Most of the time, Yes’ “The Western Edge” sounds just like what it was: Two different people, working on two different songs, in two different places. It seems to shudder and miss, like a promising vehicle in need of a tune up. There’s a reason for that.
Billy Sherwood had been caught flat footed when Yes cohort Steve Howe put out the call for material to construct 2021’s The Quest. Always busy, Sherwood has multiple outlets for his songs – as a solo artist, with various groups and as regular producer on a seemingly endless string of multi-artist projects. The cupboard was, quite literally, empty.
“I mean, when Steve sent the emails around, ‘Let’s start sending songs around,’ I thought, ‘Oh my god, I don’t have anything to send,'” Sherwood told The Prog Report, “because, y’know, everything that I work on finds its way to a record ultimately. It’s not like I have a library of, like, ‘Oh, let’s see, there’s that; there’s that.’ So, I literally sat down and just started writing in my studio.”
Still in the depths of COVID lockdown, Sherwood was forced to digitally transfer the rough idea that became “The Western Edge” to Yes singer Jon Davison, who hit upon a new concept: He wanted to combine Sherwood’s music with something he was already constructing, and then continue to work in tandem on the song to see where it all led.
“I asked Billy, ‘Why don’t you write a vocal part and I’ll write one, and we’ll see what happens when we overlap the two,'” Davison told the Progressive Aspect. “There are moments when this accidental collaboration sounds intentional, with things harmonizing in such a unique way. It made for an interesting exercise. The vocals came out completely different than if we had collaborated on a more conventional level.”
The question then becomes whether “The Western Edge” ever emerged as anything more than that interesting exercise. Answer, despite Yes’ sky-high ambitions: not exactly.
“Jon came up with the melodies and the lyrics; I was primarily the musical aspects,” Sherwood told Northern Life magazine, describing “The Western Edge” and “Minus the Man” (an earlier Davison/Sherwood collaboration on The Quest) as “very dynamic in their way, and powerful, and reminiscent of that Yes energy, epic moments on the records they’ve had in the past.”
They’re certainly trying, and some measure of respect should be paid for that. But there are natural limits, unfortunately, to how far those good intentions can take anyone. The topic is classic Jon Davison-era pablum, something determinedly non-specific about coming together for peace. (“We are,” he sings earnestly to begin, “one constellation.”) The issue here is more with the music, as Billy Sherwood’s usual ease with writing a hook falls apart over thousands of miles of hi-def internet cable.
At one point, “The Western Edge” actually catches a brief groove – but then just as quickly returns to its original fits and starts. As the finale approaches, Yes finally, finally comes together as one. Davison and Sherwood hit upon a rare vocal unison, and Steve Howe’s in absolute guitar flight while Alan White happily smacks away. There’s even a notable flare from Geoff Downes’ keyboards.
Just like that, however, it’s all over. The result is, indeed, an interesting exercise. But those last moments are really the only time “The Western Edge” feels like, you know, a song.
- The Pink Floyd Deep Cut That Perfectly Encapsulates ‘The Wall’ - November 29, 2024
- Why Pink Floyd’s ‘The Endless River’ Provided a Perfect Ending - November 11, 2024
- The ‘Wildflowers’ Track That Pointed to Tom Petty’s More Mature Path - November 4, 2024
