CIRCA: 2007

Approximately bass driven

When Circa released there first album in the spring of 2007, I was among the first to order - and so far without regret. With Circa:2007, the band provides a very listenable set of progressive rock tracks, that clearly shows influences from all eras of prog since the late 1960s. To me, that means the music brings memories of Yes, but also Pallas, Styx and maybe even a hint of Genesis or Marillion at times - without ever copying the sound of those bands. Circa have their own sound, and I like it.

From the quiet intro of Cut the Ties (followed by some amazing bass work of which more can be found throughout) the album is a journey through 9 great guitar and keyboard driven prog tracks. The vocals sometimes remind me of more AOR like bands, but the music simply never let's up the prog character completely. The multi-voice vocals on Information Overload, the (slide?) guitar work on Together We Are Right and the a capella intro of Life Going By are just some of the great moments on this album. The closing track Brotherhood of Man is 'the long track', with just under 12 minutes, and very much worth checking out for yourselves.

Overall, the only set backs for me with respect to this album are the many multi-vocal choruses, which have never been my taste, and Look Inside, which I find a bit boring. Then again, if these guys have played with Yes and this album represents the music they made there, I may finally have to bite the bullet and start enduring (or ignoring) Jon Anderson's voice. Maybe this is not the most renewing album in prog at the moment, and some pieces border on AOR, but it's definitely worth checking out. The excellent musicianship of these four horseman tips the scale toward 4 stars.

I've often found during the years that the most enduring relationships are couples where the partners are aware of each others' flaws, and love each other in spite of them. I say this because I really do love this album, but man, does it have some serious blemishes.

Understand that in my heart I really want to give this album five stars; I listen to it often, enjoy it immensely and consider it to be the best release of 2007. However, considering what I'm about to mention, my rational mind tells me I must settle for four. I'd give it 4.5 if such a thing was possible here.

It did take me a while to get into the album, and if it hadn't been for the Yes connection, I might well have dismissed it, for a couple of reasons. First of all, the production is muddy on anything but the best of speakers or headphones, and since I do most of my listening either at the computer or on the go in my PSP...well, that didn't do it any favors.

Second, the vocals are almost uniformly strained and are what really shows this up as not being Yes (because there are plenty of passages where you could have been fooled otherwise). I don't know if it's a conscious choice to sound all gravelly and forced, but it doesn't work in this context, giving certain sections a really unfortunate AOR-type feel.

Third, the lyrics range from bland down to terrible, with many clichéd turns of phrase, cringe-worthy obvious rhymes and simplistic sentiments. This, however, is nothing unusal in Prog. There are precious few really skilled lyricists in the genre, so I've gotten used to ignoring the words, but there are places here where it gets really hard to. (Only you can turn your life around/Given half a chance/You could be so much more/Look inside yourself - What is this? A Tony Robbins seminar?)

Finally, a minor complaint. The track listing really isn't optimal, Try listening to Side 2 first, going 6789-12345. It makes much more sense that way, building slowly to a good climax. Instead of bursting out of the gate and then sagging a bit in the middle

Alright, so despite all that, I love it. Why? Because the songwriting is superb; near enough to catchiness to appeal to the average listener yet often quirky enough to hold the interest of the more careful ear. And the performances are great. Sherwood plays a mean Squire, Haun manages to be both Rabin and Howe in one and Kaye and White are as good as they've ever been.

Some people online have compared this album to Talk, but don't be fooled. This is miles better than that (not that that's a difficult task), rarely - if ever - falling into the trap of schmaltz without substance or lengthiness without purpose. Each section leads logically and inevitably to the next, just like good Prog should and when you try to recall exactly how one went, it's just tantalizingly out of reach so you have to listen to the album again.

Unfortunately there's no download option for purchasing the album and the self-released CD is surprisingly expensive considering that it's a medium that's dying largely because of cost. I'm sure those are big factors in the fact that as of this writing only two reviews of this album are up here on PA.

As the previous reviewer of this album, cd, or however we refer to such a production in this day of Information Overload has noted, the lyrics on this album are adequate to not so adequate. . . . The music is very good to excellent. In a sense, this is a concept album; not to the degree of, say, Tales from Topographic Oceans, but with a continuity of theme: a pragmatic idealism regarding human nature, the past, present, and future.

I'd like to take this opportunity to advance a few thoughts on the Rodney Dangerfield of the Yes family: Tony Kaye. For most of us in the U.S., Roundabout and Fragile were our first encounters with Yes. Soon afterwards, we became aware of The Yes Album, Time and a Word, and Yes and the predecessors of Rick Wakeman and of Steve Howe. With our first impressions governed by the virtuosity of Wakeman and Howe, we took a high standard of expectations into our listening of the first three albums. In our youthful zeal, we never gave Kaye or Banks a fair listening. Often, I think of Chris Squire in the Yesyears video of 1991 stating, basically, the departure of Tony Kaye was not the most justified. However, a certain Manifest Destiny has governed the evolution of the band.

Seldom does a musician become as identified with an instrument as Kaye has with the Hammond Organ. Yet, I urge everyone to listen to him on the One Live Badger album in which he almost answers the inequities of his dismissal from Yes. Fortunately, Squire later addressed this wrong in his early 80's invitation to Kaye to become part of Cinema. In our beloved genre of Progressive Rock, Kaye is a rare team player. Interested in evidence of his own virtuosity, please listen to Survival and Harold Land from Yes, or, even, Final Eyes on Big Generator in which his Hammond performance augments the already existing keyboard line of Trevor Rabin. Lastly, I refer again to the '91 Yesyears video. Wakeman and Kaye joke together at the keyboards with Wakeman describing their joint sense of surprise as they discovered what each was actually doing on And You and I and Yours is No Disgrace.

Sherwood, Haun, White, and Kaye have given us a memorable album, extending the legacy of the Yes family and of Progressive Rock in general.

Solid modern Yes album!

The debut album by Circa: is almost a Yes album and it's intelligibly, because if you see the names of the musicians, you'll find out three Yes members (one current - Alan White, two former - the original one - Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood) with a guitarist Jimmy Haun, played on 1991's Union. The musicianship is of high quality and the songs are quite catchy, made in typical Yes style. Yes now aren't producing any studio albums, so if we want to know what they would make, probably the answer is in front of us - something like Circa:. Have a nice trip with this classic sounding album. 3.4 stars

Best songs: Cut the Ties, Don't Let Go and Trust in Something

Keepers of the flame

Yes has so many offshoots in terms of solo and side projects that "Yes Related" could almost be considered a subgenre in its own right here at Prog Archives! Circa's four members all have previous connections to Yes. The two core members are Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye. Billy's association with Yes goes back to the early 90's when he contributed one song to the Union album. He toured with Yes on the Talk tour and then became a full member of the band for Open Your Eyes and The Ladder. Guitarist Jimmy Haun also participated in the creation of Union. Kaye is of course the member of Circa whose history with Yes goes back the furthest as he was a founding members of that band and played on their first three studio albums. In the early 80's Kaye re-joined Yes and recorded a further four studio albums with them. Finally, the drummer in Circa is none other than Alan White who has played with Yes since 1973 until the present day.

Given the members' histories and close association with Yes it should not come as a surprise to anyone that Circa sounds a bit like Yes. Billy Sherwood can even be said to be something of a Chris Squire sound-alike both vocally and on the bass guitar and Jimmy Haun's guitar playing is heavily influenced by that of Steve Howe. As if all these Yes-connections were not enough, Trevor Rabin is credited on two songs and Billy's brother Michael Sherwood (who also played a small part in the Union album) is credited for providing vocoder!

This debut album by the group is a highly professional recording with several good moments, but the material is not the band's strongest. I first heard this album in live format on the Circa: Live DVD where they were performed the whole album. While this album is by no means bad, but it is not the kind of album that deserves to be performed live in its entirety. Thankfully, Circa would go on to make better albums after this one.

I can recommend this album to fans of Yes, but if you have the chance I would say go for the aforementioned Circa: Live DVD instead of this studio album as there you will get all the songs from this album plus a nearly 40 minute long medley of Yes material and one full Yes song.

I admire and respect Billy Sherwood, but much of his music is marked by what I can only describe as a bland sameness. There's a reasonable amount of compositional variety on his solo albums, as well as albums by World Trade and Circa:, but somehow, even his different songs often sound the same. Fortunately, there are exceptions, such as The Big Peace and some of the material he wrote with Chris Squire. But unfortunately, Circa: 2007 fits the pattern, despite the fact that former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin co-wrote two songs, and even though the rest of Circa: (guitarist Jimmy Haun, Yes drummer Alan White, and onetime Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye) are listed as co-writers on the whole album.

"Cut the Ties" is a nice-enough opening song whose ending echoes Rabin's "Love Will Find a Way." But "Don't Let Go" plods too much for a second song. "Together We Are" and "Keeper of the Flame" are ponderous, and aren't really that distinct from "Don't Let Go." For what it's worth, I wouldn't've guessed that either "Don't Let Go" or "Look Inside" were the songs Rabin was involved in writing.

There are some bright spots. "Brotherhood of Man" is novel, and despite its length, it doesn't seem unnecessary long - - a criticism it would be fair to level at most songs on Circa: 2007. "Information Overload" is also unique and catchy. Its lyrics are a bit trite, but poetry was never Sherwood's forté.

Sherwood's expertise is in making records happen and making them sound good, and he certainly delivers here: Circa: 2007 brings together an impressive array of musicians, and it sounds great. Naturally, the performances are very good; Haun is impressive throughout, and especially on "Trust in Something." Sherwood himself does a good job with the bass, and although we know that he can play like Chris Squire, he doesn't do that much here at all. The vocals are Sherwood, no more and no less: they're nothing earth-shattering, but they don't detract from the songs either. And as usual, his multitracked backing vocals are well done (White and Haun are also credited with singing backup).

The production is credited to the band, but Sherwood is listed as having recorded, engineered and mixed Circa: 2007 - - which is probably tantamount to his having really been the producer. It doesn't hurt that he enlisted Joe Gastwirt to do the mastering.

But ultimately, the compositions are pedestrian. Circa: 2007 is not a bad album, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone other than fans of Billy Sherwood or Yes. I'd suggest starting with Sherwoods's solo debut, The Big Peace, or with Yes's Open Your Eyes.