THE QUEST
New studio album From YES to be released 1st October 2021!

“It is simply an honour for me to have the opportunity to bring together the band members in the development of a well-refined set of songs that capture the band’s true potential. Much of the music was written in late 2019 with the rest in 2020. We commissioned several orchestrations to augment and enhance the overall sound of these fresh new recordings, hoping that our emphasis on melody, coupled with some expansive instrumental solo breaks, keeps up the momentum for our listeners.”

- Steve Howe

YES, who are Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood, release their new studio album The Quest on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music on 1st October 2021

The Quest will be available on Vinyl and 5.1 Blu-ray and CD. With cover artwork by Roger Dean.

Tracklist
[CD1]
1. The Ice Bridge
2. Dare To Know
3. Minus The Man
4. Leave Well Alone
5. The Western Edge
6. Future Memories
7. Music To My Ears
8. A Living Island

[CD2]
1. Sister Sleeping Soul
2. Mystery Tour
3. Damaged World

2CD/1BD Deluxe Artbook Edition
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099C8S5ZJ/?tag=imwan-20

2CD Digipak Edition
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099ZX9HZ4/?tag=imwan-20

there was a time when i would have been really excited by news like this..........i really am getting old(er)

now, if trevor horn's name was in that line-up.........

or even some guy surnamed anderson

Pass..... And I am a Yes fan

It's hard to get excited about Yes without Chris Squire.

And frankly, even Squire's last album with the band was just so-so. Not bad, but not really that good either.

I will probably get this out of curiosity, but I'm not that excited about it.

And is it just me, or have Roger Dean's covers become kind of same-ish?

I loved his classic stuff, but it seems like the last 20 years or so, he's just retreading past glories.

I'm looking forward to this. I do wish Billy Sherwood had produced it, rather than Steve Howe.

I agree. Sherwood is a studio wunderkind.

He didn't produce the last Yes album, Heaven And Earth, but he was called in to mix it.

I’ll get this for sure.

I’m not a fan of the weak live performances and stopped seeing the band about 5 years ago, but a studio album still has my interest.

Fly From Here was really good, but Heaven and Earth was tepid.

So, I’d take an in-between if that’s possible.

I’m in for this. I liked the last studio album more than anyone I know. And I think the two previous to that one, dating back to 2001, are both stellar.

'fly from here - return flight" (or whatever it was sub-titled) with trevor horn taking the lead vocals and getting more involved is very good, the original, not so much.

and 'heaven and earth' was forgettable.

I recently played Heaven & Earth for the first time in a few years and I enjoyed it. It's far from a classic but not as putrid as I originally thought it was. I will eagerly await The Quest and hope for the best. Sometimes it's better to not think of the band as "Yes" even though that's the name on the cover. If this were a new Billy Sherwood project with all of those players a lot of fans would probably be more excited about it.

I'll get it for the surround mix, but calling this Yes without Anderson is like calling Styx Styx without Dennis DeYoung.

Styx are way better without DeYoung.

Gowan is awesome and the last two albums were great and very progressive, including the new one.

Also, one of the best Yes albums was Drama which was without Anderson.

I agree, but of the two albums they've done without Anderson, I prefer Fly From Here.

Heaven And Earth was meh.

I loved Fly From Here and the Drama connection was obvious, especially on the “Return Trip” version.

I much prefer the original with David singing, but both were great.

Heaven & Earth was so mellow and soothing it put me to sleep.

It wasn’t bad, but with Roy Thomas Baker producing I expected much more.

“Subway Walls” was excellent though.

Heaven and Earth seemed to get a fairly universal bashing from people on message boards. There haven't been many albums that I can remember being received that poorly. I was let down by it, but I didn't think it was as bad as the general consensus which seems to treat it as one of the worst albums of all time. I still think Open Your Eyes is total garbage and is the worst Yes studio album.

I am interested to see the writing credits on this. Sure seemed like Davison wrote the vast majority of the last record. I thought Downes only had one co-writing credit on the last album...this album will likely be much better if he has more of a hand in the songwriting.

I enjoyed Heaven and Earth, but felt it was too mellow. All the songs were of the same mellow, new-agey type.Yes is best when they mix it up.

I've added pre-order links to the first post. Amazon says they'll become active tomorrow.

First single from the new album, "The Ice Bridge."

The 2CD set is now available for pre-order from Amazon USA:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099ZX9HZ4/?tag=imwan-20

There will also be a 2CD/1BD deluxe set with a 5.1 mix of the album. So far we only have a UK link for that in the first post, but a domestic edition should be up soon.

That was absolutely fantastic.

I am shocked at how good that was.

It has a very cinematic sound and I haven’t heard Steve Howe play that aggressive and creative in years.

The synth work by Downes was brilliant and the solo trade offs with Howe were wild.

Davison sounds great here.

There seems to be some life left in the creative well.

I’ll admit that I thought this was excellent. I was not expecting something so creative.

The opening notes are clearly from “Touch and Go” by Emerson, Lake & Powell by the way.

I don't share your opinion, Pete. But I'm not all the way in the other direction, either.

I will say, however, that unlike the songs from Heaven And Earth, this at least has signs of life.