I don’t mind myself some falsetto vocals, but when there’s no light and shade – that is, the vocals are all falsetto all of the time, and the album goes some 50 minutes, well, my ears begin to rebel.
Iconic prog-pop-rock band Yes are back with their first album in many moons, with stalwarts Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White and Geoff Downes with new vocalist Jon Davison in for the departed icon that was Jon Anderson.
As expected Davison is an Anderson soundalike and does his job keeping the traditional Yes sound intact.
The album is beautifully produced by the legendary Grammy Award winner, Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars, Guns N’ Roses, Foreigner, Alice Cooper and more), ensuring that fans of the band get exactly what they hoped for.
The songs are long and complex, but don’t forget the necessary hooks to hold it all together – the first three: Believe Again, The Game and Step Beyond impressing in particular.
The rest of the albums takes a little more concentration to appreciate, but those vocals are a hindrance for the likes of me.
The album is all quite likable and I expect longtime fans to be happy, but those vocals…they are enough to turn me off any long term loyalty to this record and I expect will encourage other fence sitters to do likewise.
