j o e

First solo album by Yes' former jack-of-all-trades. Sherwood is a talented musician, who contributed a lot to the success of The Ladder and presented like a team player. While this last attribute appears not to have helped within the Machavellian climes of Yes, it did lend the band a bit of needed dignity. So with all this in mind, and especially given his recent departure from the band, I feel a bit guilty in writing that his musical style is just largely incompatible to my tastes. He has a reputation as a 'superb vocalist.' He did well as a support vocalist when I saw Yes live, but on lead his vocals sound like typical Los Angelese to me. So does the thudding, digital-laden over-produced music. The lyrics, though, are without a doubt the worst thing on this release. Extremely cliched stuff: "There's no reason to fear the open door, some things are worth waiting for," "No need to run, to hide, to fear, to fly" Ick. This isn't the 'modern prog masterpiece' I've seen it referred to as, even if the tracks go on longer than 4 minutes. I'd describe it as stretched-out AOR, albeit more sophisticated than usual. review by Joe McGlinchey — undated —