Label: Atlantic
Year: 1980
Home: England
Members: Jon Anderson ~ vocals/acoustic guitar/keyboards/harp
Damian Anderson, Ronnie Leahy ~ keyboards
Ian Bairnson ~ guitar/bass/b. vocals
Clem Clempson ~ guitar
Clem Clempson ~ guitar
Jack Bruce, Mel ~ bass
John Giblin ~ fretless bass
Simon Phillips, Morris Pert ~ drums
Simon Phillips, Morris Pert ~ drums
Johnny Dankworth, Dick Morrissey ~ sax
Deborah Anderson, Chris Rainbow ~ b. vocals
I was as big a Yes fan as one could get in high school. Who was my fave guitarist? Steve Howe. Fave keyboardist? Rick Wakeman. Fave drummer? Bill Bruford. Singer ... you see where this is going (i.e. Jon Anderson & any singer who sounded like him). This was a time when the internet was very young. There was no resource to hear every Yes album, nor even a place to get a list of every album. I discovered Yes' legacy by pouring through music store shelves. With each album I pieced together a new player & historical moment the best I could. A part of me misses those days where a new album might be a many month obsession. To place a little more context on the era, I remember when Yes' Talk was released. I heard it on the radio on the way to high school. After work I ran to the music store before coming home to get the cassette, which was more affordable than the CD. Cherished memories, but I must confess ... Today I don't rush out to buy Yes albums. Actually, I don't listen to them much anymore & don't get excited over new releases. They are still iconic prog rock pioneers, but their new music doesn't grab me like they once did. I don't claim any of the members as a favorite musician anymore, either. All the players currently in the group are super talented & the new albums, both studio & live, are pretty good listens on the whole. They may not ring my bells, but I don't say they are a tribute band that should retire, as some long time fans do. If they came to Portland, Maine I might see them. I've reviewed one of Billy Sherwood's solo albums here happily. Yet, what about the new Yes music doesn't grab me? There's a few little things, but one big thing. Essentially, the thing that instantly got my attention with the very first Yes album I ever bought, which was Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe, is the thing that pushes me away now: Jon Anderson's soaring vocals & mystical lyrics. I can't count the hours I have spent memorizing his lyrics & trying to sing like him. I became just as much interested in his solo career as I did Yes. Anything he touched, even with Vangelis though I don't care for that style of music, I wanted to hear. So, when Jon left Yes, so did I. I don't mind the singers that came after him, but they are not the voice of Yes I grew up with & the reason I became a fan on first listen. Sorry, loyalties, you know. My apologies for what is a very long & likely unnecessary introduction to a review of a non-Yes album. I wanted to be clear about my bias. I'm totally biased when it comes to Jon. I would even love to talk to the guy, though I don't know what I would say. When I first heard Song Of Seven, Jon's second solo album, you can imagine from all I've described it was like finding a buried treasure. I spent a lot of time listening to it, having already fallen in love with his debut. Thus, its interesting to come back to it to review decades later, particularly not having heard it in decades & falling out of love with Yes. First, both then & now, its shockingly not Yes, outside of passing moments like a guitar solo in "For You For Me" & some vocal lines in the title track. I'm not sure if Jon was deliberately going for a new musical direction, but Jon solo from day one to the present is not Yes. Lyrically he tends to avoid multi-part songs, & he doesn't create sonic landscapes topographic landscapes with his backing bands to take those lyrics into orbit. He finds a mood &/or style, puts some lyrics into it that are more personal & less abstract than Yes, with the outcome always feeling like a rather simple & modest affair. Considering his later solo work of which I've about half of, I feel that Song Of Seven is where Jon came into being as Jon without Yes. This is where he found his comfort zone & started to explore non-prog directions. This album also debuts his new solo band, the New Life Band, after doing all the instruments himself on his debut. This album lays foundation of so much that would follow in the years to come I feel far more than his debut. I have not reviewed his debut here since it arrived before my cut-off of 1980. With Song Of Seven Jon's vision of what he wants to have his solo career is forming, but its not yet there. Every song here is pretty cool, but there is an uneven musical focus as he is clearly trying to find himself. It would take till the 1990's till I believe he really found his niche, which is not prog or pop rock. The album opens with some songs that might be called jazz-rock. There is the funky cosmic-sounding keyboard-heavy opener "For You, For Me" & the more pop oriented "Some Are Born." From there comes some unexpected R&B with "Don't Forget (Nostalgia)" & danceable "Heart Of The Matter." These two tracks are a complete change of feeling from where the album was but minutes before. Each one of these songs could have spun out an album of their own, but instead we are left wondering where Jon is going next. Its exciting in a chaotic way. Every song is worth a listen, but one wants to hear an album of R&B or maybe more jazz rock. The diversity is like a tease of things not to come here. This diversity is likely due to the fact part of the album was demoed while he was still in Yes recording Tormato. "For You For Me" sounds like a demo for Yes, not too far removed from "Don't Kill The Whale" on Tormato. It even has a Howe-esque lead guitar line that crashes around like waves, courtesy of Clem Clempson of Humble Pie & prog group Colosseum. With the fifth song "Hear It" the album begins to change & fall into a softer more lyrically introspective groove. The keyboards are largely replaced by percussion, flutes & more organic instruments. "Everybody Loves You", "Take Your Time", "Days" & the title track feel more like a cohesive whole of a more new age influenced folk rock album with introspective lyrics, a firm contrast to the first 4 radio friendly songs. This is particularly true over the 11 minutes of the title track that ends on the album on something that might be comparable to modern new age music. Its a bit out of place with its synths going for orchestral sounds over spacey jazz-rock. Only the meandering lead guitar, with a Steve Howe tone, links the two songs as being on the same album. When I was young I like the opening 4 songs far more than the rest of the album. The over the top nature of the songs appealed to youthful me. Though, now in my 40's far from high school prog geek, I actually find everything past those first 4 get my attention far more. The rest of the songs are less glossy & cliched, intricately crafted, introspective & very personal. There is my old age speaking, excuse me. While the R&B of the early tracks is undoubtedly fun, the later half of the album sounds like Jon being Jon & not trying to be anyone else. He is the elf, the spiritual wander, the down-to-earth visionary wandering in the forest. The second half of the album is him speaking his mind crafting something more than just throwaway R&B dance songs, but a musical journey in time & space. He would attempt to find a balance between these 2 sides of his personality in the follow-up albums, with mixed results. His debut didn't have much of this down to earth feel, going for more of a heavy prog experience that always reminded me of keyboardist bandmate Patrick Moraz's early solo albums. Here he really tries to connect with nature & spirituality, almost like he was trying to discover something about himself at this point in time. We are on a journey with him, so this is not really just another album. Its a quite a journey, that is absolutely worth hearing & one of his best earlier solo albums, but be prepared to go all over the place & not necessarily find home. Its been a wonderful ride revisiting this album after so many years.
I was as big a Yes fan as one could get in high school. Who was my fave guitarist? Steve Howe. Fave keyboardist? Rick Wakeman. Fave drummer? Bill Bruford. Singer ... you see where this is going (i.e. Jon Anderson & any singer who sounded like him). This was a time when the internet was very young. There was no resource to hear every Yes album, nor even a place to get a list of every album. I discovered Yes' legacy by pouring through music store shelves. With each album I pieced together a new player & historical moment the best I could. A part of me misses those days where a new album might be a many month obsession. To place a little more context on the era, I remember when Yes' Talk was released. I heard it on the radio on the way to high school. After work I ran to the music store before coming home to get the cassette, which was more affordable than the CD. Cherished memories, but I must confess ... Today I don't rush out to buy Yes albums. Actually, I don't listen to them much anymore & don't get excited over new releases. They are still iconic prog rock pioneers, but their new music doesn't grab me like they once did. I don't claim any of the members as a favorite musician anymore, either. All the players currently in the group are super talented & the new albums, both studio & live, are pretty good listens on the whole. They may not ring my bells, but I don't say they are a tribute band that should retire, as some long time fans do. If they came to Portland, Maine I might see them. I've reviewed one of Billy Sherwood's solo albums here happily. Yet, what about the new Yes music doesn't grab me? There's a few little things, but one big thing. Essentially, the thing that instantly got my attention with the very first Yes album I ever bought, which was Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe, is the thing that pushes me away now: Jon Anderson's soaring vocals & mystical lyrics. I can't count the hours I have spent memorizing his lyrics & trying to sing like him. I became just as much interested in his solo career as I did Yes. Anything he touched, even with Vangelis though I don't care for that style of music, I wanted to hear. So, when Jon left Yes, so did I. I don't mind the singers that came after him, but they are not the voice of Yes I grew up with & the reason I became a fan on first listen. Sorry, loyalties, you know. My apologies for what is a very long & likely unnecessary introduction to a review of a non-Yes album. I wanted to be clear about my bias. I'm totally biased when it comes to Jon. I would even love to talk to the guy, though I don't know what I would say. When I first heard Song Of Seven, Jon's second solo album, you can imagine from all I've described it was like finding a buried treasure. I spent a lot of time listening to it, having already fallen in love with his debut. Thus, its interesting to come back to it to review decades later, particularly not having heard it in decades & falling out of love with Yes. First, both then & now, its shockingly not Yes, outside of passing moments like a guitar solo in "For You For Me" & some vocal lines in the title track. I'm not sure if Jon was deliberately going for a new musical direction, but Jon solo from day one to the present is not Yes. Lyrically he tends to avoid multi-part songs, & he doesn't create sonic landscapes topographic landscapes with his backing bands to take those lyrics into orbit. He finds a mood &/or style, puts some lyrics into it that are more personal & less abstract than Yes, with the outcome always feeling like a rather simple & modest affair. Considering his later solo work of which I've about half of, I feel that Song Of Seven is where Jon came into being as Jon without Yes. This is where he found his comfort zone & started to explore non-prog directions. This album also debuts his new solo band, the New Life Band, after doing all the instruments himself on his debut. This album lays foundation of so much that would follow in the years to come I feel far more than his debut. I have not reviewed his debut here since it arrived before my cut-off of 1980. With Song Of Seven Jon's vision of what he wants to have his solo career is forming, but its not yet there. Every song here is pretty cool, but there is an uneven musical focus as he is clearly trying to find himself. It would take till the 1990's till I believe he really found his niche, which is not prog or pop rock. The album opens with some songs that might be called jazz-rock. There is the funky cosmic-sounding keyboard-heavy opener "For You, For Me" & the more pop oriented "Some Are Born." From there comes some unexpected R&B with "Don't Forget (Nostalgia)" & danceable "Heart Of The Matter." These two tracks are a complete change of feeling from where the album was but minutes before. Each one of these songs could have spun out an album of their own, but instead we are left wondering where Jon is going next. Its exciting in a chaotic way. Every song is worth a listen, but one wants to hear an album of R&B or maybe more jazz rock. The diversity is like a tease of things not to come here. This diversity is likely due to the fact part of the album was demoed while he was still in Yes recording Tormato. "For You For Me" sounds like a demo for Yes, not too far removed from "Don't Kill The Whale" on Tormato. It even has a Howe-esque lead guitar line that crashes around like waves, courtesy of Clem Clempson of Humble Pie & prog group Colosseum. With the fifth song "Hear It" the album begins to change & fall into a softer more lyrically introspective groove. The keyboards are largely replaced by percussion, flutes & more organic instruments. "Everybody Loves You", "Take Your Time", "Days" & the title track feel more like a cohesive whole of a more new age influenced folk rock album with introspective lyrics, a firm contrast to the first 4 radio friendly songs. This is particularly true over the 11 minutes of the title track that ends on the album on something that might be comparable to modern new age music. Its a bit out of place with its synths going for orchestral sounds over spacey jazz-rock. Only the meandering lead guitar, with a Steve Howe tone, links the two songs as being on the same album. When I was young I like the opening 4 songs far more than the rest of the album. The over the top nature of the songs appealed to youthful me. Though, now in my 40's far from high school prog geek, I actually find everything past those first 4 get my attention far more. The rest of the songs are less glossy & cliched, intricately crafted, introspective & very personal. There is my old age speaking, excuse me. While the R&B of the early tracks is undoubtedly fun, the later half of the album sounds like Jon being Jon & not trying to be anyone else. He is the elf, the spiritual wander, the down-to-earth visionary wandering in the forest. The second half of the album is him speaking his mind crafting something more than just throwaway R&B dance songs, but a musical journey in time & space. He would attempt to find a balance between these 2 sides of his personality in the follow-up albums, with mixed results. His debut didn't have much of this down to earth feel, going for more of a heavy prog experience that always reminded me of keyboardist bandmate Patrick Moraz's early solo albums. Here he really tries to connect with nature & spirituality, almost like he was trying to discover something about himself at this point in time. We are on a journey with him, so this is not really just another album. Its a quite a journey, that is absolutely worth hearing & one of his best earlier solo albums, but be prepared to go all over the place & not necessarily find home. Its been a wonderful ride revisiting this album after so many years.
