FLY FROM HERE

In a dark era like this one we're living now (mainly for those who were born in it and didn't experience other decades, just like me, born in 1992) in which Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry et caterva are the ones who lead the charts all over the world, if a band (or solo artist) releases something that goes the opposite way, not thinking about money/fame/success/sleeping with fans, I think we should just not be hypocrites, recognise its effort and give this band the credit it deserves. For instance: I was amazed by Space Revolver, by The Flower Kings, simply because it was released in 2000, but sounded like a 70's Prog album.

Now imagine if this band we are talking about is... YES ! Wow, come on... we've been expecting a new album since 2001 ! I was filled with sheer joy when I first heard Yes was going to release this "Fly From Here" album.

I first listened to it soon after it was released, in July 2011. I adored it. It made me feel like Prog wasn't dead after all, and this is really something to a Prog fan ! I thought about listening to it again, but I simply forgot it and carried on with my life. Today, more than one year after, I've had the chance (and desire) to listen to it in the morning: wow ! The same feelings ! I knew the only way to show my appreciation was to write this review.

This is really something great, people. We have Squire, Howe and White as the "original" members, plus Downes, who played in Drama, Oliver Wakeman, who bears a strong resemblance to his father (not only physically, but also in his way of playing; sometimes, I just thought it was Rick playing those synths !) and Benoît David, the then-new vocalist whom I had the chance to see live with Yes in São Paulo in November 2010.

I'm not even going to say "I wished Anderson was the singer here", because we all know this is "past" now. I do hope they reunite one day, for I prefer Jon over Trevor, Benoît and Jon Davison, but this is what they had at the time and it's fine to me: he is a very accomplished singer and I do like his voice and vocal style !

Besides, I didn't know what to expect from this record regarding the sound of the band, but I have to admit that I was surprised by this "very new Yes sound". Not as good as old Yes, but, at the same time, very different from the "new Yes" (Open Your Eyes, Keys to Ascension, The Ladder, Magnification...). Also, this is nothing like Drama to me. People call it "Drama 2" or say they are very similar (maybe because of the line-up Squire/Howe/White/Downes and Horn at production, but I guess the different singer and the contributions of Oliver helped making this one not so close to the one from 1980. I would even say this album is more pleasant to me than Drama, although I rated it 4-stars too).

Furthermore, I really hope the guys from the band enter the studio, at least, once more, probably next year, as Squire confirmed in interviews !

To conclude, I can only add that giving this album a 5-star rating would be very unfair to The Yes Album, CTTE, TFTO, Relayer and many other 5-star albums out there in the Prog world, but it surely deserves a 4-star rating, as it is an excellent addition to any music collection. By the way, I also gave 4 stars to Magnification, the previous album, once it is great as well, but with a small difference: I like all the 6 songs from this one, whilst some in Magnification feel just like "album-fillers" to me (from it, I "only" truly like the title-song, In The Presence Of, Don't Go and Can You Imagine; the others have some good bits on them, but are not great at all).

So... buy this album and enjoy it, for this is what we have now in Prog world and that's the Yes from the present; if you don't like it, pick your Close to the Edge or Selling England by the Pound and pretend you're still in the 70's !

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