FLY FROM HERE - RETURN TRIP

A good version, but get the original first.

I thought Fly From Here was fantastic when it was released in 2011. Other than the inclusion of a bonus track and an extended version of one of the original songs, the real difference between the original and this 2018 version is that Trevor Horn's vocals have replaced those of Benoît David. Other modifications have been made, but the contributions of Steve Howe (guitar and vocals), Chris Squire (bass and vocals), Alan White (drums), and Luís Jardim (percussion) have not been altered, although they are mixed differently, and in a few cases, different takes seem to have been used. Keyboardist Geoff Downes re-did at least some of his 2011 parts, but I don't think I could tell you which ones.

Horn's vocals aren't as good as David's, but they're OK, so, it's hard for me to rate Fly From Here - - Return Trip as if it's an entirely different album from the original. I awarded the original Fly From Here four stars a couple of years ago, but have since decided that it deserves five. I'm giving Fly From Here - - Return Trip just three stars and rationalizing it the following way.

First, older is not better, even in a genre which many of its adherents consider to be forty years past its peak. Of course, this isn't a case of old vs. new; really, it's just two versions of the same album - - and yet one was indeed released six or seven years earlier than the other. Considering Fly From Here - - Return Trip on its own merits, never having heard the original, I'd award five stars. But Return Trip isn't sufficiently different or definitive to consider as a separate work. Five Prog Archives stars means "essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music," and, as I do consider this work a masterpiece, five stars is appropriate for the original Fly From Here. Three stars indicates "good, but non-essential." I'm considering Fly From Here - - Return Trip not essential because of the availability of the original. If the 2011 Fly From Here were to go out of print, I'd probably have to consider changing my rating here. Luckily, given how cheap it is to keep digital albums in print, this doesn't seem likely.

The way it should have been from the start

The Yes line-up that created Drama in 1980 reunited in 2011 to record a belated follow up album. Yet, even though all five members from the Drama-era where right there in the studio, the band decided to hire a new lead vocalist in Benoit David letting original Drama vocalist Trevor Horn remain in the producer's chair during the proceedings. My theory as to why this was the case is simply that the band where planning to tour and that Horn never felt comfortable as a front man in the live setting. So, in preparation for the tour it made sense to them at that time to use David as lead vocalist also on the studio album. The truth is though that as a studio unit, the five man line-up had all the vocal resources they needed without hiring any more people. With no disrespect whatsoever intended towards Benoit David, who did a fine job on the album and live, the fact is that had it not been for the plan to tour, they never would have needed him in the first place.

This new 2018 version of Fly From Here, subtitled "Return Trip", proves my point. Horn has now remixed the album and added his own lead vocals, and made some other subtle changes to the mix as well. A couple of less subtle changes is the addition of a previously unreleased track on which Steve Howe sings lead, called Don't Take No For An Answer, and an extended version of Hour Of Need.

It is interesting for fans to notice the differences between the two versions, but for newcomers it is quite enough with one version. And my recommendation is that the 2018 version is the one to go for. The rating has to remain the same as for the 2011 version, it is after mainly all the same album.

Everyone surely knows the story about the original album by now. Chris Squire re-discovered the song "Fly From Here" from the 'Drama' sessions, and was talking to Trevor Horn about it. They agreed to record the song with the current line- up, with Horn producing, but when they commenced doing a full album, a decision was made to replace keyboard player Oliver Wakeman and bring back Geoffrey Downes as he was closer to the original material. In other words, it was the 'Drama' line-up except with Benoît David on vocals. For some fans, such as myself, this was the best album the band had released in many years, and actually became the first I spent a lot of time listening to since 'Drama' itself, which I always felt was a massively overlooked and castigated release. In many ways it is no surprise that we now have this new version, and there must have been conversations at the time of having Horn sing lead vocals and fully resurrecting the 'Drama' line-up, but given this would have been toured, something which Horn could not commit to, then this would be why they struck with David. I have been a fan of Mystery since before David joined that band, so had followed his career with the Canadians, and always felt he was a great fit with Yes and certainly much better than Jon Davidson.

Anyway, apart from Horn's vocals taking over from David's, we have some slightly remixed tracks, the addition of an unreleased Steve Howe vocal track "Don't Take No For An Answer", and an extended version of "Hour Of Need". The question must be "why bother?", as there is only the need for one of the albums, and Squire signed off on the original mixes and he is not around now to make suggestions or alterations. Being a cynic at heart, possibly someone suggested it might be an idea to come out with a different version of their most well-received album in years given the glowing (NOT!) reaction to 'Heaven and Earth'. I cannot be the only Yes fan who is not actually looking forward to hearing 'The Quest'. If you are a fan of Yes then you will already have the original, and many will get this for completeness (guilty), but of the two I will return to the original and I am sure many will play this once and then do the same.