Subway Walls from Heaven and Earth

[mikeyesfan]

what a great song...well if your a YESFAN.
Wish they would release the CD already.

OMG it's 2014 and YES music still being created,
Heaven and Earth will be my soundtrack for summer 2014.

Can't wait to hear Chris in a couple of weeks

[DevilsHandsAreAnIdolWorkshop]

Disclaimers: Yes is my all time favorite band. I've seen them 5 times in the last couple of years and the shows were fantastic. I love Jon Anderson, but think Jon Davison is excellent in every way and has been part of the reason the band seems rejuvenated and more dynamic as of late. I'm going to see them twice this summer. I had high hopes for the new album.

I just listened to three excerpts from H&E, and I want to claw my eardrums out. I wasn't expecting early to mid 70's Yes. No. Even though that's exactly what they've been playing the last two years (albeit less aggressively). But not this. This is some of the lamest stuff I've heard in a long time. While revisiting the past excesses is not realistic nor even desired by many, perhaps a bit of evolution is not out of line?

[DevilsHandsAreAnIdolWorkshop]

My daughter suggested I cleanse my palate and put on something really good to "chase the sound away."

Soundchaser? Yes.

[mikeyesfan]

Funny, i love the music. the guys are close to 70 years old..do you think they would come up with music they wrote when they were 30?
This is great that they are even recording, we all know they will not make money with H&E, but they want to make new music with the New Guy.
I have heard some big time fans not happy with this stuff, but I know the band loves it.
I can't wait to see a few shows next week here in the metro area.
Love the live shows and the YESFANS who will be there to party.

[Billsbro]

Please let us know how the show is, Mike. I won't see them until Aug 11 and 12.

This issue of liking/hating certain music from a favorite band is always interesting. One man's treasure is another man's trash. I try to remember that a band is free to do whatever they want. Some artists make an effort to take a left turn after the last big thing; some bands try to do the same thing over and over to be safe (and make money). I feel a band or artist can do whatever they want. If i don't like it I still respect the artist. If I love something that many people hate I try to respect their opinion too. It is hard to please all of the people all of the time and YES has a notoriously opinionated fan base. Over on "that" YES fan site the discussions are crazy-stupid because people are listening to the lo-fi teaser previews. I will patiently wait until I have the disc pumping through my headphone pre-amp and into my Denon headphones. And even then I won't decide right away. It takes time to digest new music. I wasn't thrilled with "Fly From Here" right away in a month or two I grew to love it. Relayer was similar of course.

At the end of the day the only opinion that counts is the band's and YOUR'S.

[RickyBubba]

The clips haven't been too bad in my mind, but they are just clips taken somewhat out of context. So, I'll wait and see how it all weaves together.

I'm just glad to have another new album from them. Lots of folks hated Drama and now love it…so time will soon tell.

[DevilsHandsAreAnIdolWorkshop]

...do you think they would come up with music they wrote when they were 30?

No, that's why I said "I wasn't expecting early to mid 70's Yes."

I don't wish to step on anyone's toes; your toes, the toes of anyone who likes it. I only heard a grand total of four and a half minutes, pretty hard to judge an album by that. I know I don't like the three songs I heard because... uh... nothing could redeem them(?). Slapping the baddest part of Gates of Delirium in there wouldn't patch it up. Hahaha, anyway, that's just my opinion. It's a pretty safe bet I listen to some stuff that would turn your stomach as well.

I have heard some big time fans not happy with this stuff, but I know the band loves it.

Ultimately, that's what's important.

[DevilsHandsAreAnIdolWorkshop]

the guys are close to 70 years old..

Yeah, on that subject, there are people in their 70s and older who are still kicking it. I saw Ravi Shankar's last performance a couple of months before he died at 92. He was rolled onto the stage in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank, which remained with him the entire performance. He had to be lifted from the wheelchair to his performance seat, and his sitar had to be placed on his lap by one of the assistants.

He then proceeded to play the **** out of his instrument for more than an hour straight. Virtuoso to the very end.

Now, having said that, let me put to rest the notion that I'm stacking the two against each other in some kind of old fart competition. Age doesn't affect everyone the same way, obviously. I know Steve Howe has issues with arthritis. Like everyone here, I'm happy that he's still playing at all (Bruford is retired, to put it in perspective). And, yes, I'm happy that they're recording, even if I don't like the result. Happy for them.

They've accomplished enough already that they get a free pass from me, no matter what they do. I won't be buying the album, in all likelihood, but tickets are another story.

[DevilsHandsAreAnIdolWorkshop]

One man's treasure is another man's trash.

So true. I do realize that coming in out of the blue and drubbing pretty much the same thing that was well enjoyed by mikeyesfan (which I always read as "mikey esfan") kinda seems like pulling up a chair in someone's living room and then defecating. Seems that way, not my intent. Musical taste is pure subjectivity.

I feel a band or artist can do whatever they want.

They should.

It takes time to digest new music. I wasn't thrilled with "Fly From Here" right away in a month or two I grew to love it. Relayer was similar of course.

It took me a while with Relayer. I wasn't a Yes fan at the time, though; I didn't know any of their music when I was suddenly plunged into rotating Yes/Genesis/etc albums by a friend, so there was a lot to absorb. Relayer was one of the things which elevated my musical consciousness greatly and made me a Yes listener. Over the years, music with great staying power has often been the least accessible in the beginning and I try to approach new music with that in mind. To me, the brief parts I heard most definitely don't fall into that category. If it weren't Yes, there's no way I would've listened to that much! It's just not my cup of tea and I know it up front.

[Billsbro]

Very good perspectives here!

[woodyng]

My perspective is: every time there are new people involved,you can expect something different. A lot of people hated "open your eyes",because it was proably the most "different" album Yes ever put out,but it absolutely stands among my favorite Yes records. ( and my top 5 are not the usual suspects...)
From what little i have heard,this is going to be a very mellow Yes album,but i think the guys have been heading in that direction for a while now,even without Juano's influence.

[stevebasshead]

My thoughts, for what they're worth...

I try hard not to judge on first listens and especially not on expectations based on previous albums. It took me a long time to "get" some of Talk for example, not to mention loads of other albums by many artists which had to grow on me. One of the joys of Yes is that they don't regurgitate, they create afresh every time. It's a journey and sometimes I'm right alongside them from the first step, and other times I'm walking on a parallel path waiting for it to rejoin later. To use Talk as an example again, it wasn't my favourite but I kept listening, now and again, and sure enough my path crossed back later as I grew to appreciate it.

I have heard the entire Heaven and Earth album on YouTube (before the guys account was quite rightly deleted) and yes, it's not the most uptempo album they've done but I suspect it'll be a grower (besides, who am I to tell Yes what music to make next?) I deliberately didn't post the link here as I didn't want to encourage such things, it's clearly theft but forgive me for listening anyway.

Even though it didn't grab me straight away I still ordered the new album because Yes have given me so very much pleasure over the years that I'd have ordered it even if I didn't like what I heard. How else would I get to know whether it would grow on me? Now there aren't many bands I'd give that sort of leeway to as I'm a) not rich and b) don't have that much time to wait for every album every band puts out to grow on me! But Yes are my all time favourite band for damn good reason, and it would feel wrong to abandon the trust I have in them based on a single listen to new material.

So roll on the new album, I genuinely can't wait to hear it properly. I'll stick it on while I'm doing something else for a few 'in the background' listens before I sit down and actually listen to it, I've done this for all the new albums I've bought for the last few years as I find it helps prevent me from judging against any preconceived notions.

[Billsbro]

What a great post!
You have several excellent points!

[mikeyesfan]

http://progreport.com/yes-heaven-earth-cd-review/

Quick here is Subway Walls..I wonder howe they released this?

[jps]

http://progreport.com/yes-heaven-earth-cd-review/

Quick here is Subway Walls..I wonder howe they released this?

Lots of it very much makes me think of another great band, Gentle Giant!