FISH OUT OF WATER

I was waiting for this one to appear on the site... Basically, YES FANS, if you have never heard this album, drop everything you are doing and immediately seek it out, buy it, steal it, just listen to it, before another precious second is wasted! You want the mythical lost Yes album? You got it. This is, without the slightest doubt, the best solo album by any Yes man, and it just so happens to feature Bill Bruford on drums and Patrick Moraz on keys. Of course, this is a "lost Yes album" without Jon and Steve, so don't expect them to be there! This is the Chris Squire show, and the way he handles the complete writing and singing duties is simply amazing, proving just how integral he was to the whole Yes machine. The vocals! If you ever thought Jon Anderson was solely responsible for that element, think again: beautiful vocal harmonies abound ("You By My Side"), and Chris' voice is still so eerily Yes, even without Jon's unmistakable presence. But the music... just listen to "Silently Falling" or "Safe," the two extended tracks, and see for yourself. My descriptions could do them no justice. Picking favorite albums by your favorite bands is always hard, but it gets really messy when a solo effort such as this one ranks up with the best works by the band itself. Final analysis: one of my favorite albums, by one of my favorite humans.