The Quest (2021)
1. The Ice Bridge
2. Dare to Know
3. Minus the Man
4. Leave Well Alone
5. The Western Edge
6. Future Memories
7. Music to My Ears
8. A Living Island
Bonus Tracks
1. Sister Sleeping Soul
2. Mystery Tour
3. Damaged World
The first Yes album released following the death of founding bassist Chris Squire, and therefore the first Yes album not to feature a single original member. For many bands, that would be a death sentence. For Yes, it’s merely another chapter. This has always been a group defined as much by its revolving door of personnel as by its music. Still, there were plenty who doubted the band could continue. Then again, when musicians still have the urge to create—and there remains the possibility of a few more royalty checks arriving in the mailbox—why stop?
The arrival of COVID in 2020 forced the group into an entirely different way of working. Rather than gathering in a studio, members recorded their parts separately and exchanged ideas electronically before assembling everything into a finished product. The man ultimately tasked with steering the ship was Steve Howe, who also served as producer. Unsurprisingly, his fingerprints are all over the record.
The finished product is surprisingly successful, although it requires the proper mindset. This is not really a Yes album to listen to so much as a Yes album to experience. The songs tend to flow into one another, often blurring together in a way that makes individual tracks difficult to distinguish. Apart from Howe, few of the players truly assert themselves. Billy Sherwood does an admirable job filling the impossible task of replacing Chris Squire, but there are no thunderous bass excursions and no flamboyant keyboard heroics to be found. Yet somehow it remains unmistakably Yes.
Purists will undoubtedly object to a version of the band lacking so many classic members, but as a replication of the Yes aesthetic, it comes remarkably close. The addition of a full orchestra on many tracks helps enormously. Listening to the album often feels like sitting in a vast concert hall while the band performs beneath a giant projection of Roger Dean artwork. The melodies may not linger in the memory long after the record ends, but the atmosphere is consistently beautiful and deeply immersive.
The one noticeable stumble comes with Music to My Ears. Oddly enough, one of the album’s shortest pieces manages to feel among its longest. The final minute settles into a repetitive pattern that becomes surprisingly monotonous, draining momentum from an otherwise engaging sequence of tracks.
If Yes is somehow still touring ten years from now—and with this band, one should never rule anything out—don't expect many of these songs to find their way into the setlist. There are no future classics hiding here. That was never really the point. The goal appears to have been creating an experience rather than a collection of memorable singles, and in that respect the album succeeds admirably. It is only fitting that Steve Howe, now the closest thing the band has to a classic-era representative, should dominate the proceedings. Whenever his guitar takes center stage, the record is at its strongest.
NOTE: The second disc contains three bonus tracks, and they are largely forgettable. One suspects the band reached the same conclusion during the sessions but included them anyway for the benefit of completists and the terminally curious. Frankly, this is how bonus tracks should be handled. Keep them separate and let listeners decide whether they wish to venture further. My assessment of the album does not include these extras. Particularly weak is Mystery Tour, yet another entry in the seemingly endless parade of Baby Boomer musicians who feel compelled to offer some sort of homage to The Beatles. It is every bit as unnecessary as that description suggests. Fortunately, the tracks reside on their own disc, making them very easy to ignore.
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