2024 has been a most interesting and agreeable year musically with some real top draw releases. This has been further accentuated by this spectacular release which arrived somewhat from left field. ‘True’ sees the triumphant return of icon and legendary original Yes singer Jon Anderson who, at 79 years of age, is proving there is definitely still life in this old dog yet!
After the years of exclusion from the group that he was one of the original founders of and, in the wake of vocal issues that led to his ultimate departure and subsequent meandering around the outskirts of music, it must offer a real sense of immense pride and satisfaction that this new album from Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks has received such a positive reception, with many hailing it as the album that Yes should be making. Whilst Yes are maintaining their own particular version of the music, albeit to seemingly diminishing returns and in a way that possibly dilutes their legacy, on this album Jon And The Band Geeks craft something that captures much of the original magic that Yes enjoyed with Anderson and offer some real quality material and sound textures that evoke the spirit of prime Yes music in both a modern and yet nostalgic manner. All this whilst managing to avoid sounding like a tribute act.
Apart from the questionable cover image, this album ticks all the boxes, certainly for me at least. However, that aside, this album is actually a complete shock in just how consistent it is, with a slew of excellent songs and sterling performances throughout. With more than echoes of the glory days of the classic Yes era and while embracing the Trevor Rabin, ‘True’ also capitalises on the promise that Anderson, Rabin, Wakeman and Howe had offered. That is all history now as this album really delivers what most people expect of a Jon Anderson project. In short, this is a most excellent new album, I approached it with few expectations and found myself completely convinced by it’s tunes and musicianship. I can see what all the fuss is about, this album runs just shy of an hour in duration and within its grooves we find a distillation of all that is Jon Anderson.
Jon is in extremely fine voice and The Band Geeks are certainly more than proficient enough to pull this off in style. The excellent guitar work of Andy Graziano, who plays classical guitar lines like Steve Howe most convincingly, is really on point. Chris Clark provides the keyboards while Ritchie Castellano covers bass, Robert Kipp provides secondary guitar parts and Andy Ascolese covers the drums. The Band Geeks actually came together to cover Yes songs which they posted to YouTube and, in the process of doing so, they attracted the attention of Jon who reached out to them. Eventually they agreed to work together on this album and various tour dates.
The album has nine tracks with seven shorter pieces and two lengthier epics, namely Counties And Countries and the truly epic song Once Upon A Dream. These longer tracks are certainly complex in content but are also extremely well executed, the former piece is a distinct nod to the former glories of Yes but not being carbon copies in any way. These songs have life, vigour and vim in spades and we see a completely re-energised Anderson thoroughly enjoying himself and offering some superb music as a result. It’s so good to hear this reinvention again and this album deserves all the plaudits it gets as it is a truly excellent and convincing release.
Once Upon A Dream also really captivates with a vocal opening that evokes the opening bars of ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’ in its chant. After this the music really begins properly with some strong guitar lines and choppy rhythms and some great guitar runs and a bass that Chris Squire himself would definitely approve of. This song really shines and sparkles showing just how great a band this unit truly is and, it’s a revelation really.
This absolutely wonderful release shoots itself in the top ten of 2024 and I’m sure it will feature prominently in many end of year lists. Intentional or not, Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks have produced the best Yes album of the last twenty years…
Released 23rd August, 2024.
Order the album here:
https://ffm.to/jonandersontrue