playing from Howe or Squire - more like they're filling space. Or they're thinking of lunch.

there's also a little too much asia going on and . . . yoso maybe?

and the buggles suite doesn't hang together all that well, on first listen, at least -- concept's alan parsons project loose, 'i robot' or 'turn of a friendly card' or one of those

but still i'm a sucker for these vibes. would love to smoke a bowl with j anderson the first time he hears this, to see the look on his face

"sailor, beware. there are storm clouds"

Yeah, I'm a sucker for it, too. Especially the Trevor Horn touch and those big synth parts (haha!). Kind of happy Jon wasn't part of this one, actually. He deserves better.

amen

squire's song doesn't sound too far off his solo album, or that syn reunion album from a couple years ago, at least for the first minute. then. . . .

okay, "life on a film set" could be a buggles reunion song. that's more like it

ween, "the hour of need," the mollusk or white pepper

gerard johnson (st. etienne and then a bunch of yes associated stuff) co-wrote 'man you always wanted me to be' which yeah, does sound like that Syn album, very poppy (so is hour of need. actually I could imagine Sarah Cracknell singing that one. can't you?)

whoah. almost as hard for me to imagine sarah singing on a yes album as beth gibbons. lisa gerrard i could see. but i had no idea about gerard johnson's association with squire. that enough blows my mind

The whole Fly from Here suite is not too bad but it sounds awfully like a pastiche. imo Bumpy Ride is Yes's way of saying "look we can do the trickier stuff, omg look an irregular time signature and now it's getting faster LOOK" and almost works despite sounding incredibly self-conscious.

In its entirety the album just washes over me. Sometimes I swear I can hear the arthritis grinding away at these old buggers.

That's a pretty fair description--on the plus side, nothing on the record sounds godawful or even embarrassing-- on the whole it's a very inoffensive album, with no real high or low points to speak of. Production is clean but not rich, same synth sounds throughout. On first pass I guess the final track is the best, though I can't really remember how it goes.

Same! I hear the end track with its On the Silent Wings of Freedom-style guitar work and think "oh yes this is that good track at the end" and then it ends and I instantly forget what it was.

That sums up the album for me — its middling inoffensiveness (p much as you said) is nice while it lasts but it doesn't leave an impression. I don't know whether I'd prefer them to have taken a few chances and risked producing a respectable turd.

Having said all that, it's most definitely a true Yes album in every way that matters.

album's growing on me, even the suite. took a few listens with 'the ladder' too. this is one of the few albums i'd endorse listening to on shuffle. i think the sequencing kind of sucks and the suite doesn't hold together well enough to work as one piece. taking it apart and letting "movements" shuffle in between "songs" has me enjoying the subtle "themes" common to each of the "movements" better than when i listen to it straight. man do i put in work for this band

ahahahaha

Usually the work pays off, that's why we keep doing it. I'll keep your shuffle suggestion in mind btw; I can imagine how much better this album would work with the dull second half being spiced up by that recurring motif.

that's what happens, for me at least. plus, instead of one forced suite, and then a bunch of songs, the whole thing becomes one long interconnected listen

Yes has never worked with running themes outside contiguous suites iirc, perhaps they should formally give it a go in their dotage.

there might be some recurring melodies etc scattered throughout 'topographic oceans,' not sure. that one's defeated me so far through the years. i'm all ears if they record more after this. i hope if t horn's not on board again, that at least they use a strong producer of his caliber; that's what seems to have worked best since way back with eddie offord. would love it if they gave it a go with like eno or fridmann (or albini or kanye) but somehow i doubt that's in the cards

it does seem to be the beginning of a new era, although it probably depends on how much longer the dudes can hold up (unless they're gradually passing the baton to a whole new generation via oliver/benoit, like a cricket team or something)

(providing squire is prepared to let go even in death)

chris squire and keith richards will outlive us all

The suite has really really grown on me. I must have played it about 15 times now. In terms of greatness it's better than Machine Messiah/In the Presence Of, but obv it's not up there with Awaken/Delirium/Close to the Edge. Squire's bass work is fantastic and David's voice really suits the material.

Also this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_from_Here

According to Squire, the title track is the band's eleventh epic piece

Only eleven?

1. Close to the Edge
2. Tales
3. Tales
4. Tales
5. Tales
6. Gates of Delirium
7. Awaken
8. Endless Dream
9. Mind Drive
10. In the Presence Of
11. Fly from Here

^ my guess (based mainly on length)

unless they're gradually passing the baton to a whole new generation via oliver/benoit, like a cricket team or something

kind of doubt this, since they already fired oliver.

things aren't going so well

http://www.examiner.com/classic-hard-rock-in-national/yes-keyboardist-geoff-downes-responds-to-negative-fan-reviews

"And oh yes – Downes broke out his keytar to kick it into full gear. It must have been nice to break out of that keyboard cage."

the reviews of the shows are incredibly bad and the bits I heard are embarrassing. makes me suspect that Horn played a much larger role in shaping this album than suspected. The setlists for this tour are terrible too; Yes makes their best album in many many years and only plays one song from it, instead pulling out all the aged warhorses everyone associates with Anderson?

It sounded to me like White's drinking might be an issue as well. Regardless, I'll be skipping this since I hate Styx. If they get it together and tour again next year and focus on this record I'll go, but they're kind of running out of time.

crosslinking in case some of you have missed it --> Yes solo albums S/D

(live performance recorded by an audience member this week)

I have only made it thru the suite this far -- but the chorus has been stuck in my head for days. Loathe as I am to suggest it, it's one of the best melodies they've written -- and has a fantastic arrangement to boot. Plus, Chris sounds awesome.

Oh and my friend (owner of said car mentioned upthread) saw them in Nashville this wknd and said they were awesome.

i thought it was all terrible but the new singer irks me. the arrangements are not in the vein of cool early Yes

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgzgAn1N3oI

good god

lol omg

love that the guitarists reshuffle slightly, seeming to have this instinctive knowledge that they should align into a quo-like straightline formation upon the arrival of another guitarist (/guitar-shaped object-wielder), ready to synchro-rock

I only made it through the first two minutes, did I miss something awesome

http://www.conncerts.com/images/806_Yes_0988_se.jpg

no!, i too drifted after someone with a non-novelty instrument took the limelight. it's just that he drifts towards the other guys & they, like fighterplanes, just seem to quickly re-organise, ready to do that weird, synchro-herk-&-jerk thing that status quo do in a straight line, shoulder-banging in unison. it doesn't even go anywhere & happen, it just seems to be an innate, reflexive move.

0:30.

At some point I'll find the John Tenniel illustration that Squire reminds me of in those videos.

This one?

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jtennielireland.JPG

My God. Terrible. Even Howe is playing like some Guitar Center® salesman.

I like parts of Howe's solo there. And Geoff Downes is really great; check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b35x2Q3pUAw