WE CAN FLY

Unlike most Progressive Rock fans, I only consider myself to be a minor fan of Yes. It's true that the band had a few great albums back in the '70s, Fragile and Relayer happen to be my personal favorites, but the 80's and 90's didn't exactly strengthened their position as one of the leading forces of the Progressive Rock community. I realize that the hardcore Yes fans will completely disagree with that statement, but I'm really not writing this review for them, seeing that they will still most likely pick up Fly From Here once it is released; this review is made for everyone who has given up on the mighty Yes!

This four minute single begins like nothing we've heard from Yes since their 1980 release Drama. This comparison is very appropriate considering that Geoff Downes is once again featured in the lineup and his distinct atmospheric keyboard arrangements really bring me back to the slow building intro of Into The Lens. It's also interesting that Steve Howe uses the exact same slide guitar and finger picking arrangements here as he did back on Drama!

I was originally very skeptical to hear the chorus section of We Can Fly, since this is a single and singles always have to feature a prominent (and often cheesy) chorus section. Well, I can safely say that this chorus is far from the awful sounding Don't Go off Magnification. Benoit David's voice is very appealing to my ears and I definitely think that he adds an excellent new layer of sound into the overall mix of this composition. The song does end a bit abruptly, which actually made me even more excited since I suddenly remembered that We Can Fly is suppose to be a part of the longer We Can Fly-suite on the actual full length release and so there are probably many more wonderful moments to be uncovered.

Allow me to conclude by stating that anyone who doesn't want to hear this single based on the fact that it doesn't feature Jon Anderson or Rick Wakeman will be missing out on some great material. Let's be honest here, the band hasn't exactly done anything new or innovating those last few times when Jon and Rick were on board. This even includes Going For The One and Tormato since those releases clearly only slowed the progress that Yes showed on Relayer! I seriously think that Drama was good for the band even though some fans will continue to complain about that record. If you like listening to classic Yes then please do so but don't come here complaining about the new lineup. A new perspective has historically always pushed this band forward, even if some instances were for the worse.

It's safe to say that I'm now really looking forward to the upcoming studio album. The direction that Yes depicts on this single is easily their best since the early '80s; we're talking about 30 years history here!

**** star songs: We Can Fly (4:15)

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