FLY FROM HERE - RETURN TRIP

The Yes band released a re-recorded album called "Fly From Here - Return Trip" this year, reprinting "Fly From Here" in 2011. Although there are some classic pre-rock bands performing re-records of previous works, such as Camel re-recording the classic snow geese, it is good to choose a good one! But I really can't figure out why I chose this general work. Even though the later works in the middle of yes are popular after the popularity, Fly From Here is already very audible as their penultimate studio album. In particular, the Fly From Here suite can also be considered a return to the light, but overall it is only a half-medium Samsung. There was no major change in this re-recording, just adding an unreleased song called Don't Take No for an Answer, which was very popular. Although the feeling of symphony was still there, it was only 4 minutes in length. It also means that repeating the melody is really uninteresting. If you want to score this song, you can only give it to Samsung, and the entire Return Trip can give Samsung half, but I feel that I need to resist this kind of perfunctory. Samsung is not recommended.

A number of artists have produced re-recordings of earlier releases in the last few years. Some are brilliant successes (Camel's new version of 'The Snow Goose'), others have pluses and minuses (Wakeman's re-issues of 'Journey' and 'King Arthur'). 'Fly From Here ' Return Trip' is an almost total success in improving the original album.

I would never have purchased this, but my son gave it to me for Father's Day.

I really like the re-vamped version. Trevor Horn's voice has mellowed and dropped a little since Drama, but he's still a damn good singer. I prefer his voice to Benoit's throughout the whole album.

My main two disappointments with the original album was the disconnectedness of the 'Fly From Here' suite and the performance of Squire's 'The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be'. This release does nothing to sew the disparate parts of the suite together; indeed the radio pings at the end of 'Fly From Here Part 2', while fitting the piece well, does tend to separate it even more from the rest of the tracks that are supposed to be part of a unified work.

One of the generally undiscovered gems of 'Magnification' was Squire's 'Can You Imagine'; I just wish it was longer! So I was bitterly disappointed with 'The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be' on the original. On the new album Trevor Horn's really stand out vocal performance are his harmonies on 'The Man'. This will never be a great song, but it is now very listenable to (in production they also seem to have added a little more 'zing' to Squire's voice on the re-issue). Listen to the two versions back to back to really hear the difference; shows what a really good singer (and producer) can do.

As to the other tracks, all solo vocals are improved. 'Into the Storm' is largely unchanged (very little solo singing), but even the short 'Armies of angels'' sections are improved by Horn's voice. I don't like the new instrumental intro to 'Hour of Need', (the weakest 'group' song on the album), it doesn't really link to the original beginning, but I really liked the 'outro' instrumental section that has been added where Steve Howe really goes to town.

I strongly dislike 'Don't Take No For An Answer'; Howe should never be a lead singer and he should've taken No as the answer from the rest of the band!

Overall the re-working of this album raises my rating from 3 stars to 4.

I must say that I quite like both versions of this album, so irregardless if lead vocals are handled by Benoit or Tevor, the end result works. Definitely the hero here is Steve Howe's playing, and the record is filled with tasteful acoustic and electric licks. Downes and Squire also hold their own, and each bring the unique character playing that they are known for. This is not "imperial period" Yes though, so don't expect anything revolutionary, but so far it's the finest "post Anderson" work we have. There are stirrings in the current Yes camp that new music may be forthcoming in late 2019 or early 2020, so let's hope that they can at least get back to " Fly From Here" form.

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.

Review modified to reflect the Horn remix.

Ten years had passed since their last effort, Magnification, was released, and although it was credible and solid, it began to show the age of the band proper, showcasing at times their struggle to stay musically affluent within the microclimate of today's progressive music. After all, they practically wrote the genre, which through complex time signatures and lofty chord progressions, often caters to fantastic, mythical far away places and familiar elements often associated with the vision harbored here in this forum. For the most part, listeners tend to depend on Yes for extending the boundaries of the progressive rock genre as tempus fugit. But much like The Who returning with the advisedly posthumous Endless Wire a few years prior, Fly From Here: Return Trip represents a much more appropriated bookend for the career of Horn era Yes, less an asterisk, and if the success of this album is any indication, there would be no sign that the band would stop here.

Yes turned the corner with this album, the very theatrical Fly From Here, by reuniting stalwarts Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downes back in the studio with Chris Squire, Steve Howe and Alan White. What began as a lark, with Squire suggesting a return to a demo song that was submitted by the two during the Drama days, it was quickly re-invented into yet another lengthy magnum opus; their first since Keys to Ascension from the 90s. But you know what, it works, and outside the measure of a few instances of self-similarity, the piece resonates as their best work since anything off of Drama back in 1980. Without question, this can be heralded as Yes' return to form with a follow-up that should have been issued immediately afterwards, before their embarrassingly successful 90125 album which was released in its stead, which paved a short, but unmissable road lined with subsequent albums that continued to polarize fans of the genre until their collaboration with Billy Sherwood for Keys to Ascension.

Indeed, Trevor Horn is back in the saddle. He is a sorcerer, that one. His "substitute" vocals are welcome, for those who hanker the Drama format. No disrespect to Benoit David intended. Whether it is Horn's uncanny abilities as one of the best and most successful living producers in the business, or the fact that the band is simply inspired to compose great material once again, he takes leadership of the Yes sound and continues to steer them on course in a direction that was first navigated with precision, like a true machine messiah.

For those not in the know, the original Fly From Here production features, as their frontman, new life in the form of Benoit David, who served as singer replacement for an ailing Jon Anderson. While the steps germane toward this move were, and continue to be surrounded with controversy (Anderson was fired, but notified by an outside source), making the decision to enlist David marks Yes' willingness to continue making great music. David, who worked with long-time prog-rock associate Daryl Stuermer of Genesis fame, hails from the band Mystery. But it was David's efforts as a Yes tribute band front man that garnered Squire's attention from a YouTube video, no less, and ultimately led to his inclusion to the band as lead singer. He may have lacked Anderson's range, but he has fabulous expression and control and his vocals are rightfully up front in the mix. If you are curious about his capabilities, this reviewer implores the reader to investigate the Yes mini-album From A Page.

Fly From Here: Return Trip sounds strangely relevant (read, "modern") in the 20s. Several Yes-fans have opined that Yes without Anderson is borderline profane, but to be fair, it's been done before successfully with the release of Drama. And much how that album would exhibit an awkwardness or peculiarity with Anderson at the mic, this album simply wouldn't feel right without the insertion of Horn's vocal style and approach. The lyrics are expertly expressed and articulated; clearly, Horn offers a signature style throughout the epic suite ("Always under-STOND-ing that we can fly"), in addition Horn's fingerprints are all over the mixing board with his mastery of laying down backing vocals; an angelic choir of sound not tapped into since the Tales of Topographical Oceans era of the 70s.

The rest of the band simply falls into place. Howe sounds wonderful, and has experimented further with the textures and effects of his guitars. The strongest element of change by Howe is his healthy inclusion of minor arpeggios; being a chord master, it is refreshing to hear this side of his guitar repertoire, particularly with his acoustic entries. At the risk of taking away from his layers upon layers of strumming in the past, his approach lately was becoming a bit familiar, if not downright cliché. Here, he proves his mastery and ability to envelope other, more rote techniques? a progression of integrating greater levels of artistry throughout, if one can be so bold. Finally, couched in a family of songs that are as serious as cancer, his solo contribution (Solitaire) is a welcome breath of levity, serving as one of his career-best solo entries.

By now, White has earned his place as a Bruford orderly. Although I might have preferred to hear more drum fills, of his which I always enjoy and are strangely bereft on this album, it is clear he is the cohesion for the rhythm section of this band, and a perfect foil for Squire's delectable bass riffs. To that point, Squire is properly set as coming to the fore "when necessary", as once quoted by Rick Wakeman, whose son Adam contributes on a few songs. Where he really shines, however, is his work on the second track: The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be. Here, he takes on lead vocals, and if there were any justice in the world, he would have the impetus to assume the role twice as often. Squire could sing the side of a cereal box as far as I'm concerned; it would still hold my interest, as his vocals are so distinctive and "comfortable", much like David Gilmore or Eric Woolfson. It may help that he sings one of the strongest, if not the most "Yes-like" songs on the record (others have cited Crosby, Stills and Nash but I hear more Alan Parsons as an influence). His collaboration with Gerard Johnson of Saint Ettiene fame pays off once again; prior to this he teamed with Squire on his second solo effort: Chris Squire's Swiss Choir, which was also outstanding. But nothing beats the pleasantness of this track, particularly the outro, and it outdistances other FM friendly pop being broadcast today by a country mile.

Speaking of influences, when asked who his were when composing music, Geoffrey Downes once cited Claude Debussy? and it shows. Downes has an unprecedented ability to write joyfully tight melodies and laying appropriate textures for foundation, as his work with Asia has demonstrated. But his real talents here lay within the phraseology of voice selection, from organs to pads, bringing together stanzas of material with such celerity that the progression from one idea to the next within each song is seamless. Coupled with Horn's underrated songwriting (his choruses are contagious, staying in your head long, long after the stereo is shut down), you have a contrapuntal tour de force, as evidenced in the coda of the album's closer, Into the Storm, with the reprise of We Can Fly from an earlier track. Perhaps exhibiting just a smidgen of "fan service", examples like these exhibiting such continuity are always welcome in the Yes catalog.

The bottom line is that Fly From Here: Return Trip is a very urgent entry in the Yes canon, and it is filled with interest, teeming with life, and marks their best production effort in over 30 years. What's amazing is that, with their collective levels of experience and long-toothed approach, Yes sounds as virile as they do, as if they are experimenting for the first time with their sound and songwriting craft, and loving it in the process.