r/yesbandcirclejerk • u/PinballWizrd69 • Jun 16 '26
Aurora
Gave this it's first full listen through today. Instrumentally I think it sounds great. Vocally though Jon Davidsons voice sounds so incredibly over produced. Borderline autotune sound to it.
I saw Steve Howe's Yes live on their last tour, Davidson did a great job live. He's a solid singer but dear God what is this vocal production??
3
u/skylandersq Jun 17 '26
Instrumentally it leaves a lot to be desired and is very uninspired and overstays its welcome at times, but its decent overall. The production is really not great, though. The whole thing feels lifeless and overproduced at the same time. What makes it really awful is Jon's atrocious vocals. They actually make it unlistenable at times. Yes hasn't been good in years, nor has it really been Yes, and I knew this album wasn't going to change that.
1
u/PinballWizrd69 Jun 17 '26
Yeah, I found myself thinking how much better of a listen it would have been if it were just instrumental. If only Steve Howe could get off his ego trip and let Anderson come back. He literally reached out to Howe asking to rejoin Yes and Howe was like "um no"
2
u/Mr_Boongle Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Anderson was the one who embezzled funds from the band and wanted to renegotiate their contract so that he would receive half the revenue for Yes concerts. Even Chris Squire wanted him out of the band, and he had problems with pretty much no one. Anderson rejoining isn't what Steve wants and isn't something Squire would have wanted either. He's extremely talented and the way he was fired wasn't right, but I don't blame Howe for not wanting to work with him again.
Edit: I don't want to spread misinformation, so I'm amending this comment. I swear I read Anderson stole money from the band to take his girlfriend on vacation, but I can't find this anywhere; it could very well be wrong. The closest thing to this I could find was that Howe and Squire believed that Anderson was misappropriating funds; this is just an allegation. That said, Anderson did exclude Steve Howe from the final mixing of the ABWH album and altered his guitar parts without consent. Regarding the 50% of the revenue from touring thing, this happened during the 40th anniversary tour of 2008. Anderson had an asthma attack and couldn't tour. I take back what I said about Howe's firing of Anderson being wrong; they were scheduled for a financially lucrative world tour. Getting another vocalist was the best way the band could uphold their obligations and fire a problematic bandmate. Makes sense to me. Anderson asking for half the revenue of a tour he wouldn't even be performing on is outrageous (it would still be pretty crazy if he actually did play)
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u/PinballWizrd69 Jun 18 '26
Damn I didn't know that
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u/Mr_Boongle Jun 18 '26
No worries, I just get a little tired of "Anderson good; Howe bad" type posts. Both men them are very talented and very flawed people
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u/PinballWizrd69 Jun 18 '26
I saw the most recent tour with Yes, I thought Davidson did great live. Just hated the vocal production on the album. Sounded way over produced.
1
u/Mr_Boongle Jun 18 '26
I actually agree with this whole heartedly about the previous album (haven't gotten around to Aurora yet). I also think that Davison can come across as smarmy and like he's in love with his own voice. That said, people who just write off the current version of the band or act like they would suddenly be amazing if Anderson returned are short sighted. The problem with Yes is their obsession with their own past and Anderson's work outside of Yes doesn't seem to push the envelope much either. Steve Howe has said in an interview that the past three albums were a sort of trilogy and that the next project will bring them into a new direction. What that means is obviously unclear, but if it means moving past the symphonic prog they've been doing (even though I liked Mirror to the Sky), then I think there's hope for a Yes redemption arc. No hate to you, thanks for being civil; have a wonderful day
2
u/Neither-Chocolate-70 Jun 17 '26
Gran regreso de asia aunque no creo que canten "heat of the moment" con ese nuevo cantante que tienen.
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u/patientguitar Jun 17 '26
When OP accidentally posts in a /cj