Yes - Magnification

Well, after all the hype about this album and the use of an orchestra rather than keyboards, it is finally out. It marks a change to the Yes sound of recent years. We've come to expect a quite a commercial edge to their music which has only really been broken by the ABWH project. Magnification has all the trademarks of classic Yes music, but in some cases they are hard to find, and is probably their least commercial sounding album since the '70s era.

The first thing you notice is the cover. It is a simple and effective (but not very interesting) logo on a stylized star field with various abstract devices scattered on the back and within the booklet. Certainly not as distinctive as one of Roger Dean's creations, but better than "Open Your Eyes". It is supposed to have some meaning but you have to be in the right mood to read the booklet and fathom it out!

Once the CD is spinning the next thing you notice is the production. Very airy and spaceous. There is a nice balance to the sound, rich and bassy with a sparkling mid and top end. In fact it sounds like a classical recording, which I suppose it had to do to make the orchestra sound great. The only criticism is the drum sound. Lousy! After hearing some great drum production of the last couple of years (IQ's "The Seventh House", Placebo's "Black Market Music", Transatlantic's "SMPTe" etc) I'm very disappointed. Even "The Ladder" was better in this department. But on the whole a nice sounding album, which gets better the louder you play it, although it is a bit too compressed for my liking.

Now then, onto the actual music. Track one "Magnification" starts off with classic Howe acoustic and electric guitar lines with  Squire bass accompanied by flutes and percussion. Jon Anderson's vocals are fantastic and when the orchestra comes in you know it is going to work. Beautifully. Unfortunately the drums then come in with a dull 4/4 swing and they sound trully awful. This section spoils the whole track for me, but to be honest it is a pretty good piece of music. The instrumental break before the chorus is classic Yes complexity, but it doesn't last too long. The chorus itself is a bit dull and twee and the intervention of the orchestra adds nothing. I 'm now beginning to miss the keyboards already. Where as a nice organ and synth accompanyment would give this section an edge, the orchestra mearly supports and adds nothing. However, Steve Howe puts in some great performances here, and the vocals are sung wonderfully as are the many harmonies. Classic stuff really, just a pity about the drums and the slightly dodgy chorus melody/lyrics. Also a pity about the ending too, obviously couldn't think of anything so the "play any old crap" get out comes to the fore.

From the noise segues "Spirit of Survival". More layered acoustic guitars and bass with woodwind and strings back the vocals and Anderson, and then a "heavy" riff appears. Now I've said before about orchestra and heavy riffs not working, but this does (ish) as it supports the riff rather than playing it. However, the tune isn't that cracking. The drums sound a bit better though. Again, Steve Howe pulls off some very impressive guitar work, even though it's a bit low in the mix for his liking, I suspect. There is a good mixture of dynamic changes here, but not really dynamic enough. Again, its lacking the added oomph a big keyboard patch can impart, the compression of the production doesn't help either. A nice fade out with orchestra highlighting solo violin ends the track nicely. A reasonable track, but I can't say I'm overly impressed. Certainly no "Topographic" yet!

Track three "Don't Go" is a pile of cack. I can't like any of this at all. An awful "childish" melody with only the occasional flashes of guitar to listen to with any relish. The middle section is just pathetic. A "radio sound" vocal (which is one of my pet hates!) and a terrible lyric and twee (almost Madness) structure. I'm not wasting anymore effort on this one.

Now track four is one of my favourite, mostly because of the melody from the chorus. Very simple, consisting mainly of one note(!) but it just works. The intro to the songs is a nice orchestral prelude and although the initial entrance of the band isn't too encouraging, it sounds like one of the weaker tracks from KTA,  it builds to a classic melody which leaves me wanting more. It sticks in my head like nothing else on the album. The lyrics are a bit twee again, he's off singing about "giving him the light" again! I just wish it could have been backed by some lush keyboards, bass pedals and choir once the key change repeat comes in (another bit of a lack of imagination here too) followed by some great inspiring solo instead of a bland vocal section. We get the solo before the key change but it's not that great from Steve! This is a track that could have been so much better, but as I said before I still like it a lot.

Track five "Can You Imagine" features Mr Squire on lead vocals. Unfortunately this song sounds like a bit of a "90125" reject, complete with heavy riffs similar to "City of Love" and has lyrics which are a bit "too rhymey" for my liking, a thing I've noticed about Chris Squire before. Again the drums sound alright here, and the track is nicely orchestrated with some piano too. I just think it is a bit of a filler and Jon Anderson could have perhaps sung it better! Next.

"We Agree" starts with a classic Steve Howe guitar piece, with bass again. In comes the oboe and the drums and off we ago to another track with a similar pacing to the others. I'm beginning to realise why this hasn't inspired me so far. It is very samey in the speed department. Anyway, this track builds in a familiar way, eventually giving way to a guitar break with vocals which is then joined by the full band very effectively. From this point the track is pretty good, even though I find the lyrics a bit annoying and the dynamics are somewhat lacking. Steve puts in some great playing once again. Can anyone see a pattern developing here?

"Soft As A Dove" is a guitar, bass,  vocals song with orchestral doodlings. A nice track. Nice harp! And once again a cracking Howe performance. Jon Anderson's vocal timbre is straight from "Sweetness" from "Yes". One of the first time we've heard that style of singing from Anderson for a long, long time. I like this track, but is it really what I want to hear from Yes these days? No, but at least we have a couple of  long songs coming up.

"Dreamtime" is one of the tracks I've seen being raved about on the internet. I can't see why really. It has some great bits, the introduction is really dramatic (apart from the dull drumming) and is as close to classic Yes as you can get without a keyboardist. But it is when the main riff comes in, the bit with the percussion and, later on, the coral sitar guitar. What a trully dreadful tune. And the orchestral counterpoint is utter garbage. It sounds so forced as to be laughable. A pity though because I love the lyrics and the vocal melody line and the bits of the track without the aforementioned tune OK. The drums then change to a familiar 4/4 which makes the bad-tune-thing sound even worse! It doesn't rock at all. Once the bass break has gone, things seem to improve, with a reprise of the intro made bigger and better. The end section is quite good but again lacks the presence that a good keyboard player can give. The "poor" melody keeps coming back though, and utterly spoils what could have been a brilliant track without it. The orchestral coda is fine, but not really needed and out of context to the track it concludes. Film music but not in a film!

Two tracks to go and the next "In The Presence Of" is a long one. It's subdivided into several sections but to be truthful, it doesn't really subdivide musically to any degree. It starts with a simple piano and vocal section with the others joining along the way. Do you miss a good piano player here, 'cos I do. Compare this section with the end of "Homeworld (The Ladder)" and you'll see what I mean. However, its a pleasant little ditty and it grows to be probably the best track on the album. You have to say though, the vocal melodies and orchestra sound very "Whitney Houston" in her laid back mood. But eventually the feel of the track changes and we are treated to a great song. Again, more oomph is needed. I'm tempted to overdub some keys over the rest of this track and post it on the 'net in an attempt to prove to those in the Yes Forums who dismiss the "crap without keyboard" sad cases (such as myself) that I'm right. Imagine what the last several minutes of this track, from "Death of Ego", with vast synthy pads, choir and bass pedals would sound like. Awesome. I must admit this is a great piece of music, full of passion and it even has a bit of drum syncopation. Again, Steve Howe steals the show with some wonderful eclectic pedal steel. Can't say I'm keen on the bongos though near the end!

The album concludes with "Time is Time". Very John Lennon/Beatles and it's OK. Again Steve Howe shows his versitility playing dobro slide guitar, but all in all a bit dull. A bit short. A bit of a filler.

How about the bands individual performances, Dave?

Steve Howe is on great form. His playing is the highlight of the album for me. He still brings that classic sound to any Yes recording, and I tend to believe that he holds the spirit of the band in his hands. But he must have had a new pedal steel bought for Christmas, 'cos he's always on it (but no bad thing!) Thinking about it, this album is very much like a big production Steve Howe solo album - "The Grand Scheme of Things" with Yes playing along and thankfully no Steve Howe vocals!

Jon Anderson's voice is incredible on this recording. The lyrics are where he falls down. I'm a bit sick of hearing some of the phrases he uses. He must have sung about "seeing the light" and "when we are one" on every record he's done in the last twenty years. Please Jon, leave the love songs for your solo stuff and get back to the obscure sound poems of old. They may be a bit passe these days, but they are as much a part of Yes as Mr Anderson himself.

Chris Squire plays his usual solid part both on the bass and vocally. But where is the innovation. I loved his bass lines on "The Ladder" but these are a bit too anonymous. There are a few you can pick out as classic Squire, but on the whole they could be anyone (listen to the beginning of track eight and dare to disagree).

Alan White. The worst he has played on any Yes album? I think so, but to be fair the music hasn't really given him much of an opportunity to do anything else. Some people may point out his percussion on "Dreamtime". I'd point people to any of Bill Bruford's similar top kit passages and ask them to say which shows more invention. Sorry Alan, solid but dull.
 
So, after all that what do I really think. I like a lot if it. But the bits I like are just that. Bits. The good sections are surrounded with bits I really hate. There isn't a single track which is free from some annoyance, perhaps tracks four and seven come closest out of the shorter pieces, with track nine and one working the best overall, in my opinion. In the end that is what makes this album only average, there are too many sections which sound tired, have poor melodies, are too dull and generally fail to inspire. On the plus side the orchestra works (for the most part) very well, and certainly gives the Yes sound a different slant. They've managed to make the orchestra part of the band, not just an afterthought.  As such, they've avoided the "hooked on classics/James Last" sound. It is certainly better done than "The Symphonic Music of Yes". But the orchestral writing does tend to sound a bit stiff and forced .

The orchestra is where this album fails for me. I was willing to believe it would work, but less sure about having no keyboard player. There are parts where the it sounds superb, but also places where a good keyboardist and the associated variety of sound is sorely missed. An orchestra can create a great many sound scapes. But it can't do hammond! And it can't do multi-timbral digital synth patches. It can't do digital effects. It can't do ultra sub-death bass pedal subliminal hums and it can't do screaming ultra high and powerful fat lead (minimoog!) lines. However, a synth can do all the noises an orchestra can do. Which sort of begs the queston, why on earth did they do it. Because they didn't have a keyboard player! And unfortunately, they (and everyone I've heard comment on the internet) failed to remember that good rock keyboard players have a way of writing and arranging stuff that is different from a guitarist, bassist, drummer and vocalist. A trained pianist who has grown up in the rock genre sees things differently. They can make a simple tune sound wonderful by using chords a guitarist wouldn't think of using (listen to the beginning of "Heart of The Sunrise" and marvel at Wakeman's beautiful simplicity compared to Howe, Bruford and Squire's general frenetic performances) .  Such a contribution cannot be understated. You listen to "The Ladder" and you are struck by the Khoroshev composed bits, the Howe composed bits, the Squire composed bits etc. "Magnification" has therefore lost this, and I'm afraid however much Larry Groupe wrote for this album, his different non-rock musical approach is not the same as Wakeman/Banks/Downes/Orford/Emerson etc. His counterpoints to rock music sound a bit forced. A bit stiff. Could you imagine Steve Howe or Chris Squire or Larry Groupe writing the harpsichord on "Madrigal". No, neither can I. It is this interaction of rock music writing talents which for me, along with one other area, defines what Yes music is. This album is not quite there because of it.

The other area where this album fails to be a classic Yes album is the lack of true dynamic changes. There are no "Heart of the Sunrise" changes of pace and volumes. All the songs are played in a similar tempo. And there is very little change of pace within individual tracks. This is a fundamental facet to the Yes sound. It is what I like about the majority of music I listen to, and why I like Yes. This album lacks it totally and I'm at a loss to know why. "The Ladder" was full of variety and contrasting textures. This album has shunned the "commercial" sound of "The Ladder" but has also lost the dynamic quality which went with that and all other Yes music.

So to conclude, if you are wanting '70s Yes then this is as close as the band has produced in years, but that sound has been diluted by no dynamics and the lack of a writing rock keyboard player. To be truthful, it is it's lack of commercialism that associates "Magnifcation" to the '70s

If you are looking for the '80s Yes, commercial songs and Rabin's wonderful energy, you won't find that either.

If you are looking for the '90s Yes as heard on "Keystudio" and "The Ladder" then perhaps you are closer but still not there. Imagine "Keystudio" without Rick, but with the addition of a film score support and you are nearly there.

If you want something totally unique. An experiment. A diversion. A chance to give the Yes sound a overhaul and inject something different while still retaining the genius that is the Steve Howe sound and the vocal wonder that is Jon Anderson, then this is the album for you. Forget about what has gone before or what may come after. Listen to this album as a single entity and you will enjoy it. It takes time to become acoustomed and accept what you are hearing, but you will find enjoyment.

This is one Yes album I cannot place in the good or bad pigeon hole. It's not really my cup tea, but I can't say it is a bad album. I know of the the need to re-invent, you don't grow up liking Genesis and Rush without that, but this is going to take years to judge. Which is where the only similarity with "Tales From Topographic Oceans" lies. Perhaps they are still ahead of their time (or perhaps they couldn't find a keyboard player that wouldn't cause them anymore grief!)

It's Yes. But not as we know it, Jim!
 

(Copyright David Hopton - 30 September 2001)

Yes Logos Copyright Roger Dean