[2015-03-09] Mabel Greer's Toyshop "New Way Of Life" (Pre-Yes Band's New Recordings with Tony Kaye & Billy Sherwood)

richman666 · 15 Nov 2006

Legendary pre-YES Band Mabel Greer's Toyshop to Release New Album Produced By Billy Sherwood, ex-YES member Tony Kaye On Keyboards

The psychedelic, progressive rock group originally formed in the sixties have reunited and announced a new album entitled “A NEW WAY OF LIFE” to be released on March 9, 2015

“A NEW WAY OF LIFE” by the band Mabel Greer’s Toyshop (MGT) is about authenticity without compromise, a unique and very special album. Certainly different from all twenty one “YES” studio albums, yet it still has early MGT vibes from the time Chris Squire, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye and Jon Anderson were in the band. The album demonstrates the evolution of the group starting out in the sixties and how life experiences have since shaped the music. “We hope that YES followers everywhere enjoy this offering. It’s a piece of history brought to life by the technology of today. The album includes new versions of old classics like Beyond & Before, and a whole lot of new music too" said Clive Bayley, singer, guitarist and song writer. The album has been co-produced by YES producer and former member Billy Sherwood who also plays some bass and keyboards on the record.

Mabel Greer’s Toyshop deliver a vibrant, high-energy but sometimes unworldly sound from an eclectic mix of old and new music. The album, “NEW WAY OF LIFE” doesn’t disappoint on originality. It was recorded after the two founding members Clive Bayley and Robert Hagger met up again last August after a gap of 45 years! Other members of MGT went on to establish long and successful careers in the music business with YES and other bands, while Clive and Bob ventured into the world of business. “It really was a miracle that we came together and produced this album” said Hagger. “It started out as fun when I met Clive again and he suggested a trip to the recording studio. The outcome was that we re-discovered the old magic, it was a big buzz working together again, and we have to thank Alex Keren and Hugo Barré for their help in making this project happen”. The 11-song album includes a mix of Bayley’s soulful vocals, wailing guitar solos, and exciting keyboards by Tony Kaye.

“On hearing that Mabel Greer’s Toyshop wanted to get back together after so long, I was sceptical about how it would all sound” said Billy Sherwood. “To my surprise it was actually very cool, not only will this new album appeal to the die-hard YES fans but also to a whole new breed of followers. It’s such an exciting project to be involved in” added Billy. Two of the songs, now with new versions, featured on the very first YES album in 1968, “Beyond & Before” and “Sweetness”. The former co-written by Clive Bayley and Chris Squire and the latter by Bayley, Squire and Jon Anderson. Other new versions of old songs on the album co-written by Bayley and Squire are: Jeanetta, Get Yourself Together, Images of You & Me and Electric Funeral. The other tracks are all new works written mainly by Bayley.

The album will be available on CD and download from March 9, 2015.

Tracklist:
1. Electric Funeral
2. Get Yourself Together
3. New Way Of Life
4. Beyond And Before
5. Sweetness
6. Images Of You And Me
7. My Only Light
8. King & Country
9. Oceans
10. Singing To Your Heart
11. Jeanetta

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Q4Y3C56/?tag=imwan-21

richman666 · 15 Nov 2006

News item from "Something Else Reviews" - November 26, 2014
In an intriguing twist, the rebuilt Mabel Greer’s Toyshop now includes — just as it did in 1967 — two members associated with Yes. Only, it’s not the same two members.

Back then, this psychedelic precursor band featured Chris Squire and the late Peter Banks, both of whom would later serve as co-founders of Yes. Today, stalwart MGT members Chris Bayley and Bob Hagger are joined by Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye, the latter of whom actually joined future Yes frontman Jon Anderson in a very late edition of Mabel Greer’s Toyshop in ’68.

Together, they’re helping to realize a dream long deferred for Bayley, MGT’s composer, vocalist and guitarist, and long-time bandmate drummer Bob Hagger. Their first song, the opener from the forthcoming New Way Of Life, moves with a narrative force from the spectral toward the muscular, fleshing out the band’s initial Summer of Love amalgam of influences. If anything, this is something in between what we’ve come to understand about both Yes and Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, in particular in the way this song expands on its basic template of mathematical structures, bucolic harmonies and cumulus guitar.

Of particular note is Kaye’s muscular guest organ work. He was, of course, Yes’ original keyboardist, and returned for another stint in the 1980s and ’90s. That’s how he crossed paths with Sherwood, a 1990s-era product who subsequently launched Circa with Kaye. Mabel Greer’s Toyshop is rounded out by Hugo Barre. The group offers remakes of both “Beyond and Before” as well as “Sweetness,” from Yes’ 1969 self-titled debut. Bayley and Squire composed the former, while Bayley, Squire and Anderson wrote the latter. The other original material on New Way Of Life — due March 9, 2015 — was primarily composed by Bayley.

richman666 · 15 Nov 2006

richman666 · 15 Nov 2006

Neither Chris Squire nor the late Peter Banks are involved in this project but with Tony Kaye & Billy Sherwood on board there's still a Yes connection, and based on the YouTube clip above this sounds really good. It's certainly up there with other Sherwood/Kaye projects like Circa and YOSO.

Neal Alhadeff · 07 Jan 2007

It's available as a digital download from the usual places and on CD from Amazon UK.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Q4Y3C56/?tag=imwan-21

evillouie · **Joined:** 11 Jan 2012 **Posts:** 217

Would be nice if this was available as a domestic CD and not just a download...

richman666 · 15 Nov 2006

Neal, thanks for posting that Amazon UK link. I forgot to look there when I started this thread. I added an AmazWAN link to the initial post.

Evillouie, I agree that a domestic CD would be nice. I refuse to pay for downloads so hopefully the UK price comes down a bit.

evillouie · **Joined:** 11 Jan 2012 **Posts:** 217

I agree with you about downloads, richman666. I was disappointed when Billy Sherwood's most recent album was download-only, and even more so when I found that Allan Holdsworth's new one will also be download only.

Don't these guys know that the majority of people listening to them are old-school people who like physical copies?

[2015-03-09] Mabel Greer's Toyshop "New Way Of Life" (Pre-Yes Band's New Recordings with Tony Kaye & Billy Sherwood)

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