Let’s start with an anecdote. Almost twenty years ago, when I was a professional bare-chested person, I was given the task of interviewing Jon Anderson on the occasion of the upcoming release of the album he recorded with Vangelis. The singer, along with his wife, was a guest at the Greek’s island estate at the time. While I was fully aware of Anderson’s vocals and knew about the throat problems he was struggling with at the time, (and it was still the era of web 1.0) I had not checked any interviews with him online that included a recording of his voice. So when I heard a very high, female voice in the receiver, I did not hesitate to say hello and ask for my… husband to come to the phone. Luckily, Mr. Anderson probably did not hear, and I had a precious few seconds to realize the faux pas and somehow get out of it. The interview took place and was quite pleasant, but the shame has stayed with me to this day.
“True” comes five years after Anderson’s previous album, “1000 Hands: Chapter One” (where are the next chapters?) and gives us an artist still in very good vocal form, which is worth mentioning, considering that Anderson is the same age as Mick Jagger, so he was born during World War II. The journey in time he takes us on is not that distant, however, because it sounds exactly like YES somewhere from the end of the seventies and the beginning of the next decade.
In fact, the entire album is filled with infectious, positive energy, as if someone from above had forbidden the musicians to use minor chords. Anderson, amidst all these upbeat parts, maintains a truly youthful energy and easily keeps up with the Geeks. And the Geeks seem to have absolutely no inhibitions, complicating the part to almost impossible levels. And this time, it is not entirely a compliment to their artistry. If we listen to the album’s opening “True Messenger” and “Shine on”both of which are – and this is important in prog rock – short, not exceeding five and a half minutes, and at first it seems that too much has been crammed into each of them, and by force.
You’ll scoff – it’s prog rock! That’s what it’s all about! I’ll answer: yes and no, because even being aware of the formula and knowing the classics – of which I’ll always put Genesis with Gabriel first any day and at any time of the day – it’s hard to resist the impression that there are too many mushrooms in a small cup of borscht. What’s striking in shorter forms, shines in longer ones, like “Counties and Countries” Whether “Once Upon a Dream”because there, in the end, the band allows us to get used to subsequent motifs to such an extent that their progression makes more sense than being a technical exercise for the very advanced.
The band is also good at shorter forms. When they don’t overdo it, they can give us beautiful ballads in the form of “Build Me an Ocean” and “Make It Right”. The charming power metal style has, in turn, “Still a Friend”which is hardly surprising, YES is in many respects, both musically and lyrically, co-responsible for the creation of the aforementioned genre monster.
It remains to address the elephant in the room. Is “True” a better album than the one released last year? “Mirror to the Sky” YES? Half of you will probably happily exclaim “ha!”, while the other half will curse and avoid reviews signed with my name, but… yes. “True” is better than the latest effort of the former colleagues with whom Anderson is at odds. Not by a few grades. A little. But still better. What’s more: better than anything Anderson himself has recorded in years.
Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks “True”, Mystic