Fly From Here • YES • a Grim appraisal

Released June 2011

"Familiarity breeds contempt”, said the lion to the fox. While the application of this principle exists in our psychological make-up, the opposite effect is more often than not the case when one is up close with the blow by blow from the catalogue of renowned progrock overlords, YES. The loveliness of their tunes have a gradual crushing effect on one's welling criticism for their anticipated 2011 release, Fly From Here. 

If you can’t pick out the sucker in the listener within 20 minutes of a YES journey which isn’t up to par, chances are, the sucker is you.

Yes, familiarity impairs one’s judgment for a constructive breakdown when it comes to reviewing the YES catalog. Steer clear from their centrifugal force as subliminal programming, gradual conditioning and inevitable conversion to being diehards are usually the order of the day. Which is why Grim never engages the REPEAT ALL button at the first spin.

For all the claims, raves and reviews that Fly From Here is an undeniable return to form and that the songs and production values are way higher than they have ever been… well … they’re not!

A Grim Review

• and let’s be grim about this •

The demise of the Steve Howe empire is strikingly evident in their 90125 (circa 1983) release, when Trevor Rabin stepped up the grunge in Owner Of A Lonely Heart and steered them off on a perpendicular course laying out the template of considerable latitude for the from-then-on Yes sound.

Hence, the need to factor in cogency of argument, economy of language and analysis of musicianship in their latest offering, Fly From Here.

The presence of 80s icon, Trevor Horn, in the producer’s chair compounds the problem with his choice of the tried, tested and reverby piano/pads from the PROPHET at the start of track one which dulls the anticipation of the Yes diehard momentarily, but thrilling the newly enrolled pupil and old foggies. However, progrock sensibilities explode in a salvaging moment, timeline 0:19.

Seraphim

The urgency of the Anderson-esque pitch and vocal-space-reverb grandeur is glaringly absent from the equation. Recruiting Benoit David (lead vocals) is a calculated move in place of Jon Anderson. His high register pitch is uncannily not too dissimilar. Works eerily well. The same calculated move witnessed in Drama (circa 1980).

But one wonders why producer, Trevor Horn, did not employ the YES ballads as the Anderson-metric for that soar-and-dip musical graph inherent in all of them, namely ...

• Soon at timeline 17:07 of The Gates Of Delirium (Relayer, circa 1973)

• Turn Of The Century (Going For The One, circa 1977)

• Circus Of Heaven (Tormato, circa 1978)

• Onward (Tormato, circa 1978)

It is apparent Benoit has the ability to soar to the skies and dive bomb in almost the exact way as Anderson, why then weren’t intricate compositional structures laid out, á la YES, for maximum exploitation of Benoit’s vocal cords to resonate with the urgency which is what YES essentially is?

Pick a track from any one of the Rabin produced albums in the last 28 years, specifically, City Of Love, track 8 of 90125 (circa, 1983). The visceral explosion of Alan White’s drums are literally felt. The tight burst of snare in turn, shapes the projection of Anderson’s vocal cords seraphically and steers him in directions only angels may have tread once and now cautious of a repeat. He is governed by the splatter, the breaks and the occasional odd time signature.

One feels the organic flutter of this three winged creature in a digital storm.

Technical Inertia

Aesthetically Fly From Here with its signature fantasy art by Roger Dean stokes the fire of the curious protégé and mentor alike with the promise of the richest meat of an exotic game from a different amazon. 

Alas, musically, they have only pieced together unexciting material from their ‘vault’, which is perfectly alright if it was their intention to begin with.

“I didn’t want anything programmed. I wanted it to sound more like the band sounded in the 70s, necessarily than the band sounded in the 80s.” ~ Trevor Horn, Producer ~

For one, Fly From Here isn't even remotely close to the likes of Fragile, Close To The Edge, Tales From Topographic Ocean, Relayer, Tomato and Drama or even their lesser god, Going For The One (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1980 and 1977 respectively)

Secondly, it is a superb ruse of Horn to washing his hands off the gargantuan task of having to fill the Anderson/Rabin shoes.

“You just wanna make people happy with just a lot of great intricate music that’s kinda different.”   ~ Alan White, Drummer ~

Intricate music? Kinda different? The only semblance of ‘great intricate music’ is heard on track 5 Fly From Here Part IV - Bumpy Ride. And their 13 full step ascension from timeline 1:04 through 1:17 is supposed to kiss it and make it all better? To be passed off as intricate and progressive?

An erroneous title of song from misled descriptions and deluded sentiments.

To experience a true ‘bumpy ride’ you only have to push PLAY on track two of Relayer (circa, 1973). Sound Chaser. It boggles the mind that a Tolkien-esque epic like that was performed and recorded 38 years ago by mere mortals. Even today it sounds like the aliens have landed. And Steve Howe was, in a word, supreme!

In progressive rock recordings segue is employed for that seamless transition between one song and another. A good example of this is heard in The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s album and how the gentle guitar tinker of George Harrison’s semi hollowed out Epiphone forms the segue from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band into With A Little Help From My Friends. 

The transitions employed in Fly From Here aren’t so much segues as they are poor fade-ins and fade-outs. Weakly arranged and flatly engineered save for a flange fade-in inserted in the master track at the start of Bumpy Ride for about 5 seconds. Possibly added on for color.

When one has gone on voyages with segue-kings the likes of Dream Theatre, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Rick Wakeman's Journey To The Center Of The Earth, to name a few, it becomes claustrophobically difficult to let this one ride. More often than not the responsibility of a mix always falls on, well … the mixing engineer. And even in this case, it should, but for all intents and purposes, I’ll put this one on producer, Trevor Horn for his sheer lack of initiative to pushing the technical and compositional boundaries.

And through all their technical antics Chris Squier laughs to see such fun knowing well, his Rickenbacker bass is grounded as always.

Technical Inertia is what Fly From Here needs to be reissued as.

Solitaire

Track 10 might just as well come off a Steve Howe solo album. Solitaire is a strange jewel. A misfit. Almost a misfit as in Mood For A Day (Fragile - circa, 1972). But given the psychedelic climate of the time Mood For A Day came off as fresh, exciting … even considered ‘groovy’ that one of the members of a progrock band could pull off a flamenco/classical piece.

Solitaire doesn’t even come close to the sombre pieces of the 70s. It is a contrived and self indulgent instrumental which sounds like a fairly good guitar student practising in the wee hours of the night. It lacks musical finesse, flair and compositional excitement. And given the ‘ascended master’ title attached to Steve Howe surely it must come off as a bit of an embarrassment. Then again, I seriously doubt it. Solitaire was thrown in as an album filler, a segue into break time for the rest of the boys in a live setting.

Trough of Disillusionment

Fly From Here marries shades of Pink Floyd and musical maneuvers of 90s progrock band Porcupine Tree.

Not necessarily a negative chemistry, but should a British progrock powerhouse, YES, after having laid out an irreproducible template and having carved an exclusive niche market for themselves inadvertently take two steps back only to sound like a Yes tribute band?

The absence of the Anderson/Rabin collaboration resonates in the dryness of drums, absence of vocal urgency, outmoded keyboard layering and clumsy flurry of old Howe notes, “Just one more time, same thing … just for timing.”  Trevor Horn quips, while being weighed down in the couch by a sizable beer belly.

The diehards feel the restraining order on the artistic license granted them decades ago for their rich tapestry. They have gone through the ‘trigger’ phase of the product launch and graduated to the frenzied expectations stage. The diehards now sit in this trough totally disillusioned. A 'worse off' deal than Drama had offered. 'Worse off' only because of the shock they were put through and the commotion that ensued from Anderson's first departure back then. And Drama wasn’t even bad. If I can still be softly chanting “I am a camera … camera, camera … “ it must have come with the promise of the slope of enlightenment.

Fly From Here now settles in the trough of disillusionment. The slope of enlightenment is a long way off, if not, completely out of view. As for the plateau of productivity, well, this product isn't about to complete the 5 stages of the hype cycle.

28 years on, 90125 (circa, 1983) and Big Generator (circa, 1987) still packs voluminous heat from their metallurgical furnace. Push to PLAY and the inevitable requirement to suit up from their solar flares is felt. In the advent of the technological assault where updates and upgrades are already obsolete by the time Jobs announces them on the center stage, there is the inherent expectation, even a demand, of Yes’s latest offering to stand above their previous models with a numerical suffix, 10.0.

Is this a very lengthy album review? Actually, it’s a bloody complaint!

Grim

(Does Grim come off as one of those trolls, arsewipes and pratts who have achieved nothing but a decline in ratings by knocking the great progrock overlords' latest offering? 

Well, yes he does. So there! 

At least he's not kissing their bloody arses! 'Give credit where it’s due', Grim always says!

Oh, but take 'eart boys. Consider this a compliment! Yes, you 'eard him.

A constructive breakdown if you will.

After all Grim does possess the entire YES collection. Even this little jewel and will continue to purchase anything and everything you boys release in the near or far future. Even as Grim is writing this he eargerly awaits the release of In the Present: Live From Lyon)

Fly From Here

Needless to say the latest offering is a good album. Even if convenient-amnesia isn't able to wipe out 30 years and pick up where they left off on Drama (circa 1980). And to reiterate, it is a giant step back even from Drama. It should never be placed, compared, juxtaposed against or along side their tremendous works of the 1970s.

The harsh truth about Fly From Here and why it fails to deliver compositionally and suffers technically is that, YES, since their last release, Magnification (circa, 2001) have been waiting around 7 to 8 years for something to happen. With Trevor Rabin turning down their offer to tour with them and compounding it with Jon Anderson being hospitalized for severe asthma, all that was left on their plate was Trevor Horn's, Fly From Here which he had given them some 30 years ago to record and of which they had discarded and forgotten about. To make matters worse Anderson has been openly critical of Fly From Here saying, 

"The sound is a bit dated and the production isn't as good as I expected. Trevor Rabin has been a good producer but what the hell are you doing?"

Beggars can’t be choosers now. They have nothing left but this little ditty and Benoit David. Truth is stranger than fiction. 

So what would a bunch of progrock gods sound like after 43 years?

age + writers block + inertia = Fly From Here

“It’s a hard thing to live up to because there’s no point looking back and saying, ‘let’s be like that’ because that’s gone by.” ~ Steve Howe ~

Fly From Here, should, indeed … fly, from here.

(Afterword: This critique was penned by Grim Preacher, a die-hard dyed-in-the-wool YES person. It was written November 2011 and posted thereafter on the band's Facebook page but understandably, due to the potency of the narrative, the appraisal was deleted from the page and the writer was blocked - Tommy Peters)