----------------------------------------------------- NOVEMBER 25, 1997 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: The Bergen Record (New Jersey) http://www.bergen.com/yourtime/yes19971123o3.htm This time, it's edgy Seventies art-rock By Hali Helfgott Yes, the group is still around. Spawned in the late Sixties, Yes peaked in the mid-Seventies during the heyday of the rock anthem era, staged a glitzy comeback in the Eighties, and is still churning out songs as members careen toward middle age. If the fervor at recent sold-out shows is any indication, Yes will continue to endure as a classic rock band. The group's new recording, "Open Your Eyes," due in stores today, caps a 30-year-career that climaxed in the vanguard of the Seventies art-rock movement with "I've Seen All Good People," "Roundabout," "And You and I," and "Long Distance Runaround." Veteran members -- vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist and vocalist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, and drummer Alan White -- are joined by new guitarist and keyboardist Billy Sherwood for the band's first studio recording available in the United States in 10 years. The album is on Beyond Records, a joint venture between Left Bank Organization and Tommy Boy Records. It's more concise and not full of "the 20-minute, epic pieces we would normally do," said White, in a phone interview from Fairfax, Va., after a recent performance there. Songs like "Open Your Eyes," the album's first single, as well as "No Way We Can Lose," and "New State of Mind" all have memorable melodies and uplifting lyrics about compassion and the meaning of life. The recording is more song than musical suite, and represents a "slightly more commercial side of the band," White said. One goal, White said, is to attract a younger audience who might not be familiar with the band's early songs, "drawing them into listening to longer pieces." Squire said the band wanted to return to basics with the new release. "We tried to combine the best of the Seventies and Eighties versions of Yes," he said. "But rather than just emulate those time periods, we obviously wanted to give the music a modern slant. So the album has definitely got flavors from all the eras of Yes, but with that edge." One of the songs, "Man in the Moon," had languished in Sherwood's recording studio. But when Squire heard it, he knew immediately that lyrics he had written in the 1970s would blend perfectly with Sherwood's backing track. Yes has staged a number of comebacks during its long career. The band reemerged in the mid-Eighties with guitarist Trevor Rabin and keyboard player Rick Wakeman for its "90125" album, which featured the hits "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and "Leave It." Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com