ANDERSON / STOLT

Review Nº 712

As a teenage prog fan I was privileged to have listen and buying many of the classic albums during the early 70's. My passion for the genre waned however during the 80's, and it wasn't until the mid of the 90's and the emergence of band's like Glass Hammer, Spock's Beard and The Flower Kings, fronted by Roine Stolt, that my interest was rekindled. Somehow they captured and revitalised the sound and the spirit of the early 70's, whilst retaining their own identity.

However, my personal tastes have shifted towards to a darker and heavier music in the past years, in part due to the influences of my two sons. Still, I've always kept in constant contact with my musical roots, namely Yes, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Genesis, Camel, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant and Van Der Graaf Generator, the bands that have had the longest and greatest impact during my lifetime, since my teenage beginning until these days.

Anderson and Stolt are two prog musicians that began their musical career in the 70's. Anderson is best known as the lead singer of the prog rock band Yes, which he co-founded in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across three tenures between 1968 and 2008. Many consider him as the soul of Yes. He is also noted for his solo career and collaborations with some artists, including Vangelis, Roine Stolt and Jean-Luc Ponty. He has also appeared on albums of King Crimson, Tangerine Dream, Iron Butterfly, Mike Oldfield and Glass Hammer. Stolt is a Swedish guitarist, vocalist and composer. He is a major figure in the Sweden's prog rock history. Many consider him as the father of the Swedish prog rock. He was in two of his country's most successful prog rock bands, Kaipa in the 70's and The Flower Kings in the 90's. He has collaborated with other prog artists, participating in many other prog projects.

It was in that context that "Invention Of Knowledge" falls. Still and despite so many years of career of both, Anderson and Stolt were never together in the studio. In fact, the two met only twice. Anderson sent music to Stolt, including those he had worked with some of his other musical contacts years before. Anderson and Stolt continued to develop the original ideas via Internet, and in 2015, Stolt then put together a high class ensemble that recorded the music.

When we heard that two legendary figures of prog rock, the ex-Yes vocalist Anderson, and Stolt of The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, and Kaipa, would be joining together to create an album, expectations were indeed quite high. Thankfully, the duo didn't frustrated all those expectations, as their initial recording together, "Invention Of Knowledge", brings together all the elements of what we love about all the classic acts they have each been involved with over the years.

The music contained on "Invention Of Knowledge" is melodic symphonic prog rock music, filled with grand sweeping arrangements that allow Anderson his still enchanting vocal delivery. Stolt with his tasty guitar playing is great, at times seeming to pay tribute to the legendary Steve Howe. The album sounds like a meeting of Yes and The Flower Kings, but I don't think any of us expected anything otherwise, really. Much of "Invention Of Knowledge" has an epic, long form broadness that isn't unlike "Tales From Topographic Oceans" or some of The Flower Kings more grandiose releases such as "Unfold The Future" or "The Sum Of No Evil". The opening three part title suite is a perfect example of that, chock full of majestic arrangements that allow Stolt's nimble guitar lines to weave and battle with quirky keyboard tapestries, all while Anderson's pixie melodies grab the listener by the heart. "Knowing" has a more "Going For The One" feel, with a catchy melody that will instantly grab you much like "Wonderous Stories" did all those years ago, but at over 10 minutes long, of course it leaves plenty of room for alluring guitar solos, sumptuous keyboards, and some few lead seductive bass lines. The charming "Chase And Harmony" combines lush, pastoral sections with moments of symphonic, almost classical orchestrations, Stolt's guitar work at times captures the majesty of Brian May, while the emotional three part "Everybody Heals" suite contains some lovely Anderson's lead vocals supported by rich backing vocals and gorgeous piano and synthesizer works, with Stolt also dropping in a few inspired lead guitar solos. The closing number "Know..." pushes past the 11minute timeframe and is easily the most pastoral track here on "Invention Of Knowledge", filled with drifting keyboard washes, melodic guitar leads, and some Anderson's great vocal passages.

Conclusion: If you are a bit disappointed by the most recent Yes' offering, I urge you to give "Invention Of Knowledge" a try. You might be pleasantly surprised. "Invention Of Knowledge" maybe falls short of perfection, but this is prog personified and it's easily one of the strongest progressive rock albums released in the last years by the classic prog generation. It might sounds to you too much close to "Tales From Topographic Oceans" or to "Olias Of Sunhillow", but I don't care. I still love both albums. This is a majestic epic prog album, hand crafted by two of the legendary masters of the genre. Get your copy of this beautiful piece and thank you Anderson and Stolt for sharing this great music with us.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

I think my ears got cavities listening to this over the past week. Jon Anderson and Roine Stolt certainly seem like a match made in Heaven when it comes to their philosophies on life and so I wasn't too surprised to hear that this is a wordy album. I'm not sure if it's a concept album but it comes across that way to me with the focus on the lyrics over the instrumental work and compositions. They need to get the story across at any costs which is why I usually am not into the concept record. This at the very least is a themed album where Jon and Roine spread their flowers and love upon us in the YES/THE FLOWER KINGS tradition.

Jon's voice is in great form on here which was my biggest take away. I admit to having nothing to do with YES or Anderson post 80's and for good reason but he clearly was into singing these words. Instrumentally it's the bass that impressed me not surprisingly with Michael Stolt doing that and taurus bass pedals but Jonas Reingold is also here and he's a beast man. Roine comes to the fore with his familiar sounding guitar but again this is a vocal driven album where everything else takes a back seat. I do like how some songs blend into the next one over the 65 minutes and nine tracks.

The fourth track "Knowledge" is where we first get some instrumental authority with the organ helping out and it's interesting that less than half way through this track it becomes calm and stays that way to the end. There is a fair amount of piano on this record leading the way and they do contrast and repeat themes a lot. Jon says this is not progressive rock but progressive music. The closer "Know" is the longest at over 11 minutes and during the first half I kept thinking they had a guest female singer but nope that's Jon. The album ends with those piano melodies.

I liked this more than I thought I would but without question in my music world this is not close to a 4 star record.

I've never been a fan of Jon Anderson's solo albums, but was intrigued by what a combination of writing skills of Anderson and Roine Stolt would achieve. Jon Anderson achieves his best work collaborating with other talented artists like Steve Howe, whose song writing idol is Bob Dylan, or with Rick Wakeman, whose classical background allows the structure and form for Jon Anderson's ideas to breathe. Unfortunately, I think Roine Stolt is too enamored with Jon Anderson's standing and reputation in the prog community to involve himself in the writing of the album and limits his involvement to his guitar playing skills. Other great artists contribute to the playing as well ' Jonas Reingold on bass, Tom Brislin on keyboards, Michael Stolt on bass and Moog and Felix Lehrmann on drums. And Jon Anderson hasn't lost any of the power and range of his amazing voice, despite an age pushing 70.

With such incredible musicians and an array of instruments out of prog paradise you'd think there would be enough to appetize the listener, but the luster of the instrumentation fades after about the second song. One doesn't know when one song finishes and the next starts and there is nothing memorable which sticks in the mind. There just aren't the key shifts in the music and the modulations that distinguishes one verse from the next and gives the music its tonality. I found myself persevering with the music to a point where I just found it too plodding to continue with. This is one of the very few albums I was unable to get to the finish listening to it.

Better than most Jon Anderson solo albums.

Many reviewers have suggested this album comes across as a parts Olias of Sunhillow and Tales from Topographic Oceans, and I would not, on the whole, disagree. However, it is missing key elements of both albums that pushed them into 'excellent' territory. On the positive side, all the music on this album is highly listenable all the way through, which can't be said for most Jon Anderson solo albums (which often have duds that must be skipped over, except Olias of course), and all of the pieces here are solid even if not highly memorable. Jon Anderson's lyrics here are also pretty good - better than a lot of his more cheesy lyrics on some of his solo albums, and his voice has kept well - he sounds pretty darn good for a 70-year old! So, good on these scores, and worth picking up for these reasons. On the negative side, the vocals are too constant, with insufficient instrumental breaks. While I generally love Jon Anderson's vocals, too much of a good thing can be a bit tiring to listen to - there is not sufficient time to wander off into the music before perking up one's ears again for the lyrics. Related to this, while the music behind the lyrics is excellent, it is not sufficiently the focus of the album. Often the excellent playing is too low in the mix (leaving the vocals always up front and centre), and the musical interludes are too short. Among the great thing about Yes (and the Flower Kings and Roine Stolt's solo work) was/is the high degree of musicality in their instrumental sections, and you can hear right away the potential for this in this album too, but alas there are no extended instrumental pieces (not even extended new-age-y ethereal tails like on Olias) - AND there are not enough guitar solos! Roine Stolt is a fantastic player and on a duet album one would like to hear him play the guitar some more (there are a number of short solos, but most are more like bridges or transitions than real solos). Saying all this, I don't want to give a bad impression of this album - it is actually very good for what it is and worth hearing. I have listened to this about 10 times now, and I find a number of sections quite musical, and nothing is off-putting. But it is not quite 4-star material. I give this album 7.7 on my 10-point scale, which translates to 3 PA stars.

When I read that Jon Anderson and Roine Stolt would collaborate, I thought 'Why hasn't this happened sooner?' Well, after returning to this album several times over a period of half a year, I can safely say that I'm thoroughly disappointed with the outcome. Now, this is not a bad album but it is neither great. The problem is the lack of diversity within the album. Each song blends seamlessly into the next and it's hard to know that you are on track four when it still sounds like track one.

The vocals are always out front, and Anderson's vocals are still good considering his age, but I was hoping Stolt would at least contribute one vocal track to the album. It would have adding some needed change. Then there is a distinct lack of instrumental sections. Where is the energy? There is one short jazzy instrumental section at the end of 'Everybody Heals,' yet after about ten listens over the past half year, I was hoping for more than two memorable minutes from the album.

And that sums up the experience for a me. A nice, mellow, uplifting album but utterly forgettable. 2.5 stars from me because two stars seems a bit too low so I'll just round it up to three.

Tales From Soporific Oceans...

On paper it couldn't miss: a collaboration between YES icon Jon Anderson and guitarist Roine Stolt of THE FLOWER KINGS, in a return to the sort of long-form Symphonic Rock not heard from Anderson in decades. The finished album was advertised (in a big sticker smack-dab on the CD cover) as "new music in the spirit of early works such as Tales From Topographic Oceans & Olias of Sunhillow" ...strictly sales talk, but the comparison caught on, in a textbook model of autosuggestion.

Reviews so far have been glowing, enough to warrant a dissenting opinion. And here it is, from a reluctant spoilsport old enough to recall when the music of Jon Anderson and Yes really did strive toward "The Revealing Science of God".

As a bridge uniting two generations of Progressive Rock, the new album is built of flimsy stuff. The original "Topographic Oceans", keep in mind, found its genesis in the ancient Hindu shastras described by Paramahansa Yogananda in his autobiography, famously introduced to Anderson by maverick King Crimson percussionist Jamie Muir. "Invention of Knowledge", in contrast, was born poolside aboard a luxury Prog Rock cruise ship sailing the Caribbean, with free food, fine drinks, and a casino belowdecks.

The so-called collaboration was ersatz from the start. Jon Anderson would email ideas to Sweden, where Stolt force-fit them onto older, unreleased music of his own before sending them back to California for more amendments (and still more lyrics) by Anderson, working alone on his home studio computer. The only time the two were actually in the same room was during a promotional photo shoot.

All a sign of the times, in this Brave New World of web-linked music production. But still a lousy way to write and record an album. It's no wonder the outcome resembled a lesser Flower Kings effort, featuring a celebrity guest vocalist who sounds like he wandered into the studio by chance and began singing about Ley lines before anyone could stop him.

Maybe Stolt was reluctant to assert himself over material developed (suggested, really) by an obvious idol. We could have then been spared this tepid collection of uninspired soft-prog, certainly effective in spots, but with a numbing uniformity in tone and tempo over its 65-minute length. Olias of Sunhillow? Try Olias of Sleepy Hollow instead...

Mine is a minority opinion, to be sure. But no way is the album worthy of comparison to classic Prog, sounding to this Grinch more like something the Whos of Whoville would sing while carving their holiday roast beast. Quoting Jon Anderson himself, from an earlier and more enlightened age of Progressive expression: What happened / To wonders / We once knew so well?

Back in the 1980s, Jon Anderson was invited to sing in what was to become that decade's version of Yes. Along with Chris Squire and Alan White, as well as Yes alumnus Tony Kaye, and driven by Trevor Rabin, this version of the band played a much more pop driven style, dancing around the fringes of prog. But Anderson was not completely content with that. He eventually assembled old friends Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe and Bill Bruford into a more traditional Yes-sounding band.

More recently, during an extended bout with illness, Anderson asked the Yes of that day for a break from touring. Instead of either putting Yes on hiatus, or finding a temporary replacement singer, the group unceremoniously fired him. In the years since, Yes has recorded two fair, but mostly unremarkable albums with two different replacement singers. While these albums again have hints of that old Yes spark, they are missing some key ingredients of what Yes was about.

Joining up now with Roine Stolt and a band of Stolt's cohorts, Anderson has now proven that he is the keeper of the soul of Yes.

Their first (I do hope this band continues) album is an inspired suite of four linked songs, split into nine movements, with underlying themes, lyrically and musically, that weave throughout the album. It is an uplifting, spiritual piece that sound more like Yes than anything the present members of the group have come up with.

I compare this album favorably with "Tales From Topographic Oceans", another full-album concept piece.

Stolt takes care to deliver the Yes sound, crafting his guitar to simulate Howe's unique technique, both in phrasing and tone. And both bass players that perform here, Jonas Reingold and Michael Stolt, do a fine approximation of Chris Squire's outstanding melodic bass lines.

Anderson's lyrics are in the classic Yes vein, positive and spiritual, without focusing on any particular religion or dogma.

On the whole, this album revives the Yes experience better than anything any of the members have released in decades. If I could give any advice to the remaining Yes, it's "Do whatever you can to get Anderson back!!!!"

2016 finds a certain Prog God in marvellously rude health and top form. The aforesaid award for Jon Anderson was, in my opinion, thoroughly well deserved. There is a tour, long promised, with fellow Yes cohorts Trevor Rabin and Rick Wakeman, which, to all accounts, seems to have been extremely well received. And, to start off the year, this collaboration with Roine Stolt, he of Flower Kings fame, with more than a little contributed by a stellar backing band, including the marvellous Jonas Reingold, Stolt's Kings collaborator on bass, and the wonderful Tom Brislin on keys (whose piano work especially on Chase and Harmony is clear and uplifting), this marking a return to working with Anderson.

The album was created over the Internet, Anderson's preferred method of recording, with vocals and musical ideas and compositions sent to each protagonist over the ether. The idea started when Stolt and the Transatlantic boys had Anderson singing Yes classics with them on one of those prog cruise trips which are in vogue at the moment.

Structurally, the album is, understandably, an attempt to recreate the feel of Yes classics from the Topographic symphonic heyday, although, perhaps more than many others who have commented on the album, I feel that Stolt and his unique Flower Kings sound and feel is also stamped over the work. It is not a collection of songs, as such, but a group of suites joining together to segue into a whole body of work. I also think that the Topographic comparison was, in reality, a clever marketing ploy to bring us classic Yes fans on board. They needn't have bothered, because the album stands up more than well enough on its own as a symphony of modern progressive rock, utilising the latest technology and loving production to bring a vision to life.

Does it work? Undeniably, yes. Those who do not buy in to Anderson's mystical view of life, the universe, and everything, will probably not be converted by this, because it is very much his lyrical creation, in keeping with many of his better solo albums. I do buy into this, so it is not a problem for me.

For the first few listens, in fact, you do feel that he is in danger of drowning out the music lyrically and vocally. It is not the case, however, when you become familiar with the album and allow it to wash over and influence you, for example allowing the sheer lifting beauty of We Are Truth, with Anderson sounding better than he has in years, accompanied by a choral backdrop, and the most beautiful soaring symphonic noise, extremely reminiscent of Stardust We Are period Kings (Knowing, by the way, could easily have fitted on that exceptional album), then you know that what you have here is classic progressive rock played by its leading proponents, classic and modern.

Listen to the orchestration on Everyone Heals, and then recoil at the power of Stolt's riff, before Anderson introduces the vocal with a fragile power one thought had been lost to us forever.

Some of Stolt's guitar work really is to be treasured (the delicate sounds produced on Knowledge with the sounds of the ocean waves lapping over it are simply wonderful), and Reingold has his fret fingers working as if it is the last thing he will ever do, and wants to go out on a high.

Both of them have promoted this album with vigour, and it quite clearly is a work of some importance to them. I heard Anderson on BBC Radio on more than one occasion, and he is clearly revelling in the autumn of his career. Given that it is only a few years since he almost died, I thank God that he has survived to carry on his musical legacy to the world. I also wonder what would have been had Squire and Howe showed just a little bit more patience, and allowed him the recovery time he needed, because one thing is for sure. This is a far better, rounded, and genuine "Yes" album than the debacle that was Heaven and Earth, or Fly From Here, as much as I enjoyed the suite on the latter.

This is an excellent album, which all lovers of genuine symphonic prog will want to own. For the PA rating system, four stars, but 4.5 if we had such a rating. I, for one, would like to see this collaboration continue to see where it takes them. To the stars, I think!

The prolific Jon Anderson has been quite a busy man lately, having recovered from illness with a new found energy and passion, a trait that disproves the long held misconception that rock music is the governance of the young and only the young. Beyond 71 years of age, he continues to voyage into unfamiliar territories such as his long delayed cooperation with Jean-Luc Ponty, a thoroughly successful venture that yielded the aptly named 'Better Late than Never' album and subsequent well-applauded tour. Here, he has teamed up with Swedish mastermind Roine Stolt of the Flower Kings and Transatlantic fame, to create a very Yes-like opus that proves only that the creative juices that inspired him in the glory days of progressive rock, still has a resonating voice and audience today. Sadly, the judgmental universe that we now live in will give way to some unfair and foolish criticism from shameless detractors who need to fuel their pill-fed apathy (to stay awake at the keyboard at the very least) by puncturing this symphonic opus with brazen detritus. Well, like they say at the hardware store: screw them! If you no like, move the hell on!

Gathering a rather stellar crew of familiar faces from both the FK, such as bassist extraordinaire Jonas Reingold, drummer Felix Lehrmann and former FK bassman Michael Stolt) and from the Yes side, Tom Brislin, whilst including the supremely talented Swedish keyboardist Lalle Larsson, the two protagonists certainly have aimed precisely at what they wanted to achieve, a classic sounding Progressive Rock album. Both Anderson and Stolt have never sounded better and more confident, and truth be said, you can hear the enthusiasm displayed throughout. Let us be honest first of all, this collaboration has more musical width and breath than anything spewed by Yes since , my goodness' since Relayer!

That being said, the nine tracks do flow into one another rather seamlessly, a very linear sounding series of arrangements within each piece that get busy one moment and quite atmospheric the next, as on the end of 'Knowledge', where the swirling effects really take hold. As with the Ponty collaboration, the music is totally uplifting, spirited if not necessarily overtly spiritual, spiced by occasional bursts of energetic gusto and dazzling playing by all instrumentalists. Roine can carve with the best of them, a talented guitarist who can infuse a variety of styles that span the gamut of influences, from Howe, Hackett and Gilmour to more oblique talents such as Allan Holdsworth. He can play fast, controlled and delirious when prompted. While Squire has always been a giant, Reingold is one hell of a player, seeing him live seals the deal. A monster.

I also cannot help noticing that three songs contain the sound NO (as opposed to'Yes) in Know, Knowledge and Knowing. Coincidence? Nah, must be my meds. Yeah, I know (no). In fact, all the titles have a positive spin and message. Eat that Steve Wilson!

The glorious track 'Knowing' is an 11 minute celestial epic that reeks the most of 'Close to the Edge', owner of a skilled melody and some complex orchestrations, Lalle's divine grand piano, screeching synth swirls and a fully determined vocal performance that is easily among the very best ever captured by a microphone. The two follow up pieces 'Chase & Harmony' and 'Everybody Heals' are equally masterful expressions of musical craftsmanship and passionate delivery. Shorter ditties offer hope and salvation, 'Better by Far' and 'Golden Light', a lovely diversion that goes straight to the owner of lonely Heartstrings and pulls on them delicately. The jazzy, windswept and airy 'Know' is an 11 minute tropical paradise of topographic ocean breezes, Jon's voice a warm zephyr that soothes the soul and medicates the mind, a beach with grandiose piano, shuffling bass, brushed cymbals and a laid back, laissez-faire attitude. 'An answer to a promise that delivered you' as Roine swirls his guitar like Carlos Santana. Totally delicious.

I enjoyed the whole enchilada, an album that will need made more listens and new details to discover, so dense this is. I was expecting something a bit lamer I guess and I was wrong. The cover artwork, booklet and inlay are truly first-class and worth the eye candy.

4.5 Devices of Awareness

Wow, a collaboration of Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings and Jon Anderson of Yes! How exciting to see the old school and the not-so-old school (Roine will be 60 later in 2016) working together! Or is it?? That's the question my mind pondered as I fell asleep multiple times while listening to this. Or perhaps the meaning of this music is simply above the ability of my brain to comprehend? Like it was intended for spirits in another dimension to listen to and maybe humans simply have not evolved (at least in my case) enough to understand Anderson's enlightened gibberish.

Let's get the first thing everyone wants to know out of the way. Does it sound like the Flower Kings? No. Does it sound like Yes? Barely. What does it sound like? It sounds like the plodding, slow-moving, new age music Anderson has featured on many of his solo albums (Olias of Sunhillow is one reference point), with an occasional Howe-like nod from Stolt. There really is no prog rock workout here. It plods along at the same speed for over an hour, occasionally reaching minor crescendos in places. The music is by no means simple either. It has some complexity to it in an almost orchestral fashion. And with musicians such as Lalle Larsson, Jonas Reingold, Tom Brislin, and Felix Lehrmann at their disposal, I'm shocked that there wasn't anything worthy enough to provide the "rock" portion of prog rock. The entire album had this folky, new age vibe running throughout; a never-ending "sameness."

Now, maybe there were some interesting instrumental things going on, but they were lost on my ears from the incessant wordiness of this album. Anderson's vocals are nice, but they are forced way above the rest of the mix and there are few moments on the album where he isn't singing. I never imagined Anderson's vocals being "too much" for an album until now.

I can't really comment on the lyrics much as I don't understand them (as I suspect most humans that haven't reached whatever world Jon lives in). There is much repetition, but that still doesn't help me understand them either. I would have better luck understanding the output of a random word generator than this gibberish.

Fans of Anderson's solo career will probably like this; maybe Yes fans that like the softer, sleepier side of Yes. Fans of gibberish will also enjoy this. If you want the rock equation of prog rock, look elsewhere.