True by Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks, 2024 album.
I've spoken extensively about John Roy Anderson, known as Jon, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, the legendary vocalist of YES. He's an artist gifted with a unique vocal timbre, with a range at least equal to a mezzo-soprano, while maintaining a masculine character in his singing, never using falsetto.
A master lyricist, he has influenced every project he's worked on. Extremely active, he's collaborated with numerous other artists, including Vangelis, Jean-Luc Ponty, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Jon Anderson & Roine Stolt (a sort of attempt to recreate a parallel YES group). He's had a wonderful solo career, the most recent chapter of which is his latest, beautiful album, True, released in 2024 with The Band Geeks.
The album is the result of a collaboration with The Band Geeks, a group of New York musicians led by Richie Castellano (of Blue Öyster Cult), discovered by Jon Anderson online through their YouTube videos, where they performed flawless covers of Yes classics (including " Close to the Edge").
In 2023, Anderson and the band embarked on the "Yes Epics, Classics and More" US tour, receiving great critical and commercial success. In the wake of the tour, the idea was born to create new original material that could rival the classic Yes sound of the '70s and '80s.
The album was recorded between late 2023 and early 2024, working remotely (Anderson in California, the band in New Jersey) with weekly sessions via Zoom. The album was co-produced, engineered, and mixed by Richie Castellano himself.
The album includes contemporary Anderson songs, archival tracks from 10-year-old Nashville sessions, and contributions written by Castellano. Anderson later described the album as… "The Yes I wanted."
The album consists of nine tracks, including a lengthy suite lasting over 16 minutes, worthy of the great prog suites Anderson wrote in the past.
- It starts with a bang, with True Messenger, and you immediately say, "Wow, YES are back!" knowing they never left. You have all their records, but this is new.
- Shine On A little more pop than average, and perhaps to my taste on first listen, but there's a moment, an instant, where the choruses took me back to the days of the breaks and choruses of Close to the Edge.
- Counties And Countries has a nice '70s prog opening, and there must be an orchestra playing on it. The bass and drum breaks are vintage. You'd expect to find them on a flea market record, but it's wonderful that they're on a new record.
- "Build Me An Ocean" closes the first album. A slow, romantic piece. A beautiful song, by the way.
- "Still A Friend" is a nice piece, but for a wider audience. Here I need to figure out if the backing vocals are Jon Anderson's overdubs or the band's, in which case I'd admire them even more. The piece literally opens up and gets bigger from the middle onward, and ends on a high note.
- Make It Right starts with a beautiful guitar arpeggio (very yes-prog in style, this opening).
- Realization Part Two is a beautiful piece in which all the above-mentioned characteristics are repeated. These Geeks sound great! It ends with a chorus that's familiar, but after millennia of music, it's fitting...
- Once Upon a Dream has an almost rapped opening, but the whole background is what we like and fits perfectly. This song is also beautiful. Not for prog purists at first, but in 2024, it fits perfectly. After a short while, the song begins, and even purists will love it. It's got everything I like and loved about Yes, and when that almost rapped part comes back... you can't imagine this song without it. Then there's the instrumental part, which alone is worth the price of the album. I listened to this song twice in a row at full blast, it's amazing. A masterpiece.
- The final track, Thank God, closes an album I'll listen to again and again. A beautiful song full of light and energy, and it reflects the meaning of the title. Thank God you made this album, I say!!!
The cover isn't self-referential at all, but the band appears on the back cover.
And what a band! Let's see who they are.
- Richie Castellano, the band's leader, bassist (replacing Chris Squire), guitarist, keyboardist, and producer, a regular member of Blue Öyster Cult since 2004.
- Andy Graziano, Lead guitar, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals. His style is perfect for the guitar-based solutions typical of progressive rock.
- Robert Kipp on keyboards and Hammond organ, which has the ability to reproduce the complex synthesizer and Mellotron textures that characterize Yes's symphonic sound.
- Andy Ascolese on drums and percussion, precise and very dynamic even in the extended suite.
- Ann Marie Castellano on backing vocals and additional guitar, essential for the vocal harmonies.
- Christopher Clark on additional keyboards and backing vocals, who enriches the sound and vocal harmonies that provide a counterpoint to Jon Anderson's voice, which seems to have been recorded over twenty years ago.
The Geeks don't make you miss the original band members, even though at first listen they lack the sublime virtuosity to which Yes had accustomed us.
An album produced with an excessive use of bass—I had to tune it specifically to listen to it—which I already love. I think it can appeal to a younger audience and introduce prog to a place where it's still unknown.
Well done to the Geeks, I remember when I was doing Genesis covers: the thought that Gabriel would call me to make an album in the old-school Genesis style was unthinkable, an impossible dream, but for them it came true.
And that in itself is wonderful and makes this album (for me, a sentimentalist) even more beautiful.
Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page.
Tracklist
1. True Messenger (5:50)
2. Shine On (4:18)
3. Counties and Countries (9:51)
4. Build Me an Ocean (3:19)
5. Still a Friend (5:01)
6. Make It Right (6:07)
7. Realization Part Two (3:32)
8. Once upon a Dream (16:31)
9. Thank God (3:48)
Duration 58:17
LineUp
- Jon Anderson - voce
- Richie Castellano - basso, chitarra
- Rob Kipp - chitarra, tastiere
- Chris Clark - tastiere
- Andy Graziano - chitarra, basso
- Andy Ascolese - batteria
.jpeg "Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH) self-titled album")
