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Showing posts from July, 2011

Fly From Here Reprise -Yes

After a lifetime of listening assimilating new music is a quicker process, ironically the challenges of 72/73 from Yes were part of that learning curve. Fly From Here is now very familiar to me and its twists and turns, its subtexts and its subtleties. Several things become clearer. Geoff Downes contribution is much larger than I had first thought he is very much the co architect of the suite and his keyboard style helps shape the sound of the piece as much and possibly more than Steve's Guitar and Chris's Bass. This helps to give the project a sense of uniqueness which was so important given the point in their career and the absence of the co founder of the band. In addition Trevor has encouraged Benoit to really stamp his own style on the Horn/Downes material which comes off brilliantly and of course helps give the music its fresh and distinct style. Many months ago I said Trevor put his thinking cap on between the break in sessions ands decided to make changes. This has

Fly From Here - Yes

"A Night At The Symphony" The 13 note intro is full of mystery and expectation repeats twice and we are off. This is no cod prog rock multi keyboard intro it is neat, cinematic and more akin to the intro to the Who’s Baba O'Riley or the repeating harpsichord intro to Smile’s Heros and Villians. This is artful sophisticated pop music and immediately sets the tone of the CD. Part 1 It dissolves and the paean to a forgotten age of turbo prop airliners is with us itself recalling a 25 year olds experience at the Oxford Apollo. But for me a child of the 1950’s I am taken right back to days of living on Royal Air Force airfields and looking up at the aircraft coming in to land when air travel was a mystery, one of these turbo prop liners flew my mother and I to Cyprus to join my father who was ahead of us and opened up my life to all sorts of new experiences. For me this lyric resonates. Geoff states the theme Chris slides round the bass and Benoit beautifully captured by