IN THE PRESENT - LIVE FROM LYON

OK, let's deal with the elephant in the room .... Can HE (you know, that OTHER guy) ... can HE perform Jon Anderson's vocal parts? Well actually, yes HE can. When Benoit David's vocal came in I expected it to jar me, a picture hanging at the wrong angle... but NO... this works , it works well! I was already familiar with the voice ( the vox with Canadian Band Mystery are wonderful .... and of course there is the excellent on the new studio effort too) but there was that lingering doubt about the old stuff. I actually caught the band on the We Can Fly tour, and hears him sing these songs live .... and loved that .... but in the cold light of day ..... listening to a CD ... well yes he does sound good! This is a nice selection of material from the 2009 dates too...with two gems from Drama (Tempus Fugit; Machine Messiah ) making a welcome return after so many years ... and then there are the Jon Anderson songs, from Astral Traveller - to Owner Of A Lonely Heart, with the classics in between. i honestly urge the sceptical to try this - I was pleasantly surprised.... and we also get the oft neglected Onward from Going for the One too! Givie it a chance.