Yes
Heaven & Earth

And we have reached the end of the line for the fathers of prog, or so it seems after the release of "Heaven & Earth" in mid-2014. Yes, already bereaved of Jon Anderson's voice and Rick Wakeman's keyboards, will also lose Chris Squire, who passed away less than a year later. Perhaps the title did him some good, projecting him into the Musicians' Paradise, which in my opinion he rightly deserves.

This complicates the review quite a bit, given the characteristics of this album, but I proceed in order by noting how Jon Davison in the new lineup replaces the temporary Benoit, who in turn was Anderson's substitute. Unfortunately, the imitation retains only the name and the high pitch of the co-founder, but without Anderson's sharpness and verve. If we add to this that even Squire is not at the top level, the rest follows as a consequence, and the acrobatics of White and Howe are of little use, as they are also in a decided decline and nearing seventy.

Now it's not that when you put the record on the turntable it doesn't play. It plays, but we are dealing with a prog declined into a weak pop without high notes, with pieces that pass by without infamy or praise. We notice this immediately in "Believe Again," where Geoff Downes (already on keyboards in "Drama" and shortly after moving to Asia, with whom he reached the peak of his career back in 1982) tries to enliven the scene just as Rick did marvelously, but with decidedly inferior results that continue in the subsequent "The Game," still largely pervaded by Davison's voice decidedly turned towards pop with White following tiredly. Downes' rather banal introduction brings in "Step Beyond," with a very predictable and inconclusive rhythm, a piece that seems to go in the exact opposite direction of the promising title: "a step beyond," given Downes' almost irritating contribution.

Even "To Ascend" would make one hope for an upward turn of the album, and yet unfortunately the music does not change, always with Davison, who was born just when "Fragile" was being published, trying to dominate or at least tries to. Then it's the turn of White & Squire to try to raise the average of the CD with "In a World of Our Own," which unfortunately falls again at the moment of Davison's increasingly tired choruses with Squire. Finally, we reach "Light of the Ages," probably the best track, or if you prefer, the least mediocre, where you can hear a little something of "Yes," at least until Davison recalls his recent past in Glass Hammer and Downes easily joins in.

Now, if you haven't fallen asleep yet, you can even make it to the end because it's time for Howe, who also tries to move the music with yet another predictable tune, interrupted by the swan song of poor Squire, which however soon fades away, leaving space again for Davison. And here we are at the grand finale of "Subway Walls," which I am sure at the beginning will remind you of Steve Hackett, but don't worry, it was just an illusion because we soon return to the usual syrupy Davison supported by Squire and White. Perhaps realizing the overall modesty of "Heaven & Earth," they try to give us some emotion, and in my opinion, they even succeed, but it's a pity it's too late to change a judgment that would lean towards a single star, but I double it for a good series of reasons, among which the beautiful "Yes-style" graphics evocative of that Paradise to which, unfortunately, the attached music hasn't brought us. And first of all, it is the respect for the last work of a group that has given so much to Music.