Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks’ True has been given countless accolades. It is truly an album for Yes fans everywhere that touches the “Beyond and Before.” There’s so much joy in hearing the “too-doo, too-doo, too-doo, too-doo … too” of Anderson’s always unique (now!) 79-year-old ageless alto voice.
A rock music lover’s flashback: Back in the ’70s, when the still vital dinosaur Progosorous roamed the Top 10 Billboard album charts and vinyl records reigned supreme, there came to pass the sudden appearance of the tape deck, which allowed albums to be recorded to blank cassettes. To curb the crisis, inner sleeves, sometimes, had a skull and cross bones warning that “home taping is killing music.” And then there was a TV commercial that asked the essential liberal arts college rock ‘n’ roll physics mathematical question: “Is it live or is it Memorex?” Or, in layman’s language: Can a copy be as great as the original?
Well, Jon Anderson (and this band of geeks) offers real-deal prog magic and gets closer to that edge than so many lonely-hearted Yes mutations and the current patchwork Quest quilt. True touches the warm levitational blood pulse of the sublime song, “Perpetual Change.” Anderson’s voice cuts soulful wood which bonfire burns in the melodies of ritualistic leavened bread (pretty great and always “Soon”) rock ’n’ roll music.
The first two songs constitute a nice combined opening move. “True Messenger” has a nice acoustic intro and then darts with a guitar (thank you, Andy Graziano!) which glances at the stutter-step rhythm of “Close to the Edge.” Keyboard guys Robert Kipp and Chris Clark add a nice “Roundabout” Hammond groove, with synthesizer flare and the occasional quick-danced piano. There’s also a clever keyboard/electric guitar duet. Nice.
Richie Castellano and Andy Ascolese are drama-steady with bass and percussion. Of course, Jon Anderson, with his double-tracked voice, urges the rock ’n’ roll joy forward with his usual spiritual sermon that “you are everyone / You are me / You are everyone / We are free.” Then “Shine On” tumbles through more melodic density with a tough electric guitar, an urgent vocal that evokes “the power of the universe,” more percussion power, and a wonderfully smooth ending after all the potent tumult.
To cite another fondly remembered 1984 television commercial (when our Progosorous dinosaur wasn’t doing so well due to a punk asteroid!), octogenarian Clara Peller asked: “Where’s the beef?” Well, that “beef” is delivered with two epic tunes. Although, in fairness, that big Wendy’s burger must be of the plant-based vegan variety, as all the Yes guys (sans the concert curry-loving Rick Wakeman!) were health food devotees.
The nine-minute plus “Counties and Countries” begins with Emerson Lake and Palmer-style fanfare. Vocals (and those Band Geeks) warm the song through the labyrinth of so many hidden musical passages that are powerful and quizzical in their melodic search. This is great prog rock. Even better is the 16-minute plus “Once Upon a Dream,” which begins with a mantra-voiced chant that can “dance with the dawn,” but then more patented Yes dramatic chording anchors the tune, as a wonderful Eastern vibe is introduced. Amid the tumbling and complexity, Jon Anderson finds a solitary moment to sing an acoustic ultra-melodic interlude. Nice (again)!
The sympatico geek band continues the epic through yet another labyrinth-like maze in which “we dance. We fly into the endless sky.” In true prog-rock style, the tune dives deeply into the serenity of a thoughtful magical moment of that original chanted vocal, a Mid-Eastern haloed voice, gentle piano, and an immense moment of mystical catacomb cosmic desire. This has the ritualistic melody of any heart found in any sunrise. The finale oozes elongated passion that, eventually, glides to a soft dramatic ending. Indeed, it’s time, once again, to “tell the moon dog, tell the march hare (we have heaven).”
Other songs continue the cosmic vibe, with less epic proportions. “Build Me an Ocean” is a piano/acoustic guitar-graced song (with sublime backing vocals) that swells like a muted turbulent soulful prayer. There’s no Memorex question about “Still a Friend,” with its pulsing bass, bouncing rhythm, multi-tracked voices, and joyful vibe. This is Yes music. “Make It Right’ follows with a quiet melodic beauty, and perhaps, conjures “Turn of the Century” from Going for the One, with a gospel choir-fused ending – which flows like Siddhartha’s River into “Realization Part Two.” Jon still urges any soul toward that “Nous Sommes Du Soliel” enlightenment. That’s a pretty great rock ’n’ roll legacy.
The final song, “Thank God,” cross-circuits physical love with an ode to the metaphysical gnostic divinity evidenced in those initial words proclaiming proudly, “You are everyone / You are me / You are everyone / We are free.” Thankfully even after all these years, the musical planets occasionally align with that levitational blood pulse, as soulful wood and bonfire burnings cut leavened bread grooves into spinning plastic (with the vinyl resurrection), that mirrors the course of the always harmonically expansive cosmos.
- Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks – ‘True’ (2024) - September 23, 2024
- Delay Tactics – ‘Out-Pop Options’ (1982); ‘Any Questions?’ (1984; 2024 reissue) - September 13, 2024
- David Udell – ‘It’s Worth It’ (2024) - July 15, 2024
