Band: Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks | Album: True | Genre: Progressive rock | Year: 2024
From: Accrington, UK | Label: Frontiers Records
For fans of: Yes (duh)
Yes is a band I’ve written about a lot. My Yes Deep Dive was the first one I wrote for this site (and I’ve lately been contemplating rewriting parts of it, since my style of doing Deep Dives has shifted over the years). After I published that, they put out two more albums: the crap-tastic The Quest and the pretty-decent Mirror to the Sky.
This post initially began life as an Odds & Ends blurb, but I found myself with more to say than I expected. It also took me a while to get to this record because I honestly kept kinda forgetting about it. It’s not on Bandcamp, and I have a very strong preference for finding music through that platform.
Jon Anderson, Yes’s founding vocalist, hasn’t been in the band since 2008. Yes had scheduled a tour, and Anderson suffered a severe asthma attack shortly before it was to start. Under doctor’s orders to not sing for at least six months, the rest of Yes gave him the boot and replaced him with Benoit David (who was then replaced with current vocalist – and my whipping boy for all of modern Yes’s ills – Jon Davison).
The four Jon Anderson-less albums Yes has since released have varied from terrible to decent, but most of them have a certain dullness and sterility to them. I diagnosed Anderson’s absence from the band as a potential reason for Yes’s recent lousiness, as he was always one of the band’s primary songwriters. He’s also a much more dynamic and expressive vocalist than Davison. While I’m not overly-familiar with Anderson’s solo works, I know he’s put out some very solid music on his own. His solo debut, Olias of Sunhillow, is a favorite of mine.
The Band Geeks are a band headed by Richie Castellano, one of the current guitarists of Blue Öyster Cult. Initially evolving out of a podcast headed by Castellano, it featured him and a rotating cast of friends covering various classic rock songs.
True is the collaboration between Anderson and The Band Geeks. I’ll discuss the music shortly, but first, let me address the album cover. Whoever designed this, truly graphic design is their passion. The big, glittery gothic letters of the album title call to mind crunk-era hip-hop, and even J.J. Abrams would say this album cover overdoes it with the lens flare. The color palette is washed-out and dull, and if I were to see this somewhere and not know who Jon Anderson is, I’d probably assume it’s some sort of bland Christian rock release.
Given the recent bad-to-middling output from legacy acts like Yes, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Roger Waters, Jethro Tull, Tool, Semiramis, The Mars Volta, Nik Turner, and Hawkwind (to name just the ones I have even bothered writing about!), I didn’t exactly go into True with the highest expectations. I’m glad to say, though, that I came away pleasantly surprised. True isn’t some masterpiece, but it’s a really solid record that can hold its own against any of Yes’s good nonessential albums.
Shimmering acoustic guitar arpeggios open “True Messenger”. Anderson’s voice remains much stronger than many of his contemporaries, and the backing track is exciting. Synth flourishes and biting bass call to mind much of Yes’s classic work. The Band Geeks do an incredible job at evoking Yes, and it’s so refreshing to hear what sounds like a new Yes album with Jon Anderson on it.
“Shine On” is bouncy and energetic with a fun bit of funky twang to it. Where the opening track drew from Yes’s classic ‘70s output, this calls to mind that band’s best stuff from the ‘90s.
The 10-minute “Counties and Countries” has a darker edge to its opening moments, though moments of major-key levity are intermixed. The verses are slightly folky and maybe a touch cheesy, but they’re fun, nonetheless. The instrumental moments are great, and Castellano does an amazing job of miming Steve Howe’s style. This song ends very strong, with a majestic buildup.
After three solid songs, though, True sags a bit. “Build Me An Ocean” is a slow and delicate piano ballad, but there’s nothing particularly noteworthy or distinctive about it. “Make It Right” is a torpid (mostly) acoustic piece that calls to mind some of the weaker parts of Talk or Keystudio. It’s not bad, per se, but Anderson can do better. “Realization Part Two” gets a bit too close to adult-contemporary schlock for my taste.
Amid these weaker songs is “Still a Friend”, a much stronger cut. It’s got a bouncy energy and some exciting instrumental passages. Slower moments are mixed in naturally, and the light touches of strings call to mind passages on Magnification.
The longest song on True is the 16-minute “Once Upon a Dream”. The opening passage is tense and relatively heavy. Middle Eastern scales show up in some of the instrumental fills, and when paired with the plodding rhythm, they add some nice menace. Gentler moments emerge in ways that make sense, but their execution can come off as a bit schmaltzy. Those passages, when they do crop up, are thankfully brief, and the band does a good job keeping the atmosphere taut.
Things quiet down at around the halfway point, and Middle Eastern flavors continue to be artfully woven in. The gradual buildup culminates in a passage strongly reminiscent of parts of “Close to the Edge”, with a grand-sounding organ soloing over top of big, chunky bass riffs.
True closes on “Thank God”, an unnecessary and syrupy ballad.
True is better than anything Yes has put out without Jon Anderson (except Drama, but that was 44 years ago), so it really goes to show what a negative for the band it was to ditch him. (Though considering how fractious Yes has been over the years, maybe he’s glad to be gone.) The music on this record is big, showy, and pretty fun. It’s not without its flaws, as there are a few pointless ballads. But if you’re looking for Yes-style progressive rock, this is one of your better options.
Score: 77/100
The Elite Extremophile 
