Anderson: app or album?

Jon Anderson is a visionary. You can't be a Yes fan and dismiss Anderson's central role as an ideas man in the band. So if Anderson has some seemingly crazy idea for how to do things, I think it's worth stopping and thinking about what he's proposing.

Much of what Anderson has been proposing recently has been a move away from albums. This goes back to when he was last in Yes. After disappointing sales for Magnification, Anderson talked of leaving the album format and presenting new music in other forms. Back then, he talked of doing that live and then in DVDs, as he did with his own music and the "Tour of the Universe" DVD.

But in recent years, he's focused on new media. There were ideas for a Zamran video game. And now, Anderson talks about releasing new music in an app that allows you to explore a virtual world.

So, it's an idea. Hard to know exactly what it would mean until we see and hear it. But I'm unconvinced so far. I'm a fan of the music and what technology has done is made it easier and more convenient to hear music. Making the music only available through an app goes against that trend. It makes it harder to access the music, constraining how you can hear it. However, I wondered what you all think, and so I ran a poll on the Where Are They Now? site, asking, "Jon Anderson has discussed various ways of releasing new music. Which would you prefer he do..."

(Physical) album releases: 88 (77%)
Individual pieces of music released digitally: 11 (10%)
New material included in live DVDs: 6 (5%)
Release regular new music as part of an app where you interact with a virtual world: 5 (4%)
Other: 4 (4%)

(The 'others' included one suggestion for high resolution digital releases, and three comments about the music rather than the format.)

As I suspected, us fans are a conservative bunch when it comes to formats. Three quarters want old fashioned album releases (as would be my preference too). The app idea got a mere 4% support. Maybe we'd all be wowed by whatever app Anderson can come up with, but it doesn't look like a strong marketing position to start by annoying 95% of your consumers. Do an app, but stick the material on a CD while you're at it, please...?

Poll: best Yes-related albums up to 1970

I've run a series of biannual polls on the best, recent, Yes-related releases (i.e. anything featuring a member of Yes on it). Many of you have voted in these polls and I hope they're brought a little bit of interest and elucidation.

But, I was thinking, what about before I started these polls? What about looking back in time? So, I decided to run some polls covering earlier years. The only problem, however, was when to start because there weren't very many eligible releases in the first few years! In the end, I decided the first poll would cover the 1960s. 21 of you voted. Tomorrow's eponymous album, with Steve Howe on guitar, romped home with 20 votes (95%). Which wasn't much of a surprise given the competition was three little known albums with Alan White appearing: two by the Alan Price Set—A Price on His Head (1 vote, 5%) and The Price is Right—plus Johnny Almond's Music Machine with Patent Pending.

[Edit (April 2014): It's been pointed out that I made a terrible mistake, omitting David Bowie's David Bowie (a.k.a. Space Oddity), a 1969 release on which Rick Wakeman plays. Doh!]

The next poll, for 1970, offered a bit more of a contest. 57 of you voted:

1. King Crimson: Lizard (w/ Anderson): 38 votes (67%)
2. The Strawbs: Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios (w/ Wakeman): 15 (26%)
3. Billy Preston: Encouraging Words (w/ White): 3 (5%)
4. Gary Wright: Extraction (w/ White): 1 (2%)
5= Doris Troy: Doris Troy (w/ White): 0 (0%)
5= Sky: Don't Hold Back (w/ White): 0 (0%)
5= Chris Harwood: Nice to Meet Miss Christine (w/ Banks): 0 (0%)

It will be interesting to see how many more of these polls King Crimson wins.

Henry

Poll: Best Yes-related album of 2012, part 2

We had 103 votes for the poll on the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2012. The results were as follows.

1. Rick Wakeman: Journey to the Centre of the Earth - 27 (26%)
2. King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic [40th anniversary releases] (w/ Bruford) - 18 (17%)
3. Mystery: The World is a Game (w/ David) - 16 (16%)
4. Downes Braide Association: Pictures of You (w/ Downes) - 11 (11%)
5. Glass Hammer: Perilous (w/ Davison) - 8 (8%)
6. Asia: Asia [30th anniversary box] (w/ Downes, Howe) - 5 (5%)
7= The Prog Collective (w/ Sherwood, Wakeman, Kaye, Banks, Squire) - 4 (4%)
7= Dennis Haklar: Lizard's Tale (w/ Anderson) - 4 (4%)
9= Spector: Enjoy It While It Lasts (w/ Horn) - 2 (2%)
9= Edison's Lab: Edison's Lab EP (w/ Sherwood, Kaye) - 2ish (2%)*
9= Other - 2 (2%)
12= Songs of the Century: An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp (w/ Sherwood, Squire, Kaye, Wakeman, Banks, Downes) - 1 (1%)
12= The Fusion Syndicate (w/ Sherwood, Wakeman, Kaye) - 1 (1%)
12= Billy Sherwood: The Art of Survival - 1 (1%)
12= Wave Mechanics Union: Futher to Fly (w/ Anderson) - 1 (1%)

There were 2 votes for 'other', but neither specified what. There were no votes for three tribute albums on Cleopatra Records involving Billy Sherwood, one by Nektar, one for The Who and one for The Black Keys.

Nostalgia rules the roost this period, with a remake of a 1970s album and an anniversary re-issue of another taking over 40% of the vote. Another anniversary re-issue made sixth. Post-Anderson vocalists also did well, with David singing with Mystery in third and Davison singing with Glass Hammer in fifth. Fourth was the Downes Braide Association album. Billy Sherwood led multiple projects in this period, three featuring multiple Yesmen guesting, but only The Prog Collective received more than one vote.

* The Edison's Lab EP received 7 votes, a surprisingly good showing for a less well-known project featuring guest appearances from Sherwood and Kaye. However, it was clear from the voting patterns that this reflected an attempt to distort the results. While I can understand how enthusiasm for music can lead people to want to promote the music they love, it rather undermines the point of a poll like this. So I've excluded 5 votes as misleading.

DPRP Poll 2012

The Dutch Progressive Rock Pages do an annual poll and their 2012 results were recently announced with a total of 723 votes. So I thought I'd review how Yes-related acts performed last year. While Yes etc. did well in 2011, Yes-related acts were less prominent this year, although The World is a Game by Mystery and I am Anonymous by Headspace (Adam Wakeman's new band) did well and there were some positive results by Squackett, Asia and daddy Wakeman.

In the Best Album category, the winner was Big Big Train's English Electric (Part One), with The World is a Game #11 and I am Anonymous, #20. Squackett's A Life Within a Day was the next highest album with a Yes connection at #37. The Flower Kings' "Numbers" won Best Track. Mystery came #23 with "Pride" and #24 with "Another Day". Headspace's "Fall of America" was 53rd equal.

That Flower Kings track is from an album entitled Banks of Eden, which won Best Artwork. Asia's XXX, with its Roger Dean cover, was the highest Yes-related entry at 12th equal, followed by I am Anonymous at #18. The World is a Game was tied with Focus X (another Dean cover) at #22.

Banks of Eden and The Flower Kings reunion also won Biggest Happening. Jon Davison joining Yes was 18th equal in this category, with Rick Wakeman's new Journey to the Centre of the Earth and King Crimson's 40th anniversary releases of Larks' Tongues in Aspic tieing with others at #28.

Steven Wilson's "Get All You Deserve" won Best DVD. King Crimson's "Live In Argentina 1994", with Bruford and Levin, made 20th equal. Asia's "Resonance" made 31st equal.

Best Newcomer was the Morse/Morse/Portnoy supergroup Flying Colors, with Headspace coming 5th and Squackett 14th equal.

The award no-one wants is Biggest Disappointment, which saw a tie this year between Marillion's Sounds That Can't be Made and Rush's Clockwork Angels (albums that were 3rd and 5th in the Best Album category). Squackett's A Life Within a Day came 4th, while 11th equal were Asia's XXX and Yes continuing without Anderson and (R) Wakeman. Indeed, if you combine several critiques of the current Yes, they would move up into 5th.

Finally, there are the best individual performances. Steves Hackett and Rothery tied for Best Guitarist for Genesis Revisited II and Sounds That Can't be Made respectively. Michel St-Père made #11 for The World is a Game and Hackett also made #12, this time for A Life Within a Day. Trevor Rabin was 28th equal for Jacaranda. Neal Morse won Best Keyboardist with his solo album Momentum. Rick Wakeman was #7 for Journey to the Centre of the Earth, while Adam Wakeman (I am Anonymous) and Fred Schendel (Glass Hammer's Perilous) were among those tied at #9.

Steve Hogarth won Best Vocalist for Sounds That Can't be Made. Damian Wilson was at #3 for I am Anonymous (and also at #5 for his work in Threshold). Benoît David made #10 for The World is a Game, while Jon Davison was 40th equal for Perilous. Jon Anderson received no votes, perhaps reflecting that he was only on comparably obscure releases in the eligible period.

Best Drummer was Neil Peart for Clockwork Angels. Nick D'Virgilio made #8 for The World is a Game (having also made #2 for his work in Big Big Train). Carl Palmer's performance on XXX was 23rd equal. There were no votes for White or Bruford, but then neither released any new material in 2012. Matching the Best Drummer category, Best Bassist was Geddy Lee, again for Clockwork Angels. Chris Squire came 5th here for A Life Within a Day, while Lee Pomeroy was 14th equal for I am Anonymous. Billy Sherwood for his solo album The Art Of Survival and John Wetton for XXX were among those tied at #23.

2012 in the charts

Selling well doesn't get you street cred in the world of progressive rock and what sells well is often very different from what achieves critical acclaim, but it's interesting to look back on the many Yes-related albums of 2012 and see what sold well. OK, what charted well, given we have access to that data whereas we usually don't see actual sales numbers.

The best charting album of the year with any sort of Yes member connection is probably Estelle's All of Me, on which Trevor Horn co-produced one track. The album made #28 in the US and #20 in Australia, although it didn't chart in the UK. The best UK chart performance was #5 by Anthems, an album by Russell Watson (best known for singing the Star Trek: Enterprise theme tune). This includes a cover of "Race to the End", a vocal version of the "Chariots of Fire" theme by Vangelis with lyrics by Jon Anderson. (Anderson put out his own version as a digital download soon after.) Just behind that was The Overtones' Higher, #6 in the UK (Horn produced and performed on 5 tracks). Also making #6 in the UK was the compilation Two Sides: The Very Best of Mike Oldfield (one track from Tubular Bells II produced by Horn).


When Yes and prog fans look back on 2012, those aren't the albums they'll be thinking of, I hazard, but remember all those sales count. That Russell Watson cover and another by Laura Wright (on her album Glorious, UK #52) will have been a significant payday for Anderson.

In terms of albums with more significant contributions from the Yesmen, well ahead is Asia's XXX, which made #69 in the UK and #134 in the US, as well as #36 in Japan and #33 in Germany.  Also notable here are Producers' Made in Basing Street, which made #26 in the UK Indie chart; Trevor Rabin's Jacaranda, which made #19 in the US Jazz chart; and The Prog Collective made #50 in the US Heatseekers chart (a chart for acts that haven't previously made the main Billboard chart). For comparison, Rush's Clockwork Angels made #2 in the US and #21 in the UK (the UK figure is artificially high because the release was split as a fanpack first and then a regular release later), while Fly from Here the year before made #36 in the US and #30 in the UK.

But charting better than all of them was Trevor's son, Aaron Horn. He is one third of Sam and the Womp, whose single "Bom Bom" made #1 in the UK (selling 107,461 copies in its debut week). It was the 42nd best-selling single of the year in the UK (with 372,000 sales). It also made #6 in Ireland, #4 in Australia, #2 in Israel, #16 in Finland, #43 in Belgium, #44 in the Netherlands, #54 in the Czech Rep. and #84 in Romania. Their album is due this year. Here's the video (Aaron's the one with the boombox.)

Prog Critics' Choice

With the end of the year approaching, it's a traditional time for retrospectives and awards. Prog begins with their Critics' Choice, a top 20 chosen by 22 writers and editors at the magazine. Anathema's Weather Systems comes top, followed by Rush's Clockwork Angels and Marillion's Sounds That Can't be Made. No Yesmen are in the top 20, but Adam Wakeman's band Headspace make #19 with their debut album, I am Anonymous.

Prog also gives the 22 individual responses. Producers' Made in Basing Street (with Horn and Downes) makes four lists, including topping one. Squakett's A Life Within a Day is on six lists; Asia's XXX is on three lists. Trevor Rabin's Jacaranda, Glass Hammer's Perilous and Nektar's A Spoonful of Time appear once each.

In the reissue category, Larks' Tongues in Aspic comes second, with King Crimson's Live in Argentina 1994 comes fifth in the multimedia category.

Poll: Best Yes-related album of first half of 2012

Our latest 6-monthly poll of the best Yes-related album releases attracted 126 votes.

1. Squackett: A Life Within a Day (w/ Squire): 46 (37%)
2. Trevor Rabin: Jacaranda: 39 (31%)
3. Asia: XXX (w/ Howe, Downes): 24 (19%)
4. Producers: Made in Basing Street (w/ Horn, Downes): 11 (9%)
5= Tales from the Edge: A Tribute to the Music of Yes (w/ Davison): 2 (2%)
5= King Crimson: Live in Toronto, June 24, 1974 (w/ Bruford): 2 (2%)
7= Sonic Elements: XYZ—A Tribute to Rush (w/ Sherwood): 1 (1%)
7= King Friday: Let the Song Begin (w/ O Wakeman): 1 (1%)

It was a bumper period for major Yes-related releases. The clear winner was the much-anticipated and long-awaited Squackett collaboration. Major Chris Squire projects outside Yes are a rare thing and the team-up with former Genesis/GTR guitarist Steve Hackett proved irresistible. It's unfortunate that plans for a Squackett tour this year have evaporated.

Until a late surge for Squackett, Jacaranda was very close. While Rabin's film music output has been prodigious, his non-score work has been limited to just a handful of guest appearances over the 18 years since Talk, so Jacaranda was perhaps even more anticipated and awaited than Squackett. I've reviewed the album previously and interviewed Rabin about it recently.

Completing a triumvirate of projects that took their time about being released was Producers' Made in Basing Street. The band has been going since 2006 and much of the album was written and recorded in December 2006 and January 2007. For Yes fans, the album is most notable for seeing Horn taking on the lead vocal role for parts of the album, with a series of poignant songs about his wife's accident.

But Made in Basing Street only made 4th, beaten by Asia's XXX. In comparison to Made in Basing Street, Jacaranda and A Life Within a Day, XXX was a rapid project and the third album from the reunion band in fairly quick succession.

There were no votes for Marco Sabiu's Audio Ergo Sum (with Anderson guesting on one song), Icon's Heat of the Rising Sun, Estelle's All of Me (minor Horn production input), Jay Tausig's Pisces (Sherwood guests on one track) or the two Patrick Moraz releases, Pianissimoraz and Live at Abbey Road.

Anderson's PR machine made much fuss about the Sabiu album and Anderson's talked about making a full album with him, although it's unclear whether that will actually happen.

Moraz' Pianissimoraz attracted much anger from fans: although billed as a new album, it actually only contains one new piece, otherwise being a compilation from Windows of Time and ESP, plus one track from Resonance.

The second half of the year sees no less than six guest star-laden releases from Cleopatra Records (five with Billy Sherwood) going up against major releases from the most recent two Yes vocalists (Davison and David) and possibly one from the guy before.

[Edit: corrected vote totals.]