Yes--new music: Cut From The Stars

[GRollins]

The Steve Howe faction of Yes has released a new album. This is the first single.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdEF-vMO8vc

 

The music I heard from the last album didn't do much for me. I didn't dislike it, but it just didn't gel for me. This seems more promising.

 

Grey

[Still VanDerGraaf]

I heard this last night with my friend/bass player/felllow Yeshead.

 

This is the first thing I have heard from the musicians that now call themselves Yes that is worthy of the name. Good music and well-constructed.

[bill5]

I don't know how good it is, but it's ridiculous to call themselves "Yes." It's really "The Steve Howe Band." 

[Radagast]

1 hour ago, bill5 said:

I don't know how good it is, but it's ridiculous to call themselves "Yes." It's really "The Steve Howe Band." 

Depends on who owns the name “Yes”.  Some time ago, Chris Squire legally owned the name.  Since he has passed, now who owns it?  Two of the current members have been in Yes before.

[sherry]

2 hours ago, bill5 said:

I don't know how good it is, but it's ridiculous to call themselves "Yes." It's really "The Steve Howe Band." 

True that.

[Mr -G-]

Not ridiculous at all. How many original members are there in the London Symphonic Orchestra?

Perhaps similar to the "Ship of Theseus" problem?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus

 

By the way, I liked it!

[Konnector]

Orchestras are all just cover bands. The players don't matter. 

[Piktor]

I find the lyrics to be odd. Is this song supposed to part of a promo for a park? 

[timwat]

I prefer to think of this as the DPRC (Dread Pirate Roberts Continuity), also known as "Musicians are Subject To This Mortal Coil, But Thy Mortgage Is A Thirty Year Loan."

 

So I listened to the track twice. I don't think this one's for me.

 

Full disclosure, I wore out the grooves on every album from Yes Album to 90125, and while I bought one of the Keys to Ascension albums, I don't think anything after the mid '80s really caught my ear. So I may not be their target audience.

 

 

[AnotherScott]

1 hour ago, timwat said:

Full disclosure, I wore out the grooves on every album from Yes Album to 90125, and while I bought one of the Keys to Ascension albums, I don't think anything after the mid '80s really caught my ear. So I may not be their target audience.

 

I think the best albums of the later years were Magnification and the Ladder, and also the much maligned Union has some really strong tracks on it. I'd say those are worth a Spotify click if you haven't heard 'em.

[AnotherScott]

9 hours ago, bill5 said:

I don't know how good it is, but it's ridiculous to call themselves "Yes." It's really "The Steve Howe Band." 

 

I don't know if the rest of the guys would be as eager to be recording and touring as "The Steve Howe Band." (Related, I noticed that this song was written by two of the non-Howe members.)

 

But also, let's face it, they want to sell music and concert tickets. "Yes" is a bigger draw, and he has the right to use the name. There are Steve Howe albums too, which presumably don't sell as well (and are not as "yessish"). Which is probably basically why, after putting out a series of "Ian Anderson" albums, his new albums are presented as "Jethro Tull." Though of course, to most people who know the groups, IA defines Tull more than Howe does Yes. But in end, it's about marketing choices. And I doubt anyone is going to buy a Yes album or go to a Yes concert, and then say, "what a ripoff, I thought this was going to be Yes, but it isn't." Though Jon Anderson's perspective may differ. ;-)

[GRollins]

4 hours ago, timwat said:

So I listened to the track twice. I don't think this one's for me.

 

Full disclosure, I wore out the grooves on every album from Yes Album to 90125, and while I bought one of the Keys to Ascension albums, I don't think anything after the mid '80s really caught my ear. So I may not be their target audience.

 

 

 

For me, the early stuff through Close To The Edge--skip Topographic Oceans--and perhaps Relayer were the ticket. When they went disco I checked out. Later on, a guitarist I played with for a while convinced me to try some of their stuff from...what? early '90s? I liked it well enough, but didn't get religion the way I did with Close To The Edge. This one song strikes me as being more-or-less on the '90s level. I'm not going to be grabbing people by the lapels and shaking them to get them to listen to it, but it's interesting enough that I'll give other tracks from this album a listen as they become available.

 

Given that Rick Wakeman's still with us and actively touring, I can always hope that he will come home. I don't have a current cheat sheet as to who's mad at whom and for what reason, so I can't say that with any expectation of it actually happening, but he's left and rejoined enough times that the path is well known. He just needs to get out his find-your-way-back-to-Yes map and read it. I will say that I miss Wakeman's style. Geoff Downes was never quite my cup of tea.

 

Jon Anderson? Hmmm... Honestly, I think Jon Davison does a fine job of "being Jon Anderson." When I heard them a couple of years ago, I thought he did very well.

 

I'm not so overwhelmed with Billy Sherwood, either bass or vocals, but Squire's gone and that's that. I have no idea who I'd nominate for Squire's position. He was unique and is a nearly impossible act to follow. Geddy Lee? I dunno. That's a hard one. Just don't let Lee sing. I can't stand his voice.

 

Didn't Bill Bruford retire? I always preferred him to Alan White. Maybe someone could convince him to come out of retirement (assuming that I'm remembering correctly). Carl Palmer was touring as an ELP tribute thing with Yes when I saw them last. Some part of me will always wonder what would happen if he joined Yes.

 

Grey

[bill5]

3 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

 

I don't know if the rest of the guys would be as eager to be recording and touring as "The Steve Howe Band." (Related, I noticed that this song was written by two of the non-Howe members.)

 

But also, let's face it, they want to sell music and concert tickets. "Yes" is a bigger draw, and he has the right to use the name. There are Steve Howe albums too, which presumably don't sell as well (and are not as "yessish"). Which is probably basically why, after putting out a series of "Ian Anderson" albums, his new albums are presented as "Jethro Tull." Though of course, to most people who know the groups, IA defines Tull more than Howe does Yes. But in end, it's about marketing choices. And I doubt anyone is going to buy a Yes album or go to a Yes concert, and then say, "what a ripoff, I thought this was going to be Yes, but it isn't." Though Jon Anderson's perspective may differ. 😉

I don't question the legalities or the marketing strategy, esp for the relatively unknown guys. It's just lame IMO. As vital to Yes as Steve Howe is/was, Yes without at least some of the rest, most obviously Jon Anderson? Puh-leez. They can call it whatever they want, but that aint Yes. Really I just hate when this happens. I recall seeing Little River Band some years back...none of the original members, and yes, it was a total ripoff, as any famous band is which plays this game. I can see quite a few fans going to a "Yes" concert now without realizing what was going on and going wth and feeling ripped off (of course you could say they should have known better ahead of time). Can you see Ringo Starr rebooting the Beatles without McCartney (or even with him really)? The Rolling Stones without Jagger? I could go on. Old timers want to keep going, fine, but stop pretending they're something they aren't.

 

/soapbox  

[D. Gauss]

That was um, well... um, better left unsaid.

[ProfD]

At this point, any version of Yes is a tribute band.

 

Fans won't be able to agree on band personnel or which songs they should play.

 

Making new music is an even tougher row to hoe especially when 1) fans have not fully accepted the replacement musicians and 2) target audience is small. 

 

Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney are both doing it right. There's nothing they can do to reform The Beatles. Fans won't be satisfied for one reason or another. 😎

 

[Baldwin Funster]

Regardless of what the band SHOULD be called, it sounds like YES....if yes were playing music for elevator rides. Without Chris Squire at the core of it, the music has no drive. There is no vitality, no urgency, no passion. They should have stopped at Drama.

[Mr -G-]

Strictly speaking now there are none of the original members of Yes in that group. When should the band stop using the original name? Is that a moral or a legal issue? I might be wrong but wasn't there also time when there were two touring Yes-related bands (can't remember if they both used the name). Similar to Focus where only one original member remains. My point was that it is a bit relative, like the ship of Theseus problem. The  Stones example, sure without Jagger it would not be the same, but why this is not an issue for Genesis without PG?

 

 

[Tusker]

On 3/11/2023 at 4:38 AM, GRollins said:

The Steve Howe faction of Yes has released a new album. This is the first single.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdEF-vMO8vc

 

The music I heard from the last album didn't do much for me. I didn't dislike it, but it just didn't gel for me. This seems more promising.

 

I don't have an issue with people using a name. But is the music good?

 

This reminds me of Buggles era Yes sans the musical subversiveness of Chris Squire. I am enjoying Geoff Downes' lines and the vocalist sounds good to me. But it won't make my playlist. It's not their fault. Like Tim, I think I am just not their target market anymore.

 

 

[mcgoo]

22 hours ago, GRollins said:

Didn't Bill Bruford retire? 

Yes he did. But if someone could bribe him into coming back out and they were too reunite ABWH, I'd lay out big $$$ to see and hear any tour or album they'd produce. 

[o0Ampy0o]

My impression of this song is that it is contrived to sound Yes-like. If that were Jon Anderson and Chris Squire singing this same song it really wouldn't matter what the lyrics are as long as the words were delivered in typical Anderson / Squire style. I have not listened to the period of Yes in a long time but I did not feel Trevor Horn's vocals were weak. I enjoyed Drama. I was prepared to accept Horn as their new vocalist.  I do not feel that way about this singer.

 

 

The name thing with Little River Band is not quite the same as a band old-timer trying to keep the band going with 99% new personnel or even 100% new if they are not a founding member. The founding members did not know anything about trademarks and ignorantly signed papers trusting their manager. The name was transferred to a later iteration of the band (the corporation consisting of the new iteration band members) and no one in the band was informed. One by one the original members quit the new band and gave up their piece of the new band corporation until the only people left were newer members. Then when the founding members attempted to get back together they discovered they had lost ownership of the name when they quit the band. Now they are hit with cease and desist letters if they so much as refer to themselves as more than "former members." The latest iteration of the band absent of any original members has re-recorded all their hits and when fans think they are buying the original recordings they get the new versions.

[ksoper]

23 hours ago, GRollins said:

Carl Palmer was touring as an ELP tribute thing with Yes when I saw them last. Some part of me will always wonder what would happen if he joined Yes.

 

No. 

[Radagast]

16 hours ago, Mr -G- said:

Strictly speaking now there are none of the original members of Yes in that group. When should the band stop using the original name? Is that a moral or a legal issue? I might be wrong but wasn't there also time when there were two touring Yes-related bands (can't remember if they both used the name). 

 

 

Strictly speaking you are wrong.  Who do think was the original guitarist for Yes?

[D. Gauss]

peter banks?

 

[JimboKeys]

2 minutes ago, Radagast said:

Strictly speaking you are wrong.  Who do think was the original guitarist for Yes?

Peter Banks on their first two albums, before he left and was replaced by Steve Howe.

[Radagast]

16 hours ago, Mr -G- said:

 I might be wrong but wasn't there also time when there were two touring Yes-related bands (can't remember if they both used the name). 

 

 

 

You might be thinking of the Union tour which had older and newer members at the same time.  But Chris Squire was the only person who legally had the right to use the name YES.

[D. Gauss]

20 minutes ago, Radagast said:

 

You might be thinking of the Union tour which had older and newer members at the same time.  But Chris Squire was the only person who legally had the right to use the name YES.

Indeed there were two factions out at the same time pre "union."  (hence the name of that record)

One was Yes, with Squire and alan White, tony banks... and the other was AWBH or Anderson, Wakeman, Butthole, and Howe or whatever they were called.

cash is king in corporate rock.

[AnotherScott]

and then years later, Anderson, Wakeman, and Rabin were touring as a group, first promoting themselves as AWR, and then, I think after Chris Squire passed, started billing themselves as "Yes featuring ARW" which distinguished them from the other band concurrently also touring as Yes.

[Mark Schmieder]

Wow, it almost sounds like an amalgam of "Time and a Word" and "Going for the One" (the albums, not those two specific songs). Kind of surprising as Howe wasn't on the first of those. And yes, great bass playing and especially the bass tone! Really clear and articulate and warm, while also providing a good strong deep bottom.

[Mark Schmieder]

I wouldn't get hung up on original members and all of that. The Guess Who of today, and even of the late 60's or early 70's, had no members in common with the original Chad Allan group.

[EricBarker]

If there was one member that defined Yes, it was Chris Squire. He and Jon Anderson were the perfect compliment: rough and powerful vs sensuous and ethereal. But no one was the soul Yes more than The Fish. Not only in his bass playing, but his harmony vocals, he was there supporting his brother in arms. Not to diminish the others, they bring the seasoning and spice: Howe the curiously psychedelic country blues, Rick the crazy classical abandon, and Brufford may as well be his own genre! But they’re not what made Yes, they just helped make it wonderful and unique.