For too long I have danced
To your destiny
No longer fill my head
With empty dreams
Of reality and gold
In September 1988, singer/songwriter Jon Anderson had had enough. He left Yes, the band he had founded 20 years earlier, with a slamming door for the second time.
Anderson (b.1944) had returned to Yes in 1983 and the release of 90125, the album produced by Trevor Rabin and Trevor Horn, had brought the band to a new commercial heyday. In fact, the band had become more popular than ever thanks to their new straightforward modern style. After an arduous process, Big Generator (1987) was less successful, but after a successful world tour promoting that album, Yes was still one of the world’s most popular rock bands. So why did Anderson abandon the mother ship again?
In interviews, Anderson cited disagreements over musical style and the fact that he had been marginalised in the band’s decision-making process in general as reasons. For Anderson, Yes’s music had become too commercial. This is a somewhat curious gripe for a man who, shortly after his resignation, made the mostly pure pop album In The City Of Angels. Anderson has said that on that album the label wanted to turn him into Phil Collins. It is unlikely, however, that Anderson was driven to Los Angeles in a straitjacket to make an expensive record. In The City Of Angels, released in May 1988 and accompanied by AOR band Toto, was clearly made on a big budget and aimed directly at mainstream music consumers. The uneven album contains a few excellent tracks, but no hits came out of it and the record label probably made a real loss. Anderson did not become the new Phil Collins and In The City Of Angels is one of the last solo albums Anderson made for a major label. In fact, the only exception is the great Change We Must, released in 1994 by EMI Classics.
One can speculate that perhaps Anderson thinks there is nothing wrong with commercial pop per se, but that is the wrong approach for Yes. Indeed, I believe that Anderson’s main motivation for leaving Yes was precisely that he simply couldn’t stand the idea of being second-class citizen in his band after Trevor Rabin and Chris Squire.
So the solo career and the freedom it gave seemed like a good deal. It’s also commendable that he was willing and daring to continue on his own path even after In The City Of Angels flopped.
Anderson spent the summer of 1988 in Greece, on the island of Hydra, writing music with Vangelis. It was on the island that new ideas began to form in Anderson’s head. He would put together a new alternative Yes. A Yes where things would be done his way again. A Yes that would return to its progressive roots.
Perhaps at this point it’s worth looking at what the other main characters in our story were doing when Anderson was weaving his plot.
Read also: Yes: The Quest (2021)
Keyboardist Rick Wakeman left Yes for the second time at the same time Anderson left the band for the first time, in 1979. Wakeman returned to his solo career again, but things were on a completely different track from the first half of the 70s when he was even more popular than Yes for a while. Wakeman’s solo albums (which, incidentally, were also generally pretty poor quality) were no longer selling and when this was combined with out-of-control alcohol consumption and poor financial decisions, a real disaster was in the offing. Wakeman effectively went into personal bankruptcy and at his worst was so badly off that he spent some time homeless on park benches. In 1985 Wakeman gave up alcohol and has been an teetotaller ever since.
Guitarist Steve Howe and Yes parted ways in the early 80s after the release of Drama. The excellent Drama received a mixed reception from fans, who did not fully accept the new line-up presented on the album. After Drama, Yes sort of withered away and quietly faded into the background, only to reemerge rejuvenated just a few years later with 90125. Howe was not invited to join the fray, but he had already been rescued a year earlier by the new supergroup Asia. Asian’s debut (1982) was a huge success, but Howe’s time with band came to stop after only two albums. Vocalist John Wetton presented Asia and the label with an ultimatum: ’it was me or Howe’. Howe left and set up a project called GTR with ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. Artistically, GTR’s only album, released in 1986, was a hollow crap and did not perform as well as hoped. A second album was started without Hackett, but the project was eventually quietly buried.
Drummer Bill Bruford left Yes back in 1972 just after the completion of Close To The Edge. Bruford went on to play with King Crimson, Gong, Genesis, U.K. and formed a self-titled fusion jazz band in the 70s. In the early 80s, King Crimson returned with a renewed sense of purpose. However, that line-up only lasted until 1984, and after Three Of A Perfect Pair, Robert Fripp put his foot down again. Jazz had always been Bruford’s first love and in 1987 he formed Bill Bruford’s Earthworks to play that music. But ambitious jazz is only a goldmine if you’re lucky, so Bruford was also open to returning to rock music, even if he wasn’t as bullish on money as some of his Yes colleagues.
As we can see, the pieces were placed in the right places on the board.
On his very first return from Hydra, Anderson invited Bruford to join his new project. Next, he met Steve Howe and asked him for material for the project. Anderson received a bunch of demos from Howe which included the embryos of ”Brother Of Mine” and ”Birthright”. Anderson flew to France for five weeks to work on the demos with guitarist Milton McDonald and keyboardist Matt Clifford. At one point Anderson also contacted Rick Wakeman and when he gave the green light a very impressive quartet was assembled.
Anderson has apparently been rather cryptic about the nature of the project, as Bruford at least has said he imagined being recruited to play only on Anderson’s solo album. He has said that he only realised what was going on when he was at the airport on his way to Montserrat. Indeed, at the airport, apart from Anderson, Bruford says he was met by Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and the svengali manager Brian Lane. Here, however, Bruford’s memory seems to fail him slightly, as Howe never travelled to the Caribbean with the others, but recorded his guitar parts in London. And grumbled in his familiar style when some of his guitar parts were eventually omitted.
What about the bass player? Some sources say that Anderson would have considered asking Chris Squire to join. I’m a bit dubious about this information, but if Squire had indeed come on board it would have been a real victory for Anderson. An outright palace coup that would have handed the Yes name to Anderson and left Squire and Trevor Rabin in California with nothing but a bone to pick. Well, as we know, that didn’t happen in the end, but at Bruford’s suggestion the surest option was chosen as bassist, the studio veteran Tony Levin who had a long history not only with Peter Gabriel’s band, but of course also with King Crimson where they had played together with Bruford.
The recording sessions at AIR Studios in Montserrat in the Caribbean lasted only six weeks – a very short time by Yes standards. However, this was helped by the base recordings Anderson made in France with McDonald and Clifford, on which Bruford and Wakeman built in the Caribbean sun. And Howe on his own in rainy London. Bruford, who is often very cynical about Yes, was impressed; he thought the material was successful and Anderson led the sessions with a strong and determined grip. Anderson and Howe deserve most of the credit for the compositions, but Wakeman and Bruford also got their names on the credits for each song. However, this was more out of solidarity than any real contribution, as Bruford at least has admitted that he had nothing to do with the compositions on the album. There are also a few outside characters in the composition credits, but we’ll come back to that later.
The producer of the album was Chris Kimsey (perhaps ordered by Arista to keep Anderson in check?), who had won gold and glory in recent years with Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood (1985) and Clutching At Straws (1987). It’s interesting that those albums have a relatively timeless and organic sound, but for better or worse ABWH sounds very 80s. This is probably because Anderson and company, as old timers, weren’t as heavily led by the producer as the younger Marillion, and also because these gentlemen had already experienced their vintage gear and, as progressive musicians, wanted to play with the latest toys of their time. There’s not much a producer and his engineers can do if the drummer wants to frantically bang away on his electric drum kit and the keyboard player is racing at 100 miles an hour on the latest digital synthesizers on the market. Some of the sound choices are a little off here and there and some songs make you wish Bruford had played more acoustic drums, but for the most part ABWH actually sounds pretty good.
The album kicks off with one of its best tracks. The six-minute, three-part, surprisingly boringly titled ”Themes” begins with a subtle piano intro combined with ringing, sonorous sequenced elements. The track finally explodes into life with Bruford’s really sharply striking electric drums. Anderson’s vocals come into play and he sings with great intensity the verses that one can imagine are the mission statement of the whole project:
Be gone you ever piercing
Power Play machine
Cutting our musical solidarity
For those who would break the windows
Of our true reflections
And perceptions of the world
’For I am out of thee with a vengeance’
So power playlists and record company machinery be damned, progressive rock is back with a vengeance! ”Themes” really brings prog back into Yes’ music in a very nice way. Wakeman and Howe’s competing solos are great to hear and it’s great to hear Bruford’s always surprising drumming behind Anderson’s vocals after a long time. The long instrumental section with its piano and trumpet-like synthesizers, which rolls along nicely towards the end, is reminiscent of Emerson Lake & Palmer.
If ”Themes” is an energetic song, the following ”Fist Of Fire” is downright furious. At just over three minutes long, the miniature is a shining example of how progressive rock can work well in a compact format. The fast-paced track grinds out massive keyboard waves that are dizzying to listen to. Anderson’s emphatic and punchy rhythmic vocals crown the track. ”Fist Of Fire” is a celebration of Wakeman’s synths and he doesn’t indulge in his typical dabbling, but his staccato and surprisingly aggressive style of playing is something completely new. In fact, is it possible that some of the credit goes to Matt Clifford, who did the groundwork in France?
After the first two tracks of the album, 9 minutes have passed and I have to admit that I personally think that those 9 minutes are very close to the kind of music I would have wished to hear from Yes in the 80s. ”Themes” and especially ”Fist Of Fire” are full of prog-like intricacies and sparkling energy.
The three-part, ten-minute ”Brother Of Mine” is the first of three long suites on the album. And the most successful of them. If the first two songs on the album were largely driven by their strong rhythms, ”Brother Of Mine” brings the melodies to the fore. The song is built on two different song ideas. The first is ”Lost In America” which Howe and keyboardist Geoff Downes had cobbled together for the Asian album and the second ”Long Lost Brother Of Mine” was inspired by the aborted sessions of the second GTR album, Nerotrend. The material ended up in the hands of Anderson who developed it further and built a surprisingly coherent and natural progression from the various sketches. The song, which starts off a little cheesy, improves after the beginning. Tony Levin’s bass thumps in ”Brother of Mine” are delightfully satisfying and it’s a shame that he’s often mixed a little too much in the background. In the previous two songs, Howe was somewhat outmatched by Wakeman’s synthesizers, but on ”Brother Of Mine” he gets to play several tasty guitar parts that are central to the composition. Unfortunately, you don’t hear the wonderfully rattling Howe of the early 70’s on ABWH, but he plays mostly with quite clean and smooth sounds.
The A-side ends with perhaps the finest song on the album. ”Birthright” is a dramatic and elegant composition that, for a lyric written by Anderson, is an unusually straightforward piece of storytelling. It may be that the real essence of the lyrics came from Howe, as the whole song is largely rooted in his original composition. Indeed, this song also originated in the sessions for GTR’s second album, which is why vocalist Max Bacon has been given composition credit for this version of ABWH as well.
”Birthright” is a song with a clear political message by Yes, alongside ”Don’t Kill The Whale” (Tormato, 1978). The anti-colonial lyrics deal with the British nuclear tests at Maralinga in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s which resulted in the expulsion of indigenous Australians, often by very questionable means, from their sacred lands. And worst of all, apparently all the tribes were not even notified of the mushroom cloud appearing in the sky…
This place, this place ain’t big enough for stars and stripes
Counting out the statesmen
Bungling one by one
Spelling out this segregation
So the catchword be
Looking after number one
They release the fear inside
Are human after all
So begins our dream time
They hunted like the dinosaur
We the pure
They the savage innocent
How we crush our existence after all
Come on
The lyrics are strong and touching, yet at the same time Andersonian in their poetry. And Anderson interprets them with convincing authority. Did I mention that Anderson is a stunning singing presence throughout the album? If so, it’s worth repeating.
Musically, ”Birthright” is also an excellently constructed song. The music has just the right amount of pathos and develops naturally, avoiding pop clichés, although it does contain a powerful chorus. In keeping with the theme, ’Birthright’ draws on Aboriginal music, particularly in the form of the buzzing synthesizers and Bruford’s tribal drumming. At the climax of the song the rhythm picks up and Wakeman plays a fast rattling solo that alternates with a rhythmic thickly percussive synth section as Bruford literally strikes lightning with his electric drums. ”Birthright” is one of those songs where Bruford’s electric drums fit the music perfectly.
”Birthright” is only six minutes long, but it feels considerably more epic than its length. And in a good way only. A great song that could definitely be played side by side with almost any Yes classic. What a shame that this hasn’t happened since ABWH’s own tour.
After ”Birthright”, the album is about halfway through in terms of minutes and if things continued to be as stellar until the end, we would be close to a true masterpiece. Unfortunately, however, the second half of the album is considerably weaker than the first.
On vinyl, the A-side album ends with the light and beautiful ballad ”The Meeting”. It is built on the ornate piano accompaniment typical of Wakeman, over which Anderson sings in a gentle voice very beautifully. In addition to the piano, there is also a hazey synthesizer pad in the background. A bit in vain, as the song would have worked perfectly well as a pure duet. The song was apparently written spontaneously in Montserrat, unlike most of the material on the album. ”The Meeting” is the only ABWH song that has since been heard on Yes tours.
”Quartet” is the second of the long songs on the album. The nine-minute track has no less than four movements. Starting with a very Howe-esque acoustic guitar sound, the song beautifully changes shape several times during its duration. It is at its finest at the end of the second section where Wakeman transforms into an electronic chamber orchestra with surprising elegance.
As a whole, ”Quartet” remains a little vague. It does float along in a smooth and pleasant way, but the real beef seems to be missing. And it doesn’t help that its lyrics refer a little too cutely to old Yes songs.
How did we dance on the south side of the sky
We saw the flags flying on the moon
And thru the gates of delirium so fast
Believing in the light was a beginning
Only to believe in you
Only to believe in you
”Teakbois”, which sounds much longer than its seven-minute duration, is the most negatively criticised song on the album. And certainly not without reason. Like ’The Meeting’, ’Teakbois’ is probably inspired by a Caribbean atmosphere, composed on the spot in a studio in Montserrat. It’s a very strange combination of jubilant Caribbean calypso and reggae influences mixed with progressive rock. At moments, it brings to mind a corny band shaking their hips on a beach bar stage. And it’s not a pretty picture it!
Usually when criticising ”Teakboys” it’s Anderson who gets thrown under the bus, but I think Bruford has also stood firmly behind the song as much as his own Earthworks band’s song ”Libreville” (from the Dig? album) from the same year has the same sentiments.
Regardless of who is to blame for the ”Teakbois”, I don’t think it’s worth all the blame. The song moves along quite efficiently and contains a few very nice moments and of course also some nice playing as you would expect from this band. However, it’s too long and its wacky atmosphere doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the material on the album.
What makes the inclusion of ”Teakboys” particularly problematic is that there would have been a much better song ”Vultures Of The City”. The six-minute dark and mournful ”Vultures Of The City” was unfortunately buried as the B-side of the ”Brother Of Mine” single.
The penultimate track of the album, ”Order Of The Universe”, is its rock song. But at nine minutes, it’s a pretty epic rock track. For the first time, AOR tones are added and the song could be described stylistically as a fusion of ”Heart Of The Sunrise” and ”Heat Of The Moment”. Sound nebulous? Well, ”Order Of The Universe” is a bit like that. The whole thing feels patchwork and the song is again put together on the basis of several different tracks. For the ”Rock Gives Courage” section of ”Order Of The Universe”, which is divided into four parts, the credit goes to American producer/songwriter Rhett Lawrence and now I have to admit that I have no idea how he fits into the ABWH scene.
Anderson is not the most convincing rock singer in the world and his even slightly exaggerated rrrock vocals sound quite phony, especially in the aforementioned ”Rock Gives Courage” section. The actual chorus of the whole, ”ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE”, is clearly intended for stadium sing-alongs. The impression is rather embarrassing.
Despite its slightly corny feel, ”Order Of The Universe” is still a captivating song and again contains some excellent individual moments, even if the whole is not quite a knockout. One of these moments is Bruford’s short drum solo, which sounds so exciting that I would have liked to listen to it a bit longer, even though I’m usually strictly against drum solos on studio albums.
Like so many other Yes albums, ABWH ends with a short song that serves as a kind of light epilogue to the whole album. These songs are often a bit forgotten and it’s hard to consider them as true Yes classics, but I personally like most of the songs in this range. The album-closing ”Lets Pretend” is a beautifully simple song accompanied by Howe’s acoustic guitar and light synthesizer breaths, sung by Anderson in a delicately vulnerable voice. It’s a delightfully fresh breath of light air after all the wailing and pathos heard above. Vangelis was given composition credit for the song as it is one of the songs Anderson wrote with him on Hydra before the ABWH project.
Read also: Yes – Mirror To The Sky (2023)
ABWH is a long album at 59 minutes, but time passes surprisingly quickly despite the fact that many of the songs have their own weaknesses. However, the songs offer enough surprising twists and turns, beautiful melodies, rhythmic power, interesting sounds and quality instrumental performances to keep you interested. And Kimsey’s production, despite its slight sterility, has just the right amount of airiness to keep the music from becoming too heavy on the ears. Even if not all the experiments on the album go all the way to the finish line, the energetic music shows the enthusiasm of the foursome, who are reunited after a long break, for new musical possibilities together.
If ABWH were to be classified as a Yes album (and you may notice from the text that I at least sort of count it as such) then qualitatively it would be somewhere around the middle. And that’s not a bad achievement considering how many great albums this progressive rock giant has made!
The ABWH album sold around 750 000 copies which was not a bad performance although the record company’s expectations were probably higher. After the album’s completion, Messrs Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe headed out on tour with Tony Levin, keyboardist Julian Colbeck (Matt Clifford jumped on the Rolling Stones bandwagon) and rhythm guitarist Milton McDonald.
Especially in America, ABWH were received as triumphant heroes and the biggest shows were played to audiences of 20 000 people. On tour, ABWH played most of the songs from their new album, as well as a mixed bag of Yes classics from the 70s. In particular, ”Close To The Edge” and ”Heart Of The Sunrise” were a treat for old Yes fans, even if Bruford’s electric drums did cause some grumbling.
The shadow over the tour was cast by a lawsuit engineered by the ”real” Yes to prevent ABWH from referring to the parent band. Jon Anderson even wanted to be banned from mentioning his past in Yes in interviews! Admittedly, the title of the ABWH tour, An Evening Of Yes Music Plus, was quite suggestive (and certainly the use of Roger Dean as cover artist was well calculated move). The lawsuit ended in victory for the ABWH camp and they were then free to refer to their history in the tour’s publicity.
In 1993, an excellent recording of one of the concerts on the tour was released under the familiar title An Evening Of Yes Music Plus. Unfortunately, Levin was ill and out of action at the time, and Bruford’s old bandmate Jeff Berlin was called in at very short notice. Much later, in 2010, a second concert album Live At The NEC – Oct 24th 1989 was released, on which Levin is happily featured. Unfortunately, Live At The NEC doesn’t have the same quality of sound as its predecessor.
After a successful tour, the foursome headed back to the studio. Where the first album had been painlessly produced thanks to Anderson’s extensive pre-production work, things were considerably more hiccupy this time around as they tried to create new material from scratch. However, this challenge was soon overshadowed by greater upheavals. Surprisingly, manager Brian Lane and Arista’s manager announced that things couldn’t go on like this and that the magical acronym YES would have to be introduced to make the project worth the cost to the label. The wheels were already in motion and ABWH were faced with a forced marriage with the actual Yes, which had been shipwrecked in California. Bruford in particular was dismayed and has lamented many times since how a promising musical project was clipped far too early. Anderson’s rebellion was over. Be gone you ever piercing power play machine? Not a chance! As in casinos, in the music business the house always wins in the end.
Best songs: ”Themes”, ”Fist Of Fire”, ”Birthright”, ”Brother Of Mine”
Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI
Tracks
1.”Themes”5:57
i. ”Sound”
ii. ”Second Attention”
iii. ”Soul Warrior”
2. ”Fist of Fire” 3:27
3. ”Brother of Mine” 10:16
i. ”The Big Dream”
ii. ”Nothing Can Come Between Us”
iii. ”Long Lost Brother of Mine”
4. ”Birthright” 6:00
5. ”The Meeting” 4:16
6. ”Quartet” 9:16
i. ”I Wanna Learn”
ii. ”She Gives Me Love”
iii. ”Who Was the First”
iv. ”I’m Alive”
7. ”Teakbois” 7:35
8. ”Order of the Universe” 9:01
i. ”Order Theme”
ii. ”Rock Gives Courage”
iii. ”It’s So Hard to Grow”
iv. ”The Universe”
9. ”Let’s Pretend” 2:56
ABWH:
Jon Anderson: vocals Bill Bruford: Tama acoustic drums, Simmons SDX electric drums Rick Wakeman: keyboards Steve Howe: guitars
Muut muusikot:
Tony Levin: bass guitar, Chapman stick, vocals Matt Clifford: keyboards, programming, vocals Milton McDonald: rhythm guitars Deborah Anderson, Tessa Niles, Carol Kenyon, Frank Dunnery, Emerald Isle Community Singers, In Seine Singers: backing vocals
Producers: Jon Anderson, Chris Kimsey
Label: Arista
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