Yes "Heaven & Earth" . . . Yes in Limbo?

Yes is a band that has had more ups and down than an elevator operator.   However, since their 70’s heyday, and brief resurgence in the early 80’s, Yes has released a string of albums that have left many Yes fans heading to used-CD shops to trade in their copies of “Union “ and “Open Your Eyes” for grass (I mean gas) money.   “Fly From Here,” released in 2011, hinted at the kind of cohesiveness, vitality, and sense of adventure that Yes conjured up so effortlessly in days past.  However, the absence of the inimitable Jon Anderson on that record left many die-hard Yes fans feeling more disgruntled than Judge Judy.  Nevertheless, for most critics and fans “FFH” was viewed as a return to form.

Yes’ follow-up, “Heaven & Earth” is proving to be a much more controversial affair.  Some reviews have been so caustic that I fully expected the new Yes material might sound like an acapella duet featuring Ted Nugent and Yoko Ono.  Mercifully, the new music sounds better than it really is.

Yes used to make music with “structure and vision,” to borrow a phrase from the philosopher Bill Martin.  They created epics like “Close to the Edge,” a four piece movement (“Tales From Topographic Oceans,”) and multi-part suites like “And You and I.”  Scholars and music aficionados commended Yes for “painting pictures with sound,” utilizing the sonata form, and for being pioneers in using rock instruments to create an orchestral impact.

The guiding force behind this brash, visionary, and musical artistry was that Napoleon of music, Jon Anderson.  Yes contained many important elements, but it was Anderson who steered the band towards its most ambitious, unified, and genuinely aesthetic creations, works like “Close to the Edge,”  “The Gates of Delirium,” “Tales From Topographic Oceans,” and “Awaken.”  Not since 1977 has the band created a true masterpiece.

In 1980, Anderson departed Yes and was replaced -- to the horror of most Yes fans -- by the one-hit pop wonder, Trevor Horn.  Horn’s true talent would lie as a producer, not a front man, but the resulting “Drama” album turned out to be a cohesive, adventuresome, and musically impressive affair.  To be sure, Anderson’s absence hovered over the album like a ghost.  But in retrospect Trevor Horn (and band mate Geoff Downes) supplied some much need spunk after the lackluster “Tormato” from 1978.

Fast forward to 2011.  Following a mixture of illness and acrimony, Jon Anderson finds himself replaced by the Buggles once again.  This time, Horn is in the producer’s chair.  The intent is to salvage a few demo songs that never made it onto “Drama” and expand them to epic proportions.  The result is “Fly From Here,” with a multi-suite title track that is refreshing and nostalgic all at the same time.  Newcomer Benoit David is in fact largely replicating material originally performed by Horn, but as the new lead singer of Yes he is encroaching on territory once staked out by Jon Anderson.  Despite a beautiful voice and a strong performance on “FFH,” Beniot David was viewed by many die-hard Yes fans as a vocal lightweight whose talents were probably best suited for a Broadway touring company making the rounds in dinner theatres throughout the Catskills.

Benoit David left the band following vocal difficulties and was subsequently replaced by yet another tribute singer, Jon Davison.  Davison has deservedly earned high marks for capably handling vocal duties with Yes on tour.  However, reaction to the new album, “Heaven & Earth,” has ranged from lukewarm support to scathing contempt.  Without a doubt, the direction charted by the latest configuration of Yes can best be described as progressive pop.   The album begins, promisingly enough, with the upbeat, catchy, and narcoleptically melodic “Believe Again.”  Davison, makes a strong entrance and sounds great paired with Chris Squire on backing vocals.  The song meanders, but there is a nifty instrumental interlude with Geoff Downes on keyboards channeling his inner Rick Wakeman.  Like many songs on “Heaven & Earth,” “Believe Again” sounds familiar, unchallenging, but appealingly quirky.  Indeed, the feeling throughout the album is laidback, but there are fleeting moments of inspiration too.

“Heaven & Earth” is not the mind-expanding and soul-stirring Yes music of yore.   However, the songs are accessible and melodic; imagine the Phil Collins era Genesis on Xanax and you’ll have an idea of what I mean.  Jon Anderson had a gift for crafting melodies that encapsulate contradictory emotions; think of the hopeful, but mournful Soon.  Davison has a melodic gift too, but his melodies are all bubbly and soothing whereas Anderson’s melodies can touch us to the core.  Still, I find myself liking and enjoying the new material, probably for the same reason I enjoy an old-timers game at the ballpark.

If there is one element consistently missing from “Heaven & Earth” it is friction.  The music is cheery and optimistic, but there is very little edge or tension.   The signature elements that constitute Yes music break through and shine from time to time, most notably Steve Howe’s fretwork.  But most of the time this configuration of Yes adds up to less than the sum of its parts.  Nevertheless, there is some good music to be found on “Heaven & Earth.”  In particular, I find “Subway Walls” to be one of the more interesting and rewarding tracks.  Geoff Downes ignites some sparks with a slow-combustion keyboard solo that leads into some haunting fretwork from maestro Howe.  Not quite the kinetic outburst of yesteryear Yes.  No, Yes doesn’t achieve the heavenly heights this time out, but the music is not exactly mundane either.