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

Voting in the final round for best Yes-related release of the second half of 2022 was way down, with just 29 votes (ignoring a test vote). I don't know why voting was so low. Was it fatigue over a four part vote, the decline of Twitter meaning people didn't see the vote, the new polling widget? Anyway, the final results were:

1. Rick Wakeman: A Gallery of the Imagination - 31% (9 votes)

2. Virgil & Steve Howe: Lunar Mist - 28% (8 votes)

3. Bill Bruford's Earthworks: Live at the Schauburg Bremen 1987 - 24% (7 votes)

4. Carly Rae Jepsen: The Loneliest Time (w/ Rabin) - 10% (3 votes)

5. Prog Collective: Seeking Peace (w/ Sherwood, Downes, Davison, Moraz) - 7% (2 votes)

6. Seal: Seal Dolby Atmos mix (w/ Horn) - 0% (0 votes)

So, a very close result between the top three, but congratulations to Rick Wakeman for winning.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related release of the second half of 2022? Round two

There were 20 Yes-related albums released in the second half of 2022, so instead of a single poll, we're going through them in three rounds, with the top 2 from each round going through to the final. Round 2 covered releases by or with Steve Howe, Billy Sherwood or Jon Davison. We had 59 votes, as follows:

1. Prog Collective: Seeking Peace (w/ Sherwood, Downes, Davison, Moraz) - 23 votes (39%)

2. Virgil & Steve Howe: Lunar Mist - 12 votes (20%)

3. Arc of Life: Don't Look Down (w/ Sherwood, Davison) - 8 votes (14%)

4. Glass Hammer: At the Gate (w/ Davison) - 6 votes (10%)

5= David Paich: Forgotten Toys (w/ Sherwood) - 4 votes (7%)

5= Dave Kerzner: The Traveler (w/ Sherwood, Davison) - 4 votes (7%)

7. Life on Mars: Shadows in a Jar (w/ Sherwood) - 2 votes (3%)

A clear win, then, for Seeking Peace, which out-polled the more high profile Arc of Life sophomore release. It's joined by Lunar Mist, Steve's collaboration with his late son. I voted for Forgotten Toys, a wonderful debut EP from Toto's David Paich, but I nearly voted for Dave "Squids" Kerzner's The Traveler. However, I can see most of you don't agree with me!

On to Round 3, which are all the remaining releases (including an alternative version of The Traveler as it seemed sensible to put it in a different roud). You can vote on the news website front page.

First thoughts on Mirror to the Sky

InsideOut kindly sent me the new Yes album. It’s a strong release. While recognisably the same band (almost) as on The Quest, Mirror to the Sky is a big step up. We have better drums, better vocals, better tempo, and no tracks you want to skip. The band sound more integrated; the long songs are more coherent. It’s an album I keep returning to with much pleasure.

This is a new incarnation of Yes. While it harks back to prior Yes output in places, they are doing their own thing. On one side, we have the propulsive Sherwood/Schellen rhythm section, on the other we have Howe’s steel guitar entwining with Joyce’s string arrangements. At the centre is Jon Davison, who is becoming more assured as a writer and arranger. We have big, twangy guitar sounds, frequently evoking the American West. We have lyrical themes about our connections with the stars.

It’s not a perfect album. I’d like to hear some more classic riffs and melodies from Howe; there’s a tendency towards simple ascending or descending motifs. Davison occasionally skirts cliché in the lyrics. Downes is rather absent, spending much of the album in the background.

I’m never certain what Yes fans want. Maybe we all want different things? But I think most fans wanted this: more rock, more oomph, more epic. Now, let’s go through the songs one by one.

 

CUT FROM THE STARS / ALL CONNECTED

You’ve all heard the two ‘singles’. I wrote about “Cut from theStars” here and “All Connected” here. I first heard the album as a whole before “Cut from the Stars” was released and it took me the longest to get into. I still feel it has a certain angular feel to it, but that works.

The two singles to date have prompted a few comparisons with Arc of Life. I think Sherwood and Schellen are shining in the Yes environment. I can hear similarities to Arc of Life, but there are multiple Sherwood-led albums since The Quest (via the Prog Collective and Arc of Life) and they all pale compared with the work he’s doing here. And while the singles have foregrounded Sherwood’s writing, it is Howe who is still the main composer on the album.

 

LUMINOSITY

This is an album that ebbs and flows, within songs and across songs. Compared to the tracks before and after, “Luminosity” begins in a statelier fashion. The opening with guitar, orchestra and drums, keeps things slow, before we move into a jauntier section. The main theme is then introduced instrumentally, before Davison sings mostly unaccompanied. It’s a strong vocal line, with a Celtic folk feel. Wasn’t Davison living in Ireland for a period? The lyrics return to the stellar theme: “Like the stars, we are luminous”. We also reference extraterrestrial life, a common Yes theme (compare “Arriving UFO”). Sherwood’s backing vocals are strong again.

This was one of the first two pieces the band worked on, before The Quest was even released, and in some ways it sounds most like the material on The Quest (compare “Dare to Know” maybe). Both this and “All Connected” contrast Davison/Sherwood with Howe/Joyce/orchestra, with Schellen’s drums providing the important linking element. Howe’s playing is slow and heartfelt, Joyce’s arrangements add colour and variation, leading to an uplifting conclusion. “Luminosity” also stands out as the first time Downes comes to the fore.

“All Connected” and “Luminosity” are rather alike. I wonder whether moving one of the pieces to elsewhere in the running order would work better?

 

LIVING OUT THEIR DREAM

This is the odd one out, which isn’t a criticism. I think its oddity fits well into the flow of the album, a break from the bigger pieces. At first, it’s quite a confusing listen. Structurally, it’s a straightforward tune, with a nice, plaintive Howe solo towards the end. It sounds almost like a Rolling Stones pastiche, with a hint of Americana. The vocals are much lower, with Howe and Davison in close harmony producing a “third voice”. It’s the lyrics that stand out. They are almost absurdist, shades of Zorbonauts, who Downes plays with. Davison has said the song is a critique of modern weddings, but I feel it goes further, lamenting the divisions of society caused by social media. There’s a line that reminds me of t.A.T.u.’s “Craving”. And then into a deliberately downbeat – musically and lyrically – ending.

I don’t think this is simply the short rocker on the album. I suggest the music is deliberately a pastiche to match the lyrics. It’s akin to “Money” or maybe “Countryside”. Possibly, the song needs just slightly more energy to pull off its message?

 

MIRROR TO THE SKY

This is the title track, the centrepiece of the album, the one garnering most attention in reviews. It’s a statement piece and it works. All the ingredients come together. We start with a big, phat riff from Howe, evoking the wide open skies of the American West. Other instruments come in, including some tasty piano from Downes. Then the drums kick things up a notch. Howe brings a dirty sound on the electric guitar. Sherwood gets to state the bass part unaccompanied. The music builds into a groove, Howe wailing away. The whole thing builds to an early climax less than three minutes in.

Then we’re stripped right back to an acoustic guitar motif, and Howe sings one of two key vocal motifs, “Dreams of a sky without fire”. Davison then takes over as vocalist. He sings of the “currents of chance”, somewhat obvious lyrics, but nicely accompanied by an orchestral part depicting the “leaves in a storm”. The energy builds back up and we repeat the vocal line: we’re rocking, but we’ve also got the horns in the orchestra adding colour.

Around four and a half minutes, we get the second key motif, “you are my mirror to the sky”, introduced instrumentally on electric guitar first, then Davison sings. We repeat this motif with variation.

A bit after five minutes, we get what I hear as the centre of the song as we contrast our two lines: “You are my mirror to the sky / Still I dream of a sky without fire”. It’s anthemic, evocative, beautiful, aided by a certain mystery as to what it all means! Davison’s “mirror to the sky” seems to be romantic in intent, the words coming from something his new wife said, more personal than much of the lyrical content that has come before. But Howe wrote the “dreams of a sky without fire” line and there’s a certain narrative tension between this and “mirror to the sky”. Do we want some fire in the sky; why are we dreaming of its absence?

The orchestra comes more to the fore, and we’re in another steel guitar and orchestra section, something of a recurring pattern for the album. We get slow but emotional playing from Howe against fast, lively orchestrations.

We move into one of Davison’s lyrical islands and a sudden flurry of words when before they were used sparsely. Davison sings of metaphysical mysteries, before we re-visit the opening guitar part, Howe building the tension. Another vocal highlight as Davison sings, “We are star fire”, tying us back to “Luminosity” and “Cut from the Stars”. It’s a great moment, yet the line only occurs once. The song deliberately holds back on these moments of emotion when the vocals break in.

We go back to that stripped down acoustic guitar part to introduce the slow movement, guitar and orchestra. The song is in a contemplative mood, bringing us back down carefully. The acoustic guitar motif again heralds a final change, with the orchestra taking over for a recapitulation of the main themes, with swells of strings and rhythmic horns. The band re-join for an energetic coda.

 

CIRCLES OF TIME

This is the comedown song after the epic, a chill out room for the ears. A pretty song, lyrically it’s another “Roundabout”, a song about missing one’s lover while on tour. It’s a ballad, but with subtle backing from strings, extra guitar parts and moments when Davison double tracks himself.

 

BONUS DISC

When I first heard the album, I thought the bonus disc was fine, but very bonus track-y, a bit disposable. With The Quest and Heaven & Earth, there were a few songs that people felt belonged on a Steve Howe solo album rather than a Yes album (“It was All We Knew”, “Damaged World”). With Mirror to the Sky, had Yes gathered all those songs and put them on the bonus disc?

However, over the weeks, I’ve found myself listening to the bonus tracks as much as the rest of the album, more than some of the main disc. I’m not saying “One Second is Enough” or “Magic Potion” are going to go down in history as classic Yes songs, but they’re fun, they’re very listenable. “Unknown Place” is very good for much of its runtime. I don’t think now that they are disposable. I think this is just another side of the current Yes.

 

UNKNOWN PLACE

The obvious comparison for “Unknown Place” is “Mirror to the Sky”. It feels like a spare: in case you lost “Mirror to the Sky” down the back of the sofa, you could substitute in “Unknown Place”, with similar sounds and grand design. There’s a lot to like about it. I love the introduction, the playing, and a luscious ending highlighting Downes’ organ playing, his standout moment on the album. But the basic song at the centre of it just doesn’t do much for me; we lack the anthemic lines of “Mirror to the Sky”.

The opening twangy guitar part brings us back to the American West, while vocals evoke Native American rituals, and then we’re into the main part of the song. Over the album as a whole, Howe is less prominent as a vocalist than he was on The Quest, but a middle section here uses Howe the singer more. The piece turns more instrumental and we then have two significant sections, both with Downes to the fore. The second leaves the American West for a baroque and Gothic horror feel led by Downes, while Howe is doing Bach-like guitar exercises, making for a great ending.

 

ONE SECOND IS ENOUGH

A simpler song. A nice intro from Downes leads into the main part, which bounces along. Howe’s message is about the fleeting nature of happiness.

The chorus vaguely reminds me of “I’ve Got a Theory” from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical “Once More with Feeling”, which was written by Joss Whedon, who is a Yes fan, so maybe his writing was influenced by Howe and whatever my brain is picking up on all makes sense?

A nice Howe solo at the end and into a clock ticking as the ending.

 

MAGIC POTION

“Love is a magic potion”, Howe tells us. We have similar lyrical themes to The Quest’s “Music to My Ears”. It’s all fine, if a bit forgettable. But it’s all worth it for a delightful, groovy bass line, written by Howe, played by Sherwood, and which Downes doubles on a couple of bars. Just extract that, I could listen to that on a loop all day.

 

To summarise, “Mirror to the Sky” is the best track, where the pieces all come together to make a substantial piece of music that can stand in the Yes canon. “Cut from the Stars” is a good single, a concise statement of what Yes can be. I enjoy listening to “Luminosity”, “All Connected” and “Unknown Place”: they’re close to capturing the Yes magic, but maybe they’re not quite there.

“Living Out Their Dream” and “Circles of Time” are songs to themselves, doing something specific on their own terms. “One Second is Enough” and “Magic Potion” are cute, simpler songs – very listenable.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It flows well as an album, the lyrical themes draw the experience together. It’s an album to be savoured, headphones on.

The band are already working on a third album in quick succession. If they can keep up the momentum, who knows what they can achieve?

Poll: What was the best Yes-related release of the second half of 2021?

I asked you what was the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2021? (As with all in this series of polls, I'm excluding actual Yes releases, so no The Quest.) 60 of you voted, and the results were...

1. Steve Howe: Homebrew 7, 35% (21 votes)

2. various artists: Animals Reimagined – A Tribute to Pink Floyd (w/ Wakeman R, Moraz, Sherwood, Davison), 28% (17 votes)

3. John Lodge: The Royal Affair and After (w/ Davison), 17% (10 votes)

4. George Harrison: All Things Must Pass 50th Anniversary Edition (w/ White), 12% (7 votes)

5= David Minasian: Random Dreams: The Very Best of David Minasian Vol. 1 (w/ Sherwood), 2% (1 vote)

5= Etta James: The Montreux Years (w/ Wakeman R), 2% (1 vote)

5= Jake Shimabukuro: Jake & Friends (w/ Anderson), 2% (1 vote)

5= Robby Steinhardt: Not in Kansas Anymore (w/ Moraz), 2% (1 vote)

5= Rick Wakeman: She - Music from the Original Soundtrack and More, 2% (1 vote)

There were no votes for Anyone's In Humanity (with Davison) or the multi-artist release myndstream Collection, Vol. 1 (with R Wakeman).

A good win for Howe's Homebrew 7, the first Homebrew release to be (mostly) material not otherwise released, rather than the usual alternative and early versions. But a good second place for Animals Reimagined, the latest of many Pink Floyd tribute albums from Cleopatra Records. Maybe the slightly new approach is working for them? I thought the prior release, Still Wish You were Here, was better, but it only came 4th with 5% of the votes in its poll. Maybe Animals Reimagined faced weaker competition?

What was the best Yes-related album of 1991?

Another historical poll, this time of the best Yes-related album of 1991. Union had been released, the 8-piece band went on tour, but what else were the band members doing that year... and was their music outside the band any good? 78 of you voted and the results were:

1. Steve Howe: Turbulence (w/ Bruford): 37%, 29 votes

2. Queen: Innuendo (w/ Howe): 22%, 17 votes

3. Jon & Vangelis: Page of Life (w/ Anderson): 14%, 11 votes

4. Bill Bruford's Earthworks: All Heaven Broke Loose: 12%, 9 votes

5. Seal: Seal (w/ Horn, Rabin): 4%, 3 votes

6= Rick Wakeman: 2000 A.D. Into the Future: 3%, 2 votes

6= Asia: Live Mockba 09-X1-90 (w/ Downes): 3%, 2 votes

7= Rick Wakeman: The Classical Connection: 1%, 1 vote

7= The Moody Blues: Keys of the Kingdom (w/ Moraz): 1%, 1 vote

7= Marc Almond: Tenement Symphony (w/ Horn): 1%, 1 vote

There were 2 votes for 'other', but not specified as to what. There were no votes for Terry Reid's The Driver (w/ Horn, White) or for several Rick Wakeman albums (African Bach, Soft Sword, Aspirant Sunshadows, Aspirant Sunset, The Private Collection). Wakeman released a lot of albums that year...

A clear win, then, for Turbulence. Howe had recorded the album some years before, but it had got indefinitely delayed, which is why Howe brought some of the ideas in the album to ABWH for what eventually became Union. Then, unexpectedly, Turbulence re-appeared, putting Howe in the unexpected position of having two albums with common compositions in the same year.

Howe also nabs second place for his guest appearance on the title track of Queen's Innuendo, their last release while Freddie Mercury was alive. The album was huge in most of the world (if less so in the US), going Platinum in the UK, Germany, France, Spain etc. Indeed, I think the track "Innuendo" is the most widely heard thing Howe has ever played on. It was later included on Queen's Greatest Hits II, an album that has gone 13 times Platinum in the UK, 8 times Platinum in Australia, 5 times Platinum in Spain, Diamond in France, and so on.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2020?

Thanks to the 61 of you who voted in our latest poll, on the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2020. The result was very boring!

1. Steve Howe: Love is (w/ Davison): 84%, 51 votes

2= Blackfield: For the Music (w/ Horn): 3%, 2 votes

2= John Lennon: Gimme Some Truth. The Ultimate Mixes (w/ White): 3%, 2 votes

2= Days Between Stations: Giants (w/ Sherwood): 3%, 2 votes

5= Prog Collective: Worlds on Hold (w/ Davison, Sherwood, Downes, Moraz): 2 %, 1 vote

5= The McBroom Sisters: Black Floyd (w/ Sherwood): 2 %, 1 vote

5= In Continuum: Acceleration Theory Special Edition Parts One & Two (w/ Davison, writing by Anderson): 2 %, 1 vote

5= Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Randy George: Cov3r to Cov3r (w/ Davison): 2 %, 1 vote

There was 1 unspecified vote for 'Other'. There were, thus, no votes for Marcelo Paganini's Identity Crisis, Kurt Michaels' Stones from the Garden, The Rome Pro(G)ject's IV - Beaten Paths Different Ways or David Minasian's The Sound of Dreams, all with Billy Sherwood. Nor for Zebras Don't Smoke's Don't Mention the Swedes, nor Zorbonauts' The Unobserved Beaver, both with Geoff Downes. Nor Carrie Martin's Entity (w/ O Wakeman), nor Anyone's On the Ending Earth... (w/ Davison).

So, a massive win for Love is, Steve Howe's latest solo album, with Jon Davison supplying bass and backing vocals on some tracks, and Dylan Howe drumming throughout.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2019? Round 3 + list of finalists

Our last round of the overly long vote for the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2019 had a very clear winner. 35 votes and 30 of them went to the Steve Howe Trio's New Frontier. In Continuum's Acceleration Theory Part Two: Annihilation squeaks through as runner-up on two votes, while three of the Rick Wakeman live series get a vote each: Live at Daphne Du Maurier Festival UK 17th January 2001, Live at the City Hall Sheffield, UK November 21st 1981, and Live in Guildhall Preston, UK November 16th 1981.

That means no votes for Wakeman's Live at Sankei Hall, Osaka, Japan 30th June 2014, Live at International Forum Hall, Tokyo, Japan 1st July 2014, or Live Solo Performance, Tokyo, Japan. Also on zero votes were Deckchair Poets' Always Piste at Christmas (with Downes) or You're in My Heart from Rod Stewart with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (with Horn). The last of those, ironically, was by far the best-selling of any Yes-related album in 2019. It was the tenth best-selling of any album in the UK in 2019, as well being top ten in Ireland and Australia, and top 40 in Germany, Hungary, Portugal and New Zealand.

That means that our grand final will be between:

Refugee: Refugee [2019 re-release] (w/ Moraz)
Downes Braide Association: Live in England
Steve Howe Trio: New Frontier (w/ Bruford writing)
Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders: Get the Money (w/ Davison)
Rodney Matthews and Jeff Scheetz with Oliver Wakeman: Trinity (w/ Wakeman R)
In Continuum: Acceleration Theory Part Two: Annihilation (w/ Davison, writing by Anderson)

There were 28 contestants: 12 Rick Wakeman solo releases from the archives (0 in the final), 3 re-releases with previously unreleased archival material (1 in the final), and 13 new albums (5 in the final). Nothing with Horn (out of 3 releases), Banks (1 release) or Sherwood (1 release) has made it through. There were 12 Wakeman solo releases and 2 appearances, of which just one guest appearace got through, whereas 2 out of 3 Davison performances are included, as are the only O Wakeman and Bruford appearances. Anderson has 1 out of 3 release through to the final. Downes and Moraz are 1 out of 2.

REV: Steve Howe, The Albany, Deptford, 31 Oct 2018

On a cold Hallowe'en, Steve Howe performed his only solo show of 2018. He had given freely of his time to help raise funds for the Ed Renshaw Music Award, set up in memory of guitarist Edward Renshaw, who died in 2011. The charity is supported by Peter Conway Management, who manage Howe's solo career. They support a number of young musicians each year, financially, through mentoring and other support.

The Albany is a lovely venue in Deptford. The audience was around 120-150 in size. Most of the front row were familiar Yes fans (hi everyone): I don't know how many of the rest of the audience were there for Howe or to support the An Evening for Ed series.

The first set consisted of three award winners, all singer-songwriters, each playing three songs. The first, and most impressive, was Jay Johnson, who won the award two years ago and has gone on to bigger things. He performed "Bliss", "Vanity" and "The Void" (the latter two are on his EP The Dark Matters). His was a lively performance with intriguing lyrics. Also impressive was Sasha Thomas, one of this year's four winners. Finally, after two performers on acoustic guitar, we had Jack Patchett on electric guitar, another of this year's winners.

After an interval was the main event. Howe was in good spirits, chatting between pieces. He began on the Martin MC38 Steve Howe edition guitar, playing "In the Course of the Day", "Bareback", Chet Atkins' "Trambone", "Masquerade", excerpt from "Provence", and "Cactus Boogie". He then switched to Spanish guitar for the 2nd movement of Vivaldi's lute concerto in D and "The Little Galliard".

Next up was "Leaves of Green", which he also sang, but only after a long introduction in which he, lightheartedly, noted how Yes only did one concept album, yet a member, not named, criticised it while going on to do eight concept albums of his own. He also talked about how much he loved London and the UK, where Yes did all their music until they "scarpered to LA" in the eighties.

Next came "Classical Gas", which he wished he'd written himself. This was followed by "Corkscrew"; Howe mentioned he first wrote this back in 1970, although it was only first released on 1991's Turbulence. He then started talking about his second album with Yes, carefully noting this was Yes's fourth album, they having done two before he joined, "which I love very, very much," he said, particularly Time and a Word. He then moved on to talk about how they each had a solo piece on Fragile, which led to an impromptu performance of "5% for Nothing" and snippets of "The Fish" and "We Have Heaven", and even an attempt to sing "Cans & Brahms". But of course this was all a prelude to "Mood for a Day".

 Back to the Martin acoustic, he played "Solitaire" after an intro talking about Fly from Here with a shout-out for Trevor Horn. Next came "To be Over", a piece that Yes haven't played for many years, as Howe subsequently explained. But they will "change some of that next year", so that sounds like confirmation of Relayer in the set, except he then continued "maybe not that song but" something else that's not been played in a long time. So does that mean not Relayer next year, or rather some but not all of it?

Howe then talked about tragedy, alluding to the death of his son Virgil, but also about others who had suffered loss, like Geoff Downes, who lost a daughter, and the mother of Ed Renshaw. He then played "Second Initial", written for Virgil. The set finished with "Clap".

An encore consisted of an abbreviated "Roundabout", Howe also singing, and then, for me the highlight of the evening, a fiery performance of "Sketches in the Sun". Howe thanked Ric French, doing FOH sound, and it was off to the train and the tube to gawp at people's fancy dress costumes.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of 1988?

Another bumper year for Yes-related releases, with Steve Howe in particular busy while not in a major band project of his own. But the prize goes instead to Jon Anderson:

1. Jon Anderson: In the City of Angels, 27 votes (35%)
2. Billy Currie with Steve Howe: Transportation, 9 votes (12%)
3= Kazumi Watanabe: The Spice of Life Too (w/ Bruford), 7 votes (9%)
3= Animal Logic: Animal Logic (w/ Howe), 7 votes (9%)
5. Steve Howe/Paul Sutin: Seraphim, 5 votes (6%)
6= Pet Shop Boys: Introspective (w/ Horn), 4 votes (5%)
6= various artists: Guitar Speak (w/ Howe), 4 votes (5%)
6= Toto: The Seventh One (w/ Anderson), 4 votes (5%)
9= Rick Wakeman: Time Machine, 3 votes (4%)
9= The Moody Blues: Sur la Mer (w/ Moraz), 3 votes (4%)
9= various artists: Night of the Guitar Live! (w/ Howe), 3 votes (4%)
12= Act: Laughter, Tears and Rage (w/ Horn), 1 vote (1%)
12= Gary Wright: Who I Am (w/ White), 1 vote (1%)

There were no votes for Rick Wakeman's A Suite of Gods,The Mint Juleps' Power of Six (produced by Horn), Andy Leek's Say Something (with a bit of session work from Howe) or Plain Clothes Soundtrack (an obscure early Billy Sherwood appearance).

Out of 78 votes in total, all of Howe's appearances together get 28 votes to 31 votes for Anderson's two, but In the City of Angels is the clear winner here. I've always liked it, but it is an attempt by Anderson at a mainstream pop sound. I voted for Introspective, a classic Horn production.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2017?

Continuing our series of biannual polls, here's what (65 of) you thought were the best Yes-related releases of the second half of 2017.

1. Downes Braide Association: Skyscraper Souls, 24 votes (37%)
2. Steve Howe: Anthology 2: Groups & Collaborations, 14 votes (22%)
3. Virgil & Steve Howe: Nexus, 12 votes (18%)
4. Bruford: Seems Like a Lifetime Ago, 9 votes (14%)
5. Trevor Horn: The Reflection Wave One—Original Soundtrack, 3 votes (5%)
6. Mabel Greer's Toyshop: The Secret (w/ Banks), 2 votes (3%)
7. Tomorrow: Live Recordings: 1967-1968 (w/ Howe), 1 vote (2%)

There were no votes for any of Alpha Lighting System's 836 with Sherwood, Rupam Sarmah's A Musical Journey: Together in Peace with White, Glass Hammer's Untold Tales with Davison, Dave Kerzner's Static with Sherwood, Legacy's 3 Chord Trick with Horn, or Carrie Martin's Seductive Sky with O Wakeman. (I recommend 3 Chord Trick, some good blues-rock, and Untold Tales has some strong material.)

A strong win for the latest Downes Braide Association album, their most 'proggy' release as the collaboration evolves into a band. Howe brings up second and third. I imagine the price tag limited Seems Like a Lifetime Ago's appeal, lovely release though it is! Not included in the poll was Empire's The Complete Recordings, as there was no previously released material included, but a lovingly assembled collection and at a much more affordable price point.

If you agree or disagree with the results, let me know in the comments.

2017 in review

2017 was a bumper year for Yes-related releases. The complete list is, I think, in a rough chronological order:

• Rick Wakeman: Phantom of the Opera (archival, some previously released)
• Rick Wakeman: Piano Portraits
• Mogador: Chaptersend (w/ Davison on 1 track)
• Light Freedom Revival: Eterniverse Deja Vu (w/ Sherwood, O Wakeman)
• Chrysta Bell: We Dissolve (w/ Downes on 2 tracks)
• World Trade: Unify (w/ Sherwood)
• Asia: Symfonia - Live in Bulgaria 2013 (w/ Downes)
• Artists for Grenfell: 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' (single) (w/ Horn)
• Steve Howe: Anthology 2: Groups & Collaborations (w/ Yes, ABWH, Downes, O Wakeman, archival, some previously released)
• Alpha Lighting System: 836 (w/ Sherwood)
• Trevor Horn: The Reflection Wave One—Original Soundtrack
• Rupam Sarmah: A Musical Journey: Together in Peace (w/ White)
• Glass Hammer: Untold Tales (w/ Davison on 2 tracks, archival)
• Dave Kerzner: Static (w/ Sherwood)
• Bruford: Seems Like a Lifetime Ago (box set) (archival, some previously released)
• Legacy: 3 Chord Trick (w/ Horn)
• Carrie Martin: Seductive Sky (w/ O Wakeman)
• Virgil & Steve Howe: Nexus
• Downes Braide Association: Skyscraper Souls (w/ Downes)
• Empire: The Complete Recordings (w/ Banks, all previously released)
• Yes: Topographic Drama
• Mabel Greer's Toyshop: The Secret (w/ Banks on 1 track)
• The Fizz: 'Home for My Heart' (single) (w/ R Wakeman)
• Alfie Boe & Michael Ball with the Rays of Sunshine Children's Choir & Friends: 'Bring Me Sunshine' (single) (w/ R Wakeman)

The biggest seller of all those was probably "Bridge Over Troubled Water", a charity single for the survivors of the Grenfell fire disaster, co-produced by Horn. It made #1 in the UK for one week (replacing and being replaced by "Despacito") and the top 40 in Austria, Finland, Flanders, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland. The biggest selling album was Wakeman's Piano Portraits, which made #6 in the UK, hung around in the Progressive Albums chart for ages, and achieved a Silver certification (60,000 sales). In terms of audience, the other contender would be Horn's soundtrack for The Reflection Wave One given it was broadcast on Japanese TV.

Lots of good releases, depending on what you like. I'd probably recommend Anthology 2 and Empire's The Complete Recordings first, particularly to Yes fans, but I also very much enjoyed Chaptersend, We Dissolve, The Reflection Wave One—Original Soundtrack, Seems Like a Lifetime Ago, Skyscraper Souls and Topographic Drama, of the 15 that I heard. Nexus was another good release, sadly cast in a memorial role following the unexpected death of Virgil Howe.

What did you enjoy last year?

Poll: Best Yes-related album of 1979

At one point before Xmas, this poll was a threeway tie between The Steve Howe Album, One of a Kind and The Age of Plastic, but the field opened out later on. After 70 votes:

1. Steve Howe: The Steve Howe Album (w/ Bruford, Moraz, White), 36% (25 votes)
2. Bruford: One of a Kind, 31% (22 votes)
3. The Buggles: The Age of Plastic (w/ Horn, Downes), 23% (16 votes)
4. Rick Wakeman: Rhapsodies, 7% (5 votes)
5. Vangelis: Opera Sauvage (w/ Anderson), 3% (2 votes)

There were no votes for The Bruford Tapes or Gary Wright's Headin' Home (w/ White).

Bruford's Feels Good to Me came second to Wakeman's Criminal Record in the 1977 poll, while Howe's debut came third in the 1975 poll, behind Wakeman's King Arthur and Squire's Fish Out of Water. So a turnaround with Wakeman now back in fourth.

Poll: What are you most looking forward to in the rest of 2015?

I asked what you were most looking forward to in the rest of 2015 and 105 of you obligingly replied:

1. Panegyric/Steven Wilson remix of Fragile: 25
2. Anderson Ponty Band tour: 23
3. Billy Sherwood's Citizen: 18
4. Downes Braide Association's Suburban Ghosts: 12
5. New Steve Howe Trio album: 11
6. King Crimson's THRAK BOX: 8
7. Cruise to the Edge: 6
8. Other: 2
9. Seal's 7 (prod. by Horn): 0

Most of these have now happened (1, 3, 4, 6, 9) or are currently happening (2, 7, 8), so let me know in the comments what you think of them. Opinion was fairly equally divided, although no-one picked Seal's latest album, 7. Well, you're all wrong about that because it's a great album.

Both using the write-in option chose Yes getting into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. That is, of course, up to the Hall's voting panel once nominations have been chosen. But you can still vote on the nominations here: Yes are in second place, but only just ahead of The Cars, so keep voting. The system allows you to vote several times per day (per device). The nominations are not solely determined by this public vote, but it appears to carry some weight in the process.

Notes: Steve Howe, 19 April 2015

As part of a UK tour to support the release of Anthology, Steve Howe played a solo show on 19 April 2015 at the Jazz Cafe, Camden Town, London. The highlight for me was the medley of the 4 Yes songs using Portuguese guitar.

Set:
"In the Course of the Day"
"Trambone"
"Sweet Thunder"/"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (to represent the Steve Howe Trio)
"Diary of a Man Who Vanished"
"To be Over" (Howe introduced the piece explaining he wanted Yes to play it and "Sound Chaser" but the rest of the band won't)
"Pleasure Stole the Night", with vocals
"Corkscrew"
unidentified
"The Little Galliard"
"Classical Gas"
Half of "5% for Nothing" (Howe talked of the difficult the band had rehearsing Fragile for their recent US tour, saying it took longer than they thought to get all the "moods and the swings")
"Mood for a Day"

intermission

"Hint Hint" (for daughter Steph, who was in the audience)
"Ram"
"Look Over Your Shoulder", with vocals
"Provence"
"Valley of the Rocks"
"Solitaire" (Howe described how Yes doing new albums has been "quite controversial." He talked of a "bit of a mad rush" doing Heaven & Earth, but that Fly from Here was "more appropriate". He also expressed some surprise that Horn had wanted to expand "Fly from Here" into a suite.)
"Second Initial"
"Sketches in the Sun"
"Cactus Boogie" (switching to electric guitar, Howe talked of his first gig at age 14 in 1962 at a venue on Holloway Road, London with a makeshift band)
"Georgia's Theme Pt 2"
"Dorothy"
"Intersection Blues"
Yes medley: "Hour of Need/9 Voices/Wonderous Stories/Your Move", with vocals (on Portuguese guitar)

encore:
"Clap" (Howe explained how the piece didn't have a title, so Bruford asked him what he was hoping for when people heard the tune)

2014 polls: bad news for Heaven & Earth, but better news for other Yes releases

The results for two big fan-voted polls of progressive rock in 2014 are now in, and there's a fair amount of Yes-related interest. First the bad news: in the DPRP Annual Poll (374 responses), Heaven & Earth won Biggest Disappointment, by a large margin over Pink Floyd's The Endless River. Prog magazine's Readers' Poll has a similar category, Non-Event of the Year, with Heaven & Earth 4th (behind No High Voltage Festival; the Sum of the Parts Genesis documentary; and Kate Bush only playing London).

Other categories had better news for the band. Yes were 1st (Relayer) and 6th (The Yes Album) in Prog's Reissue of the Year category, and 8th in the magazine's Multimedia of the Year for Like It Is (won by Transatlantic's KaLIVEoscope). Likewise, Like It Is was 7th in DPRP's Best DVD section (again won by KaLIVEoscope).

Prog's Event of the Year was won by Kate Bush's live shows, but Rick Wakeman (who writes a regular column for the magazine) came 3rd for his Journey to the Centre of the Earth 40th anniversary tour, while King Crimson's return was 4th and Cruise to the Edge, 6th. DPRP's Prog Happening of the Year category was won by the return of Pink Floyd, with King Crimson's return now 2nd and prog cruises in general, 3rd. (Wakeman's Journey shows received only 2 votes with DPRP, making them 17th equal.)

DPRP has a separate Best Concerts category. King Crimson came 5th equal for their 13 Sep 2014 show, although in a large field, 3 votes was all you needed for 5th equal. The category was won by Transatlantic's 14 Mar 2014 show in Amsterdam; with the "D" in DPRP being Dutch, the Amsterdam shows tend to do well.

The two polls differed somewhat on individual players. Wakeman topped the keyboardist category for Prog, but he only got a single vote in the DPRP poll, where Geoff Downes came 7th equal. Wakeman was also 3rd in Prog's Man of the Year category, which was won by Steven Wilson. Steve Howe made 7th in Prog's guitar list, but also only got a single vote with DPRP. (Steve Rothery won both best guitarist votes.) Similarly, Tony Levin came 3rd in Prog's bassist poll (won by Nick Beggs), but had a single vote with DPRP (won by Pete Trewavas).

Not much happening in the best vocalist categories. Jon Davison's 2 votes for his performance on Heaven & Earth got him 22nd equal with DPRP (won by Peter Nicholls). He also got 1 vote for his performance on Glass Hammer's Ode to Echo, but there were no votes for any other Yes vocalists. (Prog only gave top tens, but there were no Yes men in Prog's male vocalist category, won by Joe Payne, while their female section was won by Lee Douglas.) Alan White and Dylan Howe both got 1 vote for DPRP's Best Drummer (won by Mike Portnoy). (Again no-one in Prog's top ten, also won by Portnoy.)

Prog's Album of the Year was Opeth's Pale Communion (3rd with DPRP), with the only Yes-related entry being Dave Kerzner's New World, on which Billy Sherwood guests, coming in 10th. Kerzner was also 4th in the Tip for 2015 section with Prog, won by iamthemorning, and 3rd Best Newcomer with DPRP, won by Synaesthesia.

DPRP's Best Album was IQ's The Road of Bones (3rd with Prog), with the highest Yes-related entry being United Progressive Fraternity's Fall in Love with the World 14th, on which Jon Anderson guests, with New World coming next at 24. Ode to Echo (with Jon Davison) was 42nd and Heaven & Earth was 50th.

DPRP also has a Best Tracks category, won by IQ's "The Road of Bones". The top Yes-related entry here was "Subway Walls" at 35th equal. The only others in the top 100 were "Believe Again" and Glass Hammer's "The Garden of Hedon" (if Davison appears on that track) tied at 89.

Finally, Heaven & Earth managed 8th equal for Best Artwork at DPRP.

Poll: Best Yes-related album of 2013, part 2

Another biannual poll of the best Yes-related releases, another odd voting pattern. The results were:

?) XNA: When We Changed You (w/ Sherwood) - 30 (29%)
1) The Prog Collective: Epilogue (w/ Sherwood, Wakeman R, Banks, Downes, Moraz, Squire, Kaye) - 16 (16%)
2=) Steve Howe: Homebrew 5 - 15 (15 %)
2=) King Crimson: The Road to Red (w/ Bruford) - 15 (15 %)
4) Flash: In Public (w/ Banks) - 8 (8%)
5) Ayreon: Theory of Everything (w/ Wakeman R) - 7 (7)%
6) William Shatner: Ponder the Mystery (w/ Sherwood, Wakeman R) - 6 (6%)
7) Belle and Sebastian: The Third Eye Centre (w/ Horn) - 2 (2%)
8=) Chris Audren: In True Mental Universe (w/ Anderson co-writing) - 1 (1%)
8=) Various artists: Fly Like an Eagle: An All-Star Tribute to Steve Miller Band (w/ Sherwood, Downes, Wakeman R, Kaye, Banks) - 1 (1%)
8=) Deckchair Poets: Who Needs Pyjamas (w/ Downes) - 1 (1%)

No votes for Johnny Borrell's Borrell 1 (w/ Horn), DuskMachine's eponymous album (w/ Downes) or Sons of Hippies' Griffons at the Gates of Heaven (w/ Sherwood). One invalid vote discounted.

Homebrew 5 was leading for much of the time, with When We Changed You only on a couple of votes, until a late surge saw XNA's debut gallop ahead to win. As previously, this would seem to indicate a body of voters outside of the usual readership making a concerted attempt to win the poll, rather than to be representative of general Yes fan opinion.

Meanwhile, the best Yes-related release poll of 1972 was won by Flash's debut album... but it was kindly pointed out to me that I listed David Bowie's Space Oddity in the poll, when I meant Hunky Dory (both with Wakeman). Ooops. I'll re-run that poll some time later. The poll for 1973 will be up on the main site shortly.

Poll: Best Yes-related album of the second half of 2011

The second half of 2011 saw the release of several major Yes-related projects: albums with multiple Yesmen (up to three for Raised in Captivity), significant solo releases, new collaborations and a variety of guest appearances, including on an album by a former starship captain. This was also the period, of course, that saw the release of the first new studio album from Yes for over a decade: namely Fly from Here.

However, I decided to keep this poll for the Yes-related releases and leave Fly from Here out. Otherwise, I thought Fly from Here would just swamp everything else. I also decided to include two non-album releases: Jon Anderson's "Open" is a digital-only, one-track single, although at just under 21 minutes in length, it's more like an EP, so I felt it should be included. I was already including King Friday's (physical) EP. Tony Kaye's "End of Innocence" is over twice as long as "Open", nearly 46 minutes, but was put up for free on YouTube. While previous polls in this series have not included tracks made available on a streaming basis, the magnitude of Kaye's opus was such that I felt it warranted inclusion.

110 people voted, and the results were:

1. Jon Anderson: "Open" - 25 (23%)
2. Steve Hackett: Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (w/ Squire) - 21 (19%)
3. Steve Howe: Time - 12 (11%)
4. Anderson Wakeman: The Living Tree In Concert Part One - 10 (9%)
5. Levin - Torn - White (w/ White) - 9 (8%)
6. John Wetton: Raised in Captivity (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, Downes) - 8 (7%)
7= CIRCA:: And So On (w/ Sherwood, Kaye) - 6 (5%)
7= Glass Hammer: Cor Cordium (w/ Davison) - 6 (5%)
9. Billy Sherwood: What was the Question? - 4 (4%)
10. Tony Kaye: "End of Innocence" - 3 (3%)
11= William Shatner: Seeking Major Tom (w/ Howe, Moraz) - 2 (2%)
11= King Crimson: Collectors' Club/DGM Live releases (w/ Bruford) - 2 (2%)
13= Kurt Michaels: Soaring Back to Earth (w/ Sherwood) - 1 (1%)
13= Flaming Row: Elinoire (w/ Sherwood) - 1 (1%)
15. King Friday: "Let the Song Begin" (w/ O. Wakeman) - 0 (0%)

There were no votes for 'other'.

The voting was very close and watching the results come in as exciting as the Republican primary contests! Anderson's "Open" and Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (with Squire guesting on several tracks and a recycled GTR riff earning Howe co-writing credits) were neck-and-neck until a final voting spurt from "Open". Throughout, third place was hotly contested between Time and The Living Tree In Concert Part One, with several albums in contention for 5th.

I'm taking these close results as an indication of a very strong period of Yes-related releases. I think any of the top 5 here could have won the previous poll had it been released in the first half of the year. And these were all on top of Fly from Here!

6th place went to John Wetton's Raised in Captivity (which I gave a bad review earlier). Between that, the latest CIRCA: album and his latest solo album, Sherwood's releases clocked up 18 votes. Add in two guest appearances, and he gets 20 votes, only one less than Shrouded Horizon.

Just before I put this poll up came the news that Jon Davison was now singing with Yes. I, thus, included in the poll his last album with Glass Hammer, Cor Cordium. The album scored a respectable 6 votes.

There's already plenty of projects lined up for the first half of this year, including Trevor Rabin's new solo album, Jacaranda, and the debut from Producers, Made in Basing Street. Given the success in this poll of Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, we can expect Squackett to be welcomed enthusiastically.

Jon Anderson has now won the last three of these polls, with The Living Tree (with Wakeman, of course), Survival and Other Stories and now "Open". Could he make it four out of four? He's talked of working on a follow-up to "Open", another long-form piece, and he's also talked about an album release including "Open", and about a sequel to Survival and Other Stories, which conclusively won best Yes-related album of the first half of 2011. However, Anderson's plans often appear rather fluid and when a next release will appear is unknown. He's also now talking about an album and tour with Marco Sabiu in 2013, which would be a disappointing change of direction for me.

First half of 2010

In January-June 2010...

Musician : gigs played or announced : albums announced

Trevor Horn : 1 gig : 1 album
Jon Anderson: 5 gigs : 0 albums
Rick Wakeman: 11 gigs: 1 album (but it is 3 CDs)
Steve Howe: 67 gigs : 2 albums

Steve Howe is playing more than one gig every 3 days in the first half of this year!

Yesmen together outside Yes

Apparently, on last Saturday’s Rick’s Place (Rick Wakeman’s radio show on Planet Rock), Rick announced that he is working on an album with Trevor Rabin and two, as yet unnamed, other ex-Yesmen. Cue furious speculation at Yesfans.com about what this might be and the identity of the two others. Billy Sherwood posted a non-committal message that would seem to imply he wasn’t involved. If I had to guess, I’d say the other two will be Jon Anderson and Tony Levin (whether you consider him an ex-Yesman or not), but we know so little, it could be almost anyone.

Perhaps more important than who the other two Yesmen might be is the question of what this project is going to be. Is this basically a solo album with guest appearances, or is this a full-blown collaboration? What many want is a rival Yes, a second ABWH. Given Rabin and Wakeman both seem averse to large-scale touring and given both appear to remain committed to their many other works, I get the impression that we’re not looking at the genesis of a rival Yes band.

So, presuming reports are accurate and this project comes to fruition, what might four Yesmen working together sound like? The Yesmen have often worked with each other outside the band: e.g. Asia, The Buggles, CIRCA:, Moraz/Bruford, White, Turbulence, 1984 and so on. Three Yesmen working together is less common, but there are still a fair few examples: Ramshackled, Fish Out of Water, Adventures in Modern Recording, Conspiracy, In the U.K., Criminal Record, All to Bring You Morning, Welcome to the Pleasuredome, Esquire, Jabberwocky and more.

But four or more Yesmen on an album, we’re down to a fairly short list. I can think of 13.

1. ABWH (1989) – of course! I almost didn’t include it here as I just think of it as a Yes album
2. The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Rick Wakeman, 1973) – Wakeman, Squire, Howe and Bruford together on “Catherine of Aragon” plus White on other tracks
3. Beginnings (Steve Howe, 1975) – Howe, White and Moraz together on three tracks, plus Bruford on others
4. The Steve Howe Album (Steve Howe, 1979) – Howe, Bruford and Moraz on “All’s a Chord” plus White on other tracks
5. The Classical Connection II (Rick Wakeman, 1992) – includes a Six Wives era recording called “Farandol” with Squire, Howe and Bruford
6. Tales from Yesterday (various artists, 1995) – Howe, Sherwood, Banks and Moraz appear, but all on separate tracks
7. Pigs & Pyramids—An All Star Lineup Performing the Songs of Pink Floyd (various artists co-organised by Sherwood, 2002) – Sherwood, Squire and White together on “Comfortably Numb” plus Kaye and Levin on other tracks
8. Back Against the Wall (various artists organised by Sherwood, 2005) – recycles “Comfortably Numb” and Kaye’s track from Pigs & Pyramids, plus new appearances from Sherwood, Levin, White, Wakeman, Howe and Downes, but mostly apart (“Hey You” unites Sherwood, Downes and White)
9. Return to the Dark Side of the Moon: A Tribute to Pink Floyd (various artists organised by Sherwood, 2006) –Kaye, White, Wakeman, Howe, Bruford, Banks, Downes and Levin all guest but often separately: “Speak to Me” unites Kaye and White with Sherwood producing; “The Great Gig in the Sky” unites Sherwood, Howe and Wakeman; “Money” unites Sherwood, Bruford and Levin (seemingly recorded entirely separately); “Eclipse” unites Kaye and Banks with Sherwood producing
10. CIRCA: 2007 (2007) – Sherwood, Kaye, White and writing contributions from Rabin
11. From Here to Infinity (Jim Ladd’s Headsets, 2007) – includes a cover of “Starship Trooper” organised by Sherwood with him, Kaye, Wakeman, White and Howe all performing
12. Led Box: The Ultimate Tribute to Led Zeppelin (various artists co-organised by Sherwood, 2008) – Sherwood, White and Kaye are all on “All of My Love”, with Wakeman and Downes appearing on other tracks
13. Abbey Road: A Tribute to The Beatles (various artists co-organised by Sherwood, 2009) – with Sherwood/White/Kaye on “Get Back” and Sherwood/White/Downes on “Let It Be”

Most of these don’t actually have the four Yesmen playing together and there’s no guarantee that this new Wakeman/Rabin project won’t be the same, with just scattered guest appearances. When do we actually get four Yesmen together on the same track? Apart from ABWH, there’s “Catherine of Aragon”, “Farandol”, “Lost Symphony”, “Beginnings”, “Will o’ the Wisp”, “All’s a Chord” and “Starship Trooper” (2007 cover), plus CIRCA:’s “Don’t Let Go” and “Look Inside” if including Rabin’s writing contribution.

I like all those albums (some more than others) as I like most of the albums with three Yesmen, but there’s clearly a huge variation between them. With some, additional Yesmen make guest appearances that amount to little more than curios. Others are good, but just completely different from Yes. And then sometimes, there is something of the Yes magic and an almost-Yes piece emerges. That list of 9 individual pieces with 4+ Yesmen would make a pretty good lost Yes album.

In terms of who’s most collaborative, across the 13 albums listed, White is on 10 (confirming his reputation as being easy to work with), Howe 9, Sherwood 8, Wakeman & Kaye 7 each, Bruford 6, Squire & Downes 4 each, Moraz & Levin 3 each, Banks 2, and Anderson & Rabin 1 each.