AP comments on SHWes

[Rob Allen]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152528717673594&set=a.10150255556093594.369259.647703593&type=1&theater

[Rob Allen]

Post by Rob Allen
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152528717673594&set=a.10150255556093594.369259.647703593&type=1&theater

oops, forgot this part:

Anil Prasad This is an embarrassing, appalling intergalactic explosive turd of an album. It is a complete waste of electricity and hard drive space. Everyone involved should be utterly ashamed of themselves. And you can quote me.

[MarkF]

Anil Prasad: This is an embarrassing, appalling intergalactic
explosive turd of an album. It is a complete waste of electricity and
hard drive space. Everyone involved should be utterly ashamed of
themselves. And you can quote me.

Add to that the response of one of the directors of 2Plus Music &
Entertainment, who are in charge of North American promotion of _Heaven
& Earth_:

Leonardo MoonJune Pavkovic: "Anil, I will sue you for usage of my exact
words!"

Wow... LOL

Anil Prasad: "Open your eyes is much better, yes. I am serious. Believe it."

[Rob Allen]

Post by MarkF

Anil Prasad: This is an embarrassing, appalling intergalactic
explosive turd of an album. It is a complete waste of electricity and
hard drive space. Everyone involved should be utterly ashamed of
themselves. And you can quote me.

Add to that the response of one of the directors of 2Plus Music &
Entertainment, who are in charge of North American promotion of _Heaven
Leonardo MoonJune Pavkovic: "Anil, I will sue you for usage of my exact
words!"
Wow... LOL
Anil Prasad: "Open your eyes is much better, yes. I am serious. Believe it."
--
Mark "worse than _OYE_? Wow..." F

recently a *SHWesfan* told me that the first track reminded him of the _Tormato_ days. I pointed up that to my taste _Tormato_ was the worst Yes record. "Worse that _OYE_?" "Yes. I am serious".

So now there's the worst SHWes record? Worse than _FFH_?


Rob "that's hard for me to imagine" Allen

[True]

Post by MarkF

Anil Prasad: This is an embarrassing, appalling intergalactic
explosive turd of an album. It is a complete waste of electricity and
hard drive space. Everyone involved should be utterly ashamed of
themselves. And you can quote me.

Add to that the response of one of the directors of 2Plus Music &
Entertainment, who are in charge of North American promotion of _Heaven
Leonardo MoonJune Pavkovic: "Anil, I will sue you for usage of my exact
words!"
Wow... LOL
Anil Prasad: "Open your eyes is much better, yes. I am serious. Believe it."

The link does not seem to work - whatever was on there apparently has been taken down. What was it? Comments from AP, who has heard the record?

[MarkF]

The link does not seem to work - whatever was on there apparently has
been taken down. What was it? Comments from AP, who has heard the
record?

Yes, Anil Prasad (editor at Innerviews) has a review copy, played it 6-7
times, and absolutely despised it. He did not 'officially' review it,
saying he would rather review a Miley Cyrus album before he would
ever feature _Heaven & Earth_ on Innerviews. He merely posted a series
of personal opinions of it on his Facebook page. Apparently some
responses may have gotten a bit too personal for him, and he deleted the
thread on Facebook, as well as today's posts on Progressive Ears.

Copied from various Progressive Ears responses by others, some
additional quotes from him:

"This is coming from someone that knows every note of every Yes album,
including the terrible ones. This is the lowest point in the band's
history. It is time to at least stop making albums. They can float away
into Kansas-like repertoire irrelevancy." (from FB)

"Yes is over. Face it." (from FB)

"Sherwood mixed it. Roy Thomas Baker produced it. Both of them should be
ashamed of themselves too." (from FB)

"I don't understand what Steve's contribution to this album is. He's the
one guy that has some standards." (from FB)

"I absolutely cannot wait to see your collective jaws drop to the ground
and shatter when you hear it." (from PE)

"I must apologize to you all. I really didn't mean to be so nice when I
commented about the album." (from PE)

"There is no winning here. I cannot believe a comment embedded dozens of
posts into a Facebook thread has taken on a life of its own around the
web. If you like "Believe Again," which I find unfathomable, this just
might be the greatest album of all time for you." (from PE)

[n***@gmail.com]

For me, GftO was the first time I'd been disappointed in a Yes record, the sound was awful, tinny & trebly, bass a dull rumble, not enough rock & way too many mellow, meandering bits that seemed to go on forever. TotC was it's one redeeming song. To me, Tormato made up for that. Diabolical production aside, and with the exception of CoH, I loved that album and still do. Future Times/Rejoice, Silent Wings, Release Release, Arriving Ufo, damn what's not to like about that stuff? It's not even close to being my least-liked Yes album, OYE, Ladder, Union, BG, are all well below Tormato *imo*

--

Paul

[Rob Allen]

Post by n***@gmail.com
For me, GftO was the first time I'd been disappointed in a Yes record, the sound was awful, tinny & trebly, bass a dull rumble, not enough rock & way too many mellow, meandering bits that seemed to go on forever. TotC was it's one redeeming song. To me, Tormato made up for that. Diabolical production aside, and with the exception of CoH, I loved that album and still do. Future Times/Rejoice, Silent Wings, Release Release, Arriving Ufo, damn what's not to like about that stuff? It's not even close to being my least-liked Yes album, OYE, Ladder, Union, BG, are all well below Tormato *imo*

_GftO_ was the first Yes record to include music (songs) that I didn't like. It was hard for me to accept/admit at the time, but ulitmately I knew that songs like "GftO" and "Parellels" were just not to my taste. For me, it just got worse with _Tormato_...there's nothing on it that I like as much as "TotC", but there is stuff that I dislike more than "Parallels". As it goes, there's about 14 minutes of music on _Tormato_ that are good listening for me...each of the four records you mention have *at least* double that amount of good listening for me...so they are all much better records so far as my taste goes.


Rob "_Tormato_ made liking _Drama_ a little easier" Allen

[Rob Allen]

Post by MarkF

The link does not seem to work - whatever was on there apparently has
been taken down. What was it? Comments from AP, who has heard the
record?

Yes, Anil Prasad (editor at Innerviews) has a review copy, played it 6-7
times, and absolutely despised it. He did not 'officially' review it,
saying he would rather review a Miley Cyrus album before he would
ever feature _Heaven & Earth_ on Innerviews. He merely posted a series
of personal opinions of it on his Facebook page. Apparently some
responses may have gotten a bit too personal for him, and he deleted the
thread on Facebook, as well as today's posts on Progressive Ears.
Copied from various Progressive Ears responses by others, some
"This is coming from someone that knows every note of every Yes album,
including the terrible ones. This is the lowest point in the band's
history. It is time to at least stop making albums. They can float away
into Kansas-like repertoire irrelevancy." (from FB)
"Yes is over. Face it." (from FB)
"Sherwood mixed it. Roy Thomas Baker produced it. Both of them should be
ashamed of themselves too." (from FB)
"I don't understand what Steve's contribution to this album is. He's the
one guy that has some standards." (from FB)
"I absolutely cannot wait to see your collective jaws drop to the ground
and shatter when you hear it." (from PE)
"I must apologize to you all. I really didn't mean to be so nice when I
commented about the album." (from PE)
"There is no winning here. I cannot believe a comment embedded dozens of
posts into a Facebook thread has taken on a life of its own around the
web. If you like "Believe Again," which I find unfathomable, this just
might be the greatest album of all time for you." (from PE)
--
Mark "apparently, he didn't much like the album, I gather? :-) " F

Sherwood said that it was Howe who contacted him to work on the record...so if Howe didn't contribute anything else, he contributed that.


Rob "apparently Howe likes sonic mud" Allen

[y***@gmail.com]

Ugh!!!
Finally able to get a listen for myself. Sounds like Starcastle Lite to me. Who chose that for the publics first impression of the new record? Now I have to get on the "I'm not going" bus with Rob. What a drag...
Ugh!!! Ugh!!!

[MarkF]

Post by y***@gmail.com
Ugh!!!

[...]

Post by y***@gmail.com
Ugh!!! Ugh!!!

LOL. Only three Ughs!?

This one and the last track are supposed to be the more "proggy" of the
eight. I wonder what tracks 2-7 will sound like?!? Stay tuned for more
fun...

[p***@msn.com]

On Friday, June 13, 2014 9:33:34 AM UTC-6, MarkF wro

I hear Gomer Pyle saying, "Surprise, surprise, surprise..."

YESless continues to suck...

well, I can save my 15.00 dollars, bought Ian Anderson's Home Erraticus instead

the liner notes for that CD are likely better than anything HWS can record

Jim

[y***@hotmail.com]

I think I'd be a little more concerned about it seemingly having to be an "either/or" situation. You're worried about *$15*?? I've already pre-ordered the CD & downloaded the new song from iTunes, and I'll be going to the show in August, most definitely. I see no reason not to do any of these things, the paltry amounts of money involved especially.

--

Paul

[Rob Allen]

Post by y***@hotmail.com
I think I'd be a little more concerned about it seemingly having to be an "either/or" situation. You're worried about *$15*?? I've already pre-ordered the CD & downloaded the new song from iTunes, and I'll be going to the show in August, most definitely. I see no reason not to do any of these things, the paltry amounts of money involved especially.

I'll go way out on a limb and suggest that Jim is not in an either/or situation on the cost of a CD. Meanwhile, I've ordered nothing, but did download that one waste of space when it was up on soundcloud. That song is one reason why I won't buy the record...so two reasons why I won't be ordering - I don't like them and I don't like their product. So far as a concert goes, there's those two reasons plus a thousand or so more why I wouldn't consider going.


Rob "I won't be going out of my way to hang with what's mostly a bad crowd" Allen

[Kevin Caffrey]

I've listened to "Believe Again" several times now that it is up on Spotify. The production quality is OK to my ears. Overall, I don't think it's inaccurate to compare it to something from _Tormato_. The main keyboard part sounds to me a lot like "Madrigal," and the Squire/Davison vocals remind me a lot of the _Tormato_ bonus track "You Can Be Saved."

Overall, pleasant, but just kind of uninspiring overall. If Howe's tone was a little grittier during his runs from the 4-5 minute mark, it might make for a more captivating moment. As it is though, that whole section just seems underwhelming. This one track doesn't seem to deserve the ridicule Anil Prasad gave the whole album, but I'm still on the fence about preordering it. I'm also surprised that the price on Amazon seems to be about $17 with no bonus material. _Fly From Here_ was $11.88 and came with a short, but interesting, making of DVD. Seems most bands nowadays will pack something extra and try to keep the price of a new CD more reasonable. Not exactly sure why this doesn't seem to be the case with _H&E_.

Kevin
http://www.facebook.com/kevincaffreymusic

[MarkF]

Post by Kevin Caffrey
I'm also surprised that the price on Amazon seems to be about $17
with no bonus material. _Fly From Here_ was $11.88 and came with a
short, but interesting, making of DVD. Seems most bands nowadays
will pack something extra and try to keep the price of a new CD more
reasonable. Not exactly sure why this doesn't seem to be the case
with _H&E_.

Just for comparison, another Frontiers/Universal release, _Now: Chicago
XXXVI_ has the original release date that _H&E_ once had (July 8th), and
its price on Amazon is already down to $11.88. I would guess that _H&E_
might get re-priced the same within a couple of weeks.

No word on any 'deluxe edition with bonus DVD' or anything though...
Someone said that a 'super-deluxe edition with poster and t-shirt' set
similar to the _FFH_ box might be in the works, but again no word on
that from Frontiers...

It might be revealing that one of the team that is *supposed to be
helping(!)* with North American promotion of Frontiers releases had been
posting negative commentary regarding _H&E_ on social media. He agreed
with AP's description of "Intergalactic Exposive Turd" among other comments.

<http://www.frontiers.it/album/5210/>
... has a link for videos, but it just has the old EPK material and "We
Can Fly" video from _FFH_. Their list price for _H&E_ (€14.50) is the
same as the single CD version of _FFH_ without the bonus DVD.
<http://www.universalmusic.com>
...(the distributor for N.A.) seems to have no information at all...

I thought I had read that the second track "The Game", a Yes work-up of
a Squire/Gerard Johnson demo from the sessions that produced "The Man
You Always Wanted Me To Be", was supposed to be previewed on June 18,
but I don't see that info on the website anymore.

If you're interested, the Japanese bonus track for _H&E_ will be an
Acoustic Version of "To Ascend", a Davison/White song.

[MarkF]

Their list price for _H&E_ (�14.50)

Sorry, that was supposed to be an Euro symbol.

[MarkF]

Post by MarkF
Just for comparison, another Frontiers/Universal release, _Now: Chicago
XXXVI_ has the original release date that _H&E_ once had (July 8th), and
its price on Amazon is already down to $11.88. I would guess that _H&E_
might get re-priced the same within a couple of weeks.

Not long after I wrote that, the pre-order price for _H&E_ at Amazon
went *UP* to $17.98! :D

[Kevin Caffrey]

Post by MarkF

Post by MarkF
Just for comparison, another Frontiers/Universal release, _Now: Chicago
XXXVI_ has the original release date that _H&E_ once had (July 8th), and
its price on Amazon is already down to $11.88. I would guess that _H&E_
might get re-priced the same within a couple of weeks.

Not long after I wrote that, the pre-order price for _H&E_ at Amazon
went *UP* to $17.98! :D
--
Mark "re-priced, yes, but..." F

Looks like the price has come down finally to a more reasonable $11.99. The album has leaked (not sure on what site) and some of the early reviews on Progressiveears.com seem to match exactly what the initial clips would suggest -- a general lackluster reaction and songs "not going anywhere." Interesting that Davison seems to be the main songwriter for an album by a group in which, I'm guessing, he's not an equal member with Howe, Squire, and White. Maybe I'm wrong...

Anyway, think I'll be giving it a chance on Spotify when it's posted there before considering purchasing it.

Kevin
http://www.facebook.com/kevincaffreymusic

[Rob Allen]

Post by Kevin Caffrey

Post by MarkF

Post by MarkF
Just for comparison, another Frontiers/Universal release, _Now: Chicago
XXXVI_ has the original release date that _H&E_ once had (July 8th), and
its price on Amazon is already down to $11.88. I would guess that _H&E_
might get re-priced the same within a couple of weeks.

Not long after I wrote that, the pre-order price for _H&E_ at Amazon
went *UP* to $17.98! :D
--
Mark "re-priced, yes, but..." F

Looks like the price has come down finally to a more reasonable $11.99. The album has leaked (not sure on what site) and some of the early reviews on Progressiveears.com seem to match exactly what the initial clips would suggest -- a general lackluster reaction and songs "not going anywhere." Interesting that Davison seems to be the main songwriter for an album by a group in which, I'm guessing, he's not an equal member with Howe, Squire, and White. Maybe I'm wrong...
Anyway, think I'll be giving it a chance on Spotify when it's posted there before considering purchasing it.

it's at NewAlbumReleases.net.

I had a very hard time getting through the whole thing.


Rob "and I don't think I'll be doing that again" Allen

[MarkF]

Post by Kevin Caffrey
Interesting that Davison seems to be the
main songwriter for an album by a group in which, I'm guessing, he's
not an equal member with Howe, Squire, and White. Maybe I'm
wrong...

What really surprises me (and disappoints me as well) is that I was
familiar with Jon Davison's work on those three Glass Hammer albums,
_If_, _Cor Cordium_, & _Perilous_, where he was a co-writer and perhaps
lead lyricist for that material.

JonD's lyrics on _H&E_ (if they are mostly his as reports say) are so
*cliche-ridden* and, frankly, so *dumbed down*... Perhaps he wasn't
contributing as heavily to the GH material as I thought?

When Benoit left, there were comments from the band that "well, Benoit
wasn't a writer", "JonD brings more to the table as a songwriting
contributor", etc. So what happened? Did he bring in rough lyric
sketches (intended to be refined later) and SHW said, "Great! Don't
change a thing!" ?? Did he just run out of time to polish his lyrics up
to par? Admittedly, the rest of the band probably didn't help that
much... or maybe they *did*, and JonD was afraid to tell them how crappy
their lyrics were?

I had already lowered my expectations in the keyboard department; and
Geoof, as always, did not fail my predictions, bringing the rest of the
band down to his level, instrumentally. But I had hope for JonD.

[Claus Freckmann]

Post by y***@gmail.com
Ugh!!!
....Who chose that for the publics first impression of the new record?...
Ugh!!! Ugh!!!

maybe because it's the best song ;-)
I've just heard the whole album and... well, er you can take the sentence
above and remove the "maybe" and the smiley.

[c***@gmail.com]

My initial response to the limited clips I've heard is that this is JonD trying to write and sing like JonA and the rest of the group encouraging it, and the whole effort coming up pretty short of actually being JonA Yes quality. I'll give the benefit of and entire listen before I fully judge.

Say what you will about FFH, but it succeeded at what it was trying to be: a Yes record without JonA, (mostly because it was 34 minutes of Buggles retreads, and individual efforts leftover from side session, as well as one band effort seemingly led by Oliver, all with a few token Yesiness sprinkles interspersed). I'm not making any claims about the quality of either record, just that FFH is so far more succesful at being what it intended to be.