DRAMA by Yes: Lost Classic or Justified Dud?

hoho--like that's original!

I and Alex agree on most hip-hop, so it isn't a first. :)

have we mentioned that the Drama lineup (plus the new singer, and no Jon Anderson) is back?

http://heavyrocktheplaylist.blogspot.com/2011/03/yes-new-album-fly-from-here-out-in-july.html

I like this album, probably my 3rd fave after Yes Album and 90125.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JvCQ1kMjFQ

new album cover art to stare at while you are stoned:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa176/akmonday/YES_-_FLY_FROM_HERE_COVER.jpg

Tracklist :
“Fly From Here – Overture”
“Fly From Here – Pt I – We Can Fly”
“Fly From Here – Pt II – Sad Night At The Airfield”
“Fly From Here – Pt III – Madman At The Screens”
“Fly From Here – Pt IV – Bumpy Ride”
“Fly From Here – Pt V – We Can Fly (reprise)”
“The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be”
“Life On A Film Set”
“Hour Of Need”
“Solitaire”
“Into The Storm”

Bonus track: "Twist and Shout"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR-DKEcDtt8

looking forward to this, despite the jon anderson impersonator lead singer. my faith in this band is pathological

Well, that excerpt playing thru the end sounds very close to the Buggles' "Fly From Here" so here's hoping at least the production has that old (late 70s) Trev Horn touch.

Steve Howe is so cadaverous

yeah he must be the oddest looking man in rock.

Alan White's developed a weird accent hasn't he?

he lives in portland or something and has for a long time, so maybe that has something to do with it (I didn't listen to this but I know he has lived in the US for ages)

iTunes has the whole thing up with 1+ minute excerpts for most songs

kinda sounds more buggles than yes with a little bit of asia thrown in, much more MOR than Drama
horn's production is pretty sweet so at least there's that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLkuKXt-nec

The excerpts sound ok. That new guy's voice ... nope. Too Dennis DeYoung for me.

wonder 1) if 'overture/part 1 - 6' will be one long epic or seven separate tracks and 2) how jon anderson feels about all this

"yesia," anderson mutters under his fairy breath, checking the record cover out

http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/2011/06/riding-tiger-review-of-fly-from-here.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCeEjUHi8Qs

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

when did this happen and how did i not find out about it

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CtjAeK4GUvM/TZRzJ7n7zYI/AAAAAAAABGY/a1FgGGz9-Rg/s400/yesrobshanahan.jpg

this is the single most impenetrable band photo i've seen in ages

not out yet, not till early july, i think. that band photo is pretty o_O, definitely, especially the buggle in the middle

can't get over the way steve howe looks

i kinda feel like if you jumped on his head he'd disassemble like those skeleton koopas in mario, then just reassemble himself and continue soloing

with that bola tie he looks like a cowboy wizard standing next to a disembodied, sunglassed buggle head. love it that squire is working that necklace of orc teeth or whatever it is

could this possibly be any good? they seem to be decent about every other album since '90125.' by that pattern, this one should be okay, since 'the ladder' rules and 'magnification' blows

i'd expect it to be like a solid 3.5/5 album. wouldn't think they're doing it for money at this point and obviously have had a long goddamn time to work on it.

I don't think this was one of those albums that gestated over a long time. It seems more like it was done fairly quickly using songs that had been laying around for a while in different states of completion. These dudes have been touring frequently for the last few years as Yes (and Howe in Yes AND Asia) so seems like they found a chunk of time once touring stopped to get together with Horn and crank this one out. Either way, except for some cool Horn production touches, I'm not holding out hope for this to be more than average. The iTunes samples point to it being blah.

i seem to recall a few Yes members talking about doing a new "Tales"-type album, 4 songs 80 minutes, for release in 2009 or something, so I guess I just assumed parts of that ended up here?

haven't heard the samples yet but "Homeworld" alone gives me hope for new Yes

If I love every album from The Yes Album through Going for the One and am lukewarm towards Drama and 90125, are there any albums since then that I should definitely check out?

Maybe I like Tales as opposed to loving it...

Can( think of one, sund4r. True proggy Yes in the 70s sense ended in the 70s, imho. And on a bum note - with Tormato.

I've listened to all the previews for this a number of times. I'm a big Drama fan. I don't think this is quite that calibre; on the other hand, it is miles beyond anything that has come out under the Yes name since 90125. There are a scattering of tracks here and there that are good there is a huge amount of crap too.

If I love every album from The Yes Album through Going for the One and am lukewarm towards Drama and 90125, are there any albums since then that I should definitely check out?

Probably not.

Btw. the stuff linked above sounds like this may be their best albums since.... well.... since "Drama".

best album even

If I love every album from The Yes Album through Going for the One and am lukewarm towards Drama and 90125, are there any albums since then that I should definitely check out?

you should definitely check out 'the ladder.' the two epics -- "homeworld" and "new languages" -- reach the same dizzy space circus place of classic yes. "lightning strikes" sounds like a preview of 'merriweather post pavilion.' there are a few way way corny songs but overall it's worth your time if you love the early stuff

The problem about "The Ladder" is that it is produced by Bruce Fairbarn, and as such approaches a kind of hair metal sound that sounds nothing like classic 70s prog.

best album even

― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Wednesday, June 15, 2011 12:15 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

O_o

geir there aren't a lot of swirling organ runs in any hair metal i've heard, like there are in "homeworld." that's more a classic 70s prog thing. and "lightning strikes"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEdh48lNuSs
and "face to face" sound nothing remotely like hair metal

I love The Ladder and always feel guilty for loving it. If Only You Knew probably ha a lot to do with that.

it's a weird album. it's ok. it's probably the best of talk-open your eyes-keys to ascension-ladder stretch, but the songs aren't very memorable (none of them in this entire era are).

I like magnification, but I don't really like the orchestra on it.

I love Magnification. All the choons are 4/4 but I really like how well the orchestra just plugs in.

i <3 jon anderson but he has been incapable of anything but twee new age shite for 20+ years

i was on this thread mostly for nostalgia and cheap lols once i heard the new lineup was making a record but horn being involved intrigued me
horn/downes wrote much of the new album and it sounds to me after listening to all the samples that they have managed to make a record that is not an embarrassment - which is the best you can expect from a yes album in 2011. it's sort of "soft" and very buggles-y, no real Drama-ish rocking out, but a credible effort all around. if the classic lineup dudes manage to live for another 2-3 years i'm sure they'll get together for one more go and benoit david will go back to the tribute circuit.

Having to do overtime again so I'm chucking some of this. Currently The Ladder. Did Drama yesterday, loved it more than I did upthread

aside from the corny songs, "if only you knew," "finally," and "it'll be a good day" (which isn't horrible), i like 'the ladder' a lot. it's a "return to form." i'm as impressed with them for getting their heads together enough to record such a strong album thirty years into being a band as i am with the cure for recording their best album, 'disintegration,' ten years into it. i realize that perseverance and longevity aren't exactly the first qualities that most people (me included) look for in rock bands, but there's something (hesitate to admit it) inspirational about how dynamic the epics are and how "lightning strikes"/"can i"/"face to face" are at once manic and bizarre while referencing ancient touchstones, like their own "we have heaven" and the kinks' "phenomenal cat." i acknowledge that this is a quirk, even pathological, like i said earlier

if this new one is a patch on 'the ladder,' i will be stoked

and the kinks' "phenomenal cat."

pretty sure that's just a stock loop that came with mellotrons

if the classic lineup dudes manage to live for another 2-3 years i'm sure they'll get together for one more go and benoit david will go back to the tribute circuit

Ooh, I don't know about that. I interviewed Wakeman a couple of weeks ago, and he said that there was no way the classic line-up would ever reform now. He's still sore on Anderson's behalf, that Squire/Howe/White weren't prepared to hang fire while Anderson had his health problems. Wakeman's next project is a three-way with Anderson and Rabin, by the way.

Then again, I pushed him a bit and he mumbled "never say never"...