What does 2025 hold for Yes fans?

I believe 7 Yesmen have releases or live dates announced for 2025: Jon Anderson (Band Geeks live album and tour), Bill Bruford (Pete RothTrio shows), Rick Wakeman (solo shows), Geoff Downes (Asia live), Trevor Horn (onefestival appearance announced), Billy Sherwood (on Dave Kerzner’s Genesistribute album), and Jon Davison (at John Lodge live shows).

Although without announced dates, there are various other projects expected in 2025. How confident we can be of these actually happening varies, but I think we can have strong expectations for: a new Yes album and tour, a new Downes Braide Association album, and a new Rick Wakeman solo piano album.

More up in the air, but possible, is plenty more. There are three albums with Billy Sherwood that look like good bets for 2025: exo-X-xeno’s (also with Patrick Moraz); a new CIRCA: album (also with Tony Kaye and Jay Schellen); and an album with Dave Kerzner and Fernando Perdomo. There is a whole suite of Jon Anderson projects that might appear, with various follow-up albums (Anderson Stolt 2; 1000 Hands: Chapter 2; and a second studio album with the Band Geeks) and maybe the eventual realisation of some very long-running projects, Zamran (dating back at least to 2000) and Chagall (from 1980!). Other projects we could see include a new Asia album and more touring; maybe another Trevor Horn album; and various projects with Oliver Wakeman (maybe a tour, but more probably a release).

Can we put any firmer timelines or expectations on some of those? We know Yes have been working on a new album for a while and it is now expected in 2025. Can we narrow down that window? Probably not! An announcement early in the new year wouldn’t surprise me. There is a report that DBA are looking at a summer release for their next album. Management and everybody else will want some space (months) between releasing the new DBA and Yes albums, I’d guess. If DBA think a summer release is viable, that would fit with a Yes album coming in spring and an announcement in the new year.

On the other hand, the Yes Music Podcast in December said Paul K Joyce is "currently working on the next Yes album". If we interpret that literally, that means recording sessions haven’t finished, but are nearing the end. There were two orchestral recording sessions for Mirror to the Sky, held on 29 April and 11 May 2022. The album’s first single came 10 March 2023, with album release in May 2023. If Joyce was doing recording sessions in December 2024, that implies a release deep into the second half of 2025. If DBA think the summer is clear, does that mean a winter Yes release?

I don’t know. Yes run a tight ship and there are few leaks. If I had to bet, I’d guess spring, but time will tell if that’s wishful thinking.

Do we have any idea what the album might be like? It’s the same team as on Mirror to the Sky, including Joyce and I presume Schwartz. The band rushed straight from The Quest into Mirror to the Sky, leading to the shortest gap between two Yes albums since the odd circumstances of Keys to Ascension 2 and Open Your Eyes. But album number three in this series has taken longer. That’s partly to do with touring returning to normal levels after COVID-19. Does that mean something obviously a continuation of the previous two albums, or has more time meant more evolution? Howe has talked of writing six songs in late 2019 that were then all used over The Quest and Mirror to the Sky. With that body of work used up, does that imply something different for the new album?

Another Yes tour is almost inevitable. There have been rumours of a US tour in the first half of 2025. It may depend on when the album comes out.

We also have that new DBA album to look forward to. Before then, we’ve had a scattering of Asia dates already announced across two continents. I presume we will see more substantial touring; new singer/bassist Harry Whitley has talked about a West Coast US tour. Whitley has also said that the new line-up will be working on a new album, although his comments suggest they have not started writing yet, so that implies a release is going to be late 2025 or, more likely, into 2026.

Anderson has announced the release of a live album with the Geeks, Live – Perpetual Change, out in March 2025, and an associated US tour leg. They are clearly eager to make it over to Europe, but we’ve not seen any dates yet. While Anderson had initially spoken of not doing another album with the Geeks, the positive artistic and commercial reaction to True seems to have changed his mind and he has started on a second studio album with them. That might be out before the end of 2025 if they get their skates on, although again I expect 2026 is more likely. But Anderson also has multiple other projects in play. Before True’s success took over his plans, he had seemed more focused on Zamran, hoping to release a Chapter One in 2025, and staging “Chagall” as a musical. Work has been continuing off and on towards a second Anderson/Stolt album and Anderson has mooted a 2025 release for that too. 1000 Hands: Chapter Two appears close to completion. It’s an extraordinary flowering of creativity to have so many projects lined up. The albums all seem plausible for 2025, although the finances of stage musicals are much harder to arrange.

Most obviously missing from this list is Trevor Rabin. He had talked of another solo album to follow Rio and possible touring, but it’s been a while since we’ve heard anything.

All the above does presume a certain degree of geopolitical stability. In recent years, COVID-19 was world-changing, while the Russian invasion of Ukraine impacted some eastern European touring plans (although of course the effects on the music industry were minor compared to the wider tragedies of both). Hopefully 2025 won’t bring anything similar, but if Donald Trump actually went through with a US invasion of Panama or Greenland, that would probably mean no UK-based bands visiting the US, while his tariff proposals and any retaliation by other countries could also hit touring plans.

What was the best Yes-related album of 1992?

 What was the best Yes-related album of 1992? I asked, you answered, 227 of you. Thanks everyone for voting.

1. Asia: Aqua (w/ Howe, Downes): 135 votes (59%)

2. King Crimson: The Great Deceiver (Live 1973-1974) (w/ Bruford): 30 votes (13%)

3. Kitaro: Dream (w/ Anderson): 22 votes (10%)

4. Rick Wakeman: The Classical Connection II (w/ Bruford, Howe, Squire): 20 votes (9%)

5. Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells II (w/ Horn): 10 votes (4%)

6. Geoff Downes: Vox Humana: 7 votes (3%)

7. Regulators: The Regulators (w/ Sherwood): 1 vote (0%)

8. Betsy Cook: The Girl Who Ate Herself (w/ Horn): 0 votes (0%)

There were 2 ineligible other votes.

A big win for Aqua, which took me by surprise. The first John Payne album and also Steve Howe's return to Asia featured a somewhat different style to the Wetton era. A second place for the first big King Crimson box set to feature Bruford. I didn't vote for it either, but The Girl Who Are Herself is worth checking out.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related release of the first half of 2022?

 I asked you what was the best Yes-related album of the first half of 2022 and 104 of you answered. Thanks, all! The result was not close.

1. Asia: Asia in Asia: Live at the Budokan Arena, 1983 (w/ Downes, Howe) - 87 votes (84%)

2. Oliver Wakeman: Collaborations (w/ Howe) - 14 votes (13%)

3. Prog Collective: Songs We were Taught (w/ Sherwood, Downes, Davison, Moraz) - 2 votes (2%)

4. Lobate Scarp: You Have It All (w/ Sherwood, Davison) - 1 vote (1%)

There were no votes for Clint Bahr's Puzzlebox (using a posthumous Banks guitar part), Clannad's In a Lifetime (The Immersive Collection) (with Horn) or Deckchair Poets' Be My Pillow (with Downes). I also erred and missed out including Zebras Don't Smoke's Inflatable Noise (with Downes), although I doubt it would have fared much better than the Deckchair Poets release by the same team. I also chose not to include the second Caped Crusader Collector Club release, The Silly Programme, as it was comedy rather than music. I again don't imagine it would've troubled the rankings.

There were not a lot of Yes-related releases in this period. Still, I had expected a bit more competition to the Asia release. But, no, Asia's second line-up swept all before it.

Voters came from 10 countries: most of you voting were in the US, with the UK in second place. Also represented were Germany, Canada, Spain, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of 1990?

What was the best Yes-related album of 1990? I asked and (67 of) you answered:

1. Asia: Then & Now (w/ Downes, Howe): 36 votes, 54%
2. David Torn: Door X (w/ Bruford): 11 votes, 16%
3. National Health: Complete (w/ Bruford): 7 votes, 10%
4. Rick Wakeman: Night Airs: 5 votes, 7%
5. Mike Makhalemele: Mind Games - A Jazz Celebration of John Lennon (w/ Rabin): 4 votes, 6%
6. Rock Aid Armenia: The Earthquake Album (w/ Downes, Squire): 2 votes, 3%
7= Rick Wakeman: In the Beginning: 1 vote, 1%
7= Rick Wakeman: Aspirant Sunrise: 1 vote, 1%
9. Rick Wakeman: Phantom Powers: 0 votes, 0%

... which took me by surprise. I didn't think Then & Now was much loved: 4 new songs constitute the 'Now', with just Wetton and Downes as the core of the band, to 6 hits as the 'Then'. And those new songs are Asia at their most pop, two with outside writers. But then I do like the new songs! So congratulations to this, the last Asia studio material with Wetton until Phoenix in 2008.

Maybe the competition in 1990 wasn't that strong. Complete, which I voted for, was a great release, bringing together everything National Health had released, but Bruford only appears on it courtesy of a sliver of previously unreleased material, so I didn't expect it to win. Wakeman was churning out the solo albums, but it was quantity over quality, with four combined only getting as many votes as Complete.

Mind Games did well given its obscurity: it's still unavailable on CD, although it did get a digital release a year ago: see Amazon UK or Amazon US.

Best Yes-related album of 1983

You voted, 106 of you... or maybe it was one of you 106 times? But the results are...

1. Asia: Alpha (w/ Downes, Howe) 45 votes (42%)
2. Jon & Vangelis: Private Collection 27 votes (25%)
3. Bruford-Moraz: Music for Piano and Drums 18 votes (17%)
4. The Moody Blues: The Present (w/ Moraz) 7 votes (7%)
5. Mike Oldfield: Crises (w/ Anderson) 4 votes (4%)
6. Malcolm McLaren: Duck Rock (w/ Horn) 3 votes (3%)
7= Al Di Meola: Scenario (w/ Bruford) 1 vote (1%)
7= Rick Wakeman: G'ole! 1 vote (1%)

There were no votes for Annette Peacock's Been in the Streets Too Long (w/ Bruford) or Rick Wakeman's Cost of Living. Not a great poll result for Wakeman, with his first replacement at 3rd and 4th and his second replacement at 1st... and his almost replacement at 2nd. But a clear win for Asia, even with an album even the band somewhat saw as something of a disappointing follow-up.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related project of the first half of 2017?

I asked you what the best Yes-related album of the first half of the year was, and you answered. Well, 45 of you did. Not the highest response to a poll, but then not that many releases covered either. Here are the results:

1. Asia: Symfonia - Live in Bulgaria 2013 (w/ Downes): 16 votes (36%)
2= Rick Wakeman: Piano Portraits: 12 votes (27%)
2= World Trade: Unify (w/ Sherwood): 12 votes (27%)
4= Rick Wakeman: Phantom of the Opera: 1 vote (2%)
4= Mogador: Chaptersend (w/ Davison): 1 vote (2%)
4= Light Freedom Revival: Eterniverse Deja Vu (w/ Sherwood, O Wakeman): 1 vote (2%)
4= Chrysta Bell: We Dissolve (w/ Downes): 1 vote (2%)

There was one other voter, who put "None of it very good."

In all, a very split vote. The top three albums were neck and neck for much of the poll period. Piano Portraits was by far the biggest seller, so it's interesting that Asia pipped it to the post in the end. I'm the one vote for Chaptersend: a nice album, I thought, although Davison's involvement is minimal.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of 1985?

A close result in your 82 choices for the best Yes-related album of 1985:

1. Asia: Astra (w/ Downes): 23 votes (28%)
2. Bruford-Moraz: Flags: 21 votes (26%)
3. Jon Anderson: 3 Ships (w/ Rabin): 16 votes (20%)
4= Propaganda: A Secret Wish (w/ Horn, Howe): 7 votes (9%)
4= Grace Jones: Slave to the Rhythm (w/ Horn): 7 votes (9%)
6= John Paul Jones: Music from the Film Scream for Help (w/ Anderson): 2 votes (2%)
6= Lodgic: Nomadic Sands (w/ Sherwood): 2 votes (2%)
6= Propaganda: Wishful Thinking (w/ Horn, Howe): 2 votes (2%)
9= Rick Wakeman: Live at Hammersmith: 1 vote (1%)
9= Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin: Up from the Dark (w/ Bruford): 1 vote (1%)

There were no votes for St Elmo's Fire (w/ Anderson), Agnetha Faltskog's The Eyes of a Woman (w/ Downes), Rick Wakeman's Silent Nights or Beyond the Planets (w/ Wakeman).

So, three very different albums all close together in the top three, with a narrow victory for the third Asia album. But Bruford, Downes and Anderson all manage to be on albums at the top and the bottom of the results.

Horn productions get most of the rest of the votes (combined, they get the same as 3 Ships). Wakeman does badly: he was on three albums that year, which together could only garner a single vote.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of 1982?

Lots of good music in 1982, the first complete year officially without a Yes being active since the band formed:

1. Asia: Asia (w/ Downes, Howe) 50 votes (53%)
2. Jon Anderson: Animation 18 votes (19%)
3. King Crimson: Beat (w/ Bruford) 9 votes (10%)
4. Genesis: Three Sides Live (w/ Bruford) 7 votes (7%)
5. Kate Bush: The Dreaming (w/ Downes) 5 votes (5%)
6= ABC: The Lexicon of Love (w/ Horn) 2 votes (2%)
6= The Dregs: Industry Standard (w/ Howe) 2 votes (2%)
8. Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Somewhere in Afrika (w/ Rabin) 1 vote (1%)

There were no votes for Demis Roussos' Demis (w/ Anderson), The Roches' Keep on Doing (w/ Bruford, Kiki Dee's Perfect Timing (w/ Moraz), Rick Wakeman's Rock 'n' Roll Prophet or Dollar's The Dollar Album (w/ Horn).

Your winner was clear in Asia. A respectable second for Animation, a much-loved solo album from Jon that suffered an ignominious CD re-release saga.

What are you most looking forward to this year?

What are you most looking forward to this year, asked our latest poll. With Anderson Rabin Wakeman becoming a reality, the winner seemed obvious beforehand. Indeed, I was curious if anything else got any votes! So, with 95 votes:


1. Anderson Rabin Wakeman: 48 votes, 51%
2. Anderson/Stolt: 14 votes, 15%
3. Yes touring: 11 votes, 12%
4= More archival or remixed Yes: 5 votes, 5%
4= Asia return: 5 votes, 5%
6. King Crimson touring: 3 votes, 3%
7= Steve Howe Trio releases: 2 votes, 2%
7= Buggles reunion: 2 votes, 2%
7= World Trade reunion: 2 votes, 2%
7= Re-recording of The Myths and Legends of King Arthur: 2 votes, 2%
11. More Anderson Ponty Band: 1 votes, 1%
12. New CIRCA: album: 0 votes, 0%

In the end, I was kind of surprised that ARW "only" just got over 50%, and that Anderson/Stolt did so well, coming 2nd. Big votes of confidence for Anderson's new found focus, pushing the line-up with the band name into 3rd... although the poll was before news of the other reunion with ex-members, i.e. Trevor Horn guesting at two UK shows shortly.

The possibility of archival Yes was 4th equal: I thought it might do better, but I suppose we're in limbo, with rumours of possibilities in the pipeline, like a Panegyric expanded Tales, but nothing actually on the schedules. Asia completed the top 5, with Wetton thankfully doing well in his cancer treatment.

I voted for The Buggles reunion, of course! How can you not be excited about The Buggles reunion?!

Let me know what you voted for, or whether your views have now changed, in the comments below.

Poll: Best Yes-related album of 2014, part 1

Happy new year, and we begin the year by looking back to last year and our poll of the best Yes-related albums of the first half of 2014. There were 59 votes:

1. Asia: Gravitas (w/ Downes), 28 (47%)
2. Dylan Howe: Subterranean: New Designs on Bowie's Berlin (w/ Howe), 11 (19%)
3. Glass Hammer: Ode to Echo (w/ Davison), 6 (10%)
4= Billy Sherwood: Divided by One, 5 (8%)
4= Light My Fire - A Classic Rock Salute to The Doors (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, Howe, Downes, Wakeman, Moraz), 5 (8%)
6. Marty Walsh: The Total Plan (w/ Sherwood), 2 (3%)
7= Missing Persons feat. Dale Bozzio: Missing in Action (w/ Sherwood), 1 (2%)
7= Downes Braide Association: Record Store Day EP, 1 (2%)

There were no votes for Birds of Satan (with Davison) or Marcelo Paganini's 2012 Space Traffic Jam (with Sherwood, Kaye). An emphatic win for Asia with their first album since Howe left the band, and a clear second place for Dylan Howe's Kickstarted Subterranean with dad guesting. I voted for Subterranean myself, but nearly went with third place Ode to Echo, one of the band's best albums to date, in my opinion. Various Sherwood-related projects bring up the rear, although collectively they get more than Subterranean.

[9 Apr 2015: I missed a candidate album in the poll, Checkpoint Charlie's Love Karma, co-produced by Igor Khoroshev. Not that anyone voted for it under other...]

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.]

Plotting out the Yes year

If you can pull yourself away from the global news from Japan and Libya, the Yes news is coming thick and fast. The new, expanded & remastered ABWH from Gonzo is now available, and the current band are on tour, with the rest of the year beginning to become clear.

[Edit: And the latest Chris Squire interview confirms Downes will be the main keyboardist on Fly from Here.]

Now-4 Apr: Rite of Spring tour continues.

Apr: Finish the new Yes album, Fly from Here: recording appears to have been completed, although final overdubs wouldn't be a surprise and there's then the mixing, mastering etc.

28 Apr-26 May: Asia tour North, South and Central America. This may leave Squire with time to move forward the Squackett release. White is at a charity show on 30 Apr, and there is his mystery project with Tony Levin and possibly David Torn to fit in somewhere.

28-30 May: Two Yes shows, with Asia opening, in Mexico. Recently announced and still something of a puzzle. Will there be further Yes touring around these two shows? Will these shows debut Fly from Here material? What do these shows tell us about the ongoing uncertainty and rumours as to Downes' involvement on the new album and the possibility of his replacing O. Wakeman?

Jun: Unclear... but presumably some promotional activity for the new album.

Jul: Approximate release date for Fly from Here. Trevor Rabin's long-awaited new solo album is also due in the summer, as is an Anderson Wakeman Project 360 tour live release.

Jul/Aug: Yes North American tour with Styx.

Sep/Oct: Unclear, but one report suggested a South American tour by Yes around Sep. There's probably a Japan tour at some point, but whether in this period or later (early 2012?), we don't know. CIRCA: tour Europe. Howe has a solo release planned for Sep. Anderson & Wakeman may be playing Canada, and possibly the US and Europe, around Oct.

Nov/Dec: Yes European tour.

Dec: Asia possibly re-group to start work on their next album.

2012: I'm guessing now, but Asia will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Asia, so another solo album and a new round of touring presumably. Howe has hinted at spending more time on solo projects in 2012. However, continued touring by Yes also seems likely.

It's not clear when the Anderson Wakeman Rabin project might get going. Could be this year, could be 2012.

What will 2011 bring?

Yes's calendar for the year is becoming clear. They're currently working on the new album, with a release in the second quarter expected (German magazine Eclipsed is saying April). After finishing the album, there's time off for other projects, including Asia touring in April/May, before Yes repeat their recent pattern of a summer North American tour with another act – Styx is reported to be the partner this year. [3 Feb: YesWorld have just announced some March dates for the US, so looks like Yes are squeezing an extra leg before Asia tour.]

Touring in South America may follow, before already confirmed Europe dates in the winter. Towards the end of the year, Asia may gather for studio sessions further to their next album being released in 2012, the 30th anniversary of the band's debut album.

But the current Yes line-up aren't the only game in town. Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin are working on a band project, which Wakeman says will happen this year, although Anderson recently said it would be this or next year. So, will 2011 be like 1989 all over, with two rival bands in competition? Unlike 1989, we may even have rival albums within months of each other, and rival tours at the same time. Fandom has already been polarised by the schism in Yes and Anderson's and R. Wakeman's continued absence. Will the online arguments heat up, or will the discussions calm down when there's actual output from both sides to compare? Some are already looking to the Anderson Wakeman Rabin project as the rightful Yes, and they stack up well against Squire, White and Howe:

Anderson v. Squire: Squire has been on every album released under the Yes name, but he wasn't on ABWH. Anderson has been on every album save Drama, but as the frontman and the main composer/lyricist, that could be round 1 to AWR.

Wakeman v. White: White has been on many more Yes albums than the in-again-out-again Wakeman, and he's contributed more to the songwriting, yet Wakeman is perhaps the best-known Yes member. Round 2 to AWR as well?

Rabin v. Howe: Rabin's three and a bit albums + "Owner of a Lonely Heart" against Howe's thirteen and a bit albums + "Roundabout"? Round 3 to HSW.

The current Yes do also have another former Yesman on board with Trevor Horn producing + Roger Dean doing the art + control of the name, but then Anderson Wakeman Rabin have yet to finalise the rest of their band. For me, the possible Achilles heel for Anderson Wakeman Rabin is that the three of them were never together in Yes (barring on the Union tour), which curtails the nostalgia factor. Anderson has hinted at a set list focusing on the YesWest period, but how does Wakeman being along fit in with that? (See previous blog post.)

To complicate matters further, Anderson and Wakeman as just a duo are also touring in 2011, while Anderson and Rabin (without Wakeman) appear to have done some film score work together.

And if the current Yes and Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin isn't enough for you, there's already a third 2011 project featuring three Yesmen. This is John Wetton's forthcoming new solo album, Raised in Captivity, produced, co-written and co-performed by Billy Sherwood, with guest appearances by Geoff Downes, Tony Kaye, very brief Yes member Eddie Jobson and others, including Steve Hackett. Expect release in the first half of the year.

Speaking of Hackett, another much anticipated release for 2011 is his album with Chris Squire. Now complete, we await release details, but again first half of the year seems likely. The album is already generating a buzz among those who have heard it.

Billy Sherwood, as ever, remains busy with plenty of other projects. A new CIRCA: album is expected, and he's been progressing with his own next solo album. A duo tour with Tony Kaye of Japan for April has been announced. New US prog band Mars Hollow made something of a splash with their debut album in 2010, produced by Ronan Chris Murphy, and they return in 2011 with a second album produced by Sherwood.

Other potential highlights of the year? We're still waiting for the Trevor Horn/The Producers concept album and for Trevor Rabin's new solo album. Jon Anderson's latest, Survival and Other Stories, is expected to get general release after having been available only on the Anderson Wakeman Project 360 tour in 2010. Rick Wakeman has floated possible projects with Keith Emerson and with Jon Lord, making his a busy year.

And there's still a few more Yesmen team-ups on the cards, with Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn back writing together and intriguing reports of a David Torn/Tony Levin/Alan White project (Alan there stepping into Bill Bruford's shoes).

What are you looking forward to most this year? Leave a comment below!

Poll: Best Yes-related album of the first half of 2010

And continuing a theme... the best Yes-related album of the first half of 2010, as voted by you.

1. Omega (Asia, w/ Howe, Downes): 55 (45%)
2. One Among the Living (Mystery, w/ David, O. Wakeman): 25 (20%)
3. Oneirology (Billy Sherwood): 11 (9%)
4. Past, Present and Future (Rick Wakeman): 6 (5%)
5= Shaman Mirror Medicine Tree (Rich Goodhart, w/ Anderson): 5 (4%)
5= Homebrew 4 (Steve Howe, w/ Downes): 5 (4%)
5= Emotion & Commotion (Jeff Beck, w/ Horn): 5 (4%)
8. Travelling (Steve Howe Trio): 4 (3%)
9. Palatza Delo Sports, Udine, Italy, March 19, 1974 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 2 (2%)
10= Once in a Blue Moon—The Lost Album (Rod Stewart, w/ Horn): 1 (1%)
10= San Diego State Univ, San Diego, CA, June 08, 1984 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 1 (1%)
10= Tarrant County Convention Centre, Fort Worth, TX, June 06, 1974 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 1 (1%)

There were 123 votes, including 2 invalid votes. There were no votes for two World Cup-related albums with some Horn production work or for Top Musicians Play Queen (w/ Sherwood).

A clear winner for Omega there, and interesting to see the album with the two newcomers, Benoît and Oliver, coming a good second. I think I voted for Travelling myself, although these days I think it's third placed Oneirology that I'd support.

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

Asia set list poll

Asia have just played their last show of the year, but there are plans for new studio and live work in 2010. Since their reunion, touring has focused on their debut album, understandable given its their best-selling and most favourably received. The band have made a few changes to the set list along the way, notably introducing a few tracks from new album Phoenix, but it's still largely the same show. Come 2010, will that still work or do they need to vary the set list?

That was the question that motivated the latest WATN poll, what would you most like Asia to play live on their next tour? 80 of you voted. First off, 11 of you admitted to no interest in Asia (I presume others uninterested in the band didn't vote at all!).

So, out of the remaining 69... overwhelmingly (51%), you want new material to be played live, with 21 wanting more from Phoenix and 14 wanting the band to play material from their next album. The decision to play "legacy" material, songs from their previous bands, has gone down well and 15 (22%) of you want more.

Asia have something like 11.5 studio albums to their name, but the original line-up are only together on three of those, Asia, Alpha and Phoenix, and they've made clear they're not huge fans of Alpha. Even settling for just three of them together only adds Astra, half of Then & Now and bits of Aqua. This line-up has more band members in common with Drama or Wetton/Downes' iCon than it does with the many years John Payne was in the band. So, how should this Asia handle their back catalogue?

17% of you want later Wetton-era material played. That's 5 saying more from Alpha and 7, more from after Howe left the band (Astra, Then & Now). Just 3 (4%) wanted Payne-era material (and no-one selected the option saying they had no interest in this line-up and preferred the continuing Asia Featuring John Payne).

That leaves another 3 wanting the band to stick to the focus on Asia. And there was 1 vote for iCon material.

So, Asia, if you're listening, the people who read the Where Are They Now? site, who may be a bit more hardcore than much of the paying audience, but anyway... they'd like lots more new material live in 2010, but chuck in a few songs from Alpha, Astra and Then & Now too. (Me, I'd love "Rock and Roll Dream" and "Days Like These".)

The next poll is rather different. I report on the news page about all these guest appearances the Yes guys make, but does anyone care? Me, I'm liable to pick up all sorts of random stuff because Bill Bruford played on a track, or Trevor Horn produced it, but what about you?

Cambridge Rock Festival

We went to Cambridge Rock Festival on Sunday 9th August. Plaudits should go to the organisers for a pleasant affair. "Pleasant" may seem an odd word for a rock festival, but these days, gatherings like these with an emphasis on classic or prog rock, are family affairs with all ages present. The location was good, the food pretty good, the toilets OK. I spent a while in the obligatory juggling space. What you want from a festival experience. Of course, we'd come for the acts, and three in particular: Karnataka, Focus and Asia.

Karnataka are a relatively recent prog band. On keyboards is Gonzalo Carrera, who also plays with Whimwise and dB-Infusion and may be known to Yes fans for working with Peter Banks. Unfortunately, Karnataka didn't get to play. Some never-entirely-explained problem saw the schedule for the main stage re-arranged to allow more setting-up time. While Simon McBride (3rd billing for the evening) got moved to a second stage, Karnataka (4th billing) were just dropped, through no fault of their own. I met the band who were still seemed shell-shocked by the experience. I hope to see them somewhere else soon.

No Karnataka left a long gap between up'n'coming prog band Touchstone and old favourites Focus on the main stage, so we bagged a sweet spot in front of the mixing desk and ate festival food. Despite all that extra setting up time, when they started, Focus were plagued by microphone/monitor problems, and a broken guitar string. Still, that didn't stop them or us having a good time.

Yes fans complain about a band with only three 'classic' members, but Focus is down to founder Thijs van Leer plus drummer, Pierre van der Linden, with two new members. Long gone is guitarist Jan Akkerman. The two new players are very competent and the two Focus fans I was with, my partner and her Mum, were happy enough to see van Leer. Perhaps because he's the other 'classic' member explains why van der Linden got three drums solos, which is about three too many.

As a band I don't know so well, I was happy for Focus to play their greatest hits with only a little new music, yet the next act I know so well that I don't want the greatest hits and would rather have new material. This is, of course, what bands have to deal with, an audience mix of some casual listeners and some hardcore fans.

That next act, headlining and closing, were Asia. Again, the extra setting-up time earlier seemed to no avail as they were over half an hour late, but a festival in a field out of town doesn't have to worry about a curfew so much and the band played their full allotted time.

Of course, Asia were coming off the back of 24 North American dates supporting Yes, and Steve "the hardest working man in rock" Howe was coming from 24 dates playing with both bands, but there was no sign of tiredness in their performance. The set, which was professionally recorded, concentrated on the debut album, although we got two Phoenix pieces and "Fanfare for the Common Man". I was sorry not to hear "In the Court of the Crimon King" and "Video Killed the Radio Star", which I thought would have gone down well with the festival crowd.

It was a good show, but it was a good show I've seen twice before and I was conscious that they will need to start varying the set more to keep audiences interested in 2010. See the poll on the Where Are They Now? front page for your thoughts on that.