Fly from Here

Occupation

Benoit David - Vocals
Steve Howe - guitar, vocals
Chris Squire - bass, vocals
Alan White - drums
Geoff Downes - Keyboards

Fly from Here is the twenty-first studio album by the progressive rock band Yes, released in 2011. According Drama (1980 ) it is the second album recorded without a singer Yes and founding member Jon Anderson.

Formation

Prehistory (1980 )

1980 worked Yes (Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White ) on the album drama, but without a singer and without a keyboard player. The Buggles, Trevor Horn (bass, vocals) and Geoff Downes (keyboards), who had just been with her pop song Video Killed the Radio Star from their album The Age of Plastic a worldwide hit, and at the same manager (Brian Lane ) were under contract, written at this time happened to be in the same studio as Howe, Squire and White on new songs. As a big Yes fans watched the three musicians at work and Horn tried to sell them a song called We Can Fly from Here. Squire liked the piece, and it was played live later of Yes, but did not find their way onto the album.

By working with Downes and Horn now the opportunity arose to fill the vacant positions in the band and the two were members of the band for Yes.

After the separation of Yes in 1981, the Buggles went back into the studio to continue working on the songs of their second album and record new demos, including We Can Fly from Here, We Can Fly from Here Part 2 and Riding a tide. These three pieces published in 2010 as bonus tracks on the extended version of the Buggles album Adventures in Modern Recording, We Can Fly from Here moreover in a live version played by Yes as part of the Yes box set The Word Is Live.

2009-2011

In 2009, the band from the musicians Benoît David (vocals), Steve Howe (guitar ), Chris Squire (bass ), Alan White (drums ) and Oliver Wakeman (keyboards) existed. Work on the album Fly from Here began in September of this year so that Squire, Howe and Wakeman CDs exchanged with the first ideas for new songs. In March of the following year, the three musicians then met in Howes House in Devon, to discuss how to proceed. A month later, finally gathered the whole band to a ten-day session in Phoenix (Arizona ). Here we tried out new ideas, and the first songs were written, including Into the Storm.

Now the discussions began about what producers should engage. The idea came up to ask ex -Yes member Trevor Horn, now a well known and very successful producer. Horn declared himself ready, together with the band and suggested including the 1980 leftover from the drama sessions song We Can Fly from Here, but first wanted only this produce a song, and beyond if necessary, work on the rest of the album care. At this time was provided Tim Weidner as a producer of other pieces (he had already produced the previous album Magnification ). Only towards the end of the year, Horn decided then to produce the entire album, Weidner was from then on worked as a sound engineer.

This Horn took over the leadership of the entire project: in addition to We Can Fly from Here should now also the ( Sad Night at the Airfield later) are imported to unreleased Buggles song We Can Fly from Here Part 2, the end of 2010 suggested horn then before, to leave his former Buggles and colleagues Drama keyboardist Geoffrey Downes upload some passages of this material, and soon after Oliver Wakeman was unceremoniously replaced by Downes: The reason for this was that Downes ' much more recognized name for better sales would provide. Wakeman left the band voluntarily and later commented on the Facebook page of his Oliver Wakeman Band.

The recordings fell into three phases: From 3 October to 12 November 2010, the song Into the Storm, The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be and Hour of Need were in Sarm West Coast Studios in Los Angeles recorded. Besides the work on We Can Fly ( from Here ), that was not part of the long suite at this time that would be finally heard on the album began. In winter Yes then played some concerts in South America (still with Oliver Wakeman ), before the band went into the studio again in January.

From mid-January to February 2011, the band then worked in the Sarm West Studios Coast on. In January Downes came to Los Angeles, where just Yes We Can Fly ( from Here ) grossed, and operated first keyboard parts to this. In the second half of February, he worked again with the band. At this time Oliver Wakeman was no longer a member of the band. Downes eventually played the lion's share of the keyboards on Fly from Here.

Since it was next to We Can Fly ( from Here ) and Sad Night at the Airfield recorded, which goes back to a Buggles demo called We Can Fly from Here Part 2 and thus planned from the outset as a kind of continuation of the former, now came the idea to combine it with We Can Fly. A third part of the Buggles era, the a ( hitherto unpublished ) Horn / Downes demo declining Madman at the screens, was added in February. Finally, Howe contributed still be Bumpy Ride at. However, at this time was not yet clear what form the pieces should be joined together. Also in February, which is also recorded on an old Buggles demo called Riding a tide receding Life on a film set.

In March, the band ( still with Oliver Wakeman, who knew at that time already that he was no longer a member of the band ) went again on tour, while Downes at London's Sarm West Studios except for a few residues ( to We Can Fly, We Can Fly ( reprise) and Hour of Need), the keyboard parts replaced Wakeman.

In the course of the third and final phase of recording some additional vocals, Luís Jardim were added percussion and some guitar overdubs and the album eventually merged in April 2011 in London. Until the final mix of the album was not clear whether one should make of Fly from Here, a loose sequence of individual songs or an enclosed suite. Finally, Trevor Horn decided to group the pieces into a loose suite. Horn also had the last word on the whole song selection: At least one more piece, Corner of the World, has not been on the album.

Still was mixed during the album, Steve Howe contributed his solo piece Solitaire. It was in the Langley Studios (Devon ) and in the Schwartz Studios ( Sussex ) had been added. With the Solitaire series of guitar pieces was continued, which had started on The Yes Album ( 1971) with Clap.

Title list

Notes:

The song arrangement of the CD is reminiscent of that of a vinyl album: The Fly from Here suite on the A- and the rest of the songs on the B-side.
Pt I - We Can Fly goes to the Buggles demo We Can Fly from Here from 1980 back.
Pt II - Sad Night at the Airfield is on the Buggles demo We Can Fly from Here Part 2 1980 back.
The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be dates from the period around 2006/7, as Chris Squire, along with Gerard Johnson ( as Squire Ex - The Syn and Simon Sessler ) worked on a solo album. It is to Can You Imagine the previous album's only the second Magnification Yes song with Squire as lead singer.
Life on a film set goes back to the Buggles demo Riding a tide of about 1980.
Although the Hour of Need comes from Steve Howe, but is not identical to the same piece of his solo album Spectrum. On the Japanese edition of Fly from Here is heard as a bonus track, a 6:46 long version. The additional music is inspired by Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez.
Solitaire is an instrumental piece for Steve Howe's acoustic guitar.
A song called Corner of the World (probably by Squire and Howe ) was played together with Downes, but ultimately not included.
A song called Aliens Are Only Us from the Future was played in 2008 by Yes live, but later it was decided that the song should appear on an album that Chris Squire tried to install with the former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. The song eventually appeared in 2012 on this, Squackett mentioned album.

Occupation

Benoit David - Vocals
Steve Howe - guitar, vocals
Chris Squire - bass, vocals
Alan White - drums
Geoff Downes - Keyboards

With

Oliver Wakeman: additional keyboards (on We Can Fly, We Can Fly ( reprise) and Hour of Need)
Trevor Horn: additional keyboards, vocals and guitar
Luís Jardim: percussion
Gerard Johnson: Piano on The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be

Cover

The album has many references in the successful history of the band: The song arrangement is reminiscent of that of a vinyl album, many songs go back to the period around 1980, the bass sound on Into the Storm is reminiscent of the the album Tormato and Solitaire the number of Howe's guitar pieces on Yes albums was continued. To establish in addition also to the design of the classic Yes albums, the fantasy artist Roger Dean was engaged again, who is responsible for many Yes album cover since the 70s. The overall idea goes back to an unfinished picture of 1970. With two birds flying through a held in shades of green landscape, Dean epitomized the title of the album, Fly from Here, a black panther playing in the background on the also designed by him cover of the Yes album Drama to that recorded in 1980 in a similar occupation been.

Singles

An abridged version of Fly from Here Pt I - We Can Fly was released on 13 June 2011 under the title We Can Fly as a digital -only single. The accompanying music video was directed by Trevor Horn's brother Ken Horn.

Chart success

Fly from Here reached # 16 in the German, ranked number 30 in the UK and number 36 in the American charts. Until the end of November 2011 72.000 copies were sold worldwide. So Fly from Here is the most successful Yes album since Talk ( 1994)

Review

Fly from Here was the most successful Yes album since 1994 and was accepted quite positive on the whole. It was emphasized especially that it was the band has succeeded in presenting after 44 years, another album that everything can be regarded as a successful melodic rock album in all. Praise was also the singing Benoît David, the drama to remember far more likely to Trevor Horn as the singing style of the master singer Jon Anderson. Also horn production was honorable mention.

Criticized were two points in particular:

1 As the eponymous suite as well as Life on a film set largely come from the pen of the Buggles and go back into essential parts to the time around and after 1980, The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be a solo project Squires comes and Solitaire a solo piece Howes is left with the Hour of Need and Into the Storm only two songs that can be considered as genuine Yes songs ( beyond as new and ).

2 The second criticism was referring to the suite, which consists largely of finished songs that were only bound together with some keyboard chords and crossfades. In fact, some parts have apart from their tonality and textual references hardly compositional similarities, especially Overture, Pt I - We Can Fly, Pt II - Sad Night at the Airfield and Pt IV - Bumpy Ride. In addition, the suite ends unnecessarily whenever an end of these sections: To hear this is particularly evident at the ends of the first three pieces. In other places, however, introduced earlier musical themes are taken up again: So Part III: Madman at the Screens a developed paraphrase of Overture.

Live

In 2011, the band played in the cast Squire / Downes / Howe / David / White Complete Fly from Here Suite and Life on a Film Set, Solitaire and Into the Storm.

Sources and links

Information on Fly from Here on the pages of Henry Potts
Reviews on Fly from Here to Baby Blue Pages
English website with explanations on Yes' album covers
English website with explanations of Yes' tours

Album ( Progressive Rock )
Album 2011
Yes album

Yes (Band) Record label Frontiers Records Genre Steve Howe (musician) Bass guitar Alan White (Yes drummer) Magnification (album) Drama (Yes album) Phoenix (Arizona) Overdubbing Genesis (Band) Roger Dean (artist) Fade (audio engineering) Yes (Yes album) Fragile (Yes album) Union (Yes album) Talk (Yes album) Open Your Eyes (Yes album)

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