PRE

Pre did not have Yes studio budget though so the sound is not on par with a Yes album. But the sound is still good enough. Pre's vocalist, Alfred Collinsworth, sounds very much like Jon Anderson. The same can be said for the other instruments which mimicks the mother bands musicians.

What's not on par is the quality of the songs. Only the nineteen long Ballet For A Blind Man is anywhere near anything from Fragile or Close To The Edge. But Ballet For A Blind Man is a very good song though. The rest of the songs are good to OK though.

This album in it's own right is a good album and a must have album for all Yes fanatics. But it does not win (m)any stars on originality though.

3 stars

"Water Meeting", "Ascetic Eros", "Firmer Hand" and 19-minute "Ballet For A Blind Man" are all great songs and while I did compare them to Yes earlier, they are original and melodic enough and they sound refreshing to me, but I don't how more experienced listeners would feel. These outweigh the lesser shorter songs by a truckload so they shouldn't bother you. I did give 4 stars though cause they are mostly acoustic ballad oriented, and when listening to them in the order they don't really foreshadow how great the rest of the album is. But that is probably just nitpicking on my side, I really recommend this one.