| Artist: | Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Robert Berry | Roundabout | | | | ||
| 2. Stanley Snail | Siberian Khatru | | | | | |
| 3. Steve Morse | Mood For A Day | | | | | |
| 4. Magellan | Don't Kill The Whale | | | | ||
| 5. Haslam/Howe | Turn Of The Century | | | | | |
| 6. Shadow Gallery | Release, Release | | | | ||
| 7. World Trade | Wondrous Stories | | | | ||
| 8. Cairo South | Side Of The Sky | | | | | |
| 9. Patrick Moraz | Soon | | | | | |
| 10. Enchant | Changes | | | | ||
| 11. Peter Banks | Astral Traveller | | | | | |
| 12. Steve Morse | Clap | | | | | |
| 13. Jeronimo Road | Starship Trooper | | | | ||
Tales From Yesterday was the first album to be released in a seemingly endless series of such works on the Magna Carta label. The intention of such works was to feature the early music of various progressive bands transported into the modern age by varied musicians. Perhaps not surprisingly, the project was a half-success.
TFY does contain some very good moments -- most notably the tracks by Moraz, Howe/Haslam, and "Stanley Snail" -- wherein classic Yes recordings are given faithful but varied treatment in the hands of masters. It also contains several tracks which feature the Magna Carta house bands making a royal mess of the original arrangements, seemingly without a clue of why they were making the recordings in the first place. With one (very surprising) exception, most of the latter recordings are pedestrian, and show little trace of the "magic" which graced the original recordings.
I suppose that this is par for the course. Tribute albums aren't generally known for highlighting works of consistent brilliance, and the presence of a few "winners" is probably enough to call the project a relative success. It is also perhaps a measure of some success that most Yes members have been complimentary to the album (as opposed to Rush, who successfully prevented their Magna Carta "tribute" album from being released in Canada) -- of course, the fact that four musicians from the Yes circle were involved in the project (Howe, Moraz, Banks, Sherwood) may have had something to do with this distinction. Still, the matter of why exactly this album was made in the first place may never be sufficiently explained.
The album begins on a strange note with Robert Berry's version of "Roundabout". It doesn't even come close to matching the original, but Berry at least deserves some credit for radically altering the structure of the song almost entirely while keeping its basic essence intact. This song isn't so much a remake as a re-invention of the track; this, in itself, partly makes up for some of the tracks deficiencies (ie. since Berry can't sing like Jon Anderson, it's a point to his favour that he doesn't even try to). On the down side, this song also features the first traces of a creeping prog-metal influence throughout the album; the "power-rock" elements are played a bit too heavily in this context. This track does merit a "good" rating in the final judgement, but only just.
The second track is easily one of the better works here. "Stanley Snail" was a makeshift label given to the sadly brief union of Kevin Gilbert (RIP), Mike Keneally, and Nick D'Virgilio (with a bassist to round out the ensemble). These musicians stand head and shoulders above the Magna Carta acts in terms of talent and, more particularly, taste in composition; it's really a shame that they didn't have time for more developed collaborations. The track begins with a red-hot guitar line which comes very close to matching the original; after this, all instruments develop the song in a manner remarkably faithful to the original. Even the vocals sound somewhat similar to those of Anderson and Squire, with the exception of a few (forgiveable) strained notes here and there. Any complaints about an overly "by the book" remake, however, would seem to be refuted by the inclusion of a snippet of Bruford's "The Sahara Of Snow" in mid-song. Also of note is that the lines "turn round, glider" do not conclude with a sharp vocal ascension, leaving the music after it to emerge in a more relaxed manner (quasi-Canterbury?) -- this may only be a minor nuance, but it does make some measure of a difference. A triumph.
Steve Morse's "Mood For A Day" consists of the artist playing the track, without some of the vitality of the original version. There isn't anything particularly wrong with this recording, but it's hardly essential.
Another Magna Carta band makes an appearance at this juncture. Magellan's version of "Don't Kill The Whale" is another "successful, but only just" track. The band deserves some credit for the rearranged introduction; sadly, the track takes a serious downturn for the first minute after the programmed drums begin, and the metalized "CETACEI" section is rather painful to listen to. Were it not for a few signs of life in the keyboard and guitar departments toward the end, this track would easily be docked another half-star. Furthermore, it cannot be overlooked that this group seems to have no clue how to end a song without a hopelessly drawn out arrangement. Finally, one might wonder why on earth they decided to cover this track in the first place.
The album then reaches another high point with Steve Howe and Annie Haslam's version of "Turn Of The Century" (with minimal accompaniment from keyboards and bass in the second half of the work). The guitar introduction remains beautiful in this version, and Haslam's voice naturally compliments this extremely well (though perhaps a bit more time for preparation may have solved the problem of the final half-star). An interesting version of one of Yes's better late-'70s works.
A mediocre version of "Release, Release" (never a terribly good song to begin with) comes next. Shadow Gallery, another Magna Carta band, provide a generally tedious prog-metal adaptation of the piece, moronic drum solo and all. The Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman imitations at the end do, in fairness, and a bit of life to the piece; these fellows have their chops, but seemingly don't know what to do with them ... though I suppose this criticism could apply to the original version as well.
World Trade, at the time of this recording, was little more than a front for Billy Sherwood's projects. As such, this particular track makes his current membership in Yes seem a little disturbing. This is, sadly, a rather pedestrian run-through, showing off Sherwood's unimaginative vocal performance for all to hear. The Rick Wakeman imitation deserves a bit of credit, but not much.
Next is the biggest surprise of the project. By most accounts, Cairo are a loboto-prog-metal band of limited abilities -- the sort of fellows who would have fit in well in the hair-metal scene of the late 1980s. Their lacklustre performance on Supper's Ready, the Genesis tribute album would seem to bear this out. In spite of this, however, they managed to come up with the most successful Magna Carta track on this particular album; even though the first section is too mired in substance-free chords to make much of an impact, the middle section is a work of beauty to almost match the Fragile version. The ending section also isn't bad; if nothing else it captures the mood of the original very well. This may be the only worthwhile aspect of the band's career thus far, but it points to potential successes in the future.
Patrick Moraz's solo version of "Soon" may be the best recording here. Moraz's approach to the song is rather "free", using various changes to the melodic development at its most finite level. Shifting easily from classical to jazz mannerisms, Moraz creates a version of the track on par with the original in terms of quality, if a bit distinct in terms of the specific arrangement.
Then, we have Enchant (yet another Magna Carta ensemble) muddling through "Changes", the token Yeswest song of the album. The AOR elements are pumped up fairly high here, with an obnoxious guitar line immediately following the 17/4 section, banal vocals, and a terrible chorus performance (the verses aren't quite as bad, thus explaining the fact that the song isn't a total failure). The token Yeswest track could certainly have been worse ("Changes" isn't so bad of a song, and the band at least keeps its structure intact), but one wonders if this was really necessary in the first place.
Peter Banks's version of "Astral Traveller" is a fairly good adaptation, if not a great one. Although the rhythm is completely changed from the original, the melody appears in a manner almost identical to that of Time And A Word. The jazzier section is an easy high point, as is the buildup towards the ending. On the down side, the track does feature a few too many metallish elements for comfort (which may have been the responsibility of Robert Berry, who "assisted" Banks with the recording).
Steve Morse's version of "Clap" is more notable than his earlier performance -- in the absence of any previous studio version, this particular number doesn't seem nearly as superfluous as it might have otherwise. Morse also delivers a better performance than before for this rather trickier piece. On it's own terms, it's a very good work; still, though, it's hard to say what purpose it serves.
Jeronimo Road's version of "Starship Trooper" is generally considered to be the low point of the album. Although it certainly isn't good, I would choose to argue that its demerits have been somewhat overrated. JR is a band led by Adam Wakeman (Rick's son), who seems to have inherited his father's ability to spot a terrible vocalist to fit the absurdly overblown nature of the recordings in question; as against this, Adam isn't that bad of a keyboardist, and saves the song from being a total failure (despite the terrible arrangement, the total lack of talent on the part of the guitarist, and the godawful caterwauling that begins the "Wurm" section of the piece). One way or the other, though, it isn't much to brag about.
And such is Tales From Yesterday: a typical tribute album that could easily be edited by about half without losing the essential tracks. Completists will buy it anyway, casual fans might be intrigued by the novelty of the work, and serious fans will probably want to hear the good tracks -- as such, this work merits a qualified recommendation.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 29 September 1997)