THE QUEST

In general, the album contains too many soft and mellow songs. It probably suffer of a lack of vitality and some songs would have benefited of a faster tempo and more instrumental sections and/or longer solos. It is as if the band restrained themselves at some point. However, it is still a pleasure to see the band trying to create new material and succeed : there is no bad track on this album. It is well crafted and it keeps you coming back for more : I am listening to the album in loop since its release and I am still not tired of it. This is a good sign, let's admit it.

The Ice Bridge is a perfect way to start a Yes album with a great guitar/keyboard battle in the last section and a terrific bass line that Chris Squire would have approved for sure. This is the best track of the album and ironically, it was not written by a member of the band... 5/5

Dare to Know shows another side of Yes with some great symphonic parts that could have been taken from a Zelda video game soundtrack. 3,5/5

Minus the Man was co-written by Billy Sherwood and Jon Davison. I was really curious with the material that Sherwood could provide with this album, knowing that his last contributions with Yes were not really great. The result here is surprisingly quite good but could probably have been better with some tempo changes or additional instrumental sections. 2,5/5

Leave Well Alone is the most progish song of the album. It start with a catchy riff and then goes in a very different direction with Jon using a deeper voice than usual in a section that remains a bit the introduction of Revealing Science of God. The last section is an instrumental loop that allow Steve to shine. The whole song is very good. However, I can't help but think that it could have been better with more vocal harmonies on the "Revealing" part, with a faster tempo and with more punch during the final section. Could have been great, it's only good. 3,5/5

The Western Edge is the second Sherwood/Davidson song. It sounds like a track coming from Open Your Eyes (bad news) but better than any of them (good news). 2,5/5

Future Memories is the new Turn of the Century. Great song showing that Jon Davidson is more than an Anderson vocal clone. One of the highlight of the album. 4/5

Music to my Ears suffers from the same defects than Leave Well Alone : It's a very nice and catchy song that could have been terrific if played at a faster tempo and with additional vocal harmonies from Billy. Without Chris Squire, it is again more obvious that Steve can't do the harmonies job correctly alone. 3,5/5

A Living Island is another mid-tempo soft song with some nice instrumental sections and a very nice chorus in the end. 3/5

Sister Sleeping Soul is a great pop song with nice vocals and a catchy chorus. Once again, a faster tempo and a longer keyboard solo could have made the song even better. 3,5/5

Mystery Tour is another pop song about the Beatles (how original is that !). Not incredible but not bad. 2/5

Damaged World really sounds like a solo out-take of Steve. Thus, it suffer from the fact that Steve takes the lead vocal. However, the instrumental section in the middle is really enjoyable. 2,5/5