While Jon Anderson will always be remembered as the singer of Yes, the band he helped found and yo-yoed in and out of for many years, he has also had a very fertile career away from the mothership. For fans of Yes and progressive music in general, that solo career might be a disappointment in that Anderson has steadfastly avoided trying to reproduce the Yes sound and drifted towards a fairly safe middle of the road style. That is, until now. The Frontiers press release states ‘The album’s collection of songs harkens back to Yes’s classic 70’s sounds as well as to their latter-day success with the album 90125’. It then goes on to say ‘the centerpiece being the 16-and-a-half-minute track Once Upon a Dream which will stand amongst other classic Jon penned epics such as Close to the Edge, Ritual, Gates of Delirium, and Awaken’ – a bold claim indeed (and without wishing to pick hairs, it must be said slightly inaccurate since Jon only co-penned those classics). Anyway, that was enough to send me scurrying to see if these claims were true.
Firstly, for anyone not familiar with The Band Geeks, it is the brainchild of Richie Castellano, whose name has been in the public eye mostly as a contributor to recent Blue Öyster Cult studio and live albums. Castellano created The Band Geek as an audio-only podcast that grew into a YouTube band featuring a revolving group of Castellano’s friends and special guests. That resulted in them being invited to tour with Jon Anderson in 2023 as his backing band on his ‘Yes, epics and classics’ US tour. The synergy must have worked well since the next step was a decision to collaborate with Anderson in the studio for this new release.
Let’s start with the near seventeen-minute Once Upon A Dream. Those comparisons with Close To The Edge and others may unfairly raise fan expectations but Anderson and The Band Geeks do make a good fist of recreating those epic Yes soundscapes. The rhythmic opening melody with layered harmonies certainly brings to mind the opening of Tales From Topographic Oceans and the first vocal section has that wonderfully tight sound of early Yes. Different melodic elements are thrown into the mix and there’s an inevitable quieter acoustic passage. A magical moment around the ten-minute marks the gradual return of the opening melodies and there’s a powerful church organ solo (yes, Parallels does come to mind) prior to the final chorus and closing guitar solo. No, it’s not Close To The Edge, but it’s an extremely good slab of progressive rock written in the style of Close to The Edge. What is remarkable here and elsewhere is the systematic way they recreate the Yes sound of the ‘70s. The guitarist Andy Graziano sounds exactly like Steve Howe and Castellano does a passable impression of Chris Squire on the bass too. Add Anderson’s voice and you have to pinch yourself to remember that this isn’t the classic Yes lineup.
The second track that will attract Yes fans immediately is Counties And Countries which comes in at a tad under the ten minute mark. It opens in dynamic style with symphonic keys, guitar runs, and strong rhythmic elements. It then loses a bit of momentum as Anderson enters with one of his more pop-oriented melodies, but this develops into a stronger more progressive theme. The highlight of this track must be the marvellous section just before the four-minute mark when quiet synths introduce a lovely phrase which is then taken up by Anderson (‘Only for you…’). The track climaxes with powerful repetition of the progressive theme, a final Moog solo and a gentle return to the ‘Only for you’ theme. Overall, it’s a little fragmented as a song but its best moments are inspiring.
There are two other quite complex songs, albeit on a smaller scale. The opener True Messenger is an upbeat number that has enjoyable moments, but perhaps tries to fit too much into its six-minutes length. It reminds me of some of the material on Tormato where good ideas were not developed well. Around the same length but much simpler in structure is Make It Right. Turn of The Century inevitably comes to mind as the song opens with delicate and warm Spanish guitar. The slow-paced main melody is in Anderson’s typically graceful 3/4 time. It’s very predictable but it’s also very good and in the end it is one of the highlights of the album.
The lead single Shine On is an upbeat and well-constructed Yes boogie that would have sat comfortably on 90125. I’ve got to admit that it’s very catchy, although to these ears the ‘80s sheen of the chorus is a little irritating. Still A Friend follows a similar template without being particularly memorable and the album is completed with three short and pleasant pieces which are more typical of Anderson’s usual solo material.
The lyrics will not be a surprise to anyone familiar with Anderson. His opening shot is ‘You are everyone, you are me’ and it continues in this style, even with a Yes-self-referential ‘Here we go, to the heart of the sunrise’. Anderson’s spirituality might not appeal to everyone but there’s a touching heartfelt positivity in his lyrics that is a relief when the norm for prog lyrics these days seems to be to wallow in existential angst. Anderson might be close to his 80th birthday but he’s still looking onwards and upwards. All you can say is: Shine On, Jon.
