CIRCA:

I admire and respect Billy Sherwood, but much of his music is marked by what I can only describe as a bland sameness. There's a reasonable amount of compositional variety on his solo albums, as well as albums by World Trade and Circa:, but somehow, even his different songs often sound the same. Fortunately, there are exceptions, such as The Big Peace and some of the material he wrote with Chris Squire. But unfortunately, Circa: 2007 fits the pattern, despite the fact that former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin co-wrote two songs, and even though the rest of Circa: (guitarist Jimmy Haun, Yes drummer Alan White, and onetime Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye) are listed as co-writers on the whole album.

"Cut the Ties" is a nice-enough opening song whose ending echoes Rabin's "Love Will Find a Way." But "Don't Let Go" plods too much for a second song. "Together We Are" and "Keeper of the Flame" are ponderous, and aren't really that distinct from "Don't Let Go." For what it's worth, I wouldn't've guessed that either "Don't Let Go" or "Look Inside" were the songs Rabin was involved in writing.

There are some bright spots. "Brotherhood of Man" is novel, and despite its length, it doesn't seem unnecessary long - - a criticism it would be fair to level at most songs on Circa: 2007. "Information Overload" is also unique and catchy. Its lyrics are a bit trite, but poetry was never Sherwood's forté.

Sherwood's expertise is in making records happen and making them sound good, and he certainly delivers here: Circa: 2007 brings together an impressive array of musicians, and it sounds great. Naturally, the performances are very good; Haun is impressive throughout, and especially on "Trust in Something." Sherwood himself does a good job with the bass, and although we know that he can play like Chris Squire, he doesn't do that much here at all. The vocals are Sherwood, no more and no less: they're nothing earth-shattering, but they don't detract from the songs either. And as usual, his multitracked backing vocals are well done (White and Haun are also credited with singing backup).

The production is credited to the band, but Sherwood is listed as having recorded, engineered and mixed Circa: 2007 - - which is probably tantamount to his having really been the producer. It doesn't hurt that he enlisted Joe Gastwirt to do the mastering.

But ultimately, the compositions are pedestrian. Circa: 2007 is not a bad album, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone other than fans of Billy Sherwood or Yes. I'd suggest starting with Sherwoods's solo debut, The Big Peace, or with Yes's Open Your Eyes.

Big generator

Ever since the band's birth a decade ago this year, Circa has been moving from strength to strength with each new release. Their previous studio album - And So On, released in 2011 - was already an excellent album, but with the present one they have outdone themselves yet again. Valley Of The Windmill is Circa's fourth studio album and their first to be released on Frontiers records. The new album consist of only four tracks, two of which are of epic lengths (14 and 18 plus minutes respectively) and the other two being somewhat shorter (7 and 9 plus minutes). It is fair to say that this is their most progressive record.

The core of the band is still Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye. Like always Billy handles lead vocals, but interestingly he has changed his instrument from bass to guitar for this record. For followers of Billy's solo career it will come as no surprise that he excels on both instruments. New member Rick Tierney takes over bass guitar duties and the drums are still pounded by Scott Connor. The whole band is in excellent form and they function perfectly together as a unit. I very much hope that Billy now being back full time with Yes will not stand in the way of Circa touring this new material and recording a live album and/or video. Frankly, I would rather see Circa live than the current line-up of Yes.

My expectations for this record were extremely high, and even though I liked it from the start I have to confess that, on the first few listens, the album did not quite meet them. But over further listens the album kept growing on me more and more. And now that it has been spinning in my player an impressive number of times, I consider Valley Of The Windmill to be not only Circa's best album, but one of the best albums Billy Sherwood has ever made and the best album that Tony Kaye has been involved in making since The Yes Album in 1971!

Hopefully, with Valley Of The Windmill Circa will finally get the recognition they deserve, not only among Yes fans but among progressive Rock fans in general.

Very highly recommended!

"As the speed does increase, all the forces released"

Circa has two live releases out so far, with the present one being the most recent to date. At the time of the recording of their first live release, Circa consisted of three ex-Yes members in Billy Sherwood, Tony Kaye, and Alan White, plus Jimmy Haun. The DVD Circa: Live featured a performance of Circa's self-titled debut album in its entirety followed by a 40 minute medley of Yes songs (in chronological order from 1969 to 1999) plus one full Yes song in The More We Live - Let Go from Union (Billy Sherwood's first contribution to a Yes album).

In comparison, Live From Here There & Everywhere focuses entirely on original Circa material; the set list consisting primarily of cuts from their two most recent studio discs, HQ and And So On. As such there is almost no overlap between this and the first live release, which is good. The only song that is featured on both live releases is Together We Are.

White and Haun have since moved on and two new members in Rick Tierney and Scott Connor have been recruited. Note that Billy has changed his position in the band from bass to guitar. He is such a multi-talented musician!

Even though the inclusion of Yes material would have been interesting, it is also nice to see that the band have the courage to concentrate on their own songs. I know that they include some Yes songs in their set lists, but the material selected for this live album is all their own. The songs are generally strong and especially some of the older songs are improved in the live setting compared to the original studio versions. There is a nice vibe and energy to these recordings.

Live From Here There & Everywhere is Circa's best live release to date. Highly recommended!

Information overload, communications overflow

Overflow is a collection of leftover songs from the recordings of previous Circa studio albums. It was first released as a standalone, download only album, but was later included together with the album And So On in a two-in-one album package (with alternative, more appealing cover art). This set is now the best way to get hold of this little collection.

Given that these seven songs were left off the band's regular albums, the natural expectation would be that these would be of lower quality and/or in a style that would not have fitted on those albums. But both of these expectations turned out not to be accurate as what we have here is songs that would indeed have fitted well on the band's albums. Some of the songs included here are even better than some of the tracks that made in onto the self-titled debut album or the follow-up HQ.

If you like Circa's three studio albums and would like to hear some more songs in the same vein, then Overflow is a nice addition to your collection. It is by no means essential listening, but it is a surprisingly enjoyable set of "extra" songs that would not have been out of place on those albums.

"There's no stopping true progress!"

Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye - both previous members of Yes (Sherwood in the 90's and Kaye in the late 60's/early 70's and then again in the 80's to the mid 90's) - have done it again! And So On is Circa's third studio disc and once again they have outdone themselves as this is their best album yet! Compared to previous Circa albums, And So On rocks a bit harder and has more energy. The set of melodies is the strongest coming from the band, and the songs on this album kept growing on me more and more with further listens.

The sound of this album is dominated by Billy's Chris Squire-like bass lines and lead vocals, Tony's powerful organ and keyboards, Steve Howe-like guitar licks from new member Johnny Bruhns, and strong harmony vocals. The new drummer is Scott Connor who also does a good job here. Drawing on all the different eras of Yes from the 60's to the 90's, Circa produce a sound that is similar to that well-known band yet also is something a bit of their own.

It is a real shame that Circa are not more popular around here as they certainly deserve more recognition. If you are a strict purist who only likes the 1972-1977 period of Yes, the music of Circa may not be for you. But if you enjoy all the different eras of Yes, including those that involved Kaye and Sherwood, then you should really give Circa a chance.

Highly recommended!

They could last!

Circa's second studio album HQ is in my opinion a better album than the debut. In terms of sound, there is not much difference between these albums but the material is stronger this time and I find this album more memorable. Also, the focus has shifted slightly from catchy choruses to more instrumental workouts. As such, there is more substance in HQ compared to the debut.

The line-up has changed slightly with Jay Schellen having replaced Alan White on drums, but the rest of the band remains the same with Billy Sherwood on bass and vocals, Tony Kaye on keyboards, and Jimmy Haun on guitar. Sherwood, Kaye, and Haun all have connections with Yes. Kaye was of course one of the founding members of that band and played on their three first studio albums (and re-joined in the 80's and recorded a further four studio albums with them). Sherwood and Haun both participated in the creation of Yes' Union album in 1991 and Sherwood even co-wrote (and co-produced) one of the songs for that album with Chris Squire. Sherwood toured with Yes in support of Talk before becoming a full member for Open Your Eyes and The Ladder. (After that Sherwood also worked with Chris Squire in Conspiracy.) New guy Jay Schellen played with Sherwood before in World Trade and he has also played with Asia recently, another Yes-related band.

In the light of all this, it is fair to say that Circa is connected to Yes in several ways. It should then not come as a surprise to anyone that Circa sounds a bit like Yes. With a running time of over an hour, I feel that this album is maybe slightly too long for its own good, but there are no weak songs as such so it is indeed hard to say exactly what could have been left out. I feel that there is a bit more energy in this album compared to the debut and I enjoy listening to this one more. The songs are a bit more challenging and take more time to get into which os often true about progressive music.

Recommended!

Keepers of the flame

Yes has so many offshoots in terms of solo and side projects that "Yes Related" could almost be considered a subgenre in its own right here at Prog Archives! Circa's four members all have previous connections to Yes. The two core members are Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye. Billy's association with Yes goes back to the early 90's when he contributed one song to the Union album. He toured with Yes on the Talk tour and then became a full member of the band for Open Your Eyes and The Ladder. Guitarist Jimmy Haun also participated in the creation of Union. Kaye is of course the member of Circa whose history with Yes goes back the furthest as he was a founding members of that band and played on their first three studio albums. In the early 80's Kaye re-joined Yes and recorded a further four studio albums with them. Finally, the drummer in Circa is none other than Alan White who has played with Yes since 1973 until the present day.

Given the members' histories and close association with Yes it should not come as a surprise to anyone that Circa sounds a bit like Yes. Billy Sherwood can even be said to be something of a Chris Squire sound-alike both vocally and on the bass guitar and Jimmy Haun's guitar playing is heavily influenced by that of Steve Howe. As if all these Yes-connections were not enough, Trevor Rabin is credited on two songs and Billy's brother Michael Sherwood (who also played a small part in the Union album) is credited for providing vocoder!

This debut album by the group is a highly professional recording with several good moments, but the material is not the band's strongest. I first heard this album in live format on the Circa: Live DVD where they were performed the whole album. While this album is by no means bad, but it is not the kind of album that deserves to be performed live in its entirety. Thankfully, Circa would go on to make better albums after this one.

I can recommend this album to fans of Yes, but if you have the chance I would say go for the aforementioned Circa: Live DVD instead of this studio album as there you will get all the songs from this album plus a nearly 40 minute long medley of Yes material and one full Yes song.

Let me begin by contradicting the previous review. This Circa album is far, far better than the first one, in fact it is an exceptional album.

Now, I am one of those that can not hear anything Asia or related and the first Circa album did not even made it to my CD player. It was after I was forced to hear this one in a car that I did really paid attention to this band. The first Circa album is not my cup of tee, I won't even play it again.

First of all there are a few tunes in here that are incredible good, for Yes fans, Tony Kaye formations, there is plenty to like in this album, as there are so many well crafted organ parts, really a treat ! Just listen to the last cut, "remember aling the way" at 12:35 minutes long the one that stands out for me.

The guitar work is also notable and there are some parts that really makes you want for more.

One of the most tragic things in Prog Rock is its magical ability to find the worst singers available and the worst lyricists in the planet, I am happy to say that in both categories Circa performs very well.

In all one album that deserves better and prejudice, like the one I had just 'cos is Asia related will make you loose the oportunity to listen to une of the jewels of the year, along with Magma, Mouse on Keys, Forgas Band Phenomena, Kotebel, Umphrey's McGee, N.y.X , Gösta Berlings Saga, the decemberist, Zu and Miriodor.

Before being put down by the first review, make your own judgment, get a copy of this album and digest it , you might be as surprised as I was, 'cos I was not expecting such a good album from anywhere near any Asia related band.

Solid modern Yes album!

The debut album by Circa: is almost a Yes album and it's intelligibly, because if you see the names of the musicians, you'll find out three Yes members (one current - Alan White, two former - the original one - Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood) with a guitarist Jimmy Haun, played on 1991's Union. The musicianship is of high quality and the songs are quite catchy, made in typical Yes style. Yes now aren't producing any studio albums, so if we want to know what they would make, probably the answer is in front of us - something like Circa:. Have a nice trip with this classic sounding album. 3.4 stars

Best songs: Cut the Ties, Don't Let Go and Trust in Something

Circa:HQ by Circa is my first big disappointment of 2009! Circa: is typical band I called side project of Yes. The first album by the band was really excitement and it is something like good Yes' music. With this album the situation is completely different.

If someone with quite big name is trying to release new music, it's good to be really music. This album lacks of music overall. The first component of the music is melody. In Circa:HQ there aren't any melody or ideas. There are only four persons, who are playing their specific (for somebody not) instruments. I know very well these guys can play very well, but it's not enough for a mark above the minimum, because it's necessary a musical thought or as we know it songwriting. You cannot find anything of that here.There aren't songs, there are only samples of technique and singing. There are some ideas in some moments of some songs. There are melody in the refrains of two or three songs, but that's all! Nothing above the minimum mark!