This Day in Music History: Yes/Fly From Here (06/22)

Fly From Here is the twentieth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes released on this day in 2011. It is their first studio album since Magnification in 2001, and it is also the only one to feature Canadian singer Benoît David.

Fly From Here peaked at #36 on the Billboard 200. I have previously covered this album more in depth in these posts: Side One, Side Two.

This Day in Music History: The Buggles/Adventures in Modern Recording (11/11)

Adventures in Modern Recording is the second and final studio album by British synthpop duo The Buggles, released on this day in 1981. Made one year after their stint as members of Yes, the album contains nine tracks, including a stripped-down version of Yes's "Into the Lens", here entitled, "I Am a Camera". The album as released was mostly a Trevor Horn solo effort, Geoffrey Downes having joined Asia before recording began. Bruce Woolley assisted in completing the tracks.

Although the album suffered commercial failure in the United Kingdom, it did get chart performance in the United States, reaching #161 on the Billboard 200. Like The Age of Plastic it was positively received by critics. 

In 1989, Sincer Records Re-Released the album on CD. It only held the songs from the original LP. In 1997 it was reissued with three bonus tracks, this time on a Japanese label. A new reissue was released by Salvo Records/ZTT in 2010, which included 10 bonus tracks. Those 10 bonus tracks are of particular interest to fans of the group Yes. Both "We Can Fly from Here" and "Riding a Tide" were rerecorded (30 years later!) by Yes, with Horn as producer and Downes on keyboards, for their 2011 studio album Fly from Here.

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Friday and the Random Ten (Chris Squire Edition)

It was a sad week in music for me as Chris Squire, bass player extraordinaire for my favorite band YES, passed away suddenly from Leukemia at the age of 67. Since he was the only member who played on every album, this week's randomness will center solely on their music. Even though the Top 10 list from last week sent them to Exile Island, I am going to flip that around as the only music to be featured this week. It's my tribute to a great musician.

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Music Monday (Yes/Fly From Here, Side 2)

So now that we have gotten through the epic on side one of Fly From Here, it is time to finish up and cover the rest of the album by The Buggles Yes.

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Music Monday (Yes/Fly From Here, Side 1)

So even though Yes's last album at this point was in 2001 (Magnification), they still constantly toured every year. I saw them myself once or twice during that time period. However in 2008, a tour planned for summer was cancelled when Anderson suffered acute respiratory failure. As they were preparing to head back to the studio, they decided not to wait on Jon (a dick move on my part) and replaced him with Benoît David, the lead vocalist in a Yes tribute act Close to the Edge.

That's right, they replaced him with someone from a tribute band! Journey says hello...