Song Of Seven

About

Founding Yes frontman Jon Anderson cut his second solo album after leaving the band in 1980. Unlike his 1976 solo debut, this could scarcely sound less like a Yes record. Granted, Anderson's airy pipes and captivatingly cosmic lyrics are indelible artistic fingerprints, but the music that frames them here is, for the most part, far from his '70s art-rock excursions with his former band. "For You for Me" is propelled by a subtle, electronic Eurodisco pulse, while "Don't Forget (Nostalgia)" is a '50s R&B pastiche and "Heart of the Matter" is a straight-up pop song that should have found a place on the early-'80s pop charts alongside the likes of Hall & Oates. Tunes like "Take Your Time" and "Days" exemplify Anderson's knack for blissful, bucolic, folk-tinged ballads. Only on the album's 11-minute title track does epic progressive rock enter the picture. But it's a tribute to Anderson's inherent musicality (he also produced this record) that the whole thing hangs together remarkably well and suits him as naturally as the sonic exploits of his more extravagant past.

via Apple Music