2010: A preview

Yes have just begun their February tour leg and we're into the second month of 2010. So what will the year bring?

Plans for the first half of the year are becoming clearer. Chris Squire has finished recording for his collaboration with Steve Hackett, with Hackett expected to complete work on the album this month. Steve Howe, likewise, appears to have finished recording for the new Asia album, Omega, with Wetton and Downes completing work on it also this month for a release in April. No release date has been given for 'Squackett' but around April seems plausible.

Yes, as I said, are back on tour, and that takes up most of February. There has been much fan angst about when they might record their promised new album. Howe is busy most of March touring with his Trio (and we can make a guess that an expected live release will come out around the same time) and then he's back touring with Asia April-May and July-August. We know Asia are taking time off from September (with Wetton talking of doing a solo album then), so the fear was any significant progress on a Yes album would be delayed until then. However, in a couple of recent interviews, Squire has said that they have been individually working on ideas after his, Howe and O. Wakeman's preliminary meeting in October 2009, and that they will start serious work, seemingly studio work, in March, straight after February touring. In one interview, he talked of taking "a good shot at it" in March/April/May and a possible release before the end of the year.

This clearly clashes with some of Howe's touring commitments. That said, Howe does not need to be present at every day of recording. There's not much of March free, but his announced Asia commitments are not until near the end of April. Depending on what further Asia touring is announced, he may also have more than a month between Japanese and North American dates. That could mean an album is finished before summer gets going, leaving the latter half of the year for Yes to tour in support. On the other hand, it is perhaps wise not to be too optimistic about progress: Howe has previously described Squire as speaking too early on plans.

If Yes are busy through the first half of the year, that ties up White, David and O. Wakeman too. If there are breaks in activity... well, David has talked of a new Mystery album, while O. Wakeman has a backlog of solo projects and other collaborations. There have been hints of some kind of re-launch for the White band, who have been mostly inactive since their 2006 debut.

Away from the current band members, Rick Wakeman has announced some solo dates for the year. He's had two recent new release (Always with You and the 3CD Past, Present and Future), but live work remains focused on nostalgia and he continues to try to organise big extravaganzas like last year's The Six Wives of Henry VIII at Hampton Court.

Yoso, albeit not with that name, was to have begun at the beginning of 2009 with the planned Bobby Kimball/CIRCA: tour of Italy, cancelled at the last minute. The band gestated through most of 2009, but an album is now recorded and expected early this year, and three lives dates were played with the obligatory DVD also expected early this year. Sherwood is optimistic about substantial touring, a breakthrough CIRCA: never managed.

Some indications of the long-awaited new Trevor Rabin solo album emerged last year. Will it finally come to fruition in 2010? Can we detect a slight slowing down in his film score work, which would fit with solo album activity?

2010 will be the first year without a new Bill Bruford release and the second year of his retirement. Futher lectures have already been announced, as have further re-releases.

The biggest question mark over what 2010 might bring is around Jon Anderson. Talk last year of a possible reconciliation with Yes did not last long, but it remains a possibility. Rick Wakeman has talked of doing a US tour of his duo show with Anderson and an album release, which has been on hold since 2006.

Following a band closely, one comes to a conclusion that musical talent is not enough. Any act or solo artist needs more than talent, more than the music, to be able to reach a substantial audience. For example, while I think Peter Banks retains the talent, I am not expecting him to do much in 2010 given these last few years he has struggled to find a context in which he is able to play to an audience, live or on record.

Is Jon Anderson in a similar position? Multiple collaborations keep popping up on MySpace and the occasional new solo piece appears as a digital single or bonus track, but the major statement album that fans want, like the long-awaited Zamran sequel to Olias..., remains elusive. Other projects get mentioned and never appear; for example, the Dream Dancing collaboration with Fritz Heede was expected on Voiceprint in 2009 but appears caught in limbo, as do further volumes in The Lost Tapes series.

The music business is in a poor state at present, with sales dropping year on year and still few effective models for the digital age. The music business also remains largely hostile to prog. Are those conditions and, of course, Anderson's own health problems holding him back? On the other hand, occasional grumbles from his numerous online collaborators suggest perhaps the lack of releases has more to do with Anderson's temperament.

What Anderson has released of late has been pretty poor to my ears. "Music is God" and "Never Ever", both available on iTunes, are some of his worst work for me. Yet some recent collaborations appearing on Facebook and elsewhere sound much stronger, and the flurry of activity around these perhaps suggests that 2010 will finally see some major projects appear.

Henry

Constructing a lost Yes album of the '00s

We were having a discussion on Yesfans.com about whether one might construct a lost Yes album of the last decade by considering the best solo and other band work by the Yesmen. So, here's a suggestion, all available to buy digitally on Amazon.com for a total of $8.71. Most of these pieces were never intended for Yes, it isn't a "lost album" in that sense, it's just a bit of fun of what perhaps might have been.

1. Where Do We Go from Here? (4:21) [from Dream and Variations by Don Harper's Oceana Orchestra; featuring Trevor Rabin] http://tinyurl.com/yaozus2
2. Wish I'd Known All Along (4:05) [from Phoenix by Asia; written by Howe] http://tinyurl.com/y923u7t
3. Buddha Song (6:09) [from Live from La La Land by Jon Anderson; once intended to be recorded by Yes on The Ultimate Yes] http://tinyurl.com/yzy7sm4
4. City of Dreams (9:38) [from Syndestructible by The Syn; co-written by Squire] http://tinyurl.com/ygmvmf6
5. Ghost in the Mirror (4:37) [from Silent Nation by Asia; co-written by Geoff Downes/John Payne/Billy Sherwood] http://tinyurl.com/yf96t6f
6. Beyond the Void (9:06) [from Retro 2 by Rick Wakeman] http://tinyurl.com/yghnebv
7. The Golden Mean (2:50) [from Motif Vol 1 by Steve Howe] http://tinyurl.com/ykefgno
8. Lonesome Trail (6:38) [from Conspiracy by Chris Squire & Billy Sherwood] http://tinyurl.com/ye98ht3
9. Starship Trooper (8:36) [from Rock Infinity, a re-named version of the abortive Jim Ladd's Headsets album From Here to Infinity made before Chapter 1: Alone Out Here; this track is credited to Mickey Thomas, but also features Billy Sherwood, Steve Howe, Alan White, Rick Wakeman and Tony Kaye] http://tinyurl.com/ygbymm8

I think the song titles nicely suggest a theme of yearning, which is how Yes fans often felt in the decade...

And here's a UK version using Amazon.co.uk (total £6.51), with one substitution given different availabilities in the two countries:

1. Where Do We Go from Here? (4:21) [from Dream and Variations by Don Harper's Oceana Orchestra; featuring Trevor Rabin] http://tinyurl.com/ylzxvhp
2. Wish I'd Known All Along (4:05) [from Phoenix by Asia; written by Howe] http://tinyurl.com/ygh2jyp
3. Buddha Song (6:09) [from Live from La La Land by Jon Anderson; once intended to be recorded by Yes on The Ultimate Yes] http://tinyurl.com/yl6jf9a
4. 1/2 a World Away (5:47) [from The Unknown by Conspiracy] http://tinyurl.com/yfrkvf4
5. Ghost in the Mirror (4:37) [from Silent Nation by Asia; co-written by Geoff Downes/John Payne/Billy Sherwood] http://tinyurl.com/ylz6e2j
6. Beyond the Void (9:06) [from Retro 2 by Rick Wakeman] http://tinyurl.com/yj3hjsq
7. The Golden Mean (2:50) [from Motif Vol 1 by Steve Howe] http://tinyurl.com/yzmyqnm
8. Lonesome Trail (6:38) [from Conspiracy by Chris Squire & Billy Sherwood] http://tinyurl.com/ykary2k
9. Starship Trooper (8:36) [from Rock Infinity, by Mickey Thomas with Billy Sherwood, Steve Howe, Alan White, Rick Wakeman and Tony Kaye] http://tinyurl.com/yln3gzv

Henry

Poll: Best new Yes song of the '00s

I asked you to vote on the best new Yes song of last decade and, after 150 votes, the results were very clear:

In the Presence of: 67 votes (45%)
Magnification: 22 votes (15%)
Give Love Each Day: 21 votes (14%)
Dreamtime: 15 votes (10%)
We Agree: 7 votes (5%)
Can You Imagine: 6 votes (4%)
Time is Time: 4 votes (3%)
Aliens are Only Us from the Future: 3 votes (2%)
Show Me: 3 votes (2%)
Spirit of Survival: 1 vote (1%)
Other answer (Homeworld, which was from the previous decade): 1 vote (1%)

So, with a band setting out to write a new album without Jon Anderson, it is perhaps reassuring that by far the most popular piece of the last decade originated from Alan White. On the other hand, in the next two places are "Magnification" and "Give Love Each Day", both of which seem to have been from Anderson originally. Only two Magnification tracks got no votes at all (Howe's "Soft as a Dove"; and the shot at airplay, "Don't Go").

As remarked previously, the tragedy of the noughties is that there was just the one new Yes album. However, a smattering of further '00s Yes songs did emerge. Not that these were very popular! "Show Me" (on the US version of The Ultimate Yes) and the 2008 live piece "Aliens are Only Us from the Future" (now destined for the Squackett project) got 3 votes apiece, and I suspect some of those for "Aliens…" were joke responses judging by the online reaction to the song.

While the '00s didn't bring much in the way of new Yes material, the archives were flung open by a series of released on Rhino: In a Word: Yes, The Word is Live and the expanded and remastered re-releases. I count about 23 Yes pieces that were not previously officially available that came out last decade, and several of these hadn't even been bootlegged before. So, that's our next poll: which was your favourite?

Poll results: Desire for a new album

2010 holds the promise of a new Yes album, but the exact timetable the band have in mind remains unclear. It's been eight and a quarter years since the last new album, Magnification. The longest gap between Yes albums before was half that (between 90125 and Big Generator). So the most recent Where Are They Now? poll asked when people wanted a new album.

The results were clear: 188 out of 273 (69%) said the sooner, the better. Another 13 (5%) said the first half of 2010, while 5 (2%) said the second half of 2010. No-one picked the option after 2010.

So, that's three quarters of respondents supporting an album this year, and sooner rather than later. The main alternate view was the 39 (14%) who supported the option 'Never: they should get back Jon Anderson or disband'. That compares to the quarter of respondents in the last poll who felt this line-up shouldn't be called Yes at all.

24 (9%) went with 'Whenever they feel they're ready'. 3 voters said 'Never: they should just keep touring', and there was 1 'other' response.

The replacement poll is the first in a series looking back at the last decade. We begin asking what was your favourite new Yes piece of the decade. That there's only 15 songs to choose from probably explains the above feelings!

Poll results: Is this Yes?

Happy new year! The last few months of last year saw some strong condemnation from Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman towards the current line-up of Yes that has continued without them. I ran a poll on the site to see what you, dear readers, made of the competing claims.

Option 1 was Chris Squire's now well-known quote that "This is Yes". Option 3 was a quote from Rick in which he claims Jon "does not think it is Yes unless Rick Wakeman and himself are in that band". So that leaves an option 2 for any other views, the obvious one being that you need Anderson but not R. Wakeman.

The results... "This is Yes" got 199 votes (74%); other (e.g. Jon essential, but Rick isn't) got 38 votes (14%); Jon and Rick essential got 27 votes (10%). 3 votes put their support of the current line-up as Yes as being dependent on new material, and 1 vote was ambiguous.

So, at least those Yes fans who come to Where Are They Now? are mostly accepting that this is indeed Yes. I don't presume those votes to mean they're all happy with what has come to pass, but they're not questioning the basic use of the name. On the other hand, a significant minority remain opposed. To lose a quarter of your fan base is a difficult position for a band as they embark on a new year...

Give us the old songs...?

Online fan discourse can be critical of the classic prog bands touring their old material. New music is seen as an essential for a band to stay relevant. Yet crowd response at gigs is nearly always biggest for the old songs, so are fans out of touch with most of the paying audience?

Consider this recent review of a Fleetwood Mac show: "How heartwarming it is when a band of a certain vintage recognises that another new album would be about as welcome as rheumatism and heads out to play everyone’s favourite songs with no ulterior motive."

Gong @ Kentish Town Forum, Friday 27 November 2009

Gong have played scattered shows since most of the classic line-up re-united in 2006, but they have stpped up activity this year with a new album, 2032, the first to bring together Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage since 1974's You, and then a supporting tour.

I saw the band last year at the South Bank Centre and tonight's show was much the same. Everyone impressed me: the rhythm section of Mike Howlett on bass and Chris Taylor on drums was powerful and drove the music on. Allen was the same as ever, and in good voice. Gilli Smyth has slowed down a fair amount, as she glid across the stage, but her vocals are undiminished. Miquette Giraudy was clearly having lots of fun, dancing around, air-guitaring behind Hillage. They were having fun, and we were having fun in the audience. And I've not mentioned Theo Travis yet: another strong performance, covering Didier Malherbe's parts well as needed, more than capable of being the lead instrumentalist in places.

The big difference on last year was the inclusion of new material in the set. I quite like 2032 as a CD, and I thought the 2032 material worked very well in context. It was a thoughtfully constructed set, with plenty of classics later in the set, and a nice wind-down encore.

The Steve Hillage Band, i.e. 4/7s of Gong, opened with some classic Hillage solo tunes. I first saw Hillage and Giraudy live as System 7 at Glastonbury Festival, some time in the 1990s. To be honest, I preferred that set to this one. It was certainly well played tonight (and Howlett/Taylor impressed again) but I'm just not as much of a fan of early solo Hillage.

The main downside of the evening was the Kentish Town Forum. It's architecture and lack of seating downstairs tends to produce a very crowded area in front of the stage, and a terrible view further back. Maybe I wouldn't have minded that 10 years ago, but I'm getting old. I wanted a nice relaxing seat!

Age affects bands as well as audiences, and Gong make for an interesting comparison with Yes here. Yes fans regularly lament their band's age, with Howe, Squire and White all in their early 60s, yet Gong are performing with Smyth age 76 and Allen, 71. OK, the other band members are all under 60 (Hillage and Howlett are late 50s), but Gong show that prog rockers can perform into their eighth decade. Meanwhile, while some of the band members are older than Yes, many of the audience members are much younger than for Yes. While the Gong crowd had their share of middle-aged, there were youngsters too, far more than I saw at the recent Yes show. There's something about the Gong cult appeal that seems to keep bringing a steady trickle of new fans.