On June 17, 1976, the formidable Relayer lineup of YES – Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, and Patrick Moraz – performed in front of a capacity crowd at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ. The quintet was captured mid-tour during a live broadcast on New York’s WNEW-FM. While the performance has remained one of the band’s most popular bootlegs for decades, this release marks its first official appearance.
The recording finds the band at a creative peak during the “Solo Albums Tour.” Following the success of Relayer (1974), the members spent 1975 recording five individual solo projects; this 1976 tour was the first time these new arrangements were integrated into the live set. The performance balances full-band epics…
Tag Archive: Yes
Legacy bands must straddle a line between the musical approach that originally brought them to fame and trying something new. With some fans, either choice – if made outright – dooms the latest release. But what of bands that undergo radical lineup changes over the years? Are they still beholden to what came before? And what of those that emerge with no remaining original members? Are they doomed to a life of caricature?
That’s Yes’ basic conundrum. They never had a lineup for longer than two consecutive albums. Well, until now. The current grouping of Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison, Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen has lasted longer than any other. Aurora is their third album together, though the late Alan White also appeared on…
YES revisit their 2019 4 song mini-album From A Page with this expanded 15-track double album, featuring the original 4 songs alongside alternate takes & demos of songs written during these sessions, many of which would appear on the band’s subsequent album Fly From Here.
In 2010, after a last-minute show in Zacatecas, Mexico, the band (Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Benoit David & Oliver Wakeman) met up in Phoenix, Arizona to begin writing for the next YES album. This two week session would bear fruit to the 4 released songs in addition to “Into the Storm”, “Hour of Need” & “The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be”, all of which would appear on the Fly From Here album featuring Geoff Downes after Wakeman departed during the recording sessions.
…features a newly remastered version of the original double album; rarities; previously unreleased studio and live recordings; and several new mixes by Steven Wilson.
Tales from Topographic Oceans‘ sprawling concept was dug into by frontman Jon Anderson, who was immersed in Paramahansa Yogananda’s bestselling Autobiography of a Yogi. Drawing from a lengthy footnote that described four shastras (Hindu texts outlining basic precepts of social and religious life), Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe primarily conceived four pieces of music that would each take up one side of a vinyl album. Bassist Chris Squire and new drummer Alan White (replacing Bill Bruford after his exit) went with the flow, agreeably retreating to Morgan Studios…
Yes recorded the original version of ‘Fly from Here’ during breaks in touring in 2010 and 2011, during which they enlisted former Yes frontman Trevor Horn as producer. The original received mixed reviews and peaked at No. 30 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 36 on the US Billboard 200.
The alternative version of the album titled Fly from Here – Return Trip features the classic ‘Drama’ era line- up who were reunited in 2018 to create a new version featuring all new vocals from Trevor Horn plus new instrumental parts, alongside a more organic mix highlighting Chris Squire’s unique voice and bass contributions as well as additional parts from Steve Howe and Geoff Downes.
The original album was released on 25 March 2018 during the band’s 50th anniversary tour…