Can you believe that I hadn't heard this until this month? A classic live rock album from a band known for their vibrant and powerful performances, and I finally get around to it in 2020. Originally planned to only be released in the titular country, it would go to be one of their most popular and influential releases, and it's easy to see why.
Honestly, I don't have much to say other than this is really good stuff. The band is tight, jamming all over their classic songs. Ian Gillian has plenty of his iconic screams, Blackmore and Lord play great solos, Ian Paice and Roger Glover hold down the rhythm, and they all sound great together.
Some of the highlights are Paice's great drum solo on "The Mule," the quirky duet between Gillian and Blackmore on "Strange Kind of Woman," and of course the in-between line of "Can I have everything louder than everything else?" (That's rock and roll in a nutshell, isn't it?) Overall, you get a collection of recordings of a band having an absolute blast playing live together, and that joy carries over to the music. Classic for a thousand reasons.
So after some serious delays due to the lockdown, my copy of the From a Page boxset finally arrived. As this contains some new Yes music, I'm going to be taking it pretty seriously.
Taking material from around 2009-2010, the lineup is Benoit David on vocals, Steve Howe on guitar, Oliver Wakeman on keys, Alan White on drums, and Chris Squire on Bass, which right before the album Fly From Here. This collection consists of the In the Present - Live from Lyon live album and a third disc of studio tracks they had started on, before they moved on to Fly From Here, but were never finished or released. When Chris Squire passed away, Oliver Wakeman took it upon himself to get those studio tracks finished up for release, which results in material from a very unique time in Yes's history.
The live album is decent enough. Benoit David is a solid singer, and the material is classic stuff, though getting live Drama tracks is admittedly neat. However, the band is slightly sluggish here, which is a problem their live albums have had for the past 10 years, really. Not a deal breaker, but it doesn't really incentivize me to listen back through it again.
As for the studio material, there's less than 30 minutes of it, so there isn't much to go over, but it still ends up being a bit of a mixed bag. "To the Moment" starts things off with a nice piece, full of lush layers and Yes-isms. Nothing amazing, but a decent song. "Words on a Page" is more of a ballad and doesn't really do much for me. However, it builds nicely, adding in layers as the song goes on. "From the Turn of a Card" is a piano/vocal duet that didn't get fully realized, and I wish it had, as it's a pretty upbeat number. David sings in a lower register, which gives it a different tone. (Apparently, David's vocals were taken from another recording of the song on an album Oliver Wakeman did with Gordon Giltrap.) "The Gift of Love" feels like it would have been at home on Fly From Here, which makes sense as it's the only song that credits the entire band as its writers. It still has a laid back feel, like a very modern version of "To Be Over."
I don't know if From A Page collection will be anything more than a footnote in Yes's history, as it won't make new fans out of anyone and will likely be just another box set in a Yes fan's collection, but it does capture a moment that we might not have heard otherwise, which I think makes the effort worthwhile. I'll probably need to spin it several times before I really can decide how I feel about it, but I'm certainly glad to have it.
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After listening to their last album, I got the impression that Gamma Ray was settling into their power metal sound, and this one confirms it. It's also the first where Kai Hansen takes over on vocals, and it's clear that he's improved quite a bit since The Walls of Jericho. It's not an amazing voice, but it's sufficient for what they're going for here.
Which happens to be something of a concept album, actually, telling the story about the oppression of Dreamland and the quest to free it by a hero seeking to go beyond the wall and find the truth that will save them all. That being said, the lyrics mostly keep things in the abstract, so there doesn't seem to be much of a plot to follow, other than challenges faced, then overcome.
As for the music, it's power metal for sure, but still kind of early and rough around the edges, and Kai Hansen still has some Helloween-isms in his playing (not that there's anything wrong with that). The opening track "Rebellion in Dreamland" is built like an Iron Maiden epic, and there are symphonic flourishes in multiple songs that made me think of Avantasia, especially in "Abyss of the Void." However, the stand out track for me is "Salvation's Coming," with some very powerful riffs and a ton of energy!
The album isn't completely solid, with some quirks. "Farewell" is pretty flat as a ballad, "All of the Damned" has an extended reference to the solo from "Hotel California" of all things, and the short tracks seem to have little purpose. Otherwise, it's fairly standard stuff: crunchy, melodic, well-paced, and probably the strongest overall album I've heard from them so far.
Those were some lengthy reviews! I hope you don't mind my long-winded remarks! That being said, I do enjoy listening to rock and metal from all decades, as there is just so much diversity! As for me, I'll keep "Space Truckin'" along and posting articles when I can. Until then, rock on! \m/
