Fly from Here

For the song series, see Fly from Here (song series).
Fly from Here
Studio album by Yes
Released 22 June 2011 (2011-06-22)[1][2]
Recorded October 2010–February 2011
Studio SARM West Coast Studios, Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Genre Progressive rock
Length 47:28
Label Frontiers (Europe, US)[3]
Avalon (Japan)
Producer Trevor Horn[2]
Yes chronology
Union Live
(2011)		 Fly from Here
(2011)		 In the Present – Live from Lyon
(2011)

Fly from Here is the twentieth studio album from the English rock band Yes, released on 22 June 2011 in France and Japan on Frontiers Records and Avalon, respectively, 1 July in Europe and Australia, and 12 July in the United States. Their first studio album in ten years, it is the only one recorded with singer Benoît David in the band's line-up following the departure of Jon Anderson in 2008. Former Yes singer and producer Trevor Horn returned to produce the album. Its highlight is the 24-minute "Fly from Here" suite, a track originally written by Horn and former Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes prior to them joining Yes in 1980.[2]

Fly from Here received positive reviews from critics and peaked at No. 30 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 36 on the U.S. Billboard 200. Following its release, Downes replaced keyboardist Oliver Wakeman to be a full time member since 1980, and David was replaced by Jon Davison after contracting respiratory illness.

Production

Background

Fly from Here is the band's first studio album in ten years following Magnification (2001), the longest gap between two Yes albums. In 2008, while plans for a concert tour were taking shape, singer Jon Anderson required some time off after he suffered from a severe asthma attack. Rather than wait for Anderson to recover, remaining members Chris Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White opted to tour, recruiting Canadian singer Benoît David in the process after Squire was introduced to him through a YouTube video with David singing in Close to the Edge, a Canadian Yes tribute band, which he was a member of over ten years.[4][5] Yes resumed touring in November 2008, performing concerts worldwide with Oliver Wakeman, son of former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, after his father was advised not to tour by his doctor.

In 2010, work began on developing new material for Fly from Here. To help with the writing process and production, the band recruited former Yes singer and producer Trevor Horn, who sang and played on Drama (1980). Much of the album drew heavily on two songs which he wrote in 1980 with his Buggles partner, keyboardist Geoff Downes, who also joined Yes with Horn that year. Initially the duo wrote a demo titled "We Can Fly from Here", which Yes performed recorded in the studio and performed live on their 1980 tour of North America and the UK, and even rehearsed it for a short while with former Yes drummer Bill Bruford replacing an injured White.[6][7][8] When Yes disbanded in 1981, Horn and Downes recorded another demo of "We Can Fly from Here", this time as a two-part song that was released as a bonus track on the 2010 reissue of the second Buggles album, Adventures in Modern Recording (1981).[9] "Fly from Here" was reworked into a 24-minute, six-part suite.[10]


These two demos and a third unreleased recording formed the basis of "We Can Fly", "Sad Night at the Airfield", and "Madman at the Screens" from the Fly from Here suite.[11] A further Buggles demo, "Riding a Tide", released on the 2010 reissue of Adventures in Modern Recording, was reworked into "Life on a Film Set". Further contributions to the "Fly From Here" suite were made by Squire and Howe, who contributed the two-minute instrumental "Bumpy Ride", "Hour of Need", and "Solitaire", while the group co-wrote "Into the Storm" with Horn. "The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be" was co-written by Squire with friends Gerard Johnson and Simon Sessler.

Recording

The first recording session for Fly from Here took place between 3 October–12 November 2010 at SARM West Coast Studios in Los Angeles, California, before they resumed in the first week of January 2011. Horn produced the album using the digital audio workstation software Pro Tools. The album was mixed in April 2011 at SARM West Studios in London, where additional vocals were recorded.[1] During the recording process in 2011, Wakeman was replaced by Downes[2][5][2][4] at Horn's suggestion and with the band's agreement, who reasoned that as a co-writer of the original "Fly from Here" demos, Downes would have a better feel for the album's material than Wakeman.

Sleeve design

The cover was designed by artist Roger Dean, who has created many of the group's previous album covers.[10] It is a painting he started in 1970 but had remained uncompleted. He finished it in the style of his current works, but the colour and texture were kept from the original.

Release

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Blurt Magazine[13]
Daily Express[14]
The Guardian[15]
Paste Magazine(8.2/10)[16]
Sputnikmusic[17]
PopMatters(6/10)[18]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Fly from Here – Overture"  Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes 1:53
2. "Fly from Here, Part I: We Can Fly"  Horn, Downes, Chris Squire 6:00
3. "Fly from Here, Part II: Sad Night at the Airfield"  Horn, Downes 6:41
4. "Fly from Here, Part III: Madman at the Screens"  Horn, Downes 5:16
5. "Fly from Here, Part IV: Bumpy Ride"  Steve Howe 2:15
6. "Fly from Here, Part V: We Can Fly (Reprise)"  Horn, Downes, Squire 1:44
7. "The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be"  Squire, Gerard Johnson, Simon Sessler 5:07
8. "Life on a Film Set"  Horn, Downes 5:01
9. "Hour of Need"  Howe 3:07
10. "Solitaire"  Howe 3:30
11. "Into the Storm"  Squire, Oliver Wakeman, Howe, Horn, Benoît David, Alan White 6:54

Personnel

Yes
Additional musicians
Production

Chart performance

Charts (2011) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 16
Scottish Albums Chart[22] 19
French Albums Chart[23] 134
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 39
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 31
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[26] 24
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[27] 43
Belgium (Wa)[28] 45
Japanese Album Chart[29] 56
UK Albums Chart[30] 30
US Billboard 200[31] 36
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[32] 7
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[33] 9
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[34] 4

Fly From Here entered the French charts at number 147 and climbed to 134 a week later.[23] The album entered the Japanese charts at number 56,[29] the UK charts at number 30,[35] selling 5,242 copies in its first week,[36] and the Scottish charts at number 19. The album made number 43 in the Netherlands and number 31 in Sweden.[25] The album debuted at number 36 in the US, dropping to number 97 in its second week, making it the first Yes album since Talk to spend two weeks in the top 100.

References

Citations
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Where are they now? – Yes". Bondegezou.co.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Tatangelo, Wade (10 March 2011). "Yes' Squire on band's first album in a decade". Bradenton Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Frontiers Records: Fly from Here". Frontiers Records. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 LaFont, Aaron (7 March 2011). "Astral Traveler: An Interview with Chris Squire". Offbeat. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  5. 1 2 Knopper, Steve (17 March 2011). "Squire's bass a constant on Yes' musical adventure". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  6. ↑ Welch 2003, p. 190, 196
  7. ↑ Greene, Andy (25 March 2011). "Yes Reunite With 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' Producer Trevor Horn". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  8. ↑ "The Word is Live – Yes". Allmusic. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  9. ↑ "Adventures in Modern Recording – The Buggles". Allmusic. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  10. 1 2 Miscali, Nikki M. (22 March 2011). "Affirmative Action". The Weekender.
  11. ↑ Classic Rock Presents... Prog, July 2011
  12. ↑ Eder, Bruce. "Fly From Here -Yes". All Music Guide. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  13. ↑ Chiu, David (15 July 2011). "Yes: Fly From Here – review". Blurt Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  14. ↑ Gage, Simon (1 July 2011). "Yes: Fly From Here (Frontiers)". Daily Express. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  15. ↑ Simpson, Dave (14 July 2011). "Yes: Fly From Here – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  16. ↑ Reed, Ryan (11 July 2011). "Yes-Fly from here". Pastemagazine. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  17. ↑ Robin, Smith (1 July 2011). "Yes – Fly from Here". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  18. ↑ Garratt, John (13 July 2011). "Yes: Fly From Here | PopMatters". popmatters.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Fly from Here liner notes, Frontiers Records, 2011
  20. ↑ Prasad, Anil (2012). "Steve Howe － Into the Storm". Innerviews. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  22. ↑ "Scottish Albums Chart". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  23. 1 2 "Le classement des Albums Nouveautes". Disque en France (Week of 27 June 2011 to 03/07/2011). Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  24. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Yes – Fly From Here". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  25. 1 2 "Swedishcharts.com – Yes – Fly From Here". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  26. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Yes – Fly From Here". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  27. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Yes – Fly From Here" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  28. ↑ Yes – Fly From Here. ultratop.be. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  29. 1 2 "Fly from Here". Oricon. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  30. ↑ "Album Top 40 from the Official UK Charts Company". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  31. ↑ "Yes – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Yes. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  32. ↑ "Yes – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Yes. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  33. ↑ "Yes – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Yes. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  34. ↑ "Yes – Chart history" Billboard Top Tastemaker Albums for Yes. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  35. ↑ "The Official UK Albums Chart Update". BBC Radio 1. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  36. ↑ Beyoncé remains at top of album charts with narrow lead over Adele, by Alan Jones, Music Week, 10 July 2011
Bibliography

External links

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