Apparently, there’s a new Yes album coming out next month. It’s “Fly From Here” and it features a line-up that consists of a singer from a tribute band replacing Jon Anderson and Geoff Downes (he did a stint for one album) who elbowed Oliver Wakeman from the keyboard rack.
I must admit that since the band did away with Jon Anderson after his near-fatal respiratory attack a few years back and his subsequent replacement, the band has kind of fell off my radar. So last night, I came across a story from Rolling Stone about the new album and single that had been released.
When I heard the song I was surprised how good it sounded and thought that maybe I’d got it wrong this time, that my presumptions that a new Yes album would be an utter disappointment.
“This sounds like they’ve harnessed some of the energy from the Drama-era band,” I thought.
And then I started to think it sounded like something else, and eventually found that the band had played this on their Drama tour back in 1980 and then The Buggles had in fact released the song on the “Adventures in Modern Recording” album that I had in my archive.
So I am finding it amusing that a progressive rock band is dedicating half an album to a song that is over 30 years old. But if the idea is a good one, I guess there’s no reason for it to be revived from the archive and dusted off.
And now the band has released some previews for us all to hear:
I’ve been putting it off for a long time but I’ve decided to use my Bandcamp profile I set up a few years ago. Today, I uploaded “The Luckiest Man in the World” which you can download for the bargain price of £5. But more importantly, you can listen to the whole thing in fairly decent quality, all the way through. It’s a special set of recordings for me, so please check them out and pass the link on. Click on the big smiling face below to absorb the goodness…
I came to the Caravan party a little late, discovering their music in July 2000 when I picked up their compilation “Where But for Caravan Would I?” and was immediately a fan. I always say that if I were a contemporary of Caravan, then this would be the band I’d be in. They probably match my level of technical competence – not too flashy, but full of soul and ideas.
With the 40th Anniversary edition of their seminal 1971 album, I shall be talking mainly about the 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound mix that appears on the accompany region-free DVD. Over the years, I have become quite interested in these surround mixes put out by classic bands as they often throw up new auditory experiences for the listener, uncovering instrumentation that’s often been buried in the mix.
The thing about this record is that while Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree does a sterling job of the mix, there’s not a lot here to impress the listener. The problem with Caravan is that they are not a symphonic band like Genesis or have the power or detail of a King Crimson, so this remix just sits there and does its job nicely.
Granted it’s nice to hear the acoustic guitars of “Golf Girl” and the sub-woofer thump certainly reinforces the mix, with the bass now being a more prominent member of the team, but it’s hard to overly excited by this remix. The last remaster done at the start of the millennium is a good starting point, and the mixes here (and the stereo mix for that matter) doesn’t really bring anything new to the table, but they are obviously cleaner.
Yes, you are getting the ultimate Caravan listening experience, but I would argue that the work here isn’t as radical as what you hear on the Genesis or King Crimson 5.1 surround mixes. That’s because what you hear on a Caravan album is very much a live experience committed to vinyl. There’s no multi-layering of instruments as you’d hear on King Crimson’s “Lizard” for example and you don’t gain any extra “ooomph” either.
While Steven Wilson has done a great job, retaining a lot of the original’s roundness and warmth, it’s not going to blow anyone’s socks off. But maybe it’s because this album was more about the original homespun “vibe” than supersonic, 21st century, clarity? What you do get is good separation of the instruments and for those of you who want to study the record, you are going to be more than satisfied with this.
The DVD also contains two Beat Club appearances by the band, which if you look hard enough are already available to view on YouTube. The quality isn’t bad and certainly makes interesting viewing if you are unfamiliar with the clips.
The packaging is great, but the record company has scrimped by not including a plastic outer slipcase that often comes with these “Deluxe Edition” releases and instead the fold-out four-panel sleeve is initially secured by a seal that needs to be broken to open the case – meaning you can seal it up again. The inner booklet is packed with the usual collection of photos and there are some nice words to read.
The CD side of things sees the album being expanded over two discs. The first disc contains the album with three extra tracks tacked onto the end. I’m one of those weirdos who likes albums to keep their original tracklisting and any extra material to be put on a separate disc. The stereo mix is very clean and there’s some excellent separation on show. Comparing it with the reissue from a decade ago, this version just has the edge in terms of crispness and definition, but there’s really not much in it.
Some of the extra material from this release also appeared on that previously-expanded edition, but whoever compiled this collection has really pulled out the stops and collected enough relevant extra tracks to fill a second CD including five live tracks from various BBC sessions.
The bottom line is that this really is the ultimate edition of this album and represents excellent value if you don’t own “In the Land of Grey and Pink” in any format. If you are not interested in the 5.1 mix or the extra CD, then I am not so sure this is such a good buy, but fans are fans and the MusicBizTM knows that like slavering dogs we will buy our favourite albums again and again and again!
I have been recording cover versions on and off since 2005 but they were more for my own entertainment than anything else. Whilst recording “The Luckiest Man in the World” I decided to record more of these covers in order to improve my own songwriting skills. Some of these recordings were already featured in my podcast but here I present them individually for your enjoyment. Remember, if you like any of these songs, show your gratitude to the original progenitor by purchasing some of their music.
Some of these recordings were featured in a podcast I made last year. You can download that and hear my motivations for recording these songs. Direct download: CLICK HERE
And if you want to subscribe to my Podcast feed so that your iPod or fancy thingamajig can download my noodlings automatically, put this into your feed engine: https://www.darrenlock.com/podcast.rss
Oh dear, reader. By now, you will have probably realised that everything I do or attempt is tainted with failure or things just going a bit wrong. For me, there is no straight path from A to B. I take the roundabout way, the scenic route and embrace the daftness of the world with idiot glee.
The story of my new iMac is no exception. Well we’ve had the story about how my new Logic recording software went missing, but was subsequently replaced – taking a week longer than necessary. But what I’ve not told you is how my new computer is now winging its way back to Apple.
I bought a refurbished iMac because I wanted to save some cash. That’s the bottom line. I couldn’t justify the expense of a full price iMac so I went the cheap route. I’d read good things about refurbished iMac’s and so was in no fear of purchasing one. I was impressed with the service and the speed of delivery. I got the girlie giggles unpacking my new machine* and enjoyed find my way around an unfamiliar operating system. My eyes recovered after being rendered sore by my previous 18″ laptop. Things were great!
Then the screen started wobbling. I was getting graphics interference, the likes of which resembled me imbibing certain psychedelic material from the 60s and I began to panic. “This wasn’t part of the Apple experience!” I bleeted. It was bad enough living without a “DELETE” or hash key, but this graphics nonsense was a step too far.
I phone support who told me how to reset the video RAM and how to disconnect the computer from the mains and hold the power button in for five seconds to clear whatever was wrong. The Apple guy was polite and helpful and again I was impressed with the service. His solution worked for a while.
Then the problem returned and I reset and held in the power button. This problem seemed random, though it did seem to happen after the computer raised itself from sleep mode. But sometimes, it didn’t. I couldn’t replicate the problem. I ran disk checks, I even reinstalled OS X and some of my software, which was a pain.
After a week of prodding and poking and trying to get things to work, I gave up and called Apple support. It was time to return this dud and get a refund. Again, the other Apple guy was polite and the process was done over the phone in less than 10 minutes. The courier came yesterday and my iMac is winging its way back to Apple HQ.
On Monday, I went to the local PC World and bought a new iMac 27 so that I could backup all the software and stuff I bought on the old one. So for a time, I’d gone from having no iMacs, to having two iMacs, I looked like the Loughton branch of the Apple Store albeit being a noisier and less visually appealing Apple Store.
But I now have a working Apple iMac 27 with all my software installed on it and I am moving towards getting back into production mode. I’ve set the bar too high as I’ve got too much new software to learn. But I like the way things are going, I like the speed, the clarity and no eye strain. My iMac also talks to my NAS via wireless without the problems I was having with my Windows 7 laptop. My laptop also has issues with my router, which my iMac does not.
Onwards and upwards, I guess…
* When I worked for Web User there was this jumped up squirt of a production guy who came up to me once to object about my use of the word “machine” in one of my reviews. A PC cannot be a machine, he said. I don’t like that word. Replace it – blah, blah, blah. I agreed and completely ignored his suggestion. A PC is a machine – albeit it an electronic one with minimal moving parts, but I am not going to argue the toss with someone I don’t respect. Heigh ho!
If you click any Amazon or Adsense link featured on this website, I will earn a shiny silver micro-penny. (I’m just doing this to make sure that I’m abiding by FTC law in the US, which has zero bearing in the UK)
