True
2014-07-03 02:31:24 UTC
So the new Prog magazine is out, and includes a feature on the band and the making of H&E. Further along in the reviews section there is a tucked-away review of the album itself. They call it "a curiously gentle, subdued album". It's not an awful review, and I do not have their review of FFH handy, but I do seem to remember the FFH review as being pretty positive.This review is more along the lines of it's a nice-sounding, pleasant record - but perhaps a bit underwhelming. That's not a quote, just my interpretation.
A few quotes: "you keep waiting for the essential Yes-ness to kick in, for something madly ambitious and brilliantly convoluted to occur. It doesn't, not really"...
"the overall feel is relaxed"...
"Squire, White and Downes are strangely reticent"...
"Davison's fine: he sounds lots like Jon Anderson, as one imagines he is encouraged to"...
"The propellers start to roar on Light of the Ages, and the finale Subway Walls, gets away from the sound of near-silence to discover some bustle and bravado. It's too little too late to make this a great Yes album. It's neither heaven nor hell, but somewhere betwixt the two. Yet it may grow on you as nuances emerge from the subtleties of its sleepy serenity".
I have listened to the record a number of times (I will still buy all of the various versions, the vinyl, the Japanese etc, why stop now.) There are a number of bits that I think I enjoy very much. A couple of the tunes I think people have said they don't like, I think I may like them. But I do agree that it's not much of a rock record. And not particularly "proggy" in the sense that I think most folks mean when they use that term. It is not nearly as loud or aggressive as I had hoped some of it would be. But that is just my taste, perhaps.
A few quotes: "you keep waiting for the essential Yes-ness to kick in, for something madly ambitious and brilliantly convoluted to occur. It doesn't, not really"...
"the overall feel is relaxed"...
"Squire, White and Downes are strangely reticent"...
"Davison's fine: he sounds lots like Jon Anderson, as one imagines he is encouraged to"...
"The propellers start to roar on Light of the Ages, and the finale Subway Walls, gets away from the sound of near-silence to discover some bustle and bravado. It's too little too late to make this a great Yes album. It's neither heaven nor hell, but somewhere betwixt the two. Yet it may grow on you as nuances emerge from the subtleties of its sleepy serenity".
I have listened to the record a number of times (I will still buy all of the various versions, the vinyl, the Japanese etc, why stop now.) There are a number of bits that I think I enjoy very much. A couple of the tunes I think people have said they don't like, I think I may like them. But I do agree that it's not much of a rock record. And not particularly "proggy" in the sense that I think most folks mean when they use that term. It is not nearly as loud or aggressive as I had hoped some of it would be. But that is just my taste, perhaps.