Few drummers write songs. And not many of them do it well.
Ex
Yes man, Alan White, is clearly one of those exceptions.
His band...Geoff Downes, Karl Haug, Steve Boyce, Kevin Currie...consists of unknowns and one household name. Downes compliments the band's sound beautifully, either with Hammond organ underpinning or twinkling keyboard fills and frills.
First impressions immediately recall early Marillion, whose progrock lite, with a strong pop undertone, gained wide appeal.
This is undeniably heavier. Great tunes, and a sound closely related to Trevor Rabin's tightly produced solo material and his latter albums with
Yes. Touches of
Asia too, but harder, punchier.
Audible ties with the past remain, naturally, but that said, you can hear a band trying - and in many places succeeding - to forge its own sound.
Trace elements of faded glory show themselves on
'Once And For All', but otherwise this track pushes ahead with a new band sound, mixing up rock and prog in equal measures, sketching in some colour filled jazzy shades here and there. Kevin Currie's vocals scale a few peaks, emoting gracefully, merging with big guitars and some soulful keys from Downes.
'A Mighty Love' could only be described as prog reggae. Sounds ludicrous, but in the hands of these guys it works a treat. Hypnotic, swaying, strangely, a definite album standout. If Marley instead of Rabin had joined
Yes . . .
As you would expect, the showpiece tracks open the album. The half spoken, half sung '
New Day' and
'Sea Of Lies' seem at first to be two of those heavily mannered, throwback prog songs. Then the first launches into a massive chorus, underlined by a crunching riff, and the second takes off into orbit around a pounding, hard rocking hook, adding harmonies by the moment.
'Give Up Giving Up' is probably the most immediate track, with a clear link to Rabin's larger than life style of writing and producing, but
'Dream Away' is arguably the album's standout. It melds all of the styles touched on elsewhere into one immense, and at times quite touching ensemble piece, again strong on harmonies and owner of an uplifting hook.
White won't win any prizes for originality, not yet anyway. But in fairness, the links with past are unavoidable and to be honest, make this album all the more enjoyable.
Written by
Brian Wednesday, July 25, 2007
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