THE UNKNOWN

Conspiracy is the project of Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood, with the addition of drummer Jay Schellen. Chris provides bass/vocals and Billy guitar/vocals, and somewhat not surprising the result is an album that sounds suspiciously like Yes in many places, although without so many keyboards. It is only on listening to this that it becomes clear as to just how important Chris's vocals are to Yes, as while the music is interesting melodic rock it is the vocals that really drive this album home. It is not possible to play this without comparing it to Eighties Yes, although the music itself is quite different, it is just that all of the time the sound seems quite familiar.

Is it an album that is worth purchasing on its' own merit? Having been a Yes fan for more years than I would really care to remember I would probably want to hear this album just to see what it was about, and I am not sure how I would approach this if I wasn't so interested in knowing what the offshoot sounded like. But, this is an album that does keep the listener involved throughout. It is a bit laid back in places although the result is an album that does sound more like a band than a project. Melodic rock with just a hint of progressive tendencies which never falls into the trap of typical AOR, it will probably appeal more still to fans of Yes than of the genre as a whole.

Originally appeared in Feedback #78, April 2004