Olias has held up amazingly well after 40+ years. So has Fish Out Of Water. Anderson has an understanding of music and rhythm unlike any other singer I can think of. Two awesome and very underrated prog records, IMHO.
I bought Olias of Sunhillow when it came out, and last week listened to it for the first time (in total) since then - and remembered every lyric and musical inflection. Like most Yes music, it's simply beautiful.
The songwriting and vocals of Yes is Jon Anderson. It's sad that Squire abandoned the most unique voice in the history of Rock music. They can enlist tribute band singers to infinity but without JA Yes just isn't Yes. From 1970 - 1975 no one could touch the Prog movement that Yes gave us. I'm blessed to have grown up in that wonderful period of time.
Thank you for this post. To me, this was Yes's most prolific, artistic period. Hot off the Heels of Relayer. They Sold Out Stadiums across the country. This was a Fantastic time to be a Yes Fan.
Not knowing what was *actually* around the corner helped, I'm sure. :-( I came to Yes a little late and will kick myself the rest of my life for not getting into them earlier.
I think they're trying to out-whisper each other. While Olias is nearly my favorite of the Yes solo albums, I disagree that it sounds the most like Yes. I think Squire's does, at least as much. Actually, I guess I like Olias, Fish Out of Water, and Six Wives equally well. What an amazing time for music. It has never really been surpassed.
Jon looks wonderful! Olias, different from Yes works but a All-time Masterpiece, greatly underscored. My Favorite Jewel, usually love listening it while running on summer holidays at the beach seaside early in the morning, a real transporting espiritual experience...! Thnaks for so nice post!
Thanks for posting. I remember this SO well. As I do the Melody Maker review for Olias back in that glorious summer of 76. The headline was, Hail Olias of Accrington :)
Chris Squire and the rest of YES never gave up on Jon Anderson. The band was faced with 2 choices, sit and wait for Jon to be healthy enough to return to the band, which had no date of his return in site, or if he would ever be healthy enough to return, or acquire a temporary vocalist and proceed in that fashion leaving the door open for Jon to return at any time. I am a long time YES fan from 1974 and attended over 100 YES concerts, and I believe Squire made the right decision. Anderson suffered from respiratory failure, and this is something you never truly recover from. His condition was complicated by the fact that his vocal chords were injured by the tubes that went down his throat during his lengthy hospitalization. It was going to be quite a long time before Anderson would be returning to the stage. I think the rest of the band owed it to the fans and to themselves to move forward. The band had only a few years left. When Jon returned to performing, he did a solo tour, but the events were 7 - 10 days apart, and was planned that way to made sure hew was not over burdened. I saw one of those shows in L.A., and he commented that singing over his acoustic guitar was not a problem, but singing over the sounds of YES in concert would be challenging for him at that time. I believe that YES had completed 2 tours without him by that time. Enough said.
Anderson stoned out of his tits here , and before his American accent kicked in to meld with with Lancastrian drawl . Olias is the best solo album of any Yes member and it does sound closest to the Yes sound .
An extra sentence: The tour where they did three complete albums - The Yes Album, Close To The Edge, and Going For The One. Even without Jon Anderson it was absolutely magical.
OK, so apparently this is Jon Anderson's Flight of the Moorglade. But what is the animation film? Who made it? Was it especially made for / to this song? Does anyone know? I'm really curious...
The accompanying film was made by this TV show, The Old Grey Whistle Test. Usually when an artist hadn't made a promo video, the Old Grey Whistle Test made a FilmFinders video where they accompanied the music with a piece of film in their archives. One famous FilmFinders clip is Trampled Underfoot by Led Zeppelin set to footage of various speakeasys in the 20s etc...
If you play it again, you'll notice that the host lets Jon correct him after the video is done. I can understand--they're both in the same key and are in much the same tempo, and each one closes out its respective LP side.
Well, now that it's this lame 2012/2013 "mustache" trend, can we bring back 75-76 mustache Jon Anderson? Just any excuse. Great stop action puppet footage, even if it had nothing to do with the survivors of a doomed planet finding a new home or the fellow who also did the cover of Hair of the Dog.
