YES - Between heaven and earth

27. June 2014

Yes

YES - Between heaven and earth

We remember: On 4 June 2008, the comeback tour with Yes singer Jon Anderson was cancelled due to his health problems. Anderson had been hospitalized only a few weeks earlier for an asthma attack. The doctors had strongly advised him against concerts in the near future. Only three months later it became known that the Canadian Benoît David, singer of the Yes cover band Close To The Edge and the melodic prog band Mystery, would represent Anderson on shows in the future. And not only that: David recorded the surprisingly solid studio work "Fly From Here" with Yes 2011.

At the beginning of 2012, bassist Chris Squire, the only remaining founding member of Yes, announced that David and Anderson were leaving their place as vocalists for health reasons (which were not specified). Only a few weeks later, he was reoccupied again: with Jon Davison. With the member of the US Neoprog formation Glass Hammer the group has now recorded the studio work "Heaven & Earth". Most of the eight compositions are by Squire - and Davison. "Musically, it's definitely a new chapter that Yes will open here," says the 43-year-old from Tennessee. "I'm totally into Yes' lyrical stuff from the early seventies - we at Glass Hammer have always tried to adapt it - but Yes were also a band that has been developing over the decades. That's exactly what happened this time." The 66-year-old Squire confirms this: "What remains exciting about Yes after all the time I've been a member of this band is the fact that unusual sounds are constantly created at the highest level. For me as a thoroughbred musician, every further Yes work is a great challenge."

When he hired Yes about two years ago, Davison knew "that we were going to record a record. Chris and I were the main driving forces. We worked hard on songs. The rest of the group joined later." Squire has to laugh when we confront him with Davison's assessment of the recording situation: "Well, I wouldn't sign that. Good Jon overestimates both of our importance at Yes a little bit. The fact is that we all wanted to promote a new album with new material. It's a record where Jon is the lead singer. But definitely a record to be made in patchwork from all five members of the group." And then Squire makes some fundamental points regarding his new colleague clear: "There are considerable differences between Jon Davison and Benoît David. Benoît was merely an interpreter, not a composer. Jon, on the other hand, brought a lot of ideas into the work. This is extremely important for the further development of Yes!

Lesen Sie mehr im eclipsed Nr. 162 (Juli/August 2014).