Heaven and Earth damage control / spin has begun

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: It's strange, the only band that Roy Thomas Baker has been a fit with was Queen, where the results turned out very well on that run of early to mid seventies albums! But was a looooooooooong time ago now!

Baker also had a run of multi platinum albums with The Cars in the early 70's. What does that tell you.

richardh wrote: Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: It's strange, the only band that Roy Thomas Baker has been a fit with was Queen, where the results turned out very well on that run of early to mid seventies albums! But was a looooooooooong time ago now! Lone Star's debut album was very good to be fair Anyway I agree with most of what you say on Yes. Its a good album if expectations are kept in check.. What concerns me more is the damage to Glass Hammer since Davison became only a part time member as Ode To Echo is their weakest album for a long time. Yes are a spent force as regards 'prog rock' but GH still have something to offer.

Haven't heard the Lone Star album, thanks Richard!

Glass Hammer's `Ode'...I have been spinning this every day for the past couple of weeks....yes, it's well played, well sung, well performed...yet there's something so safe, predictable and really quite unthrilling about it. I can't quite put my finger on what is wrong with it yet...I don't think it helps that they're putting out an album every single year....I guess they're just taking advantage to their raised profile due to Yes....speaking of which....

Glass Hammer disappointed me recently on their Facebook page. They are no doubt a little bitter about the reduced role Davison gets to have with them now, but they posted a rather cheap remark in regards to `Heaven and Earth'. When the first few negative reviews started showing up for it, they posted a link to them on their FB page with an `Ouch!' comment...I thought they were a little gutless, and it was a real cheap shot. If it were not for Davison and his now association with Yes, a ton of Yes fans would never have looked into Glass Hammer, and their profile in prog circles would still be at the exact point it was at years ago....

By the way, Richard, your `Three Cheers for the Broken Hearted' review really helped me write mine, so thanks!

Edited by Aussie-Byrd-Brother - September 09 2014 at 23:53

I haven't heard their new album yet, but when I bought Fly from Here a few years back, I didn't put on Close to the Edge before I give it a listen to compare the two. I just put it on to see how it sounded. It started great, and then the new vocalist completely took me by surprise. I didn't even bother to find out that someone else would be singing on it. At first I didn't particularly like him. I came back a year or two later and tried it again, and enjoyed it much more.

Anyway, I'll give go check out Heaven and Earth once the finances allow for it.

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: You make an interestng point, Tom, and I'll go you one further... We all know Pink Floyd have a MASSIVE fanbase, the majority of which (I think) have no idea what the F `Prog Rock' is. They're just a big band known for `arty' rock music. Now, I think there's probably more Yes fans that know what prog is, but I'm wondering...Are more Yes fans supporters from the 80's pop/commercial period, so that's why albums like `Heaven and Earth' - and `The Ladder', `Open Your Eyes', etc - are mostly based around commercial/straightforward compositions as opposed to more proper progressive workouts? I actually assumed that there's much more vintage 70's fans these days that their 80's fans, hence the reason so little material (except `Owner...', of course) from the 80's is performed live anymore...

Yeah, I would too think that right now there are more fans of Yes music from the 70's than the 80's, and I would assume that they know it, since that's the music they play the most live. I would guess that the music thay have made is more because of what they are feeling and what they are capable of doing anymore. They must have a rather critical shortage of ideas, since they had to make use of some 80's leftovers for their last album, and they were rather happy about getting a new singer who could actually write music (suposedly).

I don't dislike the idea of covers albums so much. Plus, back in the early days, the covers Yes made were really great, making the songs their own. However, I somehow doubt they have the energy to transform a song that way anymore.

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: Besides, at least it wasn't a covers album!

Don't give them any ideas!
Lordy lordy...

I'm thinking that the members of Yes don't give a hoot about what Proggers want, they have enough of a loyal fan-base to keep the ball rolling. They are just composing songs they believe in, and that's that. There's enough classic Yes influenced bands doing amazing things out there (Magenta come to mind) that it doesn't really matter to them anymore.

Best song on the album is far and away Subway Walls, but even this track is only paying 'lip service' to their better selves. Light Of The Ages is also decent.

RTB is 'winding down' too.....
Just listened to H&E again, and it's getting better as the material is sinking in, but they may as well have re-named the band Crystal Wrench or something.......