Free Download Friday #124: Yes

I think most bands are defined by their vocalists. You can mess about with other band members as much as you like; but change the vocalist and you change the band. There are of course exceptions to this rule. For example, I think AC/DC pulled it off because their sound is essentially Angus and Malcolm Young; and arguably Blackmore and Lord defined Deep Purple so they could go through multiple vocalists and still sound like Purple.

But Yes without Jon Anderson? No! Not for me anyway. And I don't think I'm alone in this, for example, despite his son being in the line-up, Rick Wakeman described a recent incarnation of Yes as a "Tribute act"! :-) So I was in two minds about linking to this track: a free download of a live version of Owner Of A Lonely Heart. It is taken from In The Present: Live from Lyon and features Benoit David on vocals, Steve Howe on guitar, Oliver Wakeman on keyboards, Chris Squire on bass and Alan White on drums. So, a pretty strong set of musicians and most with many years of experience of playing in Yes... but with Benoit on vocals. Hmm!

Well, in the end (clearly) I decided to link to it. I like the track and, although M. David can't match Mr Anderson, this is a good version of a track I like very much.

But, I couldn't resist letting you hear this version too:

So what do you think? Good in it's own way or embarrassing tribute act?

Day 15 – A song off an album that has brilliant cover art

30 Day Song Challenge
Day 15 – A song off an album that has brilliant cover art

Roger Dean and 70s Prog rock - a match made in heaven! Concept albums, gatefold sleeves, triple gatefold sleeves even. Brilliant! Probably my favourite cover art is from Fragile by Yes. The music on the album was a bit of a mixed bag but I love the cover art:

Here is a really interesting acoustic version (Jane: that is, an "unplugged" version!) of Roundabout from that album:


Two backup choices would be Genesis - Selling England By The Pound (where the cover art is the painting that inspired my favourite Genesis song) and Rush - 2112 (with the first appearance of the iconic red star logo).

Glad the topic was "album art" because CDs are too small! Give me a 70s Prog gatefold sleeve any day.