Jon Roy Anderson is 80 years old next month, but there is nothing on this album which shows any sign of age and there is no doubt it is one of his finest releases for many years, and his last album, 2019’s ‘1000 Hands: Chapter One” was pretty good. In The Band Geeks he has found kindred spirits, and together the relationship is pretty fine. Back in 2014, Ritchie Castellano (Blue Öyster Cult) began a podcast called ‘Band Geek with Richie Castellano’ which somehow morphed into a YouTube band featuring a fluid line-up of friends and guests who covered classic numbers, including songs by Yes, which brought them to the attention of Anderson. One thing led to another, and they toured together in 2023 playing classic Yes numbers and now we have an album of all-new material which includes two epics, the 16 and a half minute “Once Upon a Dream” and the nearly 10 minute “Counties and Countries”.
Given this started initially as a covers band, and then a Yes covers band, perhaps it is not surprising that this sounds very much like a Yes album from the classic period, not so much ‘90125’ but earlier. Apart from Jon on vocals, the line-up is Richie Castellano (bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals), Andy Ascolese (drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals), Andy Graziano (guitar, vocals), Christopher Clark (keyboards), Robert Kipp (Hammond Organ, vocals) and Ann Marie Nacchio (additional vocals). The guys had been touring the classic sound, and with two keyboard players they have managed to capture the majesty of Wakeman, while Castellano has upped the bass so we can all have a walk along the Squire-style lines, and Ascolese is a wonderful drummer. The guitars are not quite as Howe-like as they could be, but we still get some nice classical lines here and there.
This is not the debut album by a band from 2024, but instead sounds more like a follow-up to the classics. If I had to place this with the canon then I would say it probably slots in post ‘Tormato’ but pre ‘Drama’ and is probably the best Yes album since ‘Going For The One’. Given that Castellano wasn’t born until 1980 that is quite an achievement. I know I would much rather play this than any Yes album from recent decades, and I am sure many other fans will feel the same. It may not have the Yes name on the front, but it has Anderson’s, and with The Band Geeks alongside this is an album Yes fans cannot miss.
