Customer Reviews

View From the South Side of the Sky

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How many reviews have you read which say "such and such a song is worth the price of admission alone". But this time it's true and there are two of them: "Roundabout" by Robert Berry and "Startship Trooper" by Jeronimo Road. These are what cover versions should be all about - not just recreating the original note for note but breathing new life and energy into a song which, as in the case of these two, have probably been played to death by most Yes fans. Sometimes this doesn't work, e.g. Magellan's "Don't Kill The Whale" but it is very refreshing that bands are still progressive enough to give it ago. Most of the other tracks are good as well but special mention should be made to the version of "Turn Of The Century" by Steve Howe and Annie Haslam - it's wonderful and worth the price of admission by itself.

When I first found this album, I thought it was interesting but just okay. Now that I've had this in my cd player for the last few days straight, I realize it is a much better album than I was giving it credit for. And it has given me a greater appreciation for the strength of the music that Yes has penned over the years, in that other artists can take these familiar old gems and reimagine them with a new freshness and power (something Yes themselves did on the Keys to Ascension album). No wonder so many current bands count Yes among their musical influences.

A few of the songs are exact copies of the originals - Enchant's "Changes", for example, or Steve Morse's covers of Howe's solo pieces. This is not a bad thing! Why mess with perfection? Also, Billy Sherwood's delicate but confident performance on World Trade's "Wonderous Stories" reflects his long association with Yes, both on and off stage.

But the album really shines when the artists take the original song and infuse it with their own style. As other reviewers have noted, Annie Haslam's and Steve Howe's "Turn of the Century" is just sublime. Robert Berry's "Roundabout" riffs remind me of the some of the best songs on Yes' Open Your Eyes album. Magellan's "Don't Kill the Whale" takes a song that sounds rather dated on the Tormato album (admit it, it does) and infuses it with new enegy. But the biggest suprise for me was Patrick Moraz' solo piano "Soon". It is one of the times I wish the song were much longer so I could hear what else he might have done with it. "Soon" was never one of my favorite Yes songs, but this version is one of my favorites off of this album.

Perhaps, as one reviewer noted, this was a blatent attempt by Magna Carta to push their stable of artists. But I think the artists featured rose to the challenge and created a tribute worthy of the music of Yes.

Was never even aware of this 13 track Yes tribute CD release until I stumbled across a super-low priced copy.As for tribute ablums go, it's decent. I still say,there are simply too MANY tribute CD's out there. Tunes I dug the most here are Robert Berry's re-working of "Roundabout",World Trade's "Wonderous Stories" (very well done),Enchant's "Changes" and Jeronimo Road's contribution of "Starship Trooper". One thing I'll say about each and every artist on this CD,they KNEW plenty (enough,anyway)about Yes to turn in a good tribute title. Not bad at all.

I bought this hoping to hear re-workings of the originals, but instead found attempts to mostly re-create the songs note-for-note. The only real exception is Robert Berry's version of "Roundabout". He actually took some time and re-composed this song, and the result is a completely different yet interesting version.

I find the rest of this CD to be embarrassingly painful to listen to, and recommend that you surf swiftly past it. My only comfort is listening to the originals after putting this CD on. Similar to the good feeling you get after ceasing to hit yourself in the head with a hammer.

You're right-I didn't like this one.

We should all hope to recreate such amazing music. I, (for one) appreciate
an open yet accurate tribute.
Release, release rocked my socks off. I'll be checking out Shadow Gallery.

Some go a little further out there than others.

I hate tribute albums,,,til now...The Annie Haslam/Steve Hackett collaboration of Turn of the Century is better than YES!Siberian Katru by World Trade was brillant,,and so goes most of it. BUY THIS NOW!{and tell a friend}
ALIAS

Are we really supposed to think that Steve Howe, Patrick Moraz, and Peter Banks participated in order to pay tribute to themselves? More than anything, their contributions, along with a Roger Dean cover and liner notes courtesy of "Notes From The Edge", serve to legitimize the collection by association: what Yes fan could remain doubtful when former members are involved?

Behind the transparent deception, one can easily see Magna Carta's ulterior motive, which is to introduce the listener to its stable of artists. Magellan bends "Don't Kill The Whale" to their own unique and recognizable style, demonstrating more of Trent Gardner's writing than of his respect for Yes; Robert Berry does the same to "Roundabout", rendering it rhythmically pedestrian. Shadow Gallery, too much the prog-metal band to be playing Yes, nevertheless begs for inclusion with a weak "Release, Release". The rest of the disc is a parade of faithful and mostly uninspired covers, distinguished mainly by the fact that they sounded better with Jon Anderson's voice.

Cairo's Bret Douglas is a notable exception, belting out "South Side of the Sky" with conviction. Moral objections aside, that and a couple of other tracks are actually worth a listen. But the objections are strong: Magna Carta has betrayed and insulted the deep and abiding love for the music of Yes in the hearts of fans and, I believe, of many of the artists on this disc by assembling, essentially, a promotional CD, an audio catalog. I love Magna Carta Records; they've brought us a lot of great music and given a new home to progressive rock. But that's not to say they haven't stumbled along the way, and on this one they got it wrong.

I was somewhat disappointed by some of the remakes here. To me, one of the purposes of a tribute album is for the artist to try and catch the spirit of a song but still put his/her own stylistic stamp on it. Unfortunately many of the cuts on this recording are merely good clones of the original. I expected more from Steve Morse than note-for-note remakes of "Mood for a Day" and "The Clap"(Morse is one of the best guitar players around so his ability to play these two pieces is not very surprising)--A Dixie Dregs style remake of "Yours is No Disgrace" or "I've Seen All Good People" would have been very welcome.

What makes this recording worth getting is the intimate setting of "Turn of the Century" by Steve Howe and Annie Haslam. I was a big fan of both Yes and Renaissance and it's a delight to hear Ms. Haslam's beautiful soprano gracing this song--one of the most elegant songs in the Yes catalog. The stripped-down setting also allowed me to further appreciate Steve Howe's brilliant guitar work.

In all honesty, the only piece that I consider to stand out within the album is the version that Annie Haslam (former Renaissance voice) and Steve Howe (Yes' guitar man) put together around the classical 1977 Yes tune "Turn of the Century." The rest of the pieces are either identical covers of the original Yes songs or arrangements I didn't quite like as much.

However, Yes fans might be more willing to give it a chance.