Where are they now? - Yes (original) (raw)

Where are they now? - Yes
and projects with multiple Yesmen

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On this page�Yes: Mirror to the Sky - On tour - Super Deluxe Editions - Other re-releases -Covers of Yes songs - Documentaries & books

Projects involving multiple Yes men: CIRCA: (Sherwood, Kaye) - Arc of Life (Sherwood, Davison, Schellen)

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Yes are Steve Howe,Geoff Downes, Jon Davison, Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen. The band released Mirror to the Sky on 19 May 2023 through InsideOut. They toured the US Sep-Nov 2023, then Europe Apr-Jun 2024. They next support Deep Purple on a North American tour Aug-Sep, and play Japan in Sep. Rumours point to a solo tour of the US coming next, possibly in spring 2025. The band are working on a new studio album; I would guess release will be in 2025.

In a Jan 2024 interview, Sherwood said, "We're making a new album as we speak. When was the last time Yes made so many albums in a row in such a short period of time? That's driven by Steve[ Howe]'s inspiration to produce it and to go forward." In an Oct 2022 interview, Davison described the current band: "We have real harmony in the band, and I believe we're the longest standing Yes lineup. I think Steve [Howe] feels he's in a very solid place. He can have his version of Yes, the Yes he's always wanted. We're accomplishing things in Yes, with Steve as our leader, that he's wanted to accomplish for years. He's so happy now that he has his version of the band." In a Jul 2020 interview, Davison was asked if there was any talk of retirement by Yes members. He replied, "No, there really isn't [...] Everyone's having a ball [...] Each year, [...] [Howe] is getting happier with the sounds and what we stand for. And apparently, he's much happier than he was in years past, before I even joined, so he never talks of it [retirement]". In an Apr 2024 interview, Davison said, "Based on Steve Howe's vibrant energy level and creative output, I predict Yes will continue touring and releasing new studio albums for many years to come." In a Mar 2023 interview with Yes Music Podcast, Paul K Joyce, orchestrator on The Quest and Mirror to the Sky, said "Steve [Howe] and the band show no signs of wanting to diminish their output." In a May 2024 interview, Howe said, "I had no goal of being the leader of Yes. [...] But yeah at the moment the band does listen to me, though I'm head of a democracy. It's a two-way street, and it works." (Jon Anderson,Trevor Rabin and Rick Wakeman were working together as Yes featuring Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman, but that band has now finished: they are covered here.)

Next album
Yes are working on a new studio album. An autumn 2024 release had been rumoured, but a 2025 release is now likely. Before Mirror to the Sky was released, the band were already looking towards their next studio album. In an Apr 2023 interview for The Prog Report, Davison said, "We're actually working on a third [album, after The Quest and Mirror to the Sky] as well." In a May 2023 interview with Yes Music Podcast, Davison said Schellen could be part of the songwriting in the band going forwards. Later in the interview, talking more broadly about making their next album, Davison said, "We're certainly on this creative roll now. I can feel the momentum happening". In another Apr 2023 interview, Downes said, "I'm sure there'll be another Yes album further down the line." Earlier in the interview, he said, "This is no farewell album, let me tell you. [�] We're just beginning". In a May 2023 interview, for Spill, Downes said, "I think we are confident that as long as we are healthy and fresh to go on we will keep it running for as long as we can." Asked about work on a new album in the May 2023 issue of Prog, Howe said, "we might have plans, and we might not. But we're certainly not going to say what they are." But in the same article, Downes said, "I think we're always looking at" doing more recording, and Sherwood said, "Things seem to be moving at a pace that even I didn't expect, so I wouldn't say no to making another record, that's for sure." In a Jul 2023 interview for Goldmine, Downes said, "we all feel that we've got more in the tank, and putting new music out is very important to us, as much as it is important to the fans, because [...] it keeps the band current. [...] It gives us a lot of joy to be able to go into the studio and still make music together."

In a Feb 2024 interview, Howe said in passing that Davison and him "[a]re working on songs all the time". In a May 2024 interview, asked about the new album, Howe said, "There are elements [of material] going forward, but we're in no hurry. Rushing things doesn't work for any of the team. We'll go there when we're ready." On 10 Apr 2024, Sherwood posted a short clip of himself captioned "Off to YES recording session in the UK 2024". In an interview later that month, he said. "I believe this next record we're working on is moving in the same direction [as Mirror to the Sky]". He implied it would contain a mix of shorter and longer pieces. In another Apr 2024 interview, asked to give an update about the new album, he replied, "Just a lot of interesting music that's being produced. Steve's doing a great job bringing together everyone's ideas that we all contribute and formulating it into an album. And it's really artistic and creative, and really interesting to my ears. I'm quite excited about the direction it's going in [...] it's pushing forward into the Yes, y'know, universe, if you will, in a way that it's its own statement [...] The band is settled in now to this new line-up [...] And it just sounds like that to me on the record, it's quite exciting to listen to so far. We've still got a ways to go [...] but [...] you know if you're feeling that Yes vibe or not." In terms of a release schedule, he said he doesn't "know any of those details", but that "a lot of material is already in the process of being [...] worked on [...] in quite a high percentage state of being completed. So, it's really just a matter of when we slot it in between the things we are doing." He then referred to having the Deep Purple tour come up "out of the blue" for when they had been planning to do some recordings. He continued, "All those things notwithstanding, we're moving at the quickest pace possible [while] also making sure we're doing the right things".

In a Jul 2024 interview with the Prog Will Find A Way podcast, Davison said, "We're working on one [a new Yes album] right now. I don't see Steve stopping." He went on to explain:

I think there was a period where he felt... There was some political strife, and it was too much effort to sort of make an album, because it was all this other baggage with it. And then we decided, well, let's commit. And he said, as long as I can produce, let's do this. So we took it all on. And then The Quest happened. He loved it. [...] The next one, and he's, like, let�s keep going, let's make a third. He's on this roll now. 'Cause he feels comfortable, feels comfortable in a creative space.

Howe was interviewed in Jul 2024 too, and when asked about a new Yes album, he replied, "We are writing [...] We're progressing through the planning of getting more music ready, yeah, but that's about all I can say." Likewise, when interviewed by Yes Music Podcast that month, Howe again said "we're writing" for a new album. He then expanded: "We tend not to be idle. [...] We've other things to do though, other projects to do, but certainly seeing the future after Mirror to the Sky is a very, very important thing. Because, like The Yes Album and Fragile, y'know, that was climbing, and similar here, Quest, Mirror to the Sky, we could be ascending. (laughs) But that's a hope. So basically we're trying out some things, and we're looking at it, so, yeah, we're [...] going to get back to it this year, after the touring." In an Aug 2024 podcast, Howe again said the band were writing for a new album. In a Sep 2024 interview (conducted around Jul), asked about his plans, Howe said that after their Japan tour, "Once we get to October, November, December [2024], we [Yes] are free agents."

In an Apr 2024 Q&A, Sherwood talked about the writing process with Yes: "Geography plays a big role in how we go about the writing. File sharing is something I've grown well accustomed to. We will send ideas around, pieces of music etc� and Steve manages to formulate these ideas into an arrangement and off we go. There's a sense of trust in what each guy does, which makes everything just flow." In his Apr 2024 Q&A, answering the same question, Davison talked about the writing process in Yes in general terms, saying, "We typically start creating lyrics and music on a personal level and then share our ideas to the rest of the band. Once ideas are taken on collectively, they blossom and develop in diverse and unexpected ways that only a fully contributing band can construct." He answered another question on the writing process, saying, "We physically get together whenever possible, which is our preferred method, and from there, share our individual rough ideas with each other. Then hopefully one's idea makes it to the next level, which is where the band fully takes it on and contributes by adding other themes and/or fleshing things out to a full band body of work."

Mirror to the Sky
The latest Yes album to be released was Mirror to the Sky, out May 2023 on InsideOut (Sony). It was recorded by the current line-up of Howe, Downes, Sherwood, Davison and Schellen over 2022 in Curtis Schwartz's studio and in the band members' own studios. All of Downes' recordings were in Schwartz's studio. Howe and Davison often recorded there, and Sherwood occasionally did so. Sherwood and Schellen recorded the rhythm tracks together in Los Angeles. Schwartz engineered and mixed (all formats), while Howe produced. In an Apr 2023 interview with Darren Paltrowitz, Howe said they recorded the rhythm parts for the album last, unlike the traditional approach of recording them first. He also praised the increased "productivity" arising from people recording separately. In aMay 2023 interview for an Alaskan periodical, Downes said: "we've been able to get more hands on [than with The Quest recorded during the pandemic], we've been able to collaborate together in the studio more. Certainly, Jon, Billy have been spending quite a bit more time over in the UK, so we've had the facility to work together much closer and I think that really shows [...] in terms of the way that the arrangements have been put together is that there's [...] more of a continuity and understanding between all the various elements." In another May 2023 interview, for Musikknyheter, Downes said, "During the pandemic, we were scattered all over the place and we were literally just sending our files back and forth online, and Steve was sitting there with the engineer, collecting all the material that was coming in. [...] Fortunately [...] with this album we had the benefit of a more integrated approach where most of us were in the UK [except for Schellen]." In another May 2023 interview, for Spill, Downes said, "It was a team effort, but the producer had to have the last say and of course, Steve had the last say on everything. He is very accommodating and very understanding if the idea is that everyone else is contributing." In a lengthy May 2023 interview with SOAL Night Live, Howe talked about the importance of the arrangements on the album, saying, "So arrangement is what, I think, Yes listeners don't realise they want, but they want", and that, "It's no good if the song keeps on not surprising."

In an Apr 2023 interview, Downes said they delivered the masters on 11 Dec 2022, having "spent most of last year [2022] on it, on and off." However, in the interview with Paltrowitz, Howe said they thought they could finish the record by Xmas 2022, but they actually finished it in Jan 2023. Mastering was by Simon Heyworth. Multiple formats are available:

Various items of merchandise are also available. The Blu-Ray has the album as a Dolby Atmos mix, 5.1 Surround Sound, instrumental versions, and 96k/24bit Hi-Res stereo mixes. To coincide with their 2024 European tour, a limited edition 2CD+1Blu-ray Digipak version of the album followed 5 Apr 2024.

The album made #30 in the UK (26 May 2023), after making #6 in the midweek chart (22 May). It was #7 on sales, #7 on physical sales, #11 on vinyl, #14 on downloads and #27 in independent label sales, but outside the top 100 on streaming. It was also #4 in the UK Rock & Metal chart. It was #1 on the May 2023 Progressive Albums chart. It was still at #11 in the Aug 2023 chart, #25 in Oct and back to #14 in the Nov 2023 chart, and then #11 for Jan 2024, #22 for Feb 2024, #24 for Mar 2024 and #25 for Apr 2024. The album fell out of the top 30 Progressive Albums for the first time in the May 2024 chart, but it was back to #27 in the Aug 2024 chart. In the US, the album failed to make the top 200, but it was #7 in current rock, #9 in Internet albums (i.e., physical sales through online stores), #20 in current album sales, #20 in the Tastemarker chart (sales in selected independent stores and small regional chains), #22 in album sales, #22 in current digital albums and #27 in digital albums. The same week, it also made #9 in Switzerland, #12 in Germany, #24 in Japan (#3 in Rock), #31 in Hungary, #35 in Portugal, #53 in Austria, #61 in Italy, #62 in Poland, #71 in Belgium (#55 in Wallonia, #93 in Flanders), #84 in the Netherlands and #99 in France and Spain. It was also #3 on the Swedish physical sales chart. It was also on various iTunes charts: Spain #3, Brazil #7, UK #10, Canada #13, US #17, Germany #18, Italy #19, Australia #23, France #36. The album came 8th in Prog magazine's 2023 critics' choice, but it came 4th in the readers' poll Biggest Disappointment category. Howe was 9th in the readers' poll Best Guitarist category. In an Apr 2024 Q&A, Davison said, "the album is my favorite of the YES albums I've worked on!"

A first single, "Cut from the Stars", came 10 Mar 2023. My review is here. It is available digitally, including as a Dolby Atmos mix. The full performing credits for "Cut from the Stars" are: Davison on lead vocals, Howe on electric guitar (Fender Stratocaster through analog pedalboard; he described the song as "the most different track guitaristically" in the May 2023 interview with SOAL Night Live), Geoff Downes on organ, Billy Sherwood on bass and vocals, Jay Schellen on drums and percussion, and the F.A.M.E.'S orchestra in Skopje (North Macedonia), conducted by Oleg Kondratenko and orchestrated by Paul K Joyce. On social media (e.g., Twitter), Davison talked about writing the song's lyric to Sherwood's instrumental ideas and re-arranging those ideas. The lyric was primarily inspired by his first visit to a dark sky park, an area of reduced light pollution to facilitate observation of the night sky. Howe took the original idea for a bridge and moved it to the end to make the instrumental outro. The opening string part of the song was a part recorded for later in the track and also brought forward and used as an intro. Sherwood also recorded a piece for social media, describing how the song began with a bass riff he wrote. He continued:

once I had some music together, I sent it over to Jon Davison, who came up with amazing melodies and a beautiful set of lyrics. I did some harmonies and we ended up with this two-part harmony thing in the verses that reminds me of something sort of "Going for the One"/"Parallels" vibe � always cool in my book. And then sent it to Steve, who then produced it up, did amazing guitars, and Geoff's keyboards came out great. Jay Schellen's drums, of course just, charging away.

In an interview conducted Mar 2023 with Aymeric Leroy (author of "Yes" and "King Crimson") for Big Bang, Sherwood said the song wasn't planned as the single when they were writing it. In his Paltrowitz interview, Howe said the song was done "later on [...] in the progress of [recording] the album".

"All Connected" was released as a second single on 26 Apr 2023. Alyric video for "Circles of Time", the third single, was released 24 May 2023. A lyric video for a 7:04 edit of "Mirror to the Sky" was released 23 Feb 2024 to promote the 2024 European tour and the new edition of the album.

| 2CD version (US): #ad | On CD, the album has a main and, on most formats, a bonus disc, in a similar way to The Quest. Digital and vinyl versions have all 9 songs. Tracks: "Cut from the Stars" [Davison/Sherwood] (5:25), first single (video), available immediately with digital pre-orders "All Connected" [Davison/Howe/Sherwood] (9:02), second single (video); there was discussion about a single edit, but Thomas Waber at InsideOut felt the full length version should be used "Luminosity" [Davison/Howe/Sherwood] (9:04) "Living Out Their Dream" [Howe/Downes] (4:45), described by Howe as "a bit way out lyrically"; LP side B begins "Mirror to the Sky" [Davison/Howe] (13:53) "Circles of Time" [Davison] (4:59), third single (video) Bonus disc: "Unknown Place" [Howe] (8:15); LP side C begins "One Second is Enough" [Howe] (4:04), about how, according to Howe, there are "a lot of things that get in the way of" achieving happiness; LP side D begins "Magic Potion" [Howe] (4:08) In the Prog article, Howe explained how the main disc has been put together as an album that "flows", and he stresses that the bonus tracks are not of lesser quality and "weren't worked in a different way". In the SOAL Night Live interview, he said the bonus tracks "were worked on with the same intensity" as the rest of the album and that they didn't know what tracks would be on the bonus disc while recording. In his May 2023 Yes Music Podcast interview, Davison described the choice of a second disc with bonus tracks as Waber's "executive decision, for marketing purposes", which he trusts him to make. He said the bonus tracks "are in no way less important". In another May 2023 interview, Davison described the bonus disc, saying "which we don't consider a bonus album". In aJul 2023 interview in Goldm ine, Downes said, "I think it has something to do with the fact that vinyl just had such a resurgence lately. We have been very conscious of the idea that we transfer those onto vinyl. You only have a limited amount of time you can put on one side of the vinyl versions. So, we try to reflect that a little bit with the way that we've done the last two albums." Performance credits for the bonus tracks have vocals from Davison, Sherwood and Howe, with specifically lead vocals from Davison on "Unknown Place" and duet vocals from Davison and Howe on "One Second is Enough" and "Magic Potion". Howe is on electric and steel guitars for "Unknown Place", and electric and acoustic guitars for "One Second is Enough" and "Magic Potion". | | | | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |

The F.A.M.E.'S Orchestra from North Macedonia, conducted by Kondratenko and arranged by Paul K Joyce, who worked on The Quest, return as well, performing on all the tracks of the main disc. Joyce described his work with the band in a Mar 2023 interview with Yes Music Podcast. There were two recording sessions: the first was on 29 April 2022 with a 52-piece orchestra�he then described 12 first violins, 10 second violins, 8 violas, 6 cellos, 4 double bass, 2 flutes, 1 bassoon, 6 horns, 2 trumpets, 1 tuba and 2 percussion, which adds up to 54�for "Mirror to the Sky". The second was on 11 May 2022 with a 30-piece string section�12 first violins, 10 second violins and 8 violas�for the remainder of the tracks with orchestra. Joyce and the orchestra worked remotely, as on The Quest, with Joyce joining the recording sessions through an online call.

Howe contacted Joyce in late 2021 about the album. In the YMP interview, Joyce described his working relationship with Howe as very "collaborative". He said Howe's approach with "Mirror to the Sky" was to say to him, "Here's the track, go away and come back with something that will amaze and inspire me." Joyce also described the track as having "very American [...] landscapes [...] of desert and wide open spaces". Howe played the whole album to Joyce and invited him to suggest wherever orchestral parts would add to the music, with Joyce feeling that he could contribute to about 50% of it. The orchestra doesn't appear on any of the bonus tracks, with Joyce having suggested that those songs didn't need strings. Joyce described the album as "different" to The Quest, as having "heart" and as sounding like a Yes album. Asked if "Cut from the Stars" gives a good feel for the rest of the album, he replied, "Yes and no [...] Yes in the sense that it shows a desire to break away from formulaic music making [...] And no in the sense that there are [...] different styles there." Howe talked about the use of the orchestra in a short, promo video.

Schellen drums on the album; a Feb 2023 interview had this exchange with Sherwood about whether White had any involvement:

Interviewer: Was Alan involved in any part of the process, or was it started after his passing?

Sherwood: It was right after production of the Quest record. Demos were plenty, pencil sketches of ideas etc...

In a May 2023 interview with Yes Music Podcast, Davison said, "Alan was involved in the beginning stages of Mirror to the Sky. [...] He was scheduled to be a part of it [the recording of the album] and it just didn't happen".

The band started work on the album very soon after recording The Quest. (Indeed, this is the shortest interval between Yes studio albums since the odd circumstances where Keys to Ascension 2 and Open Your Eyes came out in the same month, Nov 1997.) Howe explains in the Prog article:

As we were finishing The Quest there were some other musical ideas I was particularly interested in tagging together and working out into some larger pieces. So we started Mirror to the Sky with two 10-minute tracks, which became Luminosity and the [14-minute] title track. [...] it was really encouraging to have those two tracks. All we had to do then was make them grow, and see who had what songs and what collaborations could take place

The press release for the album says, "As they were wrapping up The Quest, YES found themselves with song sketches, structures, and ideas that were demanding attention. YES received unconditional support from InsideOut boss Thomas Waber, who encouraged them to keep going in the studio, months before The Quest would even go on sale. It was like throwing gasoline on their creative fire." In the Apr 2023 Prog Report interview, Davison was asked about the album's change in style from The Quest and replied, "there were several factors contributing factors. One, right off the bat, was that Thomas Weber at InsideOut said let's really do an energetic album that harkens back to more of the 70s era, with snappier tempos and, you know, a rockier album essentially. So that sort of pointed us in a direction. Of course, the band loved doing that. [...] when you think about what the fans have always asked for is this kind of record". In the Apr 2023 interview with Classic Album Review, Davison said, "I think we really have to give credit to Thomas Waber [...] he really took a personal invested interest in suggesting and encouraging that we go for more of a rockier album, with snappier tempos, for example. [...] he gave us the total freedom and support to create the music we wanted to, but he sort of pointed our feet in that direction". He continued, "we, as a band, rose to Thomas's request and I think that we've always wanted to create [...] what we say in progressive rock circles is an epic, something that's more of a full side kind of length piece. And I think we took that to heart so much that we ended up with several longer songs on the new album. [...] in a way, the album is dedicated to all the fans. [...] We've have always sensed this desire from the fans [...] to have us create new music that harkens back to the '70s era Yes and we rose to that challenge [...] in a way, it's dedicated to them, for helping keep the spirit of Yes music alive and well." In the May 2023 Musikknyheter interview, Downes said:

I think that we felt that it was a nice move back in, some ways, or an acknowledgement of some of the Yes albums in the 70s were there were a lot more musical features rather than it being just song after song [...] we've been able to stretch out and make these great musical sections that Yes, is so well known for [...] I think the Yes fans will appreciate that we've been trying to push the musicality of the band forward, both when it comes to musicianship and in the way Jon Davison has been developing. He has really come into his own as a writer.

In another May 2023 interview for Biff Bam Pop!, Downes said, "We dusted ourselves off from the pandemic, and we really wanted to make an album that [...] was instrumentally powerful as much as it was vocally powerful. [...] if you look at the last two albums, they've been quite a lot more song-oriented [...] this was the real opportunity we had to expand the musical side of the band, as Yes did back in the seventies". He continued, "I think it's something that just came about naturally. [...] we were playing around with a lot of different ideas, and quite a lot of those were instrumental." He also said how the band "wanted to be a bit out of control, we didn't want to be restricted by the song per se." To the May 2023 issue of Prog, Downes said, "we felt with this album, we needed some bigger tracks on there. That was the criticism levelled at Heaven & Earth, that there wasn't really any big epics [...] not really very Yes-like. We had a couple of longer tracks on The Quest and this one, we've gone overboard on!"

In a May 2023 interview with Classic Album Review, Howe was asked whether there was a conscious decision to harken back to a '70s Yes style. He replied, "It wasn't a conscious decision. It was maybe a natural decision that we would always retain, y'know, some Yes-ness about us. But, no, we're kind of enjoying this forging ahead with some new material and trying to give it the life that, y'know, we would have done if we recorded it in the seventies, but we're not in a retro thinking mood." The interviewer then asked if he felt the need to move away from what the band had done on the last couple of albums. Howe replied, "Not really, because [...] you might know that a couple of the tracks actually were created during The Quest and then were never played to the label or never completed then, so in a way it's a kind of transition that we're shunting along with the next project". Howe also talked about producing the album: "The role of a producer is just to be the kind of friendly guy who keeps pulling things together by solving all the problems, whether they're technical, musical, financial." In the May 2023 Spill interview, Downes said, "You can't ever try to emulate those [classic] albums, because they were done under different circumstances and different musicians. And at 25 or 26-years-old, you have a completely different outlook on life. [...] there was the whole movement to progressive music, which was very dominant. We never try to say this next album is Close To The Edge or Tales Of Topographic Two. We are not in the business of doing that."

Returning to the press release, it then quotes Howe, "When we delivered everything [for The Quest], and they were just getting the vinyl and everything into production for manufacturing, we were still very much in that creative zone[.] That belief that Thomas had in us really meant a lot". Sherwood adds, "There was a lot of material floating around because the band hadn't done anything in the studio for so long [before The Quest]. Ideas were just copious[.] The pace of it was fast. As soon as we were finished with The Quest, and the mix had come out, we took a couple of little breaks there to catch our breath. But there was still music flowing around in the loop. It was just constantly being looked at and worked on. As we were all home and in that mode, things started progressing quite swiftly. We just went one album into another without really announcing, 'Hey, we're working on a second record right now.' We just continued to work on material. It came about pretty naturally, and then we refined it as the process went on. But the initial bursts � there was a lot of material around!" In an interview conducted Apr 2023 with Aymeric Leroy (author of "Yes"), Davison explained how the band had come together "to creatively focus" on The Quest, which "was only expedited by the pandemic restrictions on touring, which actually provided the silver lining of our studio efforts doubling up. This was so much true, that by the time The Quest was completed, we already had half of another album in the works. Despite the colossal loss of our beloved Alan [...] we continue to thrive with his blessing and ever present spirit." He continued, "adding Jay [Schellen] [...] granted us the final energetic and creative boost necessary to victoriously reach the finish line of the new album". In the Spill May 2023 interview, Downes said, "We started off pretty much after The Quest[.] We had a short tour in between and then straight into this album. I suppose in some ways it is a continuation of The Quest."

In his Classic Album Review interview, Davison said the album is "not a concept album per se, but [...] when you listen back, to the final product, you begin to see all these thematic sort of links." In the interview with Leroy, Sherwood said, "it's a bit more proggy in [terms of longer tracks], and I think it also has a bit more energy to it in the tempos and a sort of edge on the record. [...] it's just a sort of natural evolution of this process [of making albums], and we are all quite happy with the way it came out, but there certainly was no plan [to make it more proggy], it's just the natural flow of things when you're working in Yes like we do." On the writing of the two Davison/Howe/Sherwood tracks, "I'd sent him a bunch of little motifs that I had written, and Steve [Howe] took the reins there and connected all the dots and put together this arrangement, including some of the bits he wrote, and of course some of the bits Jon [Davison] wrote, and then we just kept throwing them back and forth to develop them [...] I wasn't in the same room, simply because I was in America at the time [...] and they were over in England, Jon and Steve. [...] we've been around each other long enough to know what we are thinking without even discussing it. It makes working on music this way easy for us. Where it might be difficult for others, we seem to get on with it pretty quickly." In his interview with Leroy, Davison talked about his writing contributions, explaining that, apart from "Living Out Their Dream", "and apart from a few small instances, I would say that wherever I'm singing on the 'main' record, I wrote the lyrics and crafted the vocal melodies. I also contributed in terms of musical theme for our title track and took the captain's seat in arranging the order of events for [...] "Cut from the Stars", and along with Steve, [...] "All Connected"." Davison also wrote "Circles of Time". Talking more about the title track, he explained how the song began with a section with a lyric ("dreams of a sky without fire") from Howe. Davison was then on a trip to Brighton with his then fianc�e, Emily, and future in-laws Kirsten and John Lodge. Emily remarked that the calm sea was "like a mirror to the sky", which inspired Davison to write another part for the title track on his guitar. In the Apr 2023 Prog Report interview, Davison explained how the song went back further:

we already had some material, some outtakes from the Heaven and Earth album, stuff that Steve and I had put together at his home studio [...] And it never really made the light of day, but we made a firm resolve to one another that we would look at those ideas again. And we were well within the mixing stage for The Quest [...] We were all still reeling from the pandemic. And we didn't want to see the album work finish, because it's what kept us artistically stimulated. If we couldn't tour, we could at least be creative. So Steve looked at me one day, in those final Quest mixing days, and said let's keep it going. And let's look at those earlier ideas from Heaven and Earth. And those are really some signposts or islands that sort of lay out the design of the title track, "Mirror to the Sky".

He also explained, "just like the fans, the band, we've always wanted to do more of a full-length side type of song. And this was the perfect time to do it. We had the time, we had the creative enthusiasm, we had the support from InsideOut. And we actually ended up with more than one long song, we have several long songs, I think, that are [...] aiming to please any hearty prog rock fan." The interview later returned to discussing "Mirror to the Sky":

the orchestrations came a bit later on. What we had to start with was those early ideas that I mentioned [�] Like the guitar intro, which is something I remember I loved hearing when Steve played the demo to me [...] and I created some chords underneath it in a bass line and we sort of left it at that. But we knew that was a great start. And it goes into something that he had in his creative archives [...] very sort of rockier instrumental thing that I felt didn't need any vocal [...] there's another more ambient section that later happens that was an instrumental offering of Steve's, again all to flesh out the song and make it longer. But what we had vocally was not much. We had his [...] repeating line �dreams of a sky without fire�. [...] I knew I wanted to create some lyrical vocal sort of islands that would [�] help glue those longer instrumental sections together.

He then again tells the story of Emily coming up with "mirror to the sky". He continued, "being so excited with that idea, I came home after that trip to Brighton and picked up the guitar and, along with the other sections that I wrote instrumentally and vocally, I pieced together that kind of [...] chorus [...] that repeats "mirror to the sky". I came up with that then and there."

Davison related a similar story in the Classic Album Review interview about "Mirror to the Sky": "Steve came to me [...] when we were mixing The Quest and he said, you know, let's just keep going. [...] the world was still reeling from the pandemic. We couldn't tour, so let's just stay creative, we thought. [...] he'd taken some earlier demos that him and I, sort of, compiled, more or less, and put in a folder and tucked away... um, earlier stuff, from years past. He put some of that together, combined with [...] He has this great creative archive and he'll suddenly pull out something [...] he had two of the bases of the song, where there's longer instrumental sections, he had those outlined as well. So, we had a great skeletal outline and one of quite great length, but we didn't really have sections that were vocal ready, in any way. So I went away and wrote some music and came back with these various vocal sections that then became [...] the bridging link between all these instrumental islands". Davison continued, saying he generally writes the lyrics, but "Steve had one line, in one of these sections that he provided. He had this great, poignant line, "dreams of a sky without fire", and I thought, 'Oh, that's fantastic, I'm gonna go away and work on that and elaborate on that.' And that was really the lyrical beginnings of the song. [�] I think I drew inspiration from all that is sort of bizarre and the unknown in our existence. You know, those inexplicable events that seem to link what we define or believe to be ordinary life and that which is metaphysical or beyond, far beyond the ordinary." He finished by describing the end of the track, a section "where we all drop out and then there's just this feature of Paul [Joyce]'s where he's taking all the various themes that have already occurred in the song and overlapping them and they all crescendo into this big ending". In the SOAL Night Live interview, Howe explained that the "dreams of a sky without fire" section was originally the chorus of a whole song, but that he decided to scrap the rest of the song, which was very "personal". He described "Mirror to the Sky" as a "highly experimental track" and plays Fender Telecaster on it. To the May 2023 issue of Prog, Howe said the song began when Davison was at his studio and he "was just playing some things and he [Davison] said to me, 'This bit's really good.' He put bass and a rhtyhm guitar to mock this idea up. That [...] pushed me forwards and I tied it up with something else that was around, some slightly crazy guitar stuff. There was [also] a small fragment of a song [...] 'dreams of the sky without fire'. I played them to Jon and he said, '[...] this is fantastic.' He went away and wrote the middle [...] We just kept finding more ways of using that opening guitar theme." In theBiff Bam Pop! interview, talking about the song, Downes talked of how they came to "expand it and expand it [...] It took its own natural course [...] By the time we actually put it all together, it was even a little bit longer, so we cut it down a little bit."

In his interview with Darren Paltrowitz, Howe discussed "All Connected" and described how he was playing, in places, guitar parts written by Sherwood. He also described how Sherwood generally came up with his bass parts, but in places he asked Sherwood to stick to the parts Howe had written. In the Apr 2023 interview, Downes was asked whether the band went into the studio with the songs all worked out or whether they just worked out material while recording. He replied, "There's a bit of both, really. I think that we did a lot of preparation with exchanging ideas virtually [...] but I think with this one, we had a bit more chance to get together in the studio and start arranging the stuff more. Not playing live as a band particularly, but more [...] discussing things. [...] I did a lot of stuff with Steve [...] The previous album [The Quest], we were pretty well locked in the pandemic, so no-one was in the same room at all, but this one, it was a bit more [...] together." Talking about instrument choices, later in the same interview, he said, "Yes music's always been a foundation of things like acoustic piano. So, generally speaking, I [...] use the real instruments in the recording, rather than the electronic equivalent. [...] I mean, it's a mixture of the two really". In the Classic Album Review interview, Davison said about "All Connected" that it "started with Billy's brilliant instrumental ideas and lots of them and he had some lyrics and sections where he sang. And I love that, when we can have a dual sort of vocal identity in a song. It adds so much to the storytelling. And I think he had the title "All Connected" already evident in the lyric, and he was approaching it more about how we're all connected in a literal sense, in the physical, and then, of course, I wanted to Yessify it, if you will. [_laughs_] And I thought, well, we're all connected [...] in a metaphysical way, as well, so there's that dichotomy of our personalities in there [...] Steve supplied the brilliant intro, on his steel, which crescendos beautifully and then takes us into the proper song. [...] the song concludes with Steve's theme, as well. And it's a very complex song with all those interesting proggy twists and turns, but it's amazing how inspired and quickly it came together, really." In his Alaskan May 2023 interview, Downes said:

I really latched on to ["All Connected"] in terms of the arrangement because we were experimenting with a lot of chunks of ideas and it got more and more expanded as a piece of music. And I think that [...] particularly this album we're looking much more towards... musicality in, you know, instrumental sections, as well as the big vocal sections, which of course has always been a [...] feature of Yes's music going back to the very beginning [...] there's some [...] more dynamic songs [...] Yes music has always had a very dynamic aspect to it [...] I think [...] "All Connected"is a very good example of that.

In the May 2023 Musikknyheter interview, Downes said about both "All Connected" and "Mirror to the Sky" that: "I think that we worked on those following the principle that we weren't trying to make up a five-minute song [...] Our goal was to have something we could expand. So, a lot of these ideas came from people chipping in little bits, here, there and everywhere, and the whole song just kept getting bigger and bigger. [...] The songs just have their own way of developing into something bigger and then you add instrumental sections that are given enough time to develop. And the vocals parts come back, and I think that creates a nice contrast."

In the SOAL Night Live interview, Howe described "Luminosity" as a "highly developed piece of music" in that they worked on it at length. Howe plays on autoharp and steel on the piece. Davison's core idea for the song dates back to the Heaven & Earth sessions.

In the same interview, Howe described "Living Out Their Dream", for which he wrote the lyrics, as "fairly tongue in cheek". The song is about "living out that fantasy dream, that [has] partly been created by social media", with the ending about "how catastrophic" you can make your life. He wrote the music, but "using some of Geoff's [...] tunes that he had [...] for the verses". Howe said the song is "a little bit like the Rolling Stones at the beginning", but that the ending "is meant to surprise you", also describing it as "the twist". In the May 2023 Musikknyheter interview, Downes said, "It's interesting, because historically, I don't think I've written that many songs with Steve. So, it was it was nice to be able to sit down with Steve and put together a couple of ideas that we felt were compatible." Another May 2023 interview with Downes, in Spanish, has him saying this about "Living Out Their Dream": "Bueno, es una canci�n hecha a partir de antiguas ideas hace bastante tiempo y luego la termin� con Steve Howe. [...] Ciertamente esa canci�n fue algo que escrib� en el pasado [...] Pero "Living Out the Dream" estaba ya muy desarrollada, la ten�a pr�cticamente completa." That is, the song was based on an old idea of his that was practically complete, which he then finished with Howe. In the Classic Album Review interview, Davison described "Living Out Their Dream": "lyrically speaking, [...] there's so much tongue-in-cheek irony in that one. [...] It's just sort of pokes fun at, y'know, how the institution of marriage is so now sort of obsessed with this idea of making it a glitz and glamour sort of ideal, and how you can impress everybody on social sites." He went on, "It's actually Steve and I are singing octaves in unison. [...] Somehow blending my voice with his creates this unique one voice with the two." Asked in the SOAL Night Live interview why Downes does not have more writing credits on the album, Howe replied, "It's really about what people have got", so while Downes brought more ideas for The Quest, "this time there wasn't so much". He continued, "maybe on the next album he will be more forthcoming". In the Alaskan May 2023 interview, Downes said:

this line up has been pretty much together for the last seven years [...] there's a whole thing about maybe we felt that Jon [Davison] would [...] come more to the fore because, you know, his writing previously had been fairly limited. And so I think it was important that certainly Jon's blossomed very much as a writer, and we recognise that and allow him to come through with his ideas [...] his vocal harmonies and [...] his lyrical ideas as well. So it's very much a case of [...] letting things find their own way. And I think with Jon's writing, he's really come on very strong as a writer and he's very, you know, been very dominant, particularly on the last two albums.

He also talked about the lyric writing falling more to Davison, as Davison has to sing the lyrics and "you've really got to believe in what you're singing about". In the Musikknyheter interview of May 2023, Downes was asked about his "main role" on the album, to which he replied: "To come up with new sounds and new ideas for the main sound keyboard wise. It is still heavily geared towards Hammond organ and acoustic piano, with some electric piano and some Mini Moog for the single synth line stuff. And since this is Yes music, you must have Mellotron sounds and that kind of thing. But the same time I like to incorporate some whole new sounds, digital washes and soundscapes". The interviewer then compared his approach to that of Tony Kaye:

Yeah, it's more like Tony. He was much more a supporter of the music, especially on [...] The Yes Album [...] I think that it's the same process that I have used on this album. The material lends itself more to textures rather than just me playing all the flashy stuff. But that has really never been my department anyway. I'm much more of a of a sound guy, creating a big wall of keyboard sound which was a fundamental feature of the band with Tony. I take each album as it comes maybe the next will be a very different kind of album and I'll be all over it. I think that you generally try to do what's appropriate and supportive to the music.

Howe to SOAL Night Live described "Circles of Time" as "our real turn down track" and "really mellow". The band tried a number of versions of the piece, including one with extensive church organ, but they decided on a more "minimal arrangement". The song is mainly performed by Davison on vocals and acoustic guitar, with Howe saying, "I play very little on it", although he did add some pedal steel. Sherwood sings just one line. Davison said he wrote the song when he first fell in love with Emily Lodge and then had to go on tour. Howe said of "Unknown Place", on which he plays acoustic and electric guitar, that "we wanted something mystifying about it". He described the final two bonus tracks as "quite sprightly". He described "One Second is Enough" as being about how "happiness comes and goes, but we don't know why". He plays 12-string guitar on the piece. "Magic Potion" was originally to be called "It's a Good Day to be Had by All". Howe described the song, saying it "harks back to 1967". While Howe generally let Sherwood come up with bass parts, he wrote the bass line for "Magic Potion", describing it as "a tricky little bass line [...] not totally in character [for Yes]". He went on: "it's almost got a little bit of disco in it somewhere, or maybe it's a bit eighties Trevor Horn."

In the liner notes, Downes says, "We didn't want the album to be The Quest, Part Two. We wanted to do something that was more like adding another arrow to the quiver." In the Oct 2021 issue of Prog (#124), Downes said that the band were "already talking about the next" studio album. Recording was reported to be underway in Apr 2022. In a May 2022 interview with the Yesshift podcast, Sherwood confirmed that they are working on an album. In another May 2022 interview, Downes said, "I think that we are working on some stuff at the moment [...] It's been nice to get back working with Steve in the studio again. [...] I think it's some way to go, in some respects. [...] Yes, [...] it's all about experimentation. I think, we often try and do things that are not, you know, expect the unexpected." In a Jun 2022 interview, Downes said, "We'll be doing another Yes album at some point this year [2022]. We're keeping busy with that". It seems that work continued through 2022. Sherwood was in the UK in late Sep 2022, between the Japanese and US legs of touring.

Howe talked about producing the album on social media (e.g.,YouTube) in Apr 2023, in which he discussed his collaborative approach. He also talked about the use of orchestra "in places", stressing "this is not an orchestra takeover". He described given the orchestra its own section on "Dare to Know" on The Quest, and then repeating this approach on "Mirror to the Sky", which is partly why it became 14 minutes long.

The press release also has this from Davison: "We truly get along as people[.] I feel like everyone's focused inward to the greater circle, concentric to the core of highest standards that define YES. [...] I believe this reflects vibrantly in the music and the creative input that each one is willing to apply, not for the benefit of the individual, but for the greater whole that is YES." Howe also said in the Prog article that the songs on the album "had to stream in with the others" and that, aside from "Living Out Their Dream", a lot of the "other stories are much more romantic, and interested in our history, our philosophy".

Roger Dean did the cover from a "basic germ of the idea" from Howe, although Dean was initially uncertain about the approach, as Howe explained in the May 2023 SOAL Night Live interview. He posted to Facebook on 19 Jan 2023 about "a recent design for the new YES [...] album, which didn't end up getting used but it was an interesting concept. Steve Howe had been thinking about the Nebra Sky Disc [see Wikipedia], which was discovered in Germany in 1999 [...] I like the way it came out but it didn't actually end up getting used as the colours disappear into the finished painting. I'll be posting about that soon�" On 23 Jan 2023, Dean posted about the actual new album cover, with discussion about its creation, sketches and the final sketch painting before the real thing. 26 Jan, he showed a clip where he was working on the final art. Dean has said the cover was inspired by a story he was told by video game designer Henk Rogers of being on a boat on a lake at night seeing the stars reflected in the water. He also talked about being impressed by images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Howe said Dean "heard a lot of the album" before doing the cover. In his May 2023 interview, Downes said, "[Dean] likes to know what the music's about before he gets going on the painting. So the ideas of some titles and things like that are thrown at Roger and this sort of sparks his creativity [...] it's a constant thing where he provides sketches [...] It's almost in the same way that we develop the music [...] we do it over a period of time and the same with Roger is that [...] we work closely with him." The Gottlieb brothers did the layout and some photos were by Schwartz.

The Quest
The band's previous album was The Quest, released Oct 2021 on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music. Due to manufacturing problems, the physical release of most formats in the US and Canada was delayed until 15 Oct, with the standalone vinyl delayed further. Thomas Waber, InsideOut label manager, explained to me that, "the second disc exists for creative reasons only. to separate the main album from the additional tracks. [...] we aren't charging more for the album because of the second disc". An Oct 2021 Oakland Press article had this:

Howe says the two-disc configuration of �The Quest� was also a record company suggestion, �feeling that the bulk of it, the main album, should not go over 45, 50 minutes. So that�s eight songs, and the other three aren�t really bonus tracks in the sense they�re things we would have thrown away. We weren�t scraping the barrel or anything just to fill it out. They�re like high-quality reserve tracks, if you will. But it�s not so much a double album like the White Album by the Beatles. It�s more like there�s a second part of the story.�

Likewise, to the Oct 2021 issue of Prog (#124), Howe described the phrase 'bonus tracks' as "tainted words", saying, "I cannot overstate the fact that those three songs are not rejects or throwaways." Indeed, in a Dec 2021 interview, asked to pick one track from The Quest he'd suggest to represent the album, he picked "Sister Sleeping Soul". In a Nov 2021 interview, Davison said that the singles were "a label choice rather than something the band decided. I personally feel all the songs are equally compelling and any one of them could have fulfilled the 'single' necessity."

The Quest made #9 on the UK midweek album chart (4 Oct 2021), before finishing the week at #20 (8 Oct), the same as Heaven & Earth, but it was out of the top 100 by the next week (15 Oct), as had been Heaven & Earth. On the sub-charts, it was #1 in Rock & Metal (#7 in its second week; #8 in its third week), #7 in Scotland, #8 in Sales (#60 in its second week; #91 in its third week) and in Physical (#55 in its second week; #87 in its third week), #9 in Vinyl (out of to 40 by second week), #17 in Downloads (out of top 100 by second week), but outside the top 100 in Streaming in its first week. It was also #1 in the Progressive Albums chart (Oct 2021) and down to #11 for Nov 2021, then #12 the next month. The album persisted in that chart: it was still at #27 in Sep 2022.

Outside the UK, it made #7 on the German midweek album chart (6 Oct) and finished the week at #7 (8 Oct), and #40 in its second week. In its first week, it was also #5 in Switzerland (the best chart performance for a Yes studio album since 90125), #14 in Austria, #37 in Belgium (#30 in Wallonia and #72 in Flanders), #38 in Norway, #40 in Finland, #54 in the Netherlands, #60 in Italy, #62 in Spain, and #85 in France (#23 in physical sales). It made #46 in Japan (Oricon; also #51 Billboard Japan Hot Albums) and #8 in the Japanese international albums chart. However, it was outside the top 50 in Ireland. It did not make the US top 200 albums, presumably stymied by the split release dates for digital and physical, but in its first week the album did make #22 in Current Albums, #26 in Sales and #5 in Current Rock.

On the iTunes charts internationally, on 1 Oct, The Quest made #2 in Brazil, #6 in Spain and in Canada, #12 in the UK and in Australia, #13 in the US, #14 in Germany, #47 in Italy and #57 in France.

Howe produced the album. Curtis Schwartz

(worked with Asia, Evelyn Glennie, Gwilym Simcock, Julian Arguelles, The Bee Gees, Suede), who has long done engineering for Howe, was involved in the sessions and is credited as mixing engineer. Simon Heyworth (worked with King Crimson, Marillion, Mike Oldfield) is the mastering engineer. Heyworth first worked with Howe on the Steve Howe Trio's New Frontier, where Bill Bruford had recommended him.

In the album announcement, Howe said, "Much of the music was written in late 2019 with the rest in 2020. We commissioned several orchestrations to augment and enhance the overall sound of these fresh new recordings, hoping that our emphasis on melody, coupled with some expansive instrumental solo breaks, keeps up the momentum for our listeners." These are on "Dare to Know", "Minus the Man" and "Leave Well Alone". These were performed by the 47-piece F.A.M.E.'S Orchestra (YouTube,Twitter;

worked on North Macedonia's 2021 Eurovision entry, and on many TV, film and game soundtracks, including "The Edge of Time"Doctor Who game) with Oleg Kondratenko conducting, orchestrated and scored by Paul K Joyce, who worked with Howe on Time but is best known for the Bob the Builder theme "Can We Fix It?". There were sessions in Skopje, North Macedonia on 1 Feb 2021, with Joyce videocalling into the sessions. In the Sep 2021 Northern Life article, Howe said: "That [the orchestra] was one of my ideas, I wanted to expand the augmentation of what Yes does and to have a controllable role for something as beautiful as an orchestra was really appealing. They came into their own and that was done remotely in Macedonia. If you organise things properly, then you get what you want back. Paul K Joyce did the arranging for me, it was an augmentation of the Yes sound and when we heard Dare To Know, we went 'Oh, my goodness, great!'" The original idea was to have the orchestra on "Dare to Know", but it was then decided to use them on further tracks.

In the Sep 2021 interview with Biff Bam Pop!, Downes explained how the album was "done through file exchange [...] So it was not particularly difficult for me [...] We had all the ideas really well and truly prepared, I think, before the pandemic hit . So we were kind of in fairly good shape in terms of, y'know, how we saw the whole thing... eking out". He continued, "It was all fairly much loosely in a framework before, before we got involved with the whole pandemic thing." Howe and Davison began working on "Future Memories" and "Damaged World" together on 31 Oct-1 Nov 2019. In the electronic press kit for the album, Howe says:

The Quest is a strong album with a common theme: posing the great questions of life and finding that we have our destiny within our own hands. My contribution was all written before COVID and by the end of 2019 I'd started showing Jon [Davison] those songs. On the 1st of November [2019] Jon and I put down the basic ideas of [...] Damaged World (Howe) and Future Memories (a Davison love song, asking what the future holds). That was a test to see if working with the engineer, Curtis Schwartz, with me steering, was going to work. We felt it was pretty good and began sharing music between us, with me being able to make decisions about what Jon felt he could develop. If I liked it, then it had a bit of a roll to it.

Jay Schellen was credited with percussion. The band Twitter accountquoted him thus: "Alan's tracks were freshly finished. And then I came in, and we listened and had ideas about percussion, because they're at my fingertips. And so we just came up with ideas together." Sherwood recorded Schellen's contributions in 2 days in the same time block, with White also present. The artbook quotes White: "Jay has done a lot of work for the band[.] So I thought it was only right that he get a little piece of the action on this album. He was coming to the studio every couple of days anyway to see us, so I said, 'Why don't you do percussion?' [...] I probably could have done it myself, but I just wanted to do it that way."

_Early years archival release_In a Jun 2019 Facebook post, Yes announced that, "Towards the end of 2019, YES will be releasing a Box Set of BBC Sessions and Early Years recordings, primarily focussing on 1969 and 1970. This official release will eclipse anything released before, from this era, featuring a wealth of material that fans won't have heard before." But release was delayed and its status is unclear. A cover was designed. Some BBC sessions by Yes were previously released on the 2CD Something's Coming (1997; also released as Beyond & Before, Millenium Collection, and The BBC Recordings 1969-1970), but this was not a complete set and was not all sourced from master tapes. I understand plans for the box set were for a substantial release, possibly including material previously not known to exist. Non-BBC sessions on the release were to include "Beyond and Before" and "Survival" from Belgian TV's Pop-Eye, broadcast 15 Oct 1969. A Jun 2020 rumour had that the release would be 4 CDs. Other possible releases
In the May 2023 interview with SOAL Night Live, Howe said that "Warner Brothers are very interested" in archival live releases. Warner own the band's Atlantic back catalogue. He continued: "If there was more found, it would happen [...] Warner Brothers might even be thinking more about that now." He had offered 6 DAT tapes from the Union tour for a release, but that didn't happen. In his May 2023 interview with Classic Album Review, discussing the Tales tour, Howe said Warner would "love to find" old soundboard recordings, "but finding the kind of quality [...] is very unlikely [...] I don't know that we did enough live recording then. [...] we would love to find more tapes. Now, I've got an archive which [...] Warner's already looked at [...] when we were doing Yes Live [...] well, I can't remember what it was called." Presumably he meant The Word is Live. However, he then noted that, "Now there is an archive, where it's now been moved to under our domain now in mid Devon, there's an archive of Yes tapes". Howe then indicated they hadn't spotted anything like recordings from the Tales tour in this archive yet, but said they would be on the look out for anything, noting "a series of live tapes [...] from the 70s, it is like gold dust."Jon Dee (Rock Aid Armenia) has obtained a higher quality and more complete recording (adding "Madrigal" and Wakeman's solo) from the BBC of Yes's 1978 Wembley show. He described the project on Facebook. He has been meeting with Warner about a possible release. He also has a studio recording of the band's first line-up playing "Eleanor Rigby" in the studio and some multi-track recordings for Time and a Word, including a previously unreleased song, that he hopes Warner can release. He was previously tasked by Yes's management to collate soundboard and FM radio broadcasts that could be released. (If you have high quality copies of such, please contact Jon.) He has sent various recordings to Yes's management, including of the showcase by Cinema when they were looking for a record deal.

Warner were planning a 50th anniversary compilation. Early rumours on the 2018 Cruise talked of a compilation including both studio and live material, and, possibly, a second release later in 2018, of a sequel to The Word is Live. There was also the suggestion of new Roger Dean art for the former. What eventually happened was the vinyl-only release of The Steven Wilson Remixes, with new Dean art, so maybe parts of those reports were referring to that.

In an early Mar 2018 interview, Downes then said:

I think something will be coming out on Warners this year [2018] that will be a historical view of Yes. That`ll be a nice release for Yes fans. They generally try to get everything that comes out so we`ll make sure it`s something really special.

Trevor Horn also mentioned a Warner release. One report from the London Fan Convention (24/5 Mar 2018) had that the Warner retrospective would not include anything not previously released.

Mid-Apr, Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman then announced "an historical 2 CD/3 LP anthology of YES curated by band founder/singer Jon Anderson", due Aug 2018. Their promo might be taken to imply that the release will be called Quintessential Yes, but I don't think that was clear. In a May 2018 interview, Anderson said that he proposed a collection of live tracks, but that Warner baulked at the licensing costs and decided to do a compilation of previously released material instead:

I did a compilation for them featuring songs recorded all over the world and picked out all of the best versions of all of the great songs and they turned around and said it was going to cost so much money to get licensing that they wouldn`t be doing it. I wish they`d told me that a few months ago before I`d done all of the work pulling it all together. They said they were just going to put another best of album but we already have several of those. I wanted to do something a bit different but the label just didn`t want to do it which was a shame.

So, I think that was implying a release was coming out, but which was not curated by Anderson...?

However, after all that, nothing was released. Vague rumour, or perhaps just conjecture, had that the Warner retrospective was cancelled and replaced by (or morphed into) The Steven Wilson Remixes.

It was in a Mar 2018 radio interview that Horn said, "there's another track that we dug out that Chris [Squire] had played bass on, called "Go Through This" [...] That's Warner Brothers reissue track, I think. It's all very complicated these days." This new version mixes archival material with Squire with new recordings by the current band. The song dates back to the Drama era: it was played live on that tour, as heard on The Word is Live. Two demo recordings of it have been previously release: by Yes on the Rhino expanded Drama, and by Howe on Homebrew 6. However, by Mar 2018, this new recording was already not expected on the Warner release. Asked on Twitter about what might happen to it, Downes tweeted 16 Apr 2018, "Honestly not sure." Rumour in summer 2019 had that it will be on a new Yes album (see next section), but there hasn't been further indication of that. But release at some point somewhere is expected. In his autobiography (written 2019), Howe referred to the song, saying, "as a rediscovered studio recording, [it] may be released in the future."

Super Deluxe Editions

In Aug 2024, Steven Wilson said on his podcast that he had just finished an Atmos mix of Close to the Edge. This is presumably for a Super Deluxe Edition of the album to follow the prior such editions of The Yes Album and Fragile. (I thought this might be an unknown Yes listing for 25 Oct 2024, but that turned out to be YesSingles2 (see below).)

The Rhino Super Deluxe Edition series continued with Fra gile (Super Deluxe Edition), released 28 Jun 2024.

The album made #8 in the UK Progressive Albums chart (Jul 2024), falling to #22 in Aug. A digital single, the previously unreleased "Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) (Alternate Version)", was released digitally 15 May 2024. This was followed 6 Jun by "We have Heaven (Full Version) [Steven Wilson Mix]", with a b-side of "Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) - Alternate Version", as before (but with its title punctuated differently). This is a 4CD + 1LP + 1Blu-ray box set, and there was also a digital release. The Blu-ray has a Steven Wilson Dolby Atmos Mix, 5.1 Mix DTS-HD MA, stereo remix, stereo remaster and instrumental mix, all from 2024. The LP was cut by Bernie Grundman. Liner notes by Syd Schwartz. CD1 is the original album, newly remastered by Steven Wilson. CD2 has 2024 remixes by Wilson, plus instrumental mixes (omitting the tracks that were already instrumentals), although Wilson explained on Facebook that, "Although the Atmos mix is newly created, the "new" stereo and 5.1 mixes are essentially very slightly tweaked versions of my 2014 mixes from the previous [Panegyric] edition." CDs 3 and 4 then have various alternative versions, some previously unreleased, including three live tracks from 1972.

CD3 Rarities:

  1. "Roundabout (US Single Edit)" [2024 Remaster] (3:27)
  2. "Long Distance Runaround (US Single Edit)" [2024 Remaster] (3:15)
  3. "All Fighters Past (Steven Wilson Mix)" (2:33)
  4. "South Side of the Sky (Early Take)" [2024 Remaster] (6:20), previously unreleased?
  5. "Roundabout (Rehearsal Take/Early Mix)" [2024 Remaster] (8:10)
  6. "Mood for Another Day" (2:59)
  7. "We have Heaven (Full Version)" [Steven Wilson Mix] (2:20)
  8. "South Side of the Sky (Early Version)" [Steven Wilson Mix] (5:10)
  9. "Long Distance Runaround (Steven Wilson Edit)" (3:38), previously unreleased
  10. "Heart of the Sunrise (Steven Wilson Edit)" (4:06), previously unreleased
  11. "America (2024 Remaster)" (10:30)
  12. "Roundabout (Early Rough Mix)" [2024 Remaster] (8:34)
  13. "We have Heaven (Acapella)" [Steven Wilson Mix] (1:59)

Tracks 3, 5-8 and 13 are from the 2015 Panegyric edition, while 11 and 12 are from the 2003 Rhino expanded edition. 4 is not the same as the track on the 2015 Panegyric CD, but another take of the song that was included on the Panegyric Blu-ray.

CD4 More Rarities & Live:

  1. "Five Per Cent for Nothing (Alternate Version)" (0:44)
  2. "Heart of the Sunrise (Alternate Version)" (10:39)
  3. "Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" [Alternate Version] (6:02)
  4. "The Dean" (3:45)
  5. "America (Instrumental)" [2024 Remaster] (10:31)
  6. "Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" (12:35), incomplete (missing the beginning); this and remaining tracks recorded at the Academy of Music, New York, NY, 19 Feb 1972
  7. "Perpetual Change" (10:45), incomplete (missing the end)
  8. "Yours is No Disgrace" (13:37)

All of CD4 was previously unreleased. The three Feb 1972 live tracks are the only tracks surviving from that show.

Jason_Rhino on the Steve Hoffman forum, who oversees the Yes catalogue for Rhino, had said there (17 May) that, "The Dean is a completely unreleased track. Never booted; a work-in-progress if you will." However, there has been a mistake and it is not Yes, as Warner have now acknowledged. The track has been withdrawn from steaming platforms. It is actually a recording of Terry Reid and band playing an early version of "Sabyla" from sessions for his 1973 album The River. Reid began work on that album in 1971-2 with recording sessions in London produced by Eddie Offord, before then largely re-working the album in new sessions produced by Tom Dowd. It seems likely that what is labelled "The Dean" here is from the Offord-produced sessions, which had Alan White on drums, not long before he joined Yes. "Sabyla" never made it to The River, although there is a different track on that album called "Dean". Another version of "Sabyla" was released much later, in 2016, on the archival release The Other S ide of the River.

The previous release in the series was The Yes Album (Super Deluxe Edition), on 24 Nov 2023, which followed a very similar format. A digital single, the previously unreleased "I've Seen All Good People: Your Move / All Good People (Early Take) [2023 Remaster]", came to streaming services (e.g. YouTube) in October. This is a 4CD + 1LP + 1Blu-ray box set. CD1 is the original album, newly remastered by Wilson. CD2 has Wilson's remixes plus his instrumental mixes from the 2014 Panegyric re-release series. The came 2nd in the 2023 Prog magazine readers' poll. It also made #28 in the UK Progressive Albums chart.

CD3 Rarities (remastered by Wilson):

  1. "Your Move (Single Version)"
  2. "Starship Trooper: Life Seeker (Single Version)"
  3. "Clap (Studio Version)"
  4. "A Venture (Extended Mix)"
  5. "Yours is No Disgrace (Mono Mix)", this would seem to be a 1971 promo mono mix done by Atlantic
  6. "The Clap (Mono Mix)"
  7. "Starship Trooper (Mono Mix)"
  8. "I've Seen All Good People (Mono Mix)"
  9. "A Venture (Mono Mix)"
  10. "Perpetual Change (Mono Mix)"
  11. "Starship Trooper: Life Seeker (Alternate Take; instrumental)", previously unreleased
  12. "I've Seen All Good People (Early Take)", previously unreleased
  13. "Yours is No Disgrace (Alternate Mix)", previously unreleased

(Early leaked information included a track "Untitled Instrumental" instead of tracks 12 and 13. It is not known what this was, but maybe it was just confusion over the instrumental alternate "Life Seeker".)

CD4 Live (described as all previously unreleased, although some of the tracks have been released previously):

  1. "I've Seen All Good People", first 3 tracks recorded at Konserthuset, Gothenburg, Sweden, 21 Jan 1971, says the promo material, but Gothenburg was actually 24 Jan
  2. "Astral Traveller", described as previously unreleased, but was on The Word is Live
  3. "Everydays", described as previously unreleased, but was on The Word is Live
  4. "Yours is No Disgrace", remaining tracks recorded at the Yale Bowl, New Haven, CT, 24 Jul 1971, which have been released in the UK where, I believe, the recordings are now out of copyright
  5. "I've Seen All Good People"
  6. "Clap/Classical Gas"
  7. "Perpetual Change", described as previously unreleased, but was onthe 2014 Panegyric Blu-ray

The Blu-ray has Wilson's 2023 Dolby Atmos mix, 5.1 Mix DTS-HD MA, 5.1 Mix LPCM and his 2023 stereo remaster.

The LP is described in promo as being Wilson's 2023 remaster. Jason_Rhino on the Steve Hoffman forum, who co-produced this release with Steve Woolard, said there (4 Oct) that, "The LP in this super deluxe set is a new AAA cut by Bernie Grundman from the original master tapes." There was a premiere of the new surround mix at L-Acoustics in London, UK on 7 Nov 2023: I attended and wrote about the evening in the blog. Bill Bruford was in attendance and took questions afterwards. A similar playback in the US took place in Los Angeles, CA on 30 Nov 2023.

The Yale Bowl tracks also got a limited edition (4500 copies) Record Store Day vinyl (140g) release as Yale Bowl '71 (Rhino) on 20 Apr 2024.

More re-releases Out 31 May was a 30th anniversary re-release of Talk on Spirit of Unicorn Music, in multiple formats (trailer), remastered by Andy Pearce. The album made #9 in the UK Progressive Albums chart (Jul 2024), falling to #19 in Aug. There is a 1CD version (SOUMCD082) with the original album, a limited edition 2LP white vinyl (SOUMLP082; the original album on 3 sides + "The Calling (Special Version)" on side D), and a 4CD deluxe edition box (SOUMBOX082) with bonus studio material and a previously unreleased live show (Canandaigua, NY, 19 Jun 1994). All versions come with new sleeve notes by Jerry Ewing (Prog editor) with new interviews (including with Jon Anderson and Trevor Rabin). Box set tracks:

CD1 Original album

CD2 Talk versions

  1. "The Calling (Special Version)"
  2. "The Calling (Single Edit)"
  3. "The Calling (Radio Edit)"
  4. "Untitled � Trevor Rabin Instrumental"
  5. "Endless Dream (Demo)"
  6. "Where will You be (Instrumental)"
  7. "Walls (Instrumental)"
  8. "Endless Dream (Excerpt) (Instrumental)"

Tracks 5-7 must come from the Yes Active CD-ROM. I presume tracks 4 and 8 do too, with track 4 actually being the "State of Play" demo, and track 8 probably just being "Silent Spring" as on the main album. Track 1 is an extended version of "The Calling" previously included on some versions of the album. Tracks 2 and 3 were single edits made available at the time.

CD3 Live Canandaigua, NY 19 Jun 1994

  1. "I am Waiting"
  2. "The Calling", incomplete (missing the first half)
  3. "Rhythm of Love"
  4. "Hearts", incomplete (missing the intro)
  5. "Real Love"
  6. "Changes"
  7. "Heart of the Sunrise", advertised as previously released
  8. "Roundabout", advertised as previously released

CD4 Live Canandaigua, NY 19 Jun 1994

  1. "Cinema"
  2. "City of Love"
  3. "Make It Easy"
  4. "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
  5. Trevor Rabin piano solo/"And You and I"
  6. "I've Seen All Good People"
  7. "Walls"
  8. "Endless Dream"

The live album is a copy of the bootleg Endless Dream that re-ordered the tracks somewhat. The show on the night went: "Perpetual Change (excerpt)/The Calling", "I am Waiting", "Rhythm of Love", "Hearts", "Real Love", "Changes", "Heart of the Sunrise", "Cinema", "City of Love", "Make It Easy", "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Where will You be?", Rabin piano solo/"And You and I", "I've Seen All Good People", "Walls", "Endless Dream", "Roundabout".

Panegyric re-released a series of Yes albums: in order, Close to the Edge, The Yes Album, Relayer, Fragile and Tales from Topographic Oceans. The releases included bonus material and new stereo and 5.1 Surround mixes by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, No-Man, ex-Blackfield, worked with Steve Hackett, Ian Anderson, Marillion, Theo Travis). The new stereo mixes were then also released on The Steven Wilson Remixes. Announcing the details of theTales release in Jul 2016, Wilson ended, "Multitrack tapes are unavailable for the other key albums in the Yes catalogue, so unless that situation changes, this will be the final release in the series." In Nov 2017, Panegyric's Declan Colgan said on 28 Nov 2017 at the DGM forum that, "Panegyric released all five Yes albums for which full multi-track tapes were available, thanks to the work by Rhino Records & Yes' management in locating/transferring those tapes. Despite rumours to the contrary, the full multi-tracks to the other albums have not, at this time, been located. Happily, as we know from working with other bands, tapes do turn up/are found & if /when the tapes are located, I am sure that there would be sufficient interest to continue with these releases." In a Jul 2018 interview, asked how the albums in The Steven Wilson Remixes were chosen, Downes replied, "Those were chosen, I think, because they're the only ones that could be found. [...] I don't know if he'll do any more, though, since he tends to look at the defining albums from a band's history."
In his Dec 2015 newsletter, Wilson said:

There was talk about me doing �Drama�, an album I really love and that would sound great in 5.1, but not all the members of that line up are keen for the album to be remixed�which is totally understandable�and I wouldn�t want to do something without the band being behind it.

The one band member opposed to Wilson doing Dramacould have been Downes judging by this Sep 2015 tweet: asked if Wilson would be doing a Drama remix, Downes replied, "I bloody well hope not!" Although in a Jul 2014 interview, Downes said, "I would like to hear Drama in 5.1, the album was heavily overdubbed at the time, and so it would reveal a lot of detail". But, in an Aug 2016 interview, he said the multitracks for Drama couldn't be found, also saying, "I know Steven Wilson does a very good job" of the 5.1 mixes.

In an Aug 2015 forum post, Wilson said:

I believe that the multitrack tapes for Going for the One are currently [missing]. First 2 Yes albums I would think unlikely, not enough potential sales...etc But never say never.

And then:

I really hope Tales and Drama will eventually be done, they are (perhaps somewhat perversely) my 2 favourite Yes albums

Preliminary work for a Going for the One release was done. In an Apr 2014 interview, Howe was asked whether it is "open-ended that as many of the catalog masters you have in hand" will be included in the series, he answered, "I don't think we should say yea or nay yet, because there could be logistical things or even a question of taste." On this latter point, the interviewer teases out that Howe is referring to Tormato. Howe goes on, "It's not that it's dreadful; it's just that we didn't quite get it right. I don't know if a remix would make it right, but I really can't say because I don't think it could, because if you're going to be true to the original, then you have to base it on the original."

Asked about further archival releases on the 2015 Cruise to the Edge, Howe also said there was plenty more in the vaults.

Cruise to the Edge
Cruise to the Edge (Facebook) is a series of progressive rock cruises that previously featured and were co-organised by Yes, and run by music cruise company On the Blue. However, Yes have not played on the more recent cruises. Howe said in a Jul 2024 interview, "Now we don't play Cruise To The Edge anymore, I can say I don't think it was the best environment for Yes music, but [the customers] have a lot of fun on those trips." The 2025 Cruise has been announced for 4-9 Apr 2025, still in the Caribbean, with acts including Rick Wakeman, Dave Kerzner and Friends (with Billy Sherwood), Jazz Sabbath (with Adam Wakeman), Steve Hackett, Pure Reason Revolution, Big Big Train, IQ, Moon Safari and The Aristocrats. Yes have not been announced as taking part.

The 2024 Cruise sailed 8-13 Mar 2024; it had sold out. Appearing were Dave Kerzner and his All Star Prog Band (including Billy Sherwood again, playing material from Kerzner's solo albums The Traveler and Heart Land Mines Vol 1 & 2; they also played "Don't Look Down" from Arc of Life's second album), Marillion, Steve Hackett, Flying Colors, Big Big Train, Adrian Belew, The Flower Kings, Marin Barre, PFM, Gryphon, Ray Wilson (ex-Genesis) and others.

In a May 2023 interview, Downes said they were not on the last cruise (2022's) because of COVID-19 uncertainties, but as for future cruises, "I certainly think we'll give it consideration. [...] we haven't made any plans as yet."In a Sep 2015 interview, Howe said:

we created the brand, Cruise to the Edge, and we got something that�s quite palatable, quite manipulable. That isn�t to say that we�re going to keep doing it, we don�t know. Each time we do it, it is a test. �OK, are we going to do it again?� They always want us to commit to another one, but it depends on how it goes.

On tour
Yes brought their Classic Tales of Yes tour to Europe with 25 dates in 2024, partly covering dates that were announced for 2023 but then postponed. There was a warm-up gig on 25 Apr 2024 in Tavistock, Devon, UK and the band were rehearsing from at least 22 Apr. Tour set: [_SPOILERS�highlight to read_] intro music: "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra"; "Machine Messiah", "It will be a Good Day (The River)", "Going for the One", "I've Seen All Good People", "Southern Solo/America", "Time and a Word", "Don't Kill the Whale", "Turn of the Century", "South Side of the Sky", "Cut from the Stars", Tales medley; encore: "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper" (including a segment of "I Feel Fine" at the end on later shows). This is the same songs as on the 2023 US tour leg, but in a different order. After the warm-up show, there was an interval after "Turn of the Century". The band played 15 dates 30 Apr-21 May 2024, covering Portugal (1 show), Spain (2), Italy (3), Switzerland (1), Austria (1), Germany (3), Belgium (1), the Netherlands (1, sold out), France (1, sold out) and Luxembourg (1). Some of these are re-scheduled from 2023 (2023 tickets remain valid); others are new. They then continue with a UK leg of 9 dates 23 May-4 Jun 2024. There are 7 rescheduled dates (2023 tickets remain valid) and a new Bristol date, plus a London date in a different venue. Dean again joined them on tour. (They were also announced as closing the C�rdoba Guitar Festival, Spain, on 13 Jul, but that was subsequently confirmed as not happening.) The band released a live video of 1 song from the tour. In Dec 2023 promo for the tour, Howe said, "We've selected a new playlist of YES music but with some firm favourites in there too [...] To keep our performances fresh, we 'now' carry our own lights, so we can present a consistent show each night, designed for us by William Succuso." European dates in 2023 had been cancelled because of logistical problems. In the Apr 2023 Prog Report interview, Davison had said, "We want to tour as much as we can. We're all focused on that, in agreement, and unfortunately Europe [in 2023] again has thrown up some obstacles that we just can't get around and we're so sorry to all those people out there". In an Apr 2023 interview, Downes said, "We we had to postpone our [2023] European tour recently, because we couldn't get the necessary insurance to do it".

The band co-headlined with Deep Purple on the 1 More Time Tour, celebrating the 50th anniversary of "Smoke on the Water".

Support was from Hannah Wicklund. Wicklund opened, then Yes played for about 70 minutes, then Deep Purple played for about 105 minutes. They played 18 North American dates 14 Aug-8 Sep 2024. (Deep Purple had an additional date 18 Aug without Yes.) Tony Kaye was in the audience for the 15 Aug Tampa show. The 27 Aug show in Montreal had an audience of 21,000, while the Toronto show had an audience of 12,000. Opening night set list: intro music from the "Firebird Suite"; "Machine Messiah", "I've Seen All Good People", "Yours is No Disgrace", "Clap", "Going for the One", "Siberian Khatru"; encore: "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper". Howe played a couple of bars of "Sister Sleeping Soul" at the start of "I've Seen All Good People". At the 17 Aug show, the intro music was switched to "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra". In a Jul 2024 interview with the Prog Will Find A Way podcast, Davison said, "Technically, it's a double bill , but we are opening, so [...] it'll be a tighter set". The Classic Tales of Yes tour has now moved to Japan with 6 dates 16-25 Sep 2024. The first and last night of the tour have sold out. Opening night set: intro: "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra"; "Machine Messiah", "I've Seen All Good People", "Going for the One", "Southern Solo/America", "Time and a Word", "Turn of the Century", "Siberian Khatru"; intermission; "South Side of the Sky", "Cut from the Stars", Tales medley; encore: "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper".

While not announced, there are rumours that they want to return to the US in spring 2025.

In an Apr 2024 interview, Sherwood said they "are always recording" live shows "every night", and so he "wouldn't be surprised to see another [live album] representing this particular tour".

The Classic Tales of Yes tour started with 25 US dates 19 Sep-4 Nov 2023. Davison came up with the tour name. Roger Dean was also on the tour with a gallery of his work and a live talk before the band plays. At the 21-2 Sep shows, the band played for about 2 hours; set: intro: "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra"; "Going for the One", "It will be a Good Day", "Machine Messiah", "I've Seen All Good People", "Southern Solo/America" (abbreviated instrumental arrangement), "Time and a Word", "South Side of the Sky", "Turn of the Century", "Don't Kill the Whale", "Cut from the Stars", Tales from Topographic Ocean medley (sections from "The Revealing Science of God"/"The Remembering"/"Leaves of Green" (from "The Ancient")/"Ritual"; about 20� minutes long); encore: "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper". At the 19 Sep warm-up show, the band didn't play "Starship Trooper", but did play "Rhythm of Love" and then "All Connected" after "Don't Kill the Whale". "Roundabout" was omitted at the 1 Oct show. The 22 Oct show at the Rialto Square Theatre was cancelled as Howe had injured his hand. Howe stated on social media: "I'm so very sorry to have to cancel tonight's performance due to a cut on my left thumb that inhibits any guitar playing." The 23 Oct show in Missouri was likewise cancelled. It appears neither show will be re-scheduled. The tour resumed with the 26 Oct show going ahead as planned, although "Going for the One" and "Southern Solo/America" were omitted that evening. Howe said of the Tales medley in an Oct 2023 interview: "it was an idea I had. I knew that it was the anniversary of Tales from Topographic Oceans. I thought, "Well, we're not going to play it all, that's for sure." [Laughs] [...] I kind of dreamed up the idea and put to the guys. I said, "Look, I've done an edit, what do you think?" They liked it too. Obviously, what I'm trying to do here is [make sure] Tales from Topographic Oceans doesn't get put on the backburner [...] It was my idea of actually giving it a new perspective and a new opportunity, if you like, to see it as it's never been seen." In a Feb 2024 interview, Howe said that, when it comes to set lists, "I am looked to" to decide what they will play, but also that "There's a throwing around" of ideas among the band members. He also spoke of how they "don't control the encore", given the expectation to play the usual songs.Touring in 2020 was to have played all of Relayer, but multiple postponements meant that was to happen on the abandoned 2023 dates. However, the band then did not play the full album: in the May 2023 interview, Howe confirmed, "We're not going to be playing Relayer", saying "we're overcooked on that idea". In another May 2023 interview, the one with Classic Album Review, Howe said:

Relayer has been [...] almost like [...] a heavy weight on our shoulder these difficult years. We've rescheduled that tour three times, I think. So, we've really just dropped the album tour for a while to give us a break and not make us feel that we're only playing Relayer because we've said, for three years, we're gonna play it. [...] that feels a bit of an encumberment. So, we're gonna free off that and dream up a really fantastic set that will have some new music, it'll have a little bit of something to do with Tales. [...] we're looking forward to it because [...] it's not something we've been carrying and wrestling with rescheduling [...] it's going to be something fresh [...] even our approach, not that we're going to change our positions on stage, but the approach that we're going to use in our production is going to be quite different too. [...] we're certainly not having any spaceships or cows floating across the stage [...] it's less of that and more of the bringing the group really tightly together because we find that when we play closely together on stage, without risers, something quite clever happens [...] to us. So, we're looking for that closer connection to the [...] pulse of the music

Sherwood was asked in an Apr 2024 interview whether the idea of playing Relayer will be "resurrected at some point". He replied, "I hope so. You know, it just got so tangled up in the circumstances [...] by the time the Ukraine war started kicking in [...] it was just like, 'Wow!' [...] we just decided to look in another direction, to bring a fresh conversation to the table [...] It was a victim of circumstance coming out of [...] COVID [...] into the Ukraine war. What can you say?! Some things are just not meant to be. That wasn't one of them at the time. That said, I would certainly love to play it."

In his May 2023 interview with Yes Music Podcast, Davison said, "The set is really still being designed for the tour next year [2024], and this year [2023]. [...] But I know, without a doubt, we will play some homage to the Relayer album." Asked what songs he would like to play, Davison named "Cut from the Stars", "All Connected" and "Mirror to the Sky". In the Apr 2023 interview with Classic Album Review, asked whether they are still planning to play all of Relayer live, Davison had replied, "all I could say is... yes, no, maybe so... I can't say yes on that yes, just a maybe." The interviewer also asked if Davison would be up for playing all of Tormato some time, to which Davison replied, "Oh, 100%. I mean, remember, Billy, Jay and myself were Yes fans before we became Yes members, so I think the fanboys in us would love to be able to play Tormato, absolutely. [...] we'll vie for that." However, Howe, in the Classic Album Review interview, said he "would not predict in the near future" the band playing the album.

In the Prog Report interview, Davison said:

let's face it, let's be realistic and say we're selling nostalgia. [...] we want to give the fans the music they come to hear. [...] but having said that, I think that the new music is quite conducive to a Yes set. I think we've found, on this last tour [in 2022], [...] I must tell you, the band was so touched by the audience's reactions to the new music, the overwhelming enthusiasm they gave. It was really encouraging [...] so we'll be doing the same with the new materials, a couple of selections.

He was also asked in the interview what songs he would like to perform and in his reply, he mentioned "Sound Chaser", "To be Over" and"The Remembering". In another May 2023 interview, Davison said that Howe "primarily" comes up with tour set lists, which the others then "fine tune". In the Classic Album Review interview, Howe also talked about future possible sets, saying, "the album series idea is definitely not going away."In an Apr 2024 Q&A, Davison described how the band came up with setlists: "Generally Steve starts with a general idea or concept for the set. He gets quite excited about outlining something and then is often enthusiastic when the rest of us chime in with, "that's great� and what if we then try this�?" Or, "there's a pattern here within these songs, why don't we call the tour this�?"" He also said, "I'm starting to get an itch to perform Gates of Delirium and Awaken again! Hopefully soon we'll bring those back into a set." In an Apr 2024 interview, Sherwood said he wanted to play "To be Over" and "Sound Chaser" live.

Planned 2022 dates in Europe were originally postponed to May/Jun 2023 and were to include all of Relayer. A band release continued, "the logistical problems of arranging European tour dates for 2022, caused by the on-going pandemic, have proved insurmountable. YES have taken the decision, for the safety of band members, crew and audiences, to reschedule all mainland European dates to 2023." An additional 8 UK dates were added to the tour leg. However, the whole tour leg was postponed yet again. Yes announced:

YES and their management have explored every possible avenue to arrange insurance cover for the tour in the event of COVID-related exemption or Act of War exclusion. The insurance industry has withdrawn all such insurances which made touring possible pre-COVID and before the Ukraine conflict.

There have always been calculated risk assessments to consider when touring and YES has unfailingly paid a premium to cover against terrorism in addition to conventional cancellation risks. With a view to supporting venues and crew, YES toured the UK in 2022 but the band simply cannot undertake such a large-scale tour with so many risks being uninsured.

Insurance cover was promised for events in 2023 but this has now been withdrawn until 2024, with confirmations of normality in �24 following representations to the insurance industry to reassess its attitudes to COVID and Act of War insurance. Bands at some levels can mitigate against these risks but YES� touring model creates unjustifiable levels of risk.

In a Mar 2023 with Aymeric Leroy, Sherwood highlight specifically the role of the war in Ukraine. Saying the cancellation of the 2023 European dates was "devastating", in his Yes Music Podcast interview, Davison said, "The dominos are still falling in reaction to COVID and, unfortunately, insurance doesn't cover for it. So, as a business, we have to be, y'know, financially prudent. [...] We have to play it safe [...] We love touring Europe [...] We really want to make it up to [the fans] anyway we possibly can." Announced 2023 dates had covered Portugal (1), Spain (2), Italy (3), Austria (1), Switzerland (1), Czech Rep. (1), Germany (3), Poland (2), Estonia (1), Finland (1), Sweden (1), Norway (1), Denmark (2), Netherlands (1), France (1), Belgium (1) and Luxembourg (1, which was initially planned in 2020, but couldn't be included in 2022). Tickets for prior shows at the same venue remain valid for the new dates; where there has been a change in venue, check arrangements.

Following COVID-19, Yes's return to live performance was with 8 UK and 2 Irish dates 15-29 Jun 2022, playing Close to the Edge in its entirety in celebration of the album's 50th anniversary. On 22 May, it was announced that White would not be participating in this tour leg "[d]ue to current health issues", with Schellen playing the whole show instead. 4 days later, White died. The tour wais dedicated to his memory. There was an additional 2 hour pre-tour show at the Wharf in Tavistock, UK on 13 Jun. The set at the pre-tour show was intro music: "Firebird Suite", "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" (in a new abridged arrangement by Howe), "Yours is No Disgrace", "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed", "Does It Really Happen?", improv/"Clap", "Wonderous Stories", "The Ice Bridge", "Dare to Know", "Heart of the Sunrise", "Close to the Edge", "And You and I", "Siberian Khatru", encore: "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper". On the first full night of the tour, Glasgow, 15 Jun, the set was the same, with the addition of a recording of "Turn of the Century" played before the show with a video tribute to White. There is an online version of this on Alan White's Facebook page. Roger Dean introduced the band and had sort of support slot where he did a 20 minute talk. There was then an interval, with Yes playing for 2 hours. However, on some tour dates, Dean just did an introduction, with Yes playing two sets, the interval coming before Close to the Edge in full. The Royal Albert Hall show (London, 21 Jun) was sold out. The production manager and front-of-house engineer was Dean Mattson.

The Close to the Edge 50th anniversary tour continued with 5 Japanese shows 5-12 Sep 2022. The 5 Sep set was approximately 2 hours long, with no intermission: Alan White tribute video, intro music: "Firebird Suite", "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" (abridged), "Yours is No Disgrace", "Does It Really Happen?", "To be Over" (Howe solo), "Wonderous Stories", "The Ice Bridge", "Heart of the Sunrise", "Close to the Edge", "And You and I", "Siberian Khatru", encore: "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper". The 6 Sep set was the same, but Howe's solo was "Clap" instead. The 5-6 Sep Tokyo dates were sold out. Four dates were originally announced; an extra 12 Sep Tokyo date was announced in late Jul, with a somewhat different set list, including what was described as an acoustic segment. The set for that show was: Alan White tribute video, intro music: "Firebird Suite", "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" (abridged), "Yours is No Disgrace", "Does It Really Happen?", "Wonderous Stories", "The Ice Bridge", "To be Over" (Howe solo), "Leaves of Green" (with Howe, Davison and Sherwood), "Video Killed the Radio Star" (Downes solo), "Close to the Edge", "And You and I", "Siberian Khatru", encore: "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper". The tour programme on sale on the tour was in English, but a Japanese translation of it was made available online. Sherwood has a new bass tech from the Japanese tour onwards, Ellis Larch.

The tour then moved to the US in Oct/Nov with 28 dates from 7 Oct to 19 Nov, plus a special rehearsal show on 6 Oct. This was a continuation of the Close to the Edge 50th Anniversary Tour. The tour programme was slightly expanded to 88 pages for the US leg; available from 11 Oct onwards. Dean is also on the US tour. The 6 Oct set was Alan White tribute video, intro music: "Firebird Suite", "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" (abridged), "Yours is No Disgrace", "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed", "To be Over" (Howe solo), "Wonderous Stories", "The Ice Bridge", "Dare to Know", "Heart of the Sunrise", "Close to the Edge", "And You and I", "Siberian Khatru", "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper". The tour has continued with that set list, except Howe has varied his solo, playing instead, e.g., "Clap" or "Sketches in the Sun". On (I think) 11 Oct, when Sherwood was late returning to the stage, Howe additionally played a verse from "Nine Voices". Howe's solo was dropped from some shows. At least the 7 and 14 Oct dates and 5 and 6 Nov dates were sold out. (Tony Kaye was in the audience on 17 Oct.)

YesWorld also listed as part of the tour the 2 Oct Alan White tribute show in Seattle, which included the current line-up of Yes, minus Steve Howe. Trevor Rabin was also performing separately.See under White for details.

The announcement around the 2022 UK and Ireland dates switching to Close to the Edge was met with much fan unhappiness. Howe explained in a May 2022 interview that:

We had planned to play all of Relayer when the pandemic struck.

But we felt it was too big an ask to tackle Close to the Edge and Relayer on the same tour.

We want to perform at the level Yes fans expect from us.

In an Oct 2022 interview with the Yesshift podcast, Schellen said, "We had the whole [Relayer] tour down, and then the pandemic hit." Asked if there were any Yes songs he particularly wanted to play, he said he would like to perform the other two sides of Tales from Topographic Oceans that they haven't done recently, i.e. "The Remembering" and "The Ancient". He added, "And we've talked about it. I think that could be coming." The release continued, "A full performance of the "Relayer" album will now be featured in a future tour in The Album Series." 2023 will also be the 50th anniversary of Tales from Topographic Oceans. In aMay 2022 interview, Howe was asked if they would therefore be celebrating that album as well on tour in 2023. He replied that theymay play some of the album, and he would like to do at least a side, but they won't play all of it.

The UK/Ireland 2022 leg used a high-definition video wall, with Roger Dean directing the production and joining the tour with an exhibition of Yes-related art.

There were plans for a live album from the 2022 Relayer tour, before its focus changed. It is unclear whether plans will move to a live album of the 2022 touring focused on Close to the Edge and/or a live album from a 2023 Relayer tour.

The 2020 plan was for Relayer to be in the second half of the evening, preceded by "a selection of CLASSIC CUTS". In a Feb 2021 interview, asked whether they had got to the point of rehearsing "Sound Chaser" before touring was postponed, Downes said: "we didn't, unfortunately. We all did a lot of work independently on it because that is probably the most challenging Yes piece of all time. Not just from a keyboard standpoint, but from the rhythm section, it's full-on, uh, hysteria!"

Asked in an Oct 2021 interview what one Yes song, other than from Relayer, that he hadn't played live that he would like to do, Downes chose "Mind Drive". In another Sep 2021 interview, White picked out "The Ice Bridge" and "Minus the Man" as good songs to play from The Quest live. In an interview with Aymeric Leroy, Davison said he would like to play "A Living Island". In an Oct 2021 interview, Downes said he would cover any orchestra parts in The Quest in live performance.

In an Aug 2020 interview about his solo album Love Is, Howe was asked if Yes might play any of his solo material live. Howe replied:

I�d say, very tentatively, that Yes has a quest that�s all encompassing. It�s never been a band with limitations. So there�s no reason why it couldn�t include some of this material as well. It�s been dabbled with a little bit along the way. Back in 1976 we each played songs from the solo albums [...] Maybe we could do a very select show where we could incorporate our outside work, much like Asia did, very successfully, when we re-formed. Everybody [in Yes] has things they�ve done outside the band, so it�s something that could be considered.

In the late Sep 2018 interview, Howe also said, "I feel that it's a desirable thing to keep playing this [Yes] music, playing songs that are maybe sometimes being missed by the band. For instance, our album series tours were so successful; they covered five albums � five and a half, actually � in their entirety." He continued:

We�ve become more interested in really looking at the original recordings as much as possible, taking everything we can from them. There are obviously compromises we might make, but that doesn�t really matter. What we�re interested in is giving a sense of realism to it. Without that realism, we might as well not even go and play the right notes. [...] and I think that�s brought together with improvisation.

After all, a solo is a solo, and you can play what you like. [...] There�s got to be some freedom. But again, it�s nice hearing the raw, core tunes that call in that solo.

As for future set lists, another Jun 2018 interview with Howe describes the situation thus:

After bassist Chris Squire�s death in 2015, Howe inherited the job of putting Yes� concert set list together. �I make a set list generally with two considerations. There�s gotta be some challenges; There�s got to be some things we haven�t been playing in the last two years or so. [...] you�ve got to go do some homework at home. But the other thing is we�ve got to make it possible. [...] our set list is generally a mix of challenging new things -- or new in the context of what we�ve been playing recently -- and then some really familiar stuff, but not the same-old, same-old -- although we can�t do a show without �Roundabout.� [...]�

Downes also talked sets in a Jun 2018 interview:

Interviewer: Are there any songs that you personally would like to retire? [...]

Downes: We approach each tour differently. [...] it�d be nice maybe to look at a couple of 80�s era Yes tracks as well. And maybe even something from the 90�s, you know. Well we do a couple of tracks from the 90�s anyway. [...] there�s so much there [...] you�ve got 22 or 23 studio albums to pick material from, that�s a pretty enormous body of work to tackle. But certainly, I�m game to try anything that�s in the Yes catalog.

Interviewer: [...] is there a song or two you wish you guys could play, specifically?

Downes: I think I�d like to just do one of the big pieces from the album Relayer. We did a little bit of that, but something like either �Sound Chaser� or maybe �Gates of Delirium,� which would be an enormous challenge to actually learn something like that [...] quite a fascinating challenge to do that.

In a Jun 2018 interview of his own, White said, "we tried not playing "Roundabout" for a while. We got so many complaints because we didn't play it, we've been playing it ever since." Asked in the Yes Music Podcast about YesWest material, Downes replied, "that would be something a lot of the fans would appreciate [...] certainly I think Steve's up for doing some of it". Asked about the possibility of performing "The Gates of Delirium", he began by remarking on the challenge of doing so, but continued, "everything's possible [�] Whether or not we do it next year [2018], I don't know. We might do it the year after [2019]. We might even at some point attempt the whole of Relayer. That's... that's something that has been put forward. I think in terms of it being the fiftieth anniversary of Yes that the focus is going to be more on a historical view of Yes's music rather than any specific albums". In his Mar 2017 Q&A, White had said, "we plan to play the entire "Relayer' album in the UK next year [2018]", but he backed away from that by this Aug 2017 interview: "I think next year [2018] should be a really good selection of songs from every era. We actually thought about playing the whole "Relayer" album, but I think that would be too much for the kind of show it should be next year [2018] for our 50th anniversary." In the Feb 2018 issue of Eclipsed, Howe also said they wanted to play all of Relayer but described this as challenging to do. In the mid-Mar 2018 interview, asked about whether Relayer is a possibility for summer US dates, Sherwood replied, "You never know. I've been lobbying for that for years now as it's one of my favourites. [...] As of yet it's not been spoken about, so we'll just have to see what happens." Sherwood in a Nov 2017 interview said he would like to play "The Gates of Delirium" and "On the Silent Wings of Freedom". Asked in his matching interview what songs he would like to include, White mentioned "America", "Awaken" and "Mind Drive"; he implied that, with Kaye present, they would do "Yours is No Disgrace". In the #YES50 tour programme, out Mar 2018, Downes said, "I'm excited about taking on the Relayer album". At the Jul 2018 YesFanFest, Howe was asked about doing Relayer in 2019 and replied, "Maybe". In an Aug 2018 interview, asked what songs he would like to do, Davison picked Relayer first, then saying, "I'd like to bring to the stage all of Tormato and Relayer and make the '70s Album Series a complete thing. Beyond that, some of the '80s and '90s material." He then mentions "The More We Live�Let Go" and "Shoot High Aim Low". In a Jul 2019 interview, Sherwood supported the idea of playing "Sound Chaser". Asked how set list decisions come about, he replied:

Steve [Howe] usually does it, and we have suggestions along the way, but Steve's got a really good sense of ebb and flow in the set. If too many songs are in the same key and they�re bundled up together, he can move them around, and based on tempos and all that type of thing. We sort of just wait for Steve to give us the set list. [...] then [...] anyone�s allowed to throw in their opinions but usually it�s pretty spot on, I�ve found.

Relationships with past members
The question of a reunion between Yes and Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman (which had disbanded by early 2020), or between key past members and Yes, has always refused to go away. It appears unlikely. In a Dec 2017 interview, Todd Rundgren, who had recently toured with Yes, said, "There are actually two versions of Yes. There are conflicts between members of the band." However, Jon Kirkman claimed in a May 2021 edition of the Prog Report that "they're all talking to each other now. There's no arguments. All of the band, all the people who have ever been in Yes are now talking to each other and on good terms." The current Yes line-up have evinced good relations with Bill Bruford, Patrick Moraz and Trevor Horn. In a Mar 2023 interview, Wakeman said, "there was talk of another [Yes] reunion, but I said, "absolutely no way." Because we don't have Chris Squire anymore. We don't have Alan White anymore. You just can't do it. You know, let's have a great memory of what we did." It's unclear when (his comments seem to imply that this was since White passed away) or with whom this "talk of another reunion" was.

It appears interviewers of both Steve Howe and Jon Anderson are dissuaded from asking about a possible reunion, although some still do! A Sep 2024 Goldmine interview with Anderson said they were "advised, ahead of time" not to ask if he would ever consider re-joining Yes. In a Mojo magazine interview (published Jan 2024), Anderson was asked, "has communication between yourself and Steve Howe stopped now, too?" He replied, "Yes. We're still friends but we're not connected." The interviewer then asked if Anderson could see himself performing with Yes again. Anderson replied, "I was talking to The Band Geeks [with whom he is working] and said, "Hopefully we can play in London and Steve will get up and do a couple of songs with us, maybe Rick [...] It just means talking. When I'm out there singing on my own I still think I'm part of Yes. They still feel like my songs." Asked about the possibility of a Yes reunion in aMay 2024 interview, Anderson replied, "Never." In an Aug 2024 interview, Anderson said he had no interesting in working with Yes, saying, "I really don't need to." In aFeb 2024 interview, Howe was asked about Anderson and replied, "we're still in touch". An Apr 2024 interview published in Italian asked Howe why he didn't want to answer questions about Anderson, which is something he appears to say to many interviews. Howe replied, "Voglio molto bene a Jon come essere umano. Molto meno per tante altre cose. Accontentati di questo." Which can be translated: "I love Jon very much as a human being. Much less for many other things. Be satisfied with this."

Asked in an Apr 2024 interview whether there is any possibility of any original members returning to Yes, Sherwood replied that Anderson "is doing his own thing", that Anderson and the band separated before he returned to the band, and that "it is what it is". He then said, "we are a very happy, healthy, functioning unit of friends who play this music, and I've been in Yes enough to know that when the vibe's not good, that line-up's not going to last long [...] so I'm just going with the vibe now". He also said that everyone has their "version of Yes that they want", mentioning fans online, but that "the reality is that only Yes knows what they're going to be, but as long as Yes knows what they're going to be, I'm good with that", and that "we [Yes] know what we are here". He continued, "We actually enjoy each other's company. (giggles) In Yes's history, that's a good thing!"

In comments to Classic Rock magazine, published Jun 2023, Howe dismissed the idea of reunion: "It's something I'm absolutely resistant to, because I remember the fiasco of the Union tour [...] Sometimes I might have thought, 'Well, one day maybe', and one never wants to say never, but basically I can't see it." He also said: "I love Jon [Anderson]. I'm a lot older now, and so is he, and the only terms I work on is that I'm happy working on this. I'm not going to take a sudden load on my back that I either don't need or want. My music�s always guided me, and it�s not telling me to do those things. It's telling me to go forwards."

In an Aug 2023 interview with Anderson (published in Spanish), the interviewer says his manager has warned him not to ask anything Anderson anything about the current Yes. He goes ahead anyway, asking if there's a bad atmosphere between Anderson and Yes. Anderson's reply is given as: "No, realmente no. Simplemente ellos siguen su camino, persiguen su sue�o, como cada uno de nosotros. Yo persigo mi propio sue�o, tengo otros proyectos, otras ilusiones y tampoco me gustar�a que si digo cualquier cosa sobre ellos se manipulase o se malinterpretase." This translates as: "No, not really. They simply follow their path, pursue their dream, like each one of us. I pursue my own dream, I have other projects, other hopes and I would not like it if anything I say about them were to be manipulated or misinterpreted."

In an Apr 2023 interview, asked if he thought the current band under Howe is an "authentic version of Yes", Anderson replied:

It�s Steve�s idea of Yes, I suppose. It�s hard to pinpoint. I�ve listened to a couple of songs, of course, and they�re OK. But I�m still into the voyage of musical Yes. I�m totally into the original idea of it. [...] The energy of the Seventies, musically around the world� It was quite an unbelievable time. Yes was a part of it. I still want to perpetuate it, I suppose.

The interviewer then asked about Anderson's then forthcoming tour with the Band Geeks: "You're playing Yes music on tour with new musicians. Steve is playing Yes music on tour with new people. Can't one argue that what you're doing is just as authentically Yes as what he's doing?" Anderson replied, "Yeah. I've never seen his show though, so I can't tell you. [_Laughs._]" The interviewer then said recounted how when he had interviewed Howe, Howe had said a reunion was "completely unthinkable". Anderson responded:

I�m a pessimist� I�m a pessimistic optimist. You never know in this life. And that was just him at that moment in time. I sang with him on my last album, 1,000 Hands. [...] I [...] said, �Would you play some lovely guitar at the end?� And he did. All I could think of when I heard was to sing with it, and I did.

The interviewer continued to push on the question of a reunion between Anderson and Howe, saying they "should be onstage together". Anderson replied, "it's not going to happen as far as I know. I've mentioned a couple of times over the years that I'm very open to giving it a whirl. In these days, though, you never know what's going to happen."

In the Oct 2021 issue of Prog (#124), Howe said, "I like to think we still have contact with Bill Bruford and Tony Kaye, and I'm still friendly with Jon [Anderson] and the other guys who are around". In an interview published online in Jan 2022, Howe said:

Whenever you leave a band, you might stay in touch with somebody, or you might not. The latter says something, in a way: �Look, I�ve done that, and we can�t really connect so much anymore.� It happens.

Sometimes you stay in touch with people that you don�t work with anymore. I never stopped being friendly with Bill, but we�re not working together.

In that interview, he was also asked about Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman and replied:

That was just a futile thing they did. When they came out with the idea for it, I actually sent three emails to each of them [...] I said to them, �Great. You�ve put a band together. Go with it. Good luck.� I never heard back from them, but basically that was fine. They had their run. There has to be some competition in life, and they appeared to be what might be called competition.

Basically, in their second year they decided to tack Yes on the front, and some promoters used the Yes logo, which they weren�t allowed to do. There was a bit of a pickle, but fortunately people woke up and said, �OK, we won�t do that.�

It was a bit of a difficult time, because it was confusing, not only for the audience, but also for promoters. �Is this Yes, or is it Yes with ARW?� It was a bit of a mess for a long time.

In a May 2022 interview, Howe said, "I love Jon Anderson and I believe we have an understanding and an immense respect for each other. But the difficulties of trying to work together are too great."

In a Mar 2023 interview, Wakeman said of the current Yes line-up:

Steve [Howe]�s the only member who was in what people call the classic Yes lineup. None of the others were. But that�s absolutely fine. I don�t have an issue with that. I do think that after Chris died, it might have been time to retire the name. But I don�t have an issue with that, as long as people want to hear the music. They have absolutely every right to exist and play it.

In an interview for Prog published Jan 2023 (issue #137), after talking about how Downes had helped him out after he had had some equipment stolen, Wakeman said, "Some of the rumours you hear about the two camps of Yes being at loggerheads are completely untrue. Steve [Howe] and I have been intending to have lunch for a while but never seem to get around to it. There's a lot of mutual respect between us all." Asked if he would accept an offer from Howe to make a guest appearance with Yes, Wakeman replied, "I probably would, though I'm not sure politically it would be the thing to do. They've got their own setup and I've got mine. But never say never." In a Jan 2022 interview, Wakeman said he hadn't heard The Quest, but that, "I am having lunch with Steve [Howe] in a couple of weeks. That everybody hates each other is a complete myth. There's a lot of mutual respect between us all." In a Feb 2022 interview, asked if we still on good terms with Yes, he replied, "Depends who you mean by 'Yes.' [...] obviously, I am on good terms with Trevor Rabin and Jon Anderson. I haven't seen Steve [Howe] or Alan [White] since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but have the highest respect for both of them." (So, lunch was postponed?) He was then asked if he would consider playing with the band again, and replied, "They already have a line-up."

In an Oct 2021 interview, having previously been critical of Yes for using the name, Wakeman said:

I have tremendous admiration for Steve for keeping the ship afloat, especially after Chris died[.] There are so many bands these days that have got lineups of which, if people came back from the 1970s and could be reincarnated to look at them, they�d go: �Who are they?�

But Yes isn�t the only one. There are so many so many bands like it. And I think if it helps to keep the music alive, then I don�t see a problem.

In a Jul 2021 interview, Anderson was asked if there could be a merger between ARW and Yes. He replied, "Oh, yeah. I'm sure, I'm sure it will happen one day." He then talked about witnessing Chris Squire entering heaven in a dream. The interviewer said that Squire would want a re-union to happen, saying, "You gotta do this." Anderson replied, "We will! You've gotta speak to Steve. [_laughs_]"

In a Feb 2021 interview, asked if there was any possibility of a new Union, Tony Kaye replied, "No." He expanded:

I just don�t see it happening. I think the main reason I can come up with is that this [line-up of the] band actually likes each other. They�re all good friends. Everybody gets along. Jay and Alan are close. As a band, it works.

[...] the band works � it may not �work� for everyone, fans. But it just works together. Jon Davison is such a cool guy. [...] They do great justice to the music � I think they don�t want to lose that. Anderson can be a weird guy. There�s a lot of history. That�s really all I can come up with. The band just loves each other and has a great time together.

He also said, "if the band [Yes] asks me to do something in the future, I think it'll probably happen."

Steve Howe on one side and Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin on the other have voiced the strongest words against the idea. In a Jul 2020 article, commenting on the idea of a reunion, Howe said, "I don't think [fans] should stay up late nights worrying about that[.] There's just too much space out there between people. To be in a band together or even to do another tour like Union is completely unthinkable." He continued, "What I've done with Alan, and Chris until he passed, [...] has been trying to build something much more stable [than Union] and not so haphazardly sensational [...] Yes is about people who love working together and can. That word 'can' carries the whole story. That means compatibility and the same awarenesses about what we want to do." That said, in an interview conducted around Feb 2020, Howe commented on his relationship with Anderson, saying, "Jon and I get on really well now. We have the history and the friendship. But it's probably better that we don't attempt to work all the time together � because of this and that. But nobody knows what the future holds." A Jul 2019 Billboard article quoted Howe as saying that Yes "has had nothing to say" about Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman using the band name. It went on to quote him: "Anybody can play Yes music; [w]e'd never stop anybody doing what they want to do[.] Basically I say 'Good luck' to them." However, commenting on ARW's hiatus from activity in 2019, Howe also said, "we're not unhappy, so that maybe tells you something."

In an Oct 2019 interview, Wakeman said ARW should not have used the 'Yes' name and that their next tour (to have been in 2020, but which never happened) wouldn't. He said a reunion would not work: "I can't see it happening, although I've learned in rock & roll the word "never" doesn't exist. [...] Let's put it this way, it's highly unlikely. You've got more chance of Donald Trump getting divorced and marrying Hillary Clinton." He argued that neither band should have been called 'Yes' since Squire died: "If you want my real honest answer, the whole Yes thing is a mess since Chris died. It's a total and utter mess for the fans and the people because nobody knows what the hell is going on. Nobody knows who is in what, who is doing what. It's just one hilarious mess." In an Aug 2020 interview, he said, "when Chris passed away, that was it for me. Not the end of Yes music! But the end of the name Yes. Because Chris was the only founding member who remained throughout [...] I felt when Chris passed away, that was the time to retire the name, in his honour and in his memory. No reason why we can't all go off and play Yes music [...] Steve, myself, Jon, whoever � that's fine. But the name Yes, out of reverence and respect for Chris and the music, the name, I think, should've been retired. [...] that's the reason why, when anybody says, 'Is there ever likely to be reunion again?', my answer is, well, you can't have one without Chris." In a Sep 2020 interview, Rabin said, "I heard talk of... an interview somewhere where there was talk of maybe a [Yes] reunion and that's something that will never happen, not with me." He continued, "It's kind of ridiculous. I don't even think there should be a band with the name Yes without Chris Squire in it." He also said that the only "remaining legitimate Yes members" were White, Howe, Anderson, Wakeman and himself, continuing, "Without Chris, [...] it wouldn't be something that would include me."

White has had a different tone when answering questions on this topic. In a Feb 2019 interview from the Cruise to the Edge, asked what he would still like to accomplish with Yes, White said, "Well, it will be good to, maybe, in the future, see some kind of union tour. [�] I don't think it's totally out of the question [�] we'll see what happens." In a follow-up interview with Sherwood, told about White's comments, Sherwood responded, "Wow... he's the great uniter in the band, y'know. He's always wanting that to happen." Asked about the possibility of a reunion in a Mar 2019 interview, White said, "I'm not going to say definitely no. I'll say there is a possibility, but everybody is getting up there in age now. I don't see it as out of the question in the next few years [...] I definitely won't say "no." It's a "maybe."" In a Jun 2019 interview, asked about "bringing together many members of Yes from the past 50 years", White replied, "I'm not going to say no because anything's a possibility. Maybe one day everybody will just come together and be able to do a big show of everything again, which might be in the future. But as of now, we're just getting on with this Yes." In a Jul 2019 interview, Sherwood was asked about a reunion, and answered, "that question's a little above my pay grade [...] from my perspective I just see us going along this same course right now because we're a really happy unit moving forward [...] I know that the fans are speculating about another union-type scenario, but I don't know. I think it's kind of a long shot, to be honest with you."

It is Anderson who has been most supportive of the idea. A Jul 2020 article reports Anderson as being "keen on a reunion". It quoted him:

It was talked about three years ago, why don't we get Yes back together, it's the 50th anniversary of the band and I said, 'I don't see it, there would be about 15 people onstage, it's too much'[.]

But I had a dream the other week. I was backstage and I realised that's what happens: I'll start the show with my guitar and I'll sing a couple of songs and then Steve[ Howe]'s band will play, then I'll sing a couple more songs and Rick [Wakeman] and Trevor [Rabin] and myself will come on and do something and then all of a sudden we'll all get together and do 'Close To The Edge' and 'Awaken' and Bob's your uncle.

My mantra has always been it'll happen when it happens

In another Jul 2020 article, Anderson was asked about the possibility of a reunion, producing this exchange:

Anderson: Nobody has said, �Let�s do it.� But I think it would be great to get the Yes band back together. Obviously, it�s not going to happen this year [2020] with the coronavirus, but maybe in 2021 or 2022.

Interviewer: How would it work since Howe�s version of Yes features Jon Davison as the singer?

Anderson: We�ll figure it out. I�m not worried about that part. I just can�t wait to sing on a stage again.

In an Aug 2020 interview, Anderson responded to Howe's comment that a reunion is "unthinkable" by saying, "But he knows that I'm very open, but he has his own pocket decision to take". He continued, "I wouldn't go back into that band because I don't think they're that good [...] They're good! But they're not that good." In part 2 of the same interview, asked if he would sing on stage with Davison, Anderson replied, "Yeah, why not? [....] Of course I would. I'd sing with the band, y'know. I had this dream that I had a guitar and I was going to open the show by singing a couple of songs [...] And now Steve Howe and his band... eh... and I'd sit there [...] and sing along with some harmonies or whatever. And they'd come off stage, and then Trevor and Rick, are you ready yet? [...] And then we all did "Close to the Edge" and "Awaken"." In part 9 of the interview (released Oct 2020), Anderson blamed management for the failure to record an ARW album and then said: "I've left Yes twice and got kicked out when I got sick, I can't believe it, but that was the manager, you know? And I always say, 'Managers [...] don't care.' They don't care that audiences have paid a lot of money to see me sing. They'll put Mickey Mouse up." In a Sep 2020 interview, Anderson appeared to comment on that interview, saying, "I misspoke a little bit about the other band, because as far as I'm concerned, I work with really good musicians, and I expect brilliant things to happen [...] So, Steve and his band? I don't mind, they go out and sing songs that I wrote, and me and Steve wrote - which is fantastic � and keep the flag flying [...] They're very good at doing Yes classics, but I've been waiting for some new Yes classics, you know. It's very hard without me."

In the Dec 2020 issue of Prog magazine, in an interview conducted early Oct, he said, "For me, I am Yes. It's never left me." Talking about the current Yes, he said, "I haven't heard anything that hits me and says, '[...] I'm so happy they've evolved.' It's really great to hear them to the classic songs and Jon Davison's singing well". He again talked of his dream for a tour: "I'd love to do it as a final hurrah for the fans and go on a very special tour." He then outlined much the same plan of him opening with an acoustic guitar, the current Yes playing, him returning for two acoustic songs, and then him, Wakeman, Rabin "and all the others [...] There'd be about 20 of us on the stage all playing Close To The Edge."

In a Nov 2020 interview, Anderson was asked, "Do you think that it's possible for everyone [from Yes] to get together to make more music and tour?" Anderson replied:

Yeah, you never know. I�m a little bit like an open book. If they ask me, I will. But I don�t want to change them because I�ve asked them many times to get together and do this and that, and they�ve always been busy. I don�t mind that, you know? We�re like family, and family sometimes are close and tight, and sometimes they�re really not.

Howe guested on Anderson's 1000 Hands (albeit remotely). After discussing this, a Mar 2018 interview with Anderson has this exchange:

Interviewer: Of course, you'll never get the band back together [...]

Anderson: No. No, it's just one of those things. Life isn't... that organised. [_chuckles_] [...] For some reason, for whatever many reasons, it's not meant to be. That's OK. I've got things to do.

Interviewer: Yeah. Well, you've certainly got good relationships with everyone and you've kept in touch.

Anderson: Yeah, yeah, you keep in touch and, y'know, like anything, you have highs and lows. Like any family. Because we're family people. We're brothers, all musical brothers. Sometimes you love each other, sometimes you don't.

Later in the interview, Anderson was asked about his "next dream" after 1000 Hands, he replied:

I really want to do the final, great Yes album. I've got an idea of what it looks like, what it sounds like, but I'm not sure how to pull it off. [...] it's one of those things. I know what it should be, I know there's a lot of people who would love it to happen and I would love it to happen as well.

In another interview later that same month, talking about Howe's appearance on the album, Anderson said, "I just called him up and he said he'd love to play on it[.] I haven't sang with him in many, many years. It felt really comfortable and cathartic to do that. We're brothers. Sometimes you don't understand or misunderstand your brother and want to do different things. I think that is called a family." The article then raised the question of a reunion:

�I�m very open to it,� says Anderson. �It�s been 50 years now. You think something has got to happen. To me, a great album has to be made. That�s what I think. I don�t know how it�s going to be made, but the final Yes event should happen. I�ve talked to a couple of people about it and they get it. I really want to do this. I�ve even written eight songs for the record that I�m thinking would work with a full orchestra and a choir.�

Is Steve Howe into this idea? �I don�t know,� says Anderson with a sigh. �Maybe he�ll read this article and say �Yes� or �No.� I don�t know.�

A Jul 2019 interview with Anderson had this exchange:

So is the recent Anderson/Howe collaboration on �1000 Hands� a harbinger of a real Yes reunion? Anderson doesn�t say no.

�When it happens, it�ll happen,� Anderson said.

In yet another Mar 2019 interview, Anderson said, immediately after talking about ARW, "I've always said it would be nice to do a Yestival and get everybody together on stage, that's like a magic wand to make that happen, but you never know in this life." And, in yet another Mar 2019 interview, asked what is the possibility of a reunion with Howe, Anderson replied, "I don't know [...] If I got the right phone call, I'd be there."

When Howe was asked by Prog magazine (Apr 2019 issue) about prospects of a re-union with Anderson and Wakeman, he replied, "We're happy doing our own parallel things. It's always a challenge to build the time to work with the people you are working with, let alone the people you did work with [...] let's leave it at that for now."

Asked about tensions between the two bands, Downes said in the Nov 2018 issue of Prog, "Any real direct confrontations have hopefully been nipped in the bud. As time has progressed it's become less critical. When they first came out they were pretty gung-ho�they were making a lot of comments in the press which were not very pleasant, calling us The Steve Howe Tribute Band. [...] For the most part, we've attempted to keep the high road and not get involved too much with slagging them off." Later in the same interview, he went on: "they do their thing, they've got their own agenda going on. They're not getting in my face. That's all I'm particularly bothered about." In a late Sep 2018 interview, Howe said any re-union is "completely off the table".

In an early Jun 2018 interview, Howe said this on the two bands situation:

When ABWH went out, Bill, Rick and I basically wanted to carry on being called ABWH. We weren't really interested in being called Yes, but there was a contingent in the band [i.e., Anderson] and the management [i.e., Brian Lane] that very much encouraged us to rejoin Yes. Actually, the three of us ended up with nothing. That lineup didn't continue after Union so we lost everything.

ARW came out and they justified their existence. They're ARW. Nobody can deny them the right to do that. Now there's a bit of game playing going on, adding that particular thing [presumably Howe means here the "Yes featuring..." part of their name]. I don't know if they are going to make things more interestingly confusing by calling it quintessential Yes [a reference to ARW's promotion for their 2018 touring].

It's up to them what they do. They're free, we're free. We're tolerant and they're tolerant. Hopefully, people won't go around saying "We don't like those guys." [Anderson in Mar 2017 said, "We don't like them" about Yes] We never said that. We want to be sharing and positive about everything we can generate, which I think is important.

If the fans have got a choice, now, to see different versions of things, then so be it. I can't see a problem.

In a Mar 2017 interview, Wakeman and Anderson both dismissed any possibility of a reunion. Asked about that in a Dec 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Rabin replied, "Oh, I very much doubt it. It's kind of like, if it's not broke, don't fix it. We've got the ARW thing right now and we're just loving it. That's certainly where we're at right now." In a matching interview, Howe replied to a similar question: "We know the 50-year anniversary is going to be quite colossal. The Union tour was popular with many fans, but it would have to be re-thought if we were considering that. It would need some reinvention. But that's a ways away." When the interviewer returned to the question of repeating the Union tour, Howe continued:

As long as its not trying to put a square peg in a round hole. The Union tour [...] [f]or the fans, it was seen in a particular light. But internally, it was complex. [...] you'd have to think about how it could work in a different way. It's nice seeing people play together, but it's really about the mood and the willingness and the love and the sharing. It just comes down to a lot of other things, unfortunately, like business and technical. Those other parts both help and interfere and destruct. A few people have said to me that although it was great to see us together all night for the Union tour, it was really a lot to try and fill your ears with. But I do appreciate that people are thinking about seeing us together, and that's a very nice sentiment.

Some of that was put to Anderson in his Rolling Stone interview and he was asked whether he thinks anything will happen to commemorate the 50th anniversary. He replied:

I'll call you! You'll be the first person I call [_laughs_]. Like anything, my idea of Yes is ARW at the moment. That's what I feel is the Yes I always dreamed of coming back together with.

In a late Jan 2017 interview, Howe was asked about the Union tour, and replied, "It's not something that we know we're going to do again. Obviously it would need good planning." White was asked why don't they "go back to Anderson & Wakeman" in his Mar 2017 YesWorld Q&A; he replied:

Well, you know, I�m open to anything in the future. I�m not opposed to the idea of that down the line but I�m part of the YES touring band and it makes more sense to continue with the group of musicians I�m currently working with� we have a great working vibe between us. You asked why we don�t �go back� and that�s really key because I always try to be positive and continue to move forward instead, I want to make progressively new and interesting music and we�re performing great on stage together. I�m happy with the way things are and looking forward to continuing on with the current YES line up.

In his late Mar 2017 Q&A, Howe was asked something similar. He replied:

This topic has gone round the houses a little bit. Before we can take on board ideas, there has to be a good line of communication. And as far as I understand ARW aren�t really interested in doing this and we�re most probably not really interested in doing this either.

Now that sounds like a big shut down, but in another way, one�s gotta understand that things aren�t always what they appear. Reinventing the �Union Tour� is not really a concept that anyone from either of the lineups of YES or ARW have endorsed.

So basically, I would say, it�s not foreseeable. I think there�s ways that we can celebrate YES�s 50th year and most probably they want to as well. I think the complexity is unmeasurable by the fans. Those things aren�t easy. It�s not any one person that�s particularly making it difficult, but people can make it difficult and then it�s gotta be done in the right spirit. I�d say don�t hold your breath.

In a May 2017 interview, White was a little bit more positive: "There's a possibility [of a reunion] way down the line here[.] The next tour is the 50th anniversary of the band, so who knows what will happen then."

Relations between the band have not gotten any better since ARW switched name to "Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman". Howe was interviewed for an article in the Jul 2017 issue of Prog on the subject, using language described by the magazine as "both damning and colourful", but he subsequently asked for his comments not to be used. However, it is also revealed that:

he [Howe] wrote to them before, their tour, wishing them good luck. "That's my true spirit: that anyone can play Yes."

In the same issue, Downes and Wakeman both professed to be unbothered about the other band, although their language comes across as rather passive aggressive! Downes said: "We're focusing on what we're doing [...] We wish them well. We've got no axe to grind. We hope they succeed. They may have something against us. If they do that's their problem not ours." Wakeman: "I don't care what they do. They're fully entitled to do whatever they live. [...] I have no idea what they're doing [...] It's of no interest to me. [...] They're not a rival band. They're another lot out there playing Yes music, same as we are. We're just doing it our way [...] Good luck to them." Sherwood meanwhile said that he would go see Yes featuring ARW perform if he was free.

Asked how he feels about the other band touring at the same time as them, White said in an Aug 2017 interview, "It's quite funny. Quite frankly, I don't think about it very much. [...] They're doing their thing." In answer to a similar question in this Aug 2017 interview, Sherwood replied:

It�s interesting and strange at the same time. I haven�t really been paying too much attention to it because we keep staying on our track [...] I�m happy to hear as much Yes music in 2017 from the participants thereof and see the music thriving. There�s the obvious political push and pull that goes on in Yes; it�s always been that way and will always be that way. [...] there�s always much chaos and many moments to have it. (laughs) It�s really not surprising that we�re in this current state of affairs, but we go forward as Yes doing what we do.

On Eddie Trunk's radio show broadcasting from the Cruise to the Edge 2018 in early Feb, Sherwood said much the same: "From my perspective, I'm a long-time Yes fan, the more Yes music out there in 2018, the better. Um... obviously there is a lot of politics involved, but that's way above my pay grade. I just want to play the music [�] It's all good as far as I'm concerned."

Before hearing they would be inducted, in a Nov 2016 interview, asked about a reunion with Yes if the band get inducted in the Hall of Fame, Wakeman said: "I think there's no chance of us ever reuniting[.] There's not a hope in hell of that happening."

In an Apr 2016 interview, Howe was asked whether it is fair to say that Anderson will never be back in the band. He replied: "I don't think that's fair at all [...] I don't know what the future holds [...] We're just moving ahead as we are. [...] We need certainties, y'know, we need availabilities, we need, y'know, commitments and things like that". He was later asked if the band still has good relationships with R Wakeman: "Well, I hope we try and keep good relations with everybody, y'know [...] people put their foot in it occasionally [laughs] But [...] there are always people from the bands you've been in that you have stayed closer to and other people you haven't and that very much depends on who makes any effort and who's got any time and, y'know, how much you can, so, y'know, it spreads itself evenly across the... so many members of Yes [laughs] that we've had, besides the other bands I hasten to add I've been in. But, y'know, um, it's a lovely thing, y'know, there's a pool of musicians and, y'know, we can reach out to each other when we want to." In a Jul 2016 interview, asked whether they would work with ex-members, Howe focused on the current band's plans and said: "Well, I guess what we're going to do is we're going to try to contain ourselves in our ambition and figure out how to keep these things going. It takes a lot of work and a lot of agreement." Asked in the Dec 2016 interview when he last spoke to Anderson, Howe replied, "I don't know whether I can reveal things like that. It's a little bit personal. We've been working in different bands and different areas for a very long time."

Sherwood was asked in an Aug 2016 interview about the band's future: "Could another merger be on the horizon? Who even owns the Yes name?" The article continues:

�All that stuff is above my pay grade,� Sherwood says with a laugh. �Let�s be honest. Did anyone think Yes could survive Chris Squire not being there? I wasn�t sure, and I was the one being asked to do it. But it seems to be surviving and thriving.� The future is �a hard thing to even discuss, because you just don�t know until you get there.�

Sherwood says he tries not to draw �hard lines� about authenticity. �Life evolves and music evolves and bands change,� he says. �We�re losing guys. That�s sad to say, but it�s true. But the music lives on and it�s a testament to the music.�

In an Aug 2015 interview, Howe was asked whether "Chris' passing make it any more likely we'll see Yes work with former members like Jon Anderson or Rick Wakeman in some capacity, even just for one big concert to celebrate the band's legacy?" He replied:

I'd hate to say no, so I'll say I don't know. [...] From inside it's quite different. We have to try to stay on our course, and if we change something that changes multiple other things, then we don't know where we are. We spent a lot of time in 2008 kind of finding out where we are, with Benoit and Oliver Wakeman and now with Geoff Downes and Jon Davison and now with Billy Sherwood. In other words, we can't open the floodgates without thinking. So sure, we give these things some thought, but until we come to a conclusion, we'd rather do nothing than the wrong thing.

In a Sep 2015 interview (conducted late Aug), Howe talks about several past members of the band, saying how they met with Moraz while on tour. He then says, "We have some contact with Jon Anderson. [...] I think we ought to see this group as sort of an expanded family."

In an interview recorded in Apr 2016, White said, "I talk to Jon [Anderson] [...] on occasion. [...] I call him on his birthday, and that kind of stuff. [...] Rick, I haven't seen him for an awful long time. I'd like to see him again, y'know, because we used to get on very well." Asked if Anderson and Wakeman might ever return to Yes, he said, "I wouldn't rule it out [...] put it that way, but I think Jon doesn't want to do these long, arduous tours any more and if it was, it would be a kind of cameo appearance at some bigger venues like London [...] or Los Angeles". Asked in an early Nov 2016 interview whether, in the context of putting on a united performance should Yes be inducted into the Hall of Fame, there is animosity between the two bands, White replied: "There's a certain amount, y'know. I actually talk to everybody, so... so, it's a matter of other people sorting their opinions out". In theDec 2016 interview, Howe was asked, "How do you feel about ARW being on tour now? Do you think that's a good idea? Are you cool with it?" He replied:

[_Laughs_] It's an idea that has every right to exist, as much as ABWH when we were together in the late 1980s. Basically there's room for anybody to play Yes music. We love to hear other people play Yes music. These guys have quite a bit of credibility to do that and they are outstanding musicians, so there's no reason why they shouldn't go out and play. There's not any reason.

Apparently responding to comments by ARW in a number of interviews, Sherwood posted to Facebook in early Oct 2016:

In light of current events...
In my view, anyone who puts on the uniform I.E. served playing with Yes, making records, touring etc... deserves respect for doing so (regardless of era), without ending up under a bus. It's my honor to play under the "YES" flag, of which there is only one flying... I have always been loyal to that flag... even at times when I was under fire for doing so (see OYE lol). I know Chris was loyal, as he was the only member to NEVER leave... I'm humbled and honored to now be back in "YES" [...] especially having been personally asked by my long time friend and musical comrade (inside and out of YES) Squire himself, he asked me to carry on in his position in the "band" and so it shall be done. My heart and soul are in it to win it, every time I play those bass parts I'm thinking of Chris and "YES" and what it all means to have had fate guide my life in this most unexpected manner, Yes was my world growing up as a kid. It became part of my career as an adult, a very surreal destiny indeed. With that I will continue to serve, putting on the uniform of a "YES" man once again, and as I promised Chris, I'll give it my full passion and priority... always remembering my fallen hero.

Asked in a May 2016 interview if he could see himself reuniting with other members of Yes, Anderson replied, "No, just Trevor [Rabin] and Rick [Wakeman]. That's enough." In an Apr 2016 interview, Anderson was asked about the continuing Yes, replying: "It's just business, and it's a group of people going out there and playing music that's very valid. I have a different perspective on what it is, and there are bands out there performing Yes music, called tribute bands[.] That's kind of the feeling of what's going on. That's why me and Trevor [Rabin] say, 'Well, listen if we're going to get together [in Anderson Rabin Wakeman], we've got to reignite Yes[.]'" In another May 2016 interview (presumably conducted in Apr), Anderson was asked whether they would reunite in the near future. He replied, "No, just Trevor and Rick. That's enough." Asked in another Apr 2016 interview how, if he had "a magic wand", he'd like to see Yes wrap up, Anderson replied: "Create some of the greatest music in the next 20 years. I'm still Yes, I'm still part of Yes in my heart and soul. I didn't leave the band, the band went off on their merry way when I wasn't very well. [_giggles_] [...] I've got it in my DNA".

In yet another May 2016 interview, Anderson said, "My history is intact musically[.] Yes became a brand and a business deal and that is not my idea of what music is. Music needs to touch you spiritually. When it is driven by money, then it takes away the joy of creation." In an interview for the Spring 2016 issue of Progression, Anderson was asked if he "keeps tabs on his former band". He replied: "Not really, no. I know they're on the road. Musicians need to make a living and that's what they're doing. [...] there's only two of them left". And in this Jun 2016 interview, he said: "people ask me, "What do you think of Yes?" I, honestly, never left Yes. Because Yes has been my life. The band itself are doing what they want to do. I can't tell them what to do, because it's not my band. They've got the name, but I've got the state of mind about what true "Yes music" should sound like".

In an Oct 2016 interview, Rabin talked about how Squire stayed in contact with him:

[Squire] would just always call and be in touch, and we never stopped talking. On numerous occasions since I�d left the band and was very busy doing film work, he called a number of times and said, �You know, I think it�s time for you to get up from your desk job and get back on the street.� And you know, I was always a bit reluctant about, if the band�s going to be called Yes, for it to not have Jon in it. It seemed a bit strange to me. But the prime reason was that I was just so busy with what I was doing and really enjoying it.

What might the long-term future for the band be?
In a May 2024 interview, Howe was first asked how he felt leading Yes, to which he replied, "at the moment the band does listen to me, though I'm head of a democracy. It's a two-way street, and it works." The interviewer then pressed him on "succession plans", asking who could be the band's next leader and suggesting Downes. Howe replied, "That's far too presumptuous. As I've said, it's not a leadership game. It's about the person that has ideas and that can project them towards the band, that's the spirit we're talking about. Right now it's me, but I can't predict who the next guy will be." The interviewer asked if Howe "envisage[s] a time when you will no longer be able to continue as a member of Yes, or even have the desire to do so?" Howe responded, "I haven't got a crystal ball, I don't even know how I will feel tomorrow, but at the moment I'm happy going along with it. The band has some style, and it moves at a comfortable pace. But of course I still have external goals". Later, the interviewer asked if it is "important that Yes continues to exist in one form or another", to which Howe replied, "Yeah, I think that it is. When I'm not interested or unavailable, or for whatever reason, I believe that Yes should carry on. That's down to the skill of the people that remain."

In a Jan 2024 interview, Sherwood was asked if he could "see a scenario where Yes could continue even after Steve retires". He replied:

Oh, boy. I don�t even know if I like talking about that. What can I say? The band evolves and has gone through some incredibly difficult transitions, and here we are. [...] I don�t want to forecast anything on this front, except to say that Steve is super healthy and his spirit is so high and lifted and inspired.

[...] When was the last time Yes made so many albums in a row in such a short period of time? That�s driven by Steve�s inspiration to produce it and to go forward. He enjoys touring. He loves playing this music live.

He was also asked if Howe and Anderson would ever play together again, replying, "That's a question for those guys [...] I don't know. You see what goes on out there in the Yes community. I don't know of a band that�s got a fan base more divided in ways that just confuse me. [...] I know that this current lineup is gelling really, really well together as far as the personalities and the music [...] Steve, at this point in his life, is a big advocate of keeping things simple and keeping things happy and content."

In the May 2023 issue of Prog, Howe said, "Yes is like a flame that any of us could be taken out of and it could still be there, because the teamwork that makes Yes is much more important than the individuals in themselves." The article also quoted Downes: "I'm really enjoying it [being in Yes]. But everything is finite and one day I think someone else will step in. I hope they do and that the band continues [...] Yes music is too good to be put in a cupboard with a padlock on it, and say, 'Well, that's that!'" In the Jul 2023 Goldmine interview, Downes said:

I believe that the members of Yes historically have always said that Yes music will go on way after we are no longer about. And it�s almost like classical music in a way that it does live on. Our hope is that Yes music will continue to bring enjoyment to people and will continue to be relevant. And so, we aim to continue for as long as we possibly can. I think that it�s something that we built up, and particularly with this lineup, we have built up a great rapport with each other. It would be good if we can continue.

In a Jun 2023 article, Howe said about the possibility of Yes continuing on without him, "I would be silly not to think that was most probably going to happen[.] There's things that have the potential to grow and carry on through the hands of the younger generation. I think maybe I'd have the same spirit that Bill [Bruford] has always had � 'The band can go on'. The only word of caution is I'd like it to be carried on in the spirit of a progressive rock band, because progressive rock is what this is."

Asked in a Jul 2014 interview whether there is "an irreducible core to this band, somebody without whom you would just say, let's call it a day," Howe responded:

[laughs] Not really. We�ve all been replaced by somebody at one time or another. What I�m concerned about is that if one loses the idea of the adventurousness in this music � the dynamics that we need to play with that make the sensitivity and the crescendos and the lulls and all those things � if we suddenly think that we don�t need to do that, that we just play the songs, hammer them out, that would be a nonsensing of Yes, really. When we play �Five Percent for Nothing� for the first time ever onstage, we will be showing, if not ourselves, we�re showing the audience also that we�re challenging ourselves. If we don�t, then this isn�t Yes [...] That would be a good reason for you to moan all over the Internet, that Yes have lost the flame to be adventurous and to be musical and to be subtle as well as powerful [...] Subtlety is what Yes is.

In the Apr 2018 issue of Prog, Downes said, "I had many conversations with Chris [Squire] where he said Yes' music should continue for as long as it can. It will probably be here long after we've gone." However, in an Oct 2019 interview, Wakeman argued that neither the band with Howe/White/Downes or ARW should be using the 'Yes' name, saying:

I really feel that the name should have been retired. I think it was disrespectful to Chris. There were all sorts of stories going around that �Oh, Chris wanted it to continue.� I know for a fact people that spoke to Chris and that isn�t true.

In Oct 2021, Sherwood responded to someone posting a 2019 article on Facebook that referenced that quote. He wrote:

3rd person anonymous �people who talked to Chris� ???
I can only speak to the 1st person conversations Chris and I had about YES future, which were many within the 6 weeks from him telling me he was sick to his passing. He wanted it to continue... for the fans and the music.
People can say what they like... I know first hand what Squires wishes were and to that end it�s 6 years later and we are going forward just as Chris wanted 😇

In an Aug 2014 interview, Davison said:

[Yes's music i]s similar to the way classical music works. Long after those marvelous composers [...] passed, and the centuries moved forward, their music lives on. It�s not so much about the personality anymore. And people have a hard time seeing that now, because obviously the members [of Yes] are still alive, apart from Peter Banks [...] But it�s so easy to associate the music with the personality, and that causes a lot of conflict among fans. But ultimately, it�s about the music, and just taking the music forward. And there will always be a Yes. And I�m a lover of Jon Anderson as much as I�m a lover of Chris Squire, but you can�t fight it. And when something has that power to it, it�s beautiful, and beauty transcends all of that personality, and it�s always gonna belong, you just can�t put a cap on it and say, �Well, the original members aren�t doing this music anymore, so it�s over.� That can never be. It just can�t be.

In a Jul 2012 interview for The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Howe explains Yes's longevity by saying, "[T]hat's the answer to your question: We change[.] We're like an orchestra; an orchestra can change membership." In an interview for the Feb 2014 issue of Prog, Downes was asked how long he can see the band continuing: "As long as people want to see and hear us. [...] If we can get on a stage to play, and the fans still buy tickets, then we'll do it. [...] There's a lot more life in us." In an Aug 2015 interview, White was asked, "Chris [Squire] often joked that Yes could conceivably continue on with completely new members, that the name could just encompass the spirit and go on for new generations. Now that idea seems even more possible." He responded: "[Laughs] I never heard that one, but the music is kind of timeless, really."

In an interview published Jun 2017, but seemingly conducted around Mar, White said:

Someone asked me the other day, �Do you think the band will ever get to the point where there�s no [classic] members?� And I said, perhaps, because it�s the music that makes it all worthwhile. There are a few Yes tribute bands out there, but not as many as other tribute bands because the music is quite hard to play.

In a Jul 2019 interview, asked if Yes could continue on "for decades", "with younger generations", Sherwood answered, "Yeah, I do. I could see that happening. Because the music is so good�it's like classical music [...] Anything that's timeless is always going to be revisited. And while we would love all of the original members to still be alive, reality is that life goes on and we lose people as we go. But the music lives on and I think that's important and I think it will go on in the future." In an Aug 2019 interview, asked whether Yes could continue after his death, Howe said: "I'm not overly possessive in what Yes is. I know that to help Yes you've got to have good ideas so if a guitarist could replace me and add good ideas then I don't see why not." In a Jul 2020 interview, Davison was asked if Yes will continue on, replacing members; he replied: "Well, it's hard to say, it's hard to imagine, y'know, losing these key members, these classic original members. It's possible, but of course we would need their blessing. [...] I can see it happening. [...] I think both Chris Squire and Rick Wakeman in the past have said, Yes will always go on, just like as true, monumental works of music in the classical style have gone on. [...] So, in a way, they have given us the blessing to do so. So maybe Billy, Jay and myself are like Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Animated film project: Roger Dean's "Floating Islands" film or something else
Yes had had preliminary discussions about possible film ventures, including one being developed by Roger Dean. In an Apr 2007 interview for Mexican newspaper, Reforma, Squire said that the band have been in contact with Universal Pictures about making an animated movie about the band's history from their formation to the present day, including their more representative songs. The article makes a comparison with The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine":

Hace poco la compa��a Universal Pictures se mostr� interesada en hacer una pel�cula de animaci�n en la que se muestra un poco de nuestra trayectoria musical, desde cuando surgimos, hasta la actualidad, incluyendo obviamente, nuestras canciones m�s representativas. Lo estamos analizando, todav�a hay algunas puntos por precisar, como la historia, de qu� tratar�a y c�mo se abordar�a, cu�les etapas de la carrera se incluir�an, las canciones, pero creo que es muy pronto para hablar del tema, esperemos pronto poder dar m�s detalles. [...]

Son muchos a�os, muchas an�cdotas que contar, creo que tendr�amos que seleccionar muy bien lo que quisi�ramos abordar, porque una pel�cula, com�nmente tiene una corta duraci�n, cerca de dos horas y es muy poco para contar tanto, ya casi cumplimos cincuenta a�os de estar juntos.

An Aug 2012 interview with the same newspaper, Reforma, raises the idea again, along side plans for a live residency by the band. The article is not specific, but Squire seems to respond that both ideas are being considered, but will not occur in 2012 or 2013.See details above.

Yes were also in contact with Roger Dean about being involved in his film plans. Dean has described a feature-length film using 3D computer animation based on the backstory to many of his Yes album covers, called "Floating Islands" (rogerdean.com link). Dean discussed the project in a Mar 2008 interview and described how they are still working on a script and arranging funding. He said the film will probably be just animation, although he would prefer to use a mix of live-action and computer-generated backgrounds. Dean was working on the script in an editorial capacity. In Jun 2007, Dean told a fan that significant funding for the project has been raised, although his comments suggested it could still be some while before the film enters production. Lynda Cope and David Blake were executive producers, with Dean and David Mousley as producers. In Feb 2011, asked about the project on his Facebook page, Dean replied: "it is unfortunately on hold for a while. We're hoping to get things moving again this summer [2011] though." Asked in Apr 2011, the reply on Facebook was:

We haven't given up on it but there has been no progress in the last three months, it has been very intermittent. When there's something to share we'll put it on the website.

Dave McKean's Twitter mentioned the project in Jun 2009. McKean is an artist (including cover art for Bill Bruford's Earthworks, Dream Theater, Tori Amos) and filmmaker (directed "MirrorMask", conceptual artist on the "Harry Potter" films). He explained, "we were both developing fantasy feature film ideas and decided to try and combine them since they have a lot in common", but cautioned, "Very early stages of something that may never happen and even if it does will take years". He also tweeted, "Lots of notes today on story outline for Roger Dean film. Coming together well. Parts of our individual stories + new connective tissue."

In a Feb 2008 interview, Dean said:

it�s surprisingly difficult to sort out the finances for it. [...] we have had a lot of people who have said �subject to you finishing the script, we�d like to do it�, so that kind of put the ball back in our court. We�ve had a number of re-writes on the script and at the moment we haven�t re-presented it until we�ve got a final, satisfactory script. [...] our ideal scenario is to have a script that we really love, because we have a story that we really love, but the script has always been not quite right [...] I�m involved in it but I�m not a writer. [...] It�s not in my hands to get this right, so it�s a little bit frustrating for me but I think we�re going to get there fairly soon. We�re currently in negotiations with a number of investors. All of the investor�s money that we�ve discussed so far for the movie hasn�t been with distributors, so our hope and expectation is that we will have a significant part of the funding in place before we talk to major film companies.

[...] It�s a ninety minute feature film. My partner and I haven�t come to a total agreement on whether it�s going to be CG with live action, which is my preferred route. He is still thinking we should keep the option of doing it fully animated with no live action at all which is something I�m not as enthusiastic about. However the technology is moving forward so I might change my mind later.

It is unclear how Yes are or were involved with planning for "Floating Islands". The film was expected to feature music by the band. Asked in the Mar 2008 interview about Yes making some music especially for the project, Dean replied: "all members of the band have spoken enthusiastically about doing that. [...] That's definitely what we would like." He goes on to say he would like both existing and new songs, and discusses the options for either existing or new recordings of old songs. He talks about both "Awaken" and "Soon". Back in Jun 2007, Dean had said that Yes are not currently involved with the project beyond authorising the use of their music. A report from around 2005 had that the film was intended to contain 8-12 classic tracks (a re-recorded "Close to the Edge" was mentioned in one rumour) and at least 4-5 new recordings. In Jun 2007, Dean confirmed there had previously been discussion of Yes writing new music for the film and that the band had been thinking of "re-recording everything" (presumably meaning re-recording classic pieces), but that there hadn't been any discussion of new music recently with Yes then being dormant.

Further back, there were more reports from Yes about contributing. In a Dec 2004 Delicious Agony interview, White said, "We're starting to write music for it." In his Christmas Newsletter 2004, Wakeman said: "There are certainly ideas in the offing which include [...] making a film/and/or DVD with Roger Dean involved with all of the visuals which I particularly like, but there is much to be sorted out within the band itself before any decisions". Wakeman indicated that one of their main reasons to prefer the DVD format over CDs is Internet piracy. In an Oct 2005 interview with Squire for YesFANZ, he said:

We are looking at various options from the various major companies. Universal have shown interest and we are going to be looking at trying to put together a show that maybe then after the film has been made of the same, we can then tour the world with that kind of a look and with that kind of combining the film and the touring aspect.

The interviewer, Brian Draper, then raised the Dean project. Squire:

I think Roger�s floating Islands idea is a very good project. But after Lord of the Rings was made [...] with such good quality, it[']s hard to know quite whether Roger may be a bit late in thinking about that because it has been done so well with the correct amount of money [...] His idea, I fully support it but I am not quite sure where it is going to go. I had a couple of meetings with him to try and figure it out but so far nothing is happening.

[...] I think pretty much [he is looking for funding]. [...] Yes is a separate entity really from Roger [...] I have to look out for what�s best for Yes as opposed to Roger. But I think the idea of animated film for a Yes musical project is a good one but there are various options on the table that we are looking at.

In a late May 2020 webcast, asked about the film, Dean said it had "never been off the agenda". He said he was working with a scriptwriter, but described them as "working on it by stealth". He also said part of the story being turned into a script was in the previous Yes tour book.

Archival live releases

| Rick Wakeman's Yes Solos 1971-2003 (RRAW) is, as the name implies, a compilation of 15 of Wakeman's solos from Yes shows, released as a Wakeman solo album in 2021. RRAW is a label by Wakeman and Rob Ayling (Gonzo/Takeaway Records/Voiceprint). Two more tracks from the tour are on Wakeman's Unreleased Demos Volume 1, in his Collector Club series: see under Wakeman for details. | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |

Following on from Progeny, it appears that further archival live releases (from other tours) may be planned. Brian Kehew, who mixed Progeny, said that the release was very successful and that they were looking at further options. In a Mar 2015 Q&A, he said:

YES must have recorded many things beyond 1972, hopefully tapes survive and will turn up in good shape. I have mixed some of their live stuff before, but it was considered (I agreed) too poor to release, with sound issues, keyboard tunings, etc. In particular a 1976 show we found with Patrick could have been amazing (JFK Stadium in Philadelphia maybe?), but the tapes made it clear it was a very sour night.

On the Cruise to the Edge in Nov 2015, when asked about further archival releases, Howe said there was plenty more in the vaults. On the 2017 Cruise, he said they were considering some sort of follow-up to Progeny, possibly covering the Union tour, where they have around 6 shows they could use.Early recordings out of copyright
Certain copyrights on music expire after 50 years in Europe. As I understand it, it is this that has led to a series of releases of early Yes recordings, as certain recordings up to 1974 are covered by these rules. These are separate to the reports of early years boxset and done without the approval or involvement of the band. The first was In the Beginning (London Calling, LCCD0005069), a CD/LP release of 1968-9 recordings. This came out 13 Nov 2020 in the Netherlands and 27 Nov in the UK. Tracks, LP side A�Night Ride, early 1968, BBC Radio 1: "Beyond and Before" (3:44), "Images of You and Me" (3:52), "Jeanetta" (3:04); Pop-Eye, Brussels, Belgium, broadcast 15 Oct 1969 (Belgian TV): "Beyond and Before" (4:55), "Survival" (6:11); LP side B�Chikito Club, Bern, Switzerland, 27 Nov 1969 (Swiss TV): "Dear Father" (5:29), "Everydays" (5:19), "Sweetness" (4:19), "Something's Coming" (7:14). The first 3 tracks are by Mabel Greer's Toyshop: they were previously released on that band's 2016 release, Images. The Belgian TV tracks have been expected on the official early years boxset. The release comes with an 8-page CD booklet (4-page LP booklet) with background notes and archival imagery. In the Beginning Volume 2 (LCCD0005076) followed 12 Mar 2021. Tracks, Sporthalle, Cologne, West Germany, 3 April 1970, WDR-TV: "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed", "Then", "Every Little Thing", "Astral Traveller", "Everydays"; Belgian TV, Brussels, Belgium, 4 Sep 1970, BNTV: "Astral Traveller", "Everydays", "Then", "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed", "Sweet Dreams".Then there was the 2CD Beyond a nd Before (1968-1970) on Audio Vaults with 1968-70 recordings: CD1�three_Night Ride_ 1968 Mabel Greer's Toy Shop tracks as above, "Looking Around" (3:50, Johnnie Walker Show, 14 Jun 1969), "Every Little Thing" (5.35, Symonds On Saturday, 10 Aug 1969), "Sweetness" (3.55, ib id.), "For Everyone" (9.35, Mike Harding Show, 14 Apr 1970), "America" (15.50, Mike Harding Show, 27 Oct 1970), "Sweetness" (4.02, The Penthouse, Sheffield, 24 Feb 1969), "Something's Coming" (7.23, ibid.), "Sweet Dreams" (3.15, ibid.); CD2�"Every Little Thing" (3.32, Big Apple Club, Wiesbaden, West Germany, 26 Aug 1969), "Something's Coming" (8.20, ibid.), two 1969 Pop-Eye tracks as above, four 1969 Swiss TV tracks as above, five 1970 Cologne tracks as above.

| Then came the 3CD Transmission Impossible (Eat to the Beat, ETTB 133), originally due 14 Jan 2022, but then delayed until 28 Jan. The first 2 discs come from 1968-70 in the UK (the 1968 sessions are Mabel Greer's Toy Shop), mainly radio sessions, with the third disc covering German and Belgian TV sessions from the same period. Tracks: CD1�Top Gear, BBC, 12 Jan 1969: "Something's Coming" (7:38), "Everydays 5:11), "Sweetness" (4:14), "Dear Father" (5:33), "Every Little Thing" (5:32);Symonds on Sunday, 4 Aug 1969: "Looking Around" (3:39), "Beyond & Before" (5:27); Dave Lee Travis Show, 19 Jan 1970: "Sweet Dreams" (3:25), "Then" (4:19), "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (4:15); John Peel's Sunday Show, 17 Mar 1970: "Astral Traveller" (6:01), "Then" (5:15); Mike Harding Show, 27 Oct 1970: "America" (14:56). CD2�John Peel's Sunday Show, 17 Mar 1970: "Every Little Thing" (6:48), "Everydays" (6:08), "For Everyone" (4:35); Johnnie Walker Show, 14 Jun 1969: "Intro/Sweetness" (5:17); Top Gear, 23 Feb 1969 "Something's Coming" (7:59), "Sweet Dreams" (4:15); Mabel Greer's Toyshop, Night Ride, BBC, 3 Apr 1968: "Beyond & Before" (3:44), "Images of You and Me" (3:53), "Jeanetta" (3:04); Mike Harding Show, 14 Apr 1970: "For Everyone" (9:40); The Penthouse, Sheffield, 24 Feb 1969: "Dear Father" (5:43), "Eleanor Rigby" (3:26), "I See You" (7:49); "Beyond & Before" (4:06). CD3�Pop-Eye, Belgian TV, 15 Oct 1969: "Beyond & Before" (4:55), "Survival" (6:11); Big Apple Club, German TV, 26 Aug 1969: "Every Little Thing" (3:33), "Something's Coming" (8:21); Popshop, Belgian TV, 4 Sep 1970: "Astral Traveller" (6:26), "Everydays" (6:57), "Then" (6:11), "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (5:22), "Sweet Dreams" (3:27); Progressive Pop Festival, German TV, 3 Apr 1970: "Then" (6:28), "Every Little Thing" (6:54), "Astral Traveller" (6:06), "Everydays" (6:18), "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (4:57). The Sheffield tracks on CD2 seem to be the only recordings not from a broadcast and are worse in audio quality. This is the first commercial release of Yes performing "Eleanor Rigby". There is considerable but not complete overlap between all these releases. Thus, for example, In the Beginning Volume 2 contains a subset of Transmission Impossible's CD 3. Transmission Impossible CDs 1 and 2 cover most of In the Beginning and Beyond and Before (1968-1970), but the latter both include four Swiss TV tracks not on Transmission Impossible. There are further unique tracks on Beyond and Before (1968-1970). | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |

Broadcasts 1969, out 2 Dec 2022, is a limited edition vinyl release of recordings in 1969; presumably this is the same material as above. Tracks:

Side A:
1. Every Little Thing
2. Something's Coming
3. Looking Around
4. Everydays
5. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed.

Side B:
1. Something's Coming
2. Every Little Thing
3. Looking Around
4. Survival

Live... USA '71 (London Calling) is a 4-track CD of Yes's 24 Jul 1971 show at the Yale Bowl.

Boston Garden Vol. 1 (Parachute, PARA 601LP) is a vinyl release, out 19 Jan 2024.

| | | Other re-releases &c. Sony Music Japan are re-releasing ABWH and Union as 2LP limited editions on 4 Sep 2024. ABWH will be on red vinyl with three bonus tracks ("Birthright (live version)", "Vultures in the City", "I'm Alive (remix single version)"), while Union will be on blue vinyl with two bonus tracks ("Give & Take", "Lift Me Up (Radio Edit, Acapella Opening)"). Rhino have re-released Relayer on 180g vinyl in their High Fidelity series. This is a limited edition (5000 copies) series to celebrate the album's 50th anniversary, cut from the original stereo master tapes by Kevin Gray, with new liner notes by Syd Schwartz. Yessingles (Rhino) was a 2023 compilation of some of Yes's singles, on vinyl (140g black or limited release splatter) and digitally. It was mastered and cut by Jeff Powell. An advance digital single for the collection, "And You and I (Part I) [Promo Edit]" (3:25), was released to streaming channels in Aug 2023. Tracks: "Your Move (Single Version)" "Starship Trooper: Life Seeker (Single Version)" "Roundabout (Single Version)" "America (Single Edit)" "And You And I (Part One) [Promo Radio Edit]" "Soon (Single Edit)" "Sound Chaser (Single Edit)"; side B starts "Wondorous Stories (Single Version)" [_sic_] "Don't Kill the Whale (Single Version)" "Into the Lens (Single Version)" "Owner of a Lonely Heart (Single Version)" "Leave It (Single Remix)" Jason_Rhino on the Steve Hoffman forum, who oversees the Yes catalogue for Rhino, said there (27 Aug): I A&R and oversee the Yes catalog for Rhino. The Yessingles compilation is not intended to be complete. It is intended to be a solid introductory title. There's a lot of demand from younger fans who are looking for a single LP "hits" title that contains tracks from 71-84. If this is the way we can lead them towards discovering Close to the Edge, The Yes Album, Drama, etc. in full, then I'm all for it. The single mixes/edits were the best way to fit as many tracks as possible within a 1LP. If this compilation does well, then there will likely be a Vol. 2, etc. He later added, "the development and research for Yessingles was rooted in research, streaming data and retail requests." | | | | - | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |

YesSingles2 (Atlantic) is due 25 October 2024. Tracks:

  1. "Something's Coming (Single Mix)"
  2. "Sweetness (Mono Edit)"
  3. "Looking Around (Single Edit)"
  4. "Sweet Dreams (Single Version)"
  5. "Going for the One (Single Edit)"
  6. "It Can Happen (Single Edit)"
  7. "Rhythm of Love (Single Edit)"
  8. "Love will Find a Way (Single Edit)"
  9. "Make It Easy (Edit)" There is a Rocktober 2024 exclusive blue and white splatter vinyl.

From late 2023, Analogue Productions and Acoustic Sounds are releasing 2 Atlantic LP titles per month at 45 RPM in a "75 for 75" series to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Atlantic Records. There are accompanying SACDs. In May came the 180g 2LP 45 RPM 90125 (AAPA 065-45), as well as SACD releases of 90125 (CAPA 065 SA) and The Yes Album (CAPA 064 SA). Fragile and Close to the Edge are also expected in the series.

There was a limited edition clear vinyl edition of Fragile released 6 Jan 2023 from Rhino's Start Your Ear Off Right series. 5 Jan 2024 saw a cobalt blue vinyl re-release of Yes in the same series.

The single version of "Soon", as well as Chris Squire's "Lucky Seven" from Fish Out of Water, is included on Esoteric's 4CD compilation Ring the Bells & Sing - Progressive Sounds of 1975 (ECLEC42883), out 30 Aug 2024.

Covers and remixes of Yes songs & other news
Howe has recorded a new version of "Mood for a Day" for Motif Volum 2, out Nov 2023: see details under Howe. He also plays an extract from "The Ancient" and "Clap" on the archival Asia release, Live at the Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 25 April 1982, out Oct 2023.

"Owner of a Lonely Heart (Luca Olivotto Remix)" (6:24; streaming audio) was released on Rhino on 19 May 2023. This was followed by "Owner of a Lonely Heart (farfetch'd Edit)" (2:32) on 24 Nov 2023, and "Owner of a Lonely Heart (Back2Back remix)" on 7 Mar 2024.

"Owner of a Lonely Heart" is used extensively in episode 3 ("The Case of the Devlin House") of Netflix's Dead Boy Detectives.

"Your Move" is used in the trailer for Robert Zemeckis' film "Here". It seems to be a somewhat adapted version of the original recording.

| | | Media, books, fandom etc. "Yes" (368 pages; �ditions du Layeur) is a new book about the band, in French, by Dominique Dupuis (trailer). Yes Music Podcast's Kevin Mulryne published "Yes - The Tormato Story", a book on the making of Tormato, in 2023. It is available through Burning Shed. The foreword is by Oliver Wakeman (as it's his favourite Yes album). Mulryne is next publishing the first in a series of Yes album listening guides, with "Tales from Topographic Oceans Listening Guide" (paperback, 200+ pages). There will also be available separately a 40-page, A5, magazine-style colour supplement. Presales are open. Simon Barrow will be publishing a new and expanded edition of his book "Solid Mental Grace" with five new chapters, including covering The Quest and Mirror to the Sky. "Yes in the 1980s" (Sonicbond Publishing) is a book covering Yes in the 1980s, but also ABWH and associated projects, including Asia, XYZ, The Buggles, Jon and Vangelis and GTR. The book is by Stephen Lambe (author of "Yes: Every Album, Every Song") with David Watkinson (author of "Yes�Perpetual Change"), released 2021. Sonicbond are next doing a book covering Yes in the 1990s, with Lambe and Barrow. If anyone has good photos from the period, please get in touch with Simon. Lambe also has a book entitled "90125", about the album, released 26 Jul 2024. Sid Smith is working on a book compiling many of the liner notes he has written over the years, corrected and expanded. The book will largely cover music of the 1970s and will probably include his notes for the Panegyric Yes re-releases. Garry Freeman (author of "The Bootleg Guide" and the forthcoming "Emerson, Lake and Palmer�A Live Guide 1970-1978") has been working on "Yes�A Live Guide 1968-1979" (Helter Skelter Publishing). The book aims to review as many shows as possible from this period, including details on equipment specifications and so on. The Gottlieb brothers are working on a book on Yes collectibles and Bill Martin (author of "Music of Yes�Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock") has been rumoured to be working on a new Yes book. | | - | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

In a Jul 2004 interview, Wakeman said he would be writing a book about Yes: "I am going to do [a book] about Yes. There have been lots of books written about the band and I want to do one from what it's like inside the band." In a Jan 2005 interview, he said he was "seriously thinking about" writing a book about Yes having been asked to by a "big publisher": further details under Wakeman. Moraz too was planning an autobiography that "will reveal the truth of what happened with Yes" (Oct 2010 interview). Squire was also working on an autobiography before his death, which may be completed by collaborator Vincent Gallo.

"Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)" (trailer) is a documentary film that might be expected to have some Yes content. It has been shown at film festivals, with general release in cinemas and on demand from 14 Jul, and DVD and Blu-ray release out Aug 2023. There is an accompanying book by Anton Corbijn that was 5th in the multimedia section of Prog magazine's 2023 critics' choice.

Management etc.
Since the beginning of 2016, Yes have been managed by Martin Darvill of QEDG Management (Facebook,Twitter), who already managed Asia, Geoff Downes, Downes Braide Association, Snakecharmer (with Adam Wakeman), John Wetton, ELP, Greg Lake, Focus, Curved Air, Uriah Heep, This Oceanic Feeling and others. They also manage Oliver Wakeman and, I believe, Arc of Life. Further management and contact details are available at YesWorld. Publicity is by the Mitch Schneider Organization.

On 23 Jan 2023, Yes and Warner Music Group's Global Catalog Divisionannounced that the Warner division had acquired (which I presume means "paid for") the recorded music rights and income streams from Yes's Atlantic Records-era catalogue. This covers everything from when Yes were signed to Atlantic, including the studio albums Yes toBig Generator, plus YesYears and later compilations,Yes Remixes, The Word is Live and Progeny. It also covers two recent live releases that were released through Rhino, Topographic Drama and Yes 50 Live. Yes said in a joint statement, "The entire YES family came together and worked enthusiastically with Warner Music Group to secure this historic deal, ensuring that these iconic recordings will continue to be curated in the optimum manner to delight their fans across more than five decades, while also finding and developing new audiences for this timeless music." We don't know the details of the finances, but in a Jan 2023 article, Billboard offered some estimates:

Billboard estimates that the Yes catalog generated about 3.2millioninannualrevenueoverthelastthreeyears�from2020through2022�andfurtherestimatesYes�royaltiesatalmost3.2 million in annual revenue over the last three years � from 2020 through 2022 � and further estimates Yes� royalties at almost 3.2millioninannualrevenueoverthelastthreeyears�from2020through2022�andfurtherestimatesYes�royaltiesatalmost1 million. The band also appears to own master recordings beginning in 1991, but those albums had meager consumption units last year [2022], collectively accumulating less than 2,000 units in the U.S. Consequently, Billboard estimates WMG�s acquisition of Yes master rights and royalty income streams at about 20millionto20 million to 20millionto25 million.

In an Oct 2023 interview, Rabin was asked about the possibility of a surround or Atmos mix of 90125. He replied: "I'd love to do that [...] sometimes the artist just gets bypassed when those things come up when catalog deals are made. There was a recent deal I went along with where I said, "Yes, I'll go along with this whole thing once you've worked everything out, but on one condition�you get me the masters so that I can bake them, and transfer them." And I'm still waiting. I'm still waiting."

Precisely who owns the Yes name, or what that question even means, is unclear with various different rights at play. Yes appears to exists as two corporate entities: Yes '97 LLC was owned by Howe, White and Squire, while Yes Touring LLC (set up 2014) was owned by Howe, White and Downes (and formerly Squire). It is unclear what effect Squire's and White's passing has. Anderson and possibly R Wakeman were equal co-owners of Yes 2002 LLC, but reportedly sold their shares back. Copyright in the classic Roger Dean logo belongs to Dean and Howe, but there is a US trademark including it (serial number 73266222) belonging to Anderson, White and Squire.

In an interview published online in Jan 2022, Howe was asked if he and White "call the shots" in the band these days. Howe replied: "Yeah, we have a strength of opinion based on our experience, and we can bring light to the dark tunnel sometimes by saying we've been through all these things before. I'm sure Alan and I have voices that are going to be listened to. But this is a team. This does rely immensely on teamwork, and pretty much things have to run through people, and they have to agree irrespective of their period in the band."

Consider also this Jul 2009 interview with Squire:

Q: Yes has endured many personnel changes, but you've always been there. [...]

A: It's more by default than design, actually. I've been there, and other members have gone off to do other projects. A lot of them have come back and left again and come back again. [...]

Q: There have been intraband tension and court fights. [...]

A: [...] Over the years, there have been challenges about who can use our name. It's quite simple: A majority of people left in the band at a certain time own the name. It's not like I'm the guy who has the name under my own contract.

Squire made related comments in an Oct 2009 interview published in Italian:

Intanto � stato casuale, non � che abbia mai avuto il disegno di essere il portavoce della band ora e sempre. E' per� accaduto che nel corso del tempo altri decidessero che per loro era il momento di provare strade ed esperienze diverse. Cos� sono usciti e poi rientrati dal gruppo, come hanno fatto [Rick] Wakeman e Steve Howe. Per� sono stato in buona compagnia perch� Alan White si � unito a noi nel 1972 quindi i suoi 38 anni se li � fatti pure lui...

In interviews promoting Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman, Rabin made a number of comments pertaining to rights and ownership. In a Sep 2016 interview, he said, "Even though I have absolutely nothing to do with the current Yes band; I look forward to performing the material. When I left the band, I gave up my rights to the group; Jon and Alan White own the rights". (This appears to be a reference to the trademark.) While in an interview published the next month, but probably also conducted Sep, he said, "When Rick, Jon and I decided to get together we actively decided not to call it Yes, even though we have just as much right to do so." In a Jan 2017 interview, Wakeman described events in 2008 so: "The other guys in Yes decided they wanted to carry on [without Anderson] but I felt very strongly that you couldn't have Yes without Jon singing and wanted to wait. But they had a democratic vote and they went out on tour". In a Jun 2016 interview, Anderson said:

And people ask me, �What do you think of Yes [today]?� I, honestly, never left Yes. Because Yes has been my life. The band itself are doing what they want to do. I can�t tell them what to do, because it�s not my band. They�ve got the name, but I�ve got the state of mind about what true �Yes music� should sound like

In late Jan 2017, ARW started using the 'Yes' name in promotion, billing themselves as "Yes, with Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman (ARW)". They did so against the wishes of the current Yes band. See more under ARW. When ARW then made a press announcement switching to that name on 10 Apr, Yes announced:

While Jon Anderson has rights to use the name as one of the co-owners of the trademark, Yes' position is that every effort should be made by promoters, ticket agencies and all involved to respect Yes' magnificant and loyal fanbase and minimize confusion regarding the use of Yes Featuring Anderson, Rabin, Wakeman.

An Apr 2017 UltimateClassicRock article reports that, at the time of Squire's death, ownership of the Yes brand (whatever precisely that means) was jointly held by Squire/Anderson/Howe/White. The article talks of a gentleman's agreement to that point between Anderson and Squire over use of the name, although it is unclear whether this is their theory or was confirmed by sources. They quote management for the continuity Yes as saying that while Anderson "has a co-ownership right to use the name", he also "presumably" has "a duty to ensure that the use does not cause unnecessary confusion for fans." Yes management also said they had been given exclusive use of the classic Dean logo. (Roger Dean himself said to one fan in late 2017 that he was open to doing cover art for ARW.) The article quotes Anderson's management too: "Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman have as much right � if not more so � to call themselves Yes, since Jon Anderson, the co-founder of the group, has always had the rights to use the name and the trademark". In a May 2018 article, Howe said, "It's complicated. Instead of going to court for five years and wasting �2m, we basically are just kind of enjoying the fact that we're Yes and they're Yes as well sometimes. Hey, you know, it's a bit like accepting that Cornish pasties aren't simply made in Cornwall." In a Jun 2018 article, asked about the other band, he said, "I've got nothing to say really[.] Our position is non-aggression ... but it's not a perfect scenario."In a May 2018 interview, Anderson said that, "I owned the name and Chris Squire and Alan White owned the name. His wife said that when Chris leaves us maybe we could use the name. We said that the year we got into the Hall of Fame we'd be out there as Yes in front on one million people around the world so why didn't we use the name. We used the addition of featuring Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman to differentiate us from the other Yes." Asked whether he has any problems with the other band, he replied:

They`ve been really cool about it. It`s never been a problem. I had a conversation with the other guys and just said to them to let people know who`s in the band as I keep getting phone calls about me playing somewhere but I`m not in your band, so please tell people who`s in the band so they don`t expect to see me.

A Jun 2018 article in The San Diego Union-Tribune stated that, "A longstanding agreement stipulated that the only band that could be billed as Yes was the one that included Squire. After his death, Squire's widow told Anderson she saw no reason he, Wakeman and Rabin could not also assume the Yes name. So they did." A Jul 2021 rumour on Facebook had that the Yes trademark had been owned by Howe, White, Squire and Anderson, but that Squire's widow passed his share to Anderson, leaving Howe/White and Anderson with equal shares, leading to an agreement over how to use the name.

Asked in another Jun 2018 interview whether each band has the other's blessing, White said:

Well, I don�t know. I don�t really think about it much, to tell you the truth. It�s their thing; their version of Yes. We do our version, but really this band is still Yes. There are comments that come from the other camp, but I wouldn�t reply to the comments because I don�t need to.

Rumour suggests there have actually been ongoing arguments over the use of the Dean logo, with ARW periodically using it and then stopping using it.

In a Jun 2018 interview, commenting on the two bands situation, White said:

It�s a lot of business stuff. We own the name. They own the name. Jon Anderson and I own it, but the logo we own, because Steve Howe owns most of the logo.

A Mar 2019 interview with White had this exchange:

Interviewer: Who owns the name �Yes� since there are two of them now?

White: Well, there�s not really two of them. This Yes I�m in is the guys with the Yes name and always had it. And so legally, we are still Yes. Even though the other guys were in it for long periods of time at different times, they�ve all done other things. Chris and myself had never done anything else. We just carried on.

Interviewer: But they call themselves �Yes featuring ARW.� How is that legal if you guys own the name?

White: They can legally do that because Jon still has some of the copyright. It�s kind of a legal thing. They [...] can say �Yes Featuring ARW,� but they can�t call themselves �Yes.� We own the logo.

Projects involving multiple Yes men
There are a large number of projects involving more than one Yesman (see summary table on main page). Some are listed below, while others are listed on their own pages or under key individuals. In particular, Sherwood and Tony Kaye have continued to work on several projects together, including CIRCA:, covered here.

Arc of Life Twitter; Instagram;Facebook
Arc of Life have been Billy Sherwood (bass, vocals), Jon Davison (vocals) and Jay Schellen (drums) from Yes, plus Dave Kerzner (

In Continuum, worked with Jon Anderson, Steve Hackett, Steven Wilson, Genesis, ex-Giraffe; keys) and Jimmy Haun (ex-CIRCA:, worked with Yes, Jon Anderson, Conspiracy, Steve Porcaro; guitars). (Sherwood, Haun and Schellen are also in CIRCA: with Tony Kaye.) The band are managed by Martin Darvill at QEDG Management, who also manageYes, Asia, Downes Braide Association and many others. Their debut album, Arc of Life (Frontiers Records), was released Feb 2021; details in Yescography. A second album, Don't Look Down (Frontiers Records), came out Nov 2022.

Asked in an Apr 2024 interview whether there will be a third album, Sherwood replied, "I think Arc of Life is kind of parked where it is now, because [...] we've got now three members of Yes in Arc of Life [...] I dunno, [...] if felt like, 'What are we doing now?' [...] When we started, it wasn't that way cause Alan [White] was still in Yes and so it's kind of had its moment when it was living. But I think for the most part, it's parked at this point." In an 18 May 2024 Facebook comment, Kerzner said, "3/5 of the band is in YES and they're kept pretty busy. But, I will be doing more things with Billy both live and in the studio (when he's not busy with Yes!)."

In theJul 2024 interview with the Prog Will Find A Way podcast, Davison echoed Sherwood's comments about how "[o]nce Jay became an official member", there was no reason for the band. However, he later added, "I would like to work with Dave Kerzner and Jimmy Haun in some other capacity. I'm sorry that they got sort of like squeezed out".

Asked if had more writing/arranging input on the second album than the first, Kerzner replied on Facebook in Sep 2022: "No not on this one either. We wanted to all get together as a band and write but Covid messed that up. Next album we plan to all write and sing as well." He had talked about the first album on ProgressiveEars.com in late 2020: "It sounds like the style of the songwriters as most albums do. [...] If I was co-writing with them it would probably go further away from their sound just by nature of blending styles and influences but... hopefully that'll happen down the road." And, later the same month, "I'm a late addition to the band and came in after the songs were already written and mostly recorded. [...] I hope my contributions will be part of the equation in the future. That was the idea of me joining... that we'd tour and co-write the next album together. Of course, a pandemic can throw everything up in the air so who knows what will happen when?" In a Nov 2022 post to Facebook, Kerzner said, "The main songwriter, producer and band leader of Arc of Life is Billy Sherwood."

In a May 2023 interview, Davison was asked about how they differentiate material for Arc of Life and Yes now that the bands have three members in common. Davison replied that it was important to involve Haun and Kerzner more to help define Arc of Life's separate identity.

The band are with TKO for booking live shows. In the May 2022 YesShift interview, Sherwood explained:

just as Arc of Life came out, the COVID thing was kicking into high... and so, everything was wiped out. So unfortunately we had plans to go out and play live but they just got crashed [...] and now that we're at this point, and Yes is re-entering the equation here and I'm also going to be playing with Asia soon here too, um, it's all about getting the schedule together where we can make that point of entry to go out and do gigs, at the right time, um, so that's the sort of idea for the live front for Arc of Life. We all want to get it going and get playing and perform with that band

Asked about the band touring in an Oct 2022 interview he did with the Yesshift podcast, Schellen replied that, "it's something that's always on our mind and in the realm of possibility, but Yes is very busy". He continued, "There is possibilities, y'know. Maybe getting together with some of our other prog band friends [...] it's always on our minds, if we find an opportunity".

In terms of what the band might play live, Sherwood said after the first album, in a Feb 2021 interview, "we're going to have to find that line as we go, but I'm not opposed to playing [...] material that Yes is not really playing just to play some interesting music. There's a wealth of material that I can bring to the table from other projects, Circa has some great songs, Conspiracy..." In the SOAL interview, Kerzner talked about drawing from all of their individual catalogues and also playing Yes songs. Sherwood then talked about not wanting to replicate what Yes are doing live, but discussed the idea of doing something like CIRCA:'s "Chronological Journey", the medley that spanned nearly all of Yes's history. Davison said in the Feb 2021 interview that "there will be the occasional odd YES nuggets incorporated into our set that fans otherwise would never hear live." In a Mar 2021 appearance, Sherwood said that Arc of Life would "most likely" be able to do shows before Yes because they will be playing smaller venues, which he expects to open up sooner. In an early Feb 2021 interview, he had said, "Arc of Life are definitely going to be playing live shows." Asked in a Jun 2021 interview whether Arc of Life would be touring, Kerzner said, "that's the plan [...] when Yes isn't touring", but that "I haven't heard anything yet, concrete".

Cleopatra Records releases
The latest Prog Collective release is Dark Encounters (Purple Pyramid), released 29 Mar 2024 (delayed from 15 Mar), an album of original material (except the bonus tracks), largely instrumental, and led by Billy Sherwood. Tracks:

  1. "Darkest Hour", with Steve Stevens (works with Billy Idol, worked with Chris Squire; guitars), Sherwood (bass, keys, drums); first digital release (released 22 Feb 2024)
  2. "Ominous Signs", with Steve Morse (guitars), Sherwood (bass, keys, drums); second digital release (released 29 Feb)
  3. "At the Gates", with David Cross (ex-King Crimson; violins), Sherwood (bass, keys, drums)
  4. "Dark Days", with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-Asia; guitar, vocals), Patrick Moraz (keys), Omar Hakim (drums), Sherwood (bass); digital release (released 12 Mar 2024)
  5. "Lonely Landscape", with Kasim Sulton (bass), Sherwood (bass, keys, drums)
  6. "The Long Night", with Frank DiMino (vocals), Marco Minnemann (drums), Sherwood (bass, keys, guitars); digital release (released 18 Mar 2024), lyric video
  7. "The Quasi Effect", with Sherwood (bass, keys, guitars, drums)
  8. "The 11th Hour", with John Etheridge (Soft Machine; guitars), Sherwood (bass, keys, drums)
  9. "Between Two Worlds", with Steve Hillage (System 7, ex-Gong; guitars), Gregg Bissonette (drums), Sherwood (vocals, bass, keys); digital release (released 26 Mar 2024)
  10. "Distant Thunder", with Todd Sucherman (Styx;drums), Sherwood (bass, keys, guitars)
  11. "Dark Money", with Joe Bouchard (bass), Sherwood (keys, guitars, drums)
  12. "For All to See", with Pat Mastelotto (ex-King Crimson; drums), Sherwood (bass, keys, guitars)
  13. "Beyond Reason", with Chad Wackerman (drums), Sherwood (bass, keys, guitars)
  14. "I Saw the Light" [Todd Rundgren] (bonus track), with Todd Rundgren, Rick Wakeman; a 2020 digital single then included as a bonus track on the 2022 re-release of Todd Rundgren & Friends
  15. "I'm Not in Love (Instrumental Version)" [Eric Stewart] (bonus track), with Nektar, Rick Wakeman; instrumental version of a song on Nektar's 2012 covers album A Spoonful of Time, re-mastered and re-released as a digital single in 2023

The album was written, produced and recorded by Sherwood, with additional engineering by Scott Walton. The album was mixed and mastered by J�rgen Engler and he also produced the bonus tracks. Release formats include digital (streaming omits the bonus tracks), CD, and red marble vinyl (which omits the bonus tracks).

Still Wish You were Here: A Tribute to Pink Floyd (Cleopatra Records) was released May 2021. The album features various musicians performing Pink Floyd's Wish You were Here in its entirety, including Downes, Wakeman, Moraz and Levin. The album was put together by J�rgen Engler, who has done a number of tribute projects for Cleopatra. See Yescography for details. A sequel, Animals Reimagined � A Tribute t o Pink Floyd (Cleopatra Records), came out Nov 2021; Wakeman, Sherwood and Davison appear. Again, the album was put together by Engler.

| Next came Meddle Reimagined on 1 Sep 2023. Tracks: "One of These Days", with Geoff Downes, Jyrki 69 (The 69 Eyes), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, worked with Chris Squire), Bootsy Collins, Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge); released as a digital single on 12 Jul 2023 "A Pillow of Winds, with James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Martin Barre (ex-Jethro Tull), Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater), Alan Davey "Fearless", with Mark Stein, Helios Creed (Chrome), Bob Daisley (worked with Ozzy Osbourne, ex-Uriah Heep), Rat Scabies (ex-The Damned) "San Tropez", with Rick Wakeman (piano), Graham Bonnet (ex-Rainbow;vocals), Chris Poland (ex-Megadeth;slide guitar), Joe Bouchard (Blue �yster Cult; bass), Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer; drums); released as a digital single on 13 Jun 2023 "Seamus", with Terry Reid (worked with Trevor Horn), Brian Auger "Echoes", with Frank Dimino, Dweezil Zappa, Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), David J (Bauhaus), Pat Mastelotto (ex-King Crimson) | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |

Sherwood worked on Nektar's 2012 covers album for Cleopatra Records, A Spoonful of Time. Sherwood mixed the album and performed on 8 out of 14 tracks (mainly backing vocals and bass), while Howe, Downes, R Wakeman and Moraz all guested on one track each. The album was produced by Engler and Chris Lietz. Instrumental tracks were also released at the time. From 26 Jul 2023, Cleopatra Records has been releasing a series of digital singles of 2023 mixes of the album, with each single consisting of the instrumental version b/w the vocal version. I'm unclear if this presages a new album release.

Fernando Perdomo is know for his regular collaborations with Dave Kerzner (see next section). Perdomo and Kerzner both played at the 2 Oct 2022 Alan White tribute show. Perdomo is also in Life on Mars: their 2022 album Shadows in a Jar has Billy Sherwood appearing: see under Sherwood for details. Perdomo has now become a staff producer at Cleopatra Records and he has led a new album, A Speedway on Saturn's Rings (Purple Pyramid, CLO4022CD), by The Fusion Syndicate, due 1 Sep 2023 on Bandcamp and 15 Sep more generally. The Fusion Syndicate name was originally used for a 2012 project from Billy Sherwood and 4 tracks from that album are included as CD-only tracks here, remixed. The instrumental album is in the style of 1970s jazz fusion. Tracks (written and produced by Perdomo, unless otherwise stated):

  1. "A Speedway on Saturn's Rings", with Al Di Meola (electric guitar), Jah Wobble (bass), Chester Thompson (drums), Fernando Perdomo (rhythm guitars, string synth, arpeggiator)
  2. "Planet 15", with Chris Poland (lead guitar), Wobble (bass), Thompson (drums), Perdomo (rhythm guitar)
  3. "IO" [Perdomo/Wakeman], with Rick Wakeman (keys), Wobble (bass), Thompson (drums), Perdomo (Moog bass, string synth)
  4. "Escape from the Black Hole", with Angelo Moore (sax, Theremin), Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-Asia; guitar), Wobble (bass), Thompson (drums), Perdomo (guitar, Echoplex, Moog, ARP string synth, percussion)
  5. "The Bottle" [Gil Scott-Heron], produced by J�rgen Engler, with Bootsy Collins (vocals), Brian Jackson (electric piano, flute), Carmine Appice (drums), Perdomo (guitars, bass)
  6. "Blasting Off", with Jan Akkerman (worked with Peter Banks; guitar), Wobble (bass), Thompson (drums), Perdomo (rhythm guitar, Hammond B3)
  7. "Lunar Rover on Mars", with Didier Malherbe (ex-Gong;flute), Wobble (bass), Thompson (drums), Perdomo (guitar, Rhodes)
  8. "Coming Back Home" [Perdomo/Stevens], with Alphonso Johnson (bass), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, worked with Chris Squire; guitars, synth), Thompson (drums), Perdomo (Rhodes)
  9. "Random Acts of Science", from The Fusion Syndicate; with R Wakeman and Sherwood
  10. "Stone Cold Infusion", from The Fusion Syndicate; with Sherwood
  11. "Molecular Breakdown", from The Fusion Syndicate; with Sherwood
  12. "Particle Accelerations", from The Fusion Syndicate; with Sherwood The main album recordings were in Los Angeles, Dec 2022-Mar 2023. Wobble recorded in his own studio, engineered by John T Wardle/Jon Klein. Poland was engineered by Carlos Cruz. Wakeman recorded in his own studio, engineered by Erik Jordan. The album was mixed by Zach Ziskin, with cover art by Javier Carmona. The bonus tracks were originally produced by Sherwood, but appear to have been remixed by Perdomo/Ziskin. All tracks were mastered by Engler and Lietz.

Another Perdomo-led Fusion Syndicate album, Beautiful Horizon, came 3 Nov 2023. This had no new Yes connections, but included three more remixed tracks from the debut album The Fusion Syndicate with Sherwood, including "Atom Smashing" with Tony Kaye.

Dave Kerzner projects
Keyboardist Dave Kerzner (Facebook,Twitter, YouTube,SoundCloud; ex-Sound of Contact, In Continuum, Mantra Vega, worked with Francis Dunnery, Jon Anderson, Steve Hackett, Steven Wilson, Genesis, ex-Giraffe) has worked and is working on several projects involving Yes members. His band In Continuum has Jon Davison guesting, plus material Kerzner wrote with Anderson: see under Davison for details.

Kerzner released his solo album, The Traveler, in 2022. The album is with Billy Sherwood (bass on 3 tracks), Jon Davison (vocals on 1 track + lead vocals on 1 bonus song on the 2CD and longer editions), among others. The album, written and produced by Kerzner, sees the return of the main character from his previous solo album New World and also ties in with the story in the In Continuum project. Details in the Yescography. The Traveler Singles, a 5-track EP with shorter, alternate versions of several songs, including "Feels Like Home" with Davison. The Bandcamp version comes with an additional 5 shorter edits of the same songs, and a bonus track, "Here and Now (Single Version)" with Sherwood.

Kerzner has his All Star Prog Band. This began with himself (keys, vocals, guitar), Sherwood (bass), Perdomo (guitar), McBroom (vocals), Deninzon (violin) and D'Virgilo (drums): they played at RoSFest 2022 and then the 2022 Cruise to the Edge. Kerzner said on Facebook, "I've put together a special All Star Prog Band to perform songs from my forthcoming [solo] album as well as songs from my previous band and solo albums plus some classic rock tunes from Pink Floyd and more with a cast of musicians and singers who have performed with some of my favorite bands." In a 9 Mar Facebook post, Kerzner said, "Not only will we be playing songs from my albums New World, Static and my upcoming new release "The Traveler" but we'll also be playing songs from Sound of Contact, In Continuum and classics from Pink Floyd, Genesis and more!" The RoSFest set focused on Kerzner's new album and his solo back catalogue, but also included material by Sound of Contact, In Continuum and Kevin Gilbert. The band returned for Cruise to the Edge 2024, with Kerzner, Sherwood, Perdomo and McBroom. Billed as Dave Kerzner and Friends, they are also playing the 2025 Cruise, with the line-up including Sherwood, Perdomo, McBroom and Derek Cintron, with special guests including Gabriel Agudo and Leticia Wolf.

Kerzner is in Arc of Life, described above, with Sherwood, Davison, Jay Schellen and Jimmy Haun. However, Sherwood described that band as "kind of parked" in an Apr 2024 interview. In an 18 May 2024 Facebook comment, Kerzner said, "3/5 of the band is in YES and they're kept pretty busy. But, I will be doing more things with Billy both live and in the studio (when he's not busy with Yes!)." He continued, "As for studio stuff, I'm working on [...] a Yesish offshoot thing (not Arc)". He has previously referred to a mystery non-Arc project with Jon Davison. As well as In Continuum and the Yes tribute album (Yesterday and Today: A 50th Anniversary Tribute to Yes), Kerzner had written in Sep 2018 on ProgressiveEars.com that, "I may do some more stuff with both Jon, Billy and Geoff (either separately or in combination with each other)." In Aug 2020 on ProgressiveEars.com, he said he had "more than one side project with various musicians from Yes [...] in one band/project the music is co-written by me and in the other it isn't so..." The latter was Arc of Life. Soon after on Facebook he said, "I have yet another original music project that's Yes-related but it's almost completely unannounced apart from me hinting about it. There is a band name and no one but the people involved know what it is. It also involves someone from King Crimson but that's all I can say about that! Haha." Likewise, in Sep 2020 on ProgressiveEars.com, Kerzner posted, "Got a few in the works involving some of the guys mentioned in this thread [about Yes]. One project that I'm co-leader/co-singer of and another where I'm just the keyboard player for a change." In a late Dec 2020 Facebook post, after mentioning Arc of Life, Kerzner said, "I'm also working on a new album featuring Jon Davison and other musicians you know for another 2021 album release!" (He confirmed this is separate to the third In Continuum album, on which Davison appeared. Whatever it is, it didn't appear in 2021.) He continued, "This other album I mentioned is very Proggy and a bit retro as well." In a Feb 2021 post to ProgressiveEars.com, he said, "I am already co-writing new music with Jon D for another project". In the Feb 2021 Arc of Life interview with SOAL Night Live, after talking about In Continuum, Kerzner said, "I am writing with Jon [Davison] for some other things". In a May 2021 appearance on the Yes Music Podcast, Kerzner said he and Fernando Perdomo (In Continuum, The New Empire, worked with Mika) have some "Yes-ish" track ideas, and they might get Davison or Robin Schell to do vocals, or he could offer them to Arc of Life. In a Nov 2022 post to ProgressiveEars.com, he said, "guitarist Fernando Perdomo and I have been working on a separate Yes-like project that really blends an early 70's Yes influence with King Crimson and Pink Floyd especially in this one particular track. I might ask Billy and Jon to play and sing on it. It's a whole batch of different sounding material that needs a home so we'll probably build a project around it or release under our project called "Squids Out To Sea"."

Kerzner has worked on several tribute albums to classic prog bands (under the Sonic Elements name), and is aiming to release a Rush tribute and a tribute to Genesis's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 2024, both of which are expected to have Yes-related guests. IT - A Celebration of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway comes in various formats. A 3CD deluxe edition form is due 22 Nov 2024. There will also be a 2CD and digital version. CDs 1 & 2 cover the original album "reimagined as if it was a symphonic film soundtrack combined with authentic 70's vintage rock instruments (including many of Tony Banks' actual keyboards now owned by Kerzner)", while CD3 contains "instrumental mixes, film score-style ambient tracks, original music inspired by Genesis and alternate versions of songs from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadware". CDs 1 & 2 are performed by Kerzner (keys), Francis Dunnery (ex-It Bites, worked with ABWH; lead vocals, guitar), Nick D'Virgilio (Big Big Train, ex-Spock's Beard, ex-Genesis;drums) and Martin Levac (ex-The Musical Box), with various guests. The top-billed guests are Fernando Perdomo (Fusion Syndicate, In Continuum) and Billy Sherwood, while further guests include Lee Pomeroy, Steve Rothery (Marillion) and Dan Hancock (ex-Giraffe), plus a symphony orchestra recorded by Mark Hornsby and arranged by John Hinchey. Additional guests on CD3 include Nad Sylvan (Steve Hackett) and Randy McStine (Steven Wilson).

In Mar 2024, Kerzner said on Facebook, "I'm working on The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway! Laying in the final Arp parts this week dueling with various orchestral instruments! Francis Dunnery has finished all the vocals. Fernando Perdomo is wrapping up some bass and guitar. I'll add some of Tony Banks' original Mellotron and RMI to it and I think we'll be pretty darn close to the finish line soon!" In an 18 May 2024 Facebook comment, Kerzner also talked of "wrapping up the other tribute albums (Genesis, Rush etc)."

Released 2018 was Yesterd ay and Today: A 50th Anniversary Tribute to Yes by Sonic Elements and Kerzner is open to the possibility of a volume 2. Sonic Elements (Facebook; SoundCloud) is a group of progressive/classic rock projects led by Kerzner dating back several years and connected to his music software development company Sonic Reality. Further Sonic Elements releases are expected to include a lot of work with Billy Sherwood on bass. The original idea for Sonic Elements was to do tribute albums using drum tracks available through Sonic Reality by various famous drummers: a Rush tribute using Peart's drum tracks, a Pink Floyd tribute using Mason's, etc., thus mixing elements like the original recordings (parts recorded by the original drummer) with new elements, although the Yes tribute didn't take this approach. Then, as Kerzner explained to ProgressiveEars.com (Nov 2018):

In addition to that, the plan was/is to do some experimental original songs with these elements (particularly with the re-arranged drum tracks to other songs because drum parts on their own are copyright free in terms of songwriting). So, starting about 6 years ago Billy Sherwood and I co-wrote a bunch of vocal and instrumental tunes to drum tracks from Neil Peart, Nick Mason, Terry Bozzio, Billy Cobham and others. "Times Gone" and "Trifecta" [...] are examples of that [...] Most of those songs are predominantly Billy's style (especially with him writing lyrics [...]) and he sings them [...] But, that's just the start. It could possibly expand to include myself and others singing original songs with these various "elements" too.

Thus "Trifecta" and "Times Gone", which were released on 2012's XYZ�A Tribute to Rush, featured newly composed material performed by Sherwood and Kerzner to an existing drum track for Rush's "YYZ" and "Tom Sawyer" respectively that was recorded by Neil Peart for a sample library at Sonic Reality with producer Nick Raskulinecz (worked with Rush). In the Feb 2021 ProgressiveEars.com post, Kerzner said, "I have many unreleased tracks with Billy that will be finished and put out this year [2021]." However, these have yet to appear. Seemingly referring or related to the Trifecta album project, in Jan 2012, Kerzner said on Facebook: "Among the various music releases you can expect [...] are some original tunes, many of which have been done with ex-Yes-man Billy Sherwood along with SR sampled grooves of great drummers such as Rod Morgenstein of the Dixie Dregs." There was an accompanying clip to a piece entitled "Razors Edge" with Sherwood and samples from Morgenstein. Then there's "Racing Through Time" (sample), another original piece by Sherwood, this time using a sample library from Alan Parsons. On Facebook in Aug 2020, Kerzner referred to: "possibly an album of all original music released this year [2020] as well with Billy singing most of it and playing bass and some of the guitar. Me on keys and second vocals, acoustic guitar and producing it."

A special edition of XYZ�A Tribute to Rush was released in 2020 to commemorate Neil Peart's death. This includes "Times Gone", which was only available with some versions of the original album, and then adds three more songs: "I Can't Take You with Me" by District 97 (5:36); "The Impulsive Type" by Glass Hammer (4:37); and "Man Unkind" by In Continuum (5:50). "Man Unkind" is from In Continuum's Acceleration Theory Part One: AlienA:described on Davison's page. These extra songs are also on theXYZ�Charity Edition (Dedicated to Neil Peart), which raises money for charity.

Earlier that month, Kerzner explained on ProgressiveEars.com:

with Billy I've already recorded a LOT of material, both original and cover/tribute material that's been sitting here waiting to be finished when the time slot opens up. [...] Billy and I have been friends for decades so we could always collaborate deeper at some point and do more than experimental creative re-workings of drum tracks. That would be fun. The only thing is, he's one of the busiest guys I know (and I'm quite busy myself!)

Back in Sep 2015 on ProgressiveEars.com, Kerzner said: "The Lamb [Lies Down on Broadway tribute] as well as the Rush tribute and the Floyd tribute are all about 80% done and I'm looking forward to final tracking with Francis [Dunnery] and others then mixing them and releasing them!" Plans have evolved over time. Back in Dec 2011, Kerzner described to ProgressiveEars.com a plan consisting of:

Sonic Elements Fantasy Interactive Dark Side of the Moon w/ Alan Parsons
Sonic Elements XYZ Fantasy Band Tribute to Rush featuring Neil Peart Drums
Sonic Elements Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Fantasy Soundtrack Tribute to Genesis
Sonic Elements Trifecta (original music with Billy Sherwood and drums from Terry Bozzio, Rod Morgenstein, Neil Peart...)
Sonic Elements TBA fantasy progressive rock project featuring...

... all involving Sherwood in some capacity. In Apr 2012, Kerzner said that there:

will at least be another EP of different [Rush] material (the "keyboard era" stuff) and then eventually a full album and that will have different versions of some of these songs on it as well.

Plus there's going to interactive versions of the songs similar to Jammit except they can work inside products like AmpliTube where you can play guitar through modeled amps and pedals or inside Garageband and play anything you want. That's coming along with Neil Peart's isolated drum tracks. But these interactive versions are more for musicians to interact with.

In a Feb 2023 interview, Kerzner described, "a Genesis tribute album we're going to finish this year", later saying, "I've been working on this since 2011". In the NewEARS Prog show interview (Dec 2022), Kerzner said, "I'm releasing, in 2023, a multi-disc Genesis tribute album. [...] One of them is a retrospective of a few songs from each of the albums, going back to the very first one, up to I think Genesis, Genesis. And I'm doing that with Fernando Perdomo, like the same way we did [...] Yesterday and Today [...] where we split up the tasks and, y'know, I handled a certain era and he handled another [...] like the first Yes album, he did. [...] He did do the same thing on From Genesis to Revelation. [...] then, of course, there's [...] the entire Lamb Lies Down on Broadway done with Francis Dunnery [ex-It Bites; on vocals] and various guests. Nick D'Virgilio on drums. Me on keyboards. And then a surprise additional thing I did with Martin Levac, Matt Dorsey. [...] I can't say what it is yet. It's sort of like a lost Genesis album, let's just say." He also mentioned John Mitchell, Nad Sylvan and Alex "Yatte" Chod as vocalists on the first of these. In the Feb 2023 interview, Kerzner described how the Lamb tribute, which he has produced, was originally going to have different vocalists, until Dunnery persuaded him to just have one singer throughout. He implied that some of the earlier versions of Lamb tracks with different vocalists will be included on the first disc, including Sherwood singing "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and Nad Sylvan on "The Chamber of 32 Doors", while that set will also have John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost*) singing "I Know What I Like".

In a Nov 2022 interview, Kerzner said he had just been talking to Fernando Perdomo about "our tribute albums" and said, "I'm going to finish that" about the Rush album. He also said they want to finish the Genesis tribute album, then continued, "At some point, we might want to do a John Wetton one." On Facebook that same month, he said, "I'd really like to finish certain tribute albums that have been in the works for a LONG long time. That's a Genesis one (first), a Rush one and the Pink Floyd with your favorite musician AP who engineered some of it years ago. I will finish it and release it in 2023. Have to!" In an Oct 2012 post to ProgressiveEars.com, Kerzner said the next Rush-related release would be the full-length album Moving Signals & Waves, covering tracks from the Rush albums Moving Pictures, Signals and Permanent Waves. Mixing was going on in May 2013. Confirmed tracks for the album included "Digital Man" with Sherwood (vocals, guitar, bass), Kerzner (keys) and Perdomo (guitars); "Spirit of Radio", with Sherwood (bass), Kerzner (keys), Mike Keneally (ex-Frank Zappa, ex-Stanley Snail, worked with Robert Fripp; guitars), D'Virgilio (vocals); and "Subdivisions", with Kerzner, John Payne (ex-Asia, Asia Featuring John Payne; vocals) and Erik Norlander (ex-Asia Featuring John Payne). Another song on the album features Kerzner (keys), Sherwood (bass, guitar), Steve Hackett (Squackett, ex-GTR, ex-Genesis) and Keith Emerson (ex-ELP), while either that one or another features guitar from both Hackett and Francis Dunnery (ex-It Bites, ex-The Syn, worked with ABWH). The album was also to include the 4 Rush tracks on the XYZEP, but in different versions. At various times, Kerzner or others have described covers of further Rush songs:

Dunnery also sang on some of the Rush songs.

Kerzner explained on Facebook in Sep 2021 about two Genesis tribute albums: "A general one with a variety of songs from the first album up to at least the Mama album and then there's another one that's the full Lamb album." The plan, after some evolution, had been for a tribute to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway led by Kerzner (keys) and Dunnery (lead vocals), both of whom also worked on Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited 2 album. The album, It: A Tribute to Genesis & The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (teaser), was due 2015 but has been long delayed. On Facebook in Mar 2020, Kerzner said the album would be released in 2020, but it was further delayed. In Nov 2022, Kerzner said on Facebook, "It's been in the works for a long time and we just need to finish vocals with Francis [Dunnery] for 4 or 5 tunes, maybe a few more Tony Banks' keyboard [sample] overdubs and then mix it. I'd really like to get it done sooner than later so we'll see how it goes!" It features multiple guests, including Sherwood, Steve Rothery (Marillion), Lee Pomeroy (Anderson Rabin Wakeman, Rick Wakeman, It Bites, Steve Hackett), Dan Hancock (ex-Giraffe), Martin Levac (The Musical Box) and Nad Sylvan (Steve Hackett). The album is described as "done in a "classic rock-meets-modern film score" style combining authentic vintage instruments from the 70s (including sounds recorded at Genesis' studio with engineer Nick Davis) along with a full orchestra." Previous reports have also mentioned the involvement of Stan Cotey (ex-Giraffe), McStine and Mark Hornsby (worked with D'Virgilio), plus the use of samples of Tony Banks' keyboard playing. Sherwood plays on at least "Lilywhite Lilith". He also sang lead vocals on versions of that song and "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway": those and "Chamber of 32 Doors" sang by Sylvan were expected as bonus material on the album. A Peter Gabriel cover, "Rhythm of the Night", with Dunnery (vocals), using Sonic Reality's Jerry Marotta drum library was also mooted. In Jul 2020, Perdomo mentioned on Facebook Tony Levin recording bass tracks for "the Genesis Tribute Album Dave Kerzner and I are producing". In Sep 2022, Kerzner referred on ProgressiveEars.com to "Fernando [Perdomo] and I are also doing [...] a separate thing - a deluxe tribute album to Genesis with covers of their songs like we did for Yes's 50th Anniversary". In another post that month, he said, "[Alex "Yatte" Chod and I] were working on a Genesis tribute album (multi-disc big thing actually) he was nailing some stuff from DUKE [...] I've asked people like Alex and also Martin Levac to contribute to either or both the Genesis tribute album and [Kerzner's solo album, The Traveler]".

The Pink Floyd/Dark Side of the Moon project involves Nick Mason (ex-Pink Floyd), Davis, Dorie Jackson (works with Dunnery, ex-The Syn; vocals), Guy Pratt (worked with Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson; bass), Colin Edwin (ex-Porcupine Tree; bass), Natalie Azerad (vocals), Durga & Lorelei McBroom (vocals). The Sonic Elements Facebook page in Jan 2013 said: "I've assembled a Sonic Elements band in LA this week to work with the McBroom sisters [...] Billy Sherwood, Randy McStine, Fernando Perdomo and myself (with Pink Floyd's rhythm section already recorded/sampled)". An update in Jan 2014 announced The Dark Side of Sonic Elements album for 2014 with Sherwood, Dunnery, McStine, the McBrooms and "utilizing the brand new Sonic Reality 2014 sample library releases from Nick Mason, Guy Pratt, Alan Parsons, the McBroom Sisters and more." This has yet to appear. Various further progressive rock covers have been described. Kerzner's also described doing 3 tracks for an Alan Parsons project with Sherwood. An ELP cover with Keith Emerson (ex-ELP; keys) and Payne (vocals) was planned.

In Mar 2018 on ProgressiveEars.com, Kerzner updated us thus:

I was just talking with Francis Dunnery about finishing up The Lamb tracks next month [Apr 2018]. The Rush tribute is the closest to finish and I was just holding out to do a track with David Longdon of Big Big Train [...] but it would have to be built from scratch since I don't have the drum track from Neil Peart for that song... and I was going to play it from the keyboard using Neil's drum samples but it's in 5/8 and a little tricky. A fun challenge but I need a bit of time to do it right. Arrrggghhh. Maybe I'll still do it. There's also an original music side to the project too and I have material from Glass Hammer, Billy Sherwood and others for that as well. The Floyd tribute split into two projects, one I did with Alan Parsons participating and the other that's become a female led Floyd tribute sung by the McBroom Sisters and it'll be their album that I'm co-producing which will also have original songs written with various people who played with Floyd like Guy Pratt, Jon Carin and others. Even a tune they wrote with Lemmy from Motorhead will be on that one. Some of the guys from Australian Pink Floyd are helping finish that album because I've gotten a bit too overloaded to do ALL of them at the same time. There is also another Genesis-related Sonic Elements thing that may come out as well but it hasn't been announced publicly so that's probably the lowest priority. Then there's the Yes stuff which I don't know if I have enough to do a full album of Yes music. Might put those on an SE compilation album or something just to get everything I've worked on a home and unless we do any others (might) that will wrap up the tributes. Obviously if they do really well for my distributors there could be more. [...] I'm imposing my own deadline of releasing them all before the end of the year [2018]. Probably around Summer time or at least by the end of the year [2018] as I'll be playing some of it on CTTE!

exo-X-xeno
exo-X-xeno (Facebook, Bandcamp) released a single, "Onward, Love" (YouTube) on 15 Jan 2021. A second song, "Reaching for Beyond" (YouTube), followed 5 Jul 2021. The band consists of Craig Maher (guitars, lead vocals), Billy Sherwood (bass, backing vocals), Patrick Moraz (keys) and Jay Schellen (drums). Maher wrote both songs, and both were mastered by Maor Appelbaum (worked with Yes, Arc of Life). They are working on an album, Luminous Voyage.

White Car
Leon Alvarado (worked with Rick Wakeman, Billy Sherwood, Trey Gunn, John Goodsall) had described a forthcoming project called White Car with Billy Sherwood,Jon Davison and Johnny Bruhns (ex-CIRCA:, ex-Yoso). Alvarado said on 20 Mar 2020 on Facebook, "This is coming down the pipe but because of the Covid-19 situation we aren't sure as to when it will be completed." However, asked about in a 4 Jul 2020 interview, Sherwood said he "didn't know about that project". In May 2021, Alvarado posted an update to Facebook, saying:

Update on new music. It has been a long time since I have put out any music at all. My circumstances went through a lot of changes with being put out for two years as we fixed our house from massive flood damaged and rebuilt the studio. Finalizing things just to get under the pandemic which delayed things even more. However, during that period I did managed to make some music from time to time but not all of it goes well with each other. I just started to work on unfinished projects and even though there's enough material to fill up a regular album, it is very different sound-wise between one another so they will have to be subdivided into different releases. Some of the work was done with Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison and Johnny Bruhns. Billy and Johnny played on my last record release and this was the first time I worked with Jon but he's such a professional. In the middle of that project I got distracted by another project I was working on prior to that one. [...] To put it into perspective, the work I am doing with the Yes chaps sounds a lot like Yes and so I'll keep it that way. The work I am doing with these other musicians sounds very different from that

Edison's Lab
US prog band Edison's Lab previously collaborated with Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye. On Facebook in late Feb 2017, Edison's Lab's Kurt Schweizer (drums) announced that Jon Davison would be guesting "on one of our recordings in the extremely near future." And that they "are also greatly looking forward to further work with [...] Sherwood in the not too distant future." He went on to explain that Davison's appearance will be on "a remix of one of our songs with Sherwood and Kaye from our last album. But we do have some brand new stuff in the works. :) Got some basic tracks for a couple things already laid down." Davison has sung 4 tracks of backing vocals for the song "Difference" from the band's debut EP, which otherwise has lead and backing vocals by Sherwood and keys by Kaye: this was released digitally in late 2018. Edison's Lab are working towards a new album. Davison has talked to the band about doing a whole EP or album together.

Lobate ScarpLobate Scarp is a California band consisting of Adam Sears (composer, vocals, keys), Andy Catt (bass), Peter Matuchniak (guitar), Lance Crane (drums), Emer Kinsella (violin), Mike Gerbrandt (drums) and Andrea Whitt (viola). Their second album, You Have It All, was released 2022. Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood guest on vocals on the title track. The album expands on their 2019 EP Spirals and Portals, with new versions of two out of the three songs from that release. Tracks:

  1. "Conduit" (6:41), instrumental, with Eric Moore (ex-Suicidal Tendencies) on drums and Ryo Okumoto (Spock's Beard) on keys
  2. "Nothing Wrong" (6:17), new version of song previously on Spirals and Portals
  3. "In the Night I" (0:51)
  4. "Life-Line" (5:55), with Jimmy Keegan (ex-Spock's Beard) on drums
  5. "You Have It All" (14:30)
  6. "In the Night II" (1:03)
  7. "Beautiful Light" (5:46), new version of song previously on Spirals and Portals
  8. "Our Test Tube Universe" (7:33)
  9. "Flowing Through the Change" (17:20)
    1. "Futureflow"
    2. "In the Night III"
    3. "Dreamflow"
    4. "A New Beginning"
    5. "Dreams are Coming True" Rich Mouser (worked with Spock�s Beard, Transatlantic) mixed and mastered the album; he also co-produced and engineered some tracks, plus performed dilruba on "Nothing Wrong". Steve Leavitt co-produced and engineered; he also contributed additional piano, harmonium, reverse snares to "Nothing Wrong".John Wetton tributes There was a memorial concert to the late John Wetton (who had played with Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Rick Wakeman, Tony Kaye, Peter Banks, Trevor Horn, Trevor Rabin, Eddie Jobson and Billy Sherwood) on 3 Aug 2023. A stream of the concert was available. The concert and stream raisied money for Macmillan Caring Locally. The event was organised with Wetton's widow Lisa and son Dylan, plus QEDG Management (who managed Wetton and also manage Yes). It was hosted by Prog editor Jerry Ewing, with Geoff Downes, Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis, ex-GTR, ex-Squackett), and Roger Dean (who also did the poster for the event). Also appearing were Billy Sherwood, Rick Wakeman, Bill Bruford, Jay Schellen, Chris Braide (Downes Braide Association), Mel Collins (ex-King Crimson, worked with Chris Squire), Phil Manzanera (ex-Roxy Music, worked with John Wetton), Martin Orford (worked with John Wetton), Roger Chapman (ex-Family), Annie Haslam (Renaissance), Jim Cregan (ex-Family), David Cross (ex-King Crimson), Jakko Jakszyk (ex-King Crimson), Chris Difford (Squeeze), Dave Kilminster (ex-Qango, worked with John Wetton, Carl Palmer, Steven Wilson), John Mitchell (Lonely Robot, Frost*, worked with John Wetton), Guy Pratt (Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets, worked with Pink Floyd, The Orb, Madonna), Harry Whitley and Laurie Wisefield (Snakecharmer, ex-Wishbone Ash, worked with Tina Turner), with the Paul Green Rock Academy (work with Jon Anderson, worked with John Wetton) acting as the house band for most of the evening. Announced as the Asia All-Stars were Downes, Sherwood, Schellen, Mitchell and Whitley, who performed a set of Asia and Icon material, with guests. There were also video tributes from Steve Howe and others. Set list (Ewing as comp�re):

An Extraordinary Life (Spirit of Unicorn Records, SOUMBOX003) was an 8CD box set commemorating John Wetton (trailer). It contains all six of his studio solo albums: Caught in the Crossfire (1980), Battle Lines (1994), Arkangel (1997), Sinister (2000), Rock of Faith (2003, with Geoff Downes) andRaised in Captivity (2011, with Billy Sherwood, Tony Kaye and Eddie Jobson), remastered by Maor Appelbaum

(works with Sherwood) and with bonus material, including 2 bonus discs curated by Rick Nelson. The bonus discs include studio and live material, most previously unreleased. There is a 64-page hardback book by Nick Shilton with interviews with Wetton's collaborators and friends, art by Michael Inns and a foreword by Dean. The set includes artwork chosen by Wetton towards the end of his life. Wetton's widow Lisa and son Dylan were involved in the project. Promo descibed the release as the "First in an ongoing series of box sets celebrating the life and times of this incredible musician." Tracks:

CD1: Caught in the Crossfire, including the bonus tracks from the 1999 re-release, "Every Inch of the Way", "Out of the Blue"
CD2: Battle Lines (also released as Voice Mail), including "Battle Lines (acoustic version)", the bonus track from the 1996 re-release
CD3: Arkangel, including "Take These Tears" inserted as track 13, the bonus track from the 2010 re-release
CD4: Welcome to Heaven (also released as Sinister), with no bonus tracks
CD5: Rock of Faith, including Japanese bonus tracks "Cold Comfort", "God Only Knows"
CD6: Raised in Captivity, including the Japanese bonus track "Face to Face"

CD7:

  1. "AD 2023" [Wetton/Steve Hackett/Rick Nelson]
  2. "Raven" [Wetton]
  3. "Walking on Air" [Wetton/Downes/Bob Marlette]
  4. "Straight from the Heart" [Bryan Adams/Eric Kagna]
  5. "If I was a Country" [Wetton/Marlette]
  6. "All Along the Watchtower" [Bob Dylan]
  7. "Deya" [Wetton]
  8. "Tears of Rage" [Wetton]
  9. "Marianne" [Wetton/Billy Liesegang], from the Killer Dogs project organised by Trevor Horn, with Wetton, Liesegang and George De Angelis
  10. "Healer of Shattered Hearts" [Wetton]
  11. "I'd Give It All for You" [Wetton/Sue Shifrin]
  12. "Ultimate Emotion (unfinished idea)" [Wetton/Jim Vallance]
  13. "Wings of Angels" [Wetton]
  14. "Wings of an Angel" [Downes/Greg Lake]
  15. "All for One" [Tony Franklin/Wetton]
  16. "From a Distant Heart" [Wetton/Dick Wagner]
  17. "Real World" [Wetton/Richard Starkey], with Ringo Starr, presumably the version from The Studio Recordings Anthology
  18. "The Greatest Show on Earth (JW Edit)" [various artists, edit by Nelson]
  19. "Adagietto" [Wetton], previously released for a Down syndrome fundraising compilation
  20. "The Water is Wide" [anonymous], previously released live performance CD8:
  21. "Raised in Captivity" [Wetton/Marlette]
  22. "The Other Guy (Second Best)" [Wetton/Shifrin]
  23. "I Will" [Wetton/Shifrin]
  24. "Bad Thing" [Wetton/Shifrin]
  25. "Boys of the Diamond City" [Downes/Johnny Warman], a song planned for Downes' Rain project
  26. K2: "Flesh and Blood" [Wetton/Misha Calvin/Carl Palmer]
  27. K2: "Burn Your Name in My Heart" [Wetton/Calvin/Palmer]
  28. "Sex, Power and Money" [Wetton/Curt Cuomo/Harry Perzigian]
  29. "Back in Your Lovin' Arms" [Wetton/C Cuomo/Perzigian]
  30. "Every Inch of the Way" [Wetton/C Cuomo], duet with Lori Cuomo
  31. "I Can't Tell You Why" [Wetton/C Cuomo/Perzigian]
  32. "Winner Takes It All (demo)" [Giorgio Moroder]
  33. "Mind Over Matter (demo)" [Moroder]
  34. "Gypsy Soul (demo)" [Moroder]
  35. "Wasted Time" [Wetton/Robin George]
  36. "You Still Got Me" [Wetton]
  37. "Halfway to Heaven" [Wetton/Shifrin]
  38. "I'll Never Stop Loving You" [Wetton/Shifrin/David Cassidy]
  39. "Forever Adagietto" [Wetton/Shifrin], demo with Wetton (lead vocals, keys), Sue Shifrin (backing vocals), Carl Palmer (drums), Alan Murphy (guitars); the song was re-worked as "Prisoner" on David Cassidy's 1990 album David Cassidy The book of the same name from publisher Rocket 88 is a collection of reminiscences with contributions from Downes, Bruford, Howe, Sherwood, R Wakeman, O Wakeman, Roger Dean, Carl Palmer and others, is now out. It was 3rd in the multimedia section of Prog magazine's 2023 critics' choice.Concentus: The John Wetton Live Collection, Volume 1 (Spirit of Unicorn, SOUMBOX572; trailer) is a 10CD boxset that follows 15 Nov 2024. This re-masters 7 of Wetton's solo live albums, plus a tenth disc of previously unreleased live material. The collection includes numerous songs originally written with Geoff Downes forAsia, or Eddie Jobson and Bill Bruford for UK.

The Madrigal Project

11th Hour, due 11 Oct 2024 digitally, on CD and 2LP, is a new album from The Madrigal Project, led by Kevin Dodson (ex-Madrigal), with John van Houdt, Harry Fix and Charles Swanson, with guests Billy Sherwood on bass, Oliver Wakeman on keys, Jane Getter on guitar, Adam Holzman (worked with Steven Wilson, Miles Davis, Jane Getter) on keys, and Michael Lewis (Inventioning, ex-Anderson Ponty Band). Kevin approached Wakeman, who in turn suggested Sherwood should be involved. Tracks:

  1. "Maude Frantic", with a Hammond solo by Wakeman
  2. "A Question of Wait and Matter" (5:38), with Sherwood (bass), Holzman (keys); lyric video
  3. "Canvas"
  4. "I'm No One"
  5. "11th Hour"
  6. "Breaking August"
  7. "Sumpin' Ovit"
  8. "Sisters"
  9. "Boat 5"

| John Vehadija Light Freedom Revival (Facebook) is a project headed by singer-songwriter John Vehadija (worked with Jon Anderson). The project's most recent Yes-related release was 2020's 4CD boxset in tribute to Jon Anderson: Musicsoul Continuum: Jon Anderson Love of Music Homage. This included one disc with Dylan Howe on drums, and another with Oliver Wakeman on keys. In Aug 2019, a YouTube trailer appeared promoting a forthcoming Yes tribute album, Yesgenes (White Oil Record) with Billy Sherwood, O Wakeman and D Howe. United Progressive Fraternity Planetary Overload Part 1: Loss (GEP, GEPCD1061;details in Yescography), released 2019, and Part 2: Hope, due maybe 2024, come from United Progressive Fraternity (Facebook). The band are led by Mark "Truey" Trueack (Unitopia) and Steve Unruh (The Samurai of Prog), but with a plethora of others involved, including Jon Davison, who appeared on Loss. It seemed like he may also be on Hope, but that appears not now to be the case. The project dates back some years. Trueack and Stephen Layton (worked with Jon Anderson) made contact in 2009 and planned a project called The Hope to feature multiple guest musicians. That led to Jon Anderson guesting on an album entitled Fall in Love with the World, the United Progressive Fraternity debut, released 2014. A single album The Hope was then initially expected, but the project evolved further, splitting into 2 albums. Trueack was also, at various times, in contact with Anderson, Billy Sherwood, Igor Khoroshev and Nikki Squire about possibly guesting, but none of them are now involved. | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |

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YES and projects with several Yesmen Jon Anderson Chris Squire Steve Howe Alan White
Geoff Downes Trevor Horn Tony Kaye Peter Banks Patrick Moraz
Bill Bruford Rick Wakeman Trevor Rabin Billy Sherwood Igor Khoroshev Oliver Wakeman
Beno�t David Jon Davison Asia CIRCA: Anderson Rabin Wakeman Others associated with the band

Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts. Thanks.