'From A Page' by 'Yes' is not a new album because it has been released in October 2019 but it appeared quite late in digital and also contains the reissue of the concert 'In the Present - Live from Lyon' dating from 2011 and which had been given on December 1, 2009 in Lyon at the 'Bourse du Travail'. Regarding the 'From A Page' part, these are five compositions (including two versions of 'To The Moment') that had been written in the late 2000s when the band's line up saw quite a few changes, between the health problems of 'Jon Anderson' replaced by 'Benoît David' and the departure of 'Rick Wakeman' replaced by 'Oliver Wakeman' and these compositions written and composed at that time (all by 'Oliver Wakeman' except 'The Gift of Love' which is a collegiate title) never saw the light of day in a studio recording of 'Yes'.
'To The Moment' begins the mini album with the single version but it is the long version which is the most interesting with more full instrumental parts and which correspond well to the moods of 'Yes' and we are struck by the voice of 'Benoît David' who was really the best replacement for 'Jon Anderson', then, 'Words On A Page' is a magnificent ballad in a stripped down atmosphere that we are not used to hearing in the group's repertoire with a guitar solo highlighting the magnificent feeling of 'Steve Howe'. Follows 'From the Turn of a Card', which appeared on the album 'Ravens & Lullabies' from 'Gordon Giltrap' and 'Oliver Wakeman' and which offers us a sort of ritornello with a heady melody, 'Oliver Wakeman' having rewritten a piano score bringing a certain sweetness and lightness to this beautiful title , then, the masterpiece 'The Gift Of Love' is a long composition that takes us into a progressive maze with endearing melodic lines and very beautiful vocal arrangements.
Regarding the concert, it is already known but takes us back for a moment in one of the prosperous periods of 'Yes' at the end of the 2000s with more than two intense hours, the end of the set list comprising, after the interplanetary hit 'Owner of a Lonely Heart', five long developments that border on an hour on their own.
In summary, more than a new album, this digital version of 'From A Page' will allow those who have not had the chance to listen to the CD or Vinyl version to discover a period of the long history of 'Yes' and which gives us the opportunity to hear again this legendary group which has become an undisputed reference in the progressive rock of the last 50 years, their last live release being the remarkable 'The Royal Affair Tour (Live in Las Vegas) ' in 2020... | |
