Review Tueaday: Mirror to the Sky by YES

YES

Mirror to the Sky

Prog Rock back YES released their 23rd studio album

I have been a fan of YES for a very long time. When I realized during the 80s that the band that put out Owner of a Lonely Hear was the same band responsible for the haunting memories of Southside of the Sky that resided in my awareness from my childhood.

 

There have been few constants in YES other than (1) Chris Squire had been on every single record since the beginning, (2) Alan White had played on every album after Close to the Edge, and (3) Jon Anderson sang on every successful YES record. Yeah, Tormato was a bit of a mess, but it still had a couple good tracks. 

 

Now it's 2023 and Chris and Alan both passed away and Steve Howe won't let Jon back in. This is the current line up:

Drums: Jay Schellen 

Guitars: Steve Howe 

Bass: Billy Sherwood

Vocals: Jon Davison

Keyboards: Geoff Downes

Track list:

1 Cut from the Stars
2 All Connected
3 Luminosity
4 Living Out Their Dream
5 Mirror to the Sky
6 Circles of Time
7 Unknown Place

8 One Second Is Enough
9 Magic Potion

Remember, Steve Howe was NOT an original member. He didn't get into YES until their third album, even though it's his photo on the back of their second record, TIME AND A WORD. Geoff Downes first appearance in YES was on the ill-fated album DRAMA, their first record without Jon Anderson singing. Billy Sherwood has had a relationship with YES for decades, doing all sorts of work in various capacities and it's no surprise that he's assumed the role as bass player, replacing his friend Chris. Similarly, Jay Schellen, who was a longtime friend of Alan White is sitting behind the drums. Collectively, the band sounds pretty good. You can't tell that there are almost no members of YES left in there. Billy sounds liike Chris. Jay sounds like Alan. Geoff is an excellent and underrated keyboardist. Jon Davison sounds like Jon Anderson, but my guess is that he's easier for Steve to control. Steve, is as indulgent as ever.

Each song has a feel of familiarity. Like tones and notes from the YES back-catalog. Nicely polished. They all feel like something is feeling. Warmth? Personality? I don't know. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seems to be something plaguing most YES albums after TALK. It seems like Steve recorded an eight minute guitar solo and then they wrote their soulless songs around that.  

I listened to this album a bunch of times, really trying to get into it and enjoy it, but it just never caught my interest. It seems like if YES doesn't have either Eddie Offord, Trevor Horn or Trevor Rabin involved in production, the songs never seem FINISHED.

There seems to be no version of this album that can be obtained for under $30, which is pretty annoying and seems to be taking advantage of the fans, in my opinion. But hey, I am not in one of the most influential prog-rock bands of all time. I, for one, refuse to pay for this. 

AMAZON