After the studio Keys To Ascention tracks imbued long-term Yes fans with what they saw as a justifed level of expectation after years of Rabin-led Yes, 'Open Your Eyes' was, quite simply put, a massive disappointment to them. 'Open Your Eyes' began as a Chris Squire side-project with soon to be full-time Yes member Billy Sherwood in tow. Sherwood could play the keyboards and second guitar and joined Yes as a second guitarist. Russian-born Igor Khoroshev filled in the more complicated keyboard parts, Jon Anderson was roped in/expressed an interest and another new interation of Yes was born. Steve Howe, now firmly back in the Yes ranks, ended up overdubbing many of his guitar parts after the other musicians had finished. All songs are credited to the individual band members but it stands to reason Squire/Sherwood created the bulk of the material here. Perhaps that explains why Jon Anderson's contributions seem slightly less than we might expect and Howe's distinctive guitar enriches, rather than forms the bulk of the compositions. Still, time haa been kinder to 'Open Your Eyes' than any mongrel-upbringing and upsetting of expectation levels. True, the overall sound is fairly hideously over-produced and the arrangments clumsy, but there are songs here. There are tunes and lovely touches and this should, impossible as it may sound, be judged on its own merits. Several Yes member themselves would rather write the whole affair out of history, yet does that automatically mean we should, too?
The title track received some airplay in the US and no wonder, this is a modern sounding slice of up-tempo pop/rock with complicated musical hooks and easily to assimilate vocal hooks. True, this isn't the showing off of prime-time Yes but there are touches of Howe and Squire that particularly impress. The next best thing here is the opening track, 'New State Of Mind', classic Yes vocal harmonies, surprisingly heavy instrumental sounds and a few wonderful touches from Howe and 'Kroroshev'. Good solo from Howe during 'Universal Garden', check. Dodgy lyrics from Anderson, check. A soppy moment from Anderson during 'From The Balcony' and 'Wonderlove', check. Actually, despite a lack of any stand-outs at all after the first two tunes have passed, 'From The Balcony' provides a needed change in texture. What price a Steve Howe/Jon Anderson album?
Track Listing:
New State of Mind
Open Your Eyes
Universal Garden
No Way We Can Lose
Fortune Seller
Man in the Moon
Wonderlove
From the Balcony
Love Shine
Somehow, Someday
The Solution
The title track received some airplay in the US and no wonder, this is a modern sounding slice of up-tempo pop/rock with complicated musical hooks and easily to assimilate vocal hooks. True, this isn't the showing off of prime-time Yes but there are touches of Howe and Squire that particularly impress. The next best thing here is the opening track, 'New State Of Mind', classic Yes vocal harmonies, surprisingly heavy instrumental sounds and a few wonderful touches from Howe and 'Kroroshev'. Good solo from Howe during 'Universal Garden', check. Dodgy lyrics from Anderson, check. A soppy moment from Anderson during 'From The Balcony' and 'Wonderlove', check. Actually, despite a lack of any stand-outs at all after the first two tunes have passed, 'From The Balcony' provides a needed change in texture. What price a Steve Howe/Jon Anderson album?
Track Listing:
New State of Mind
Open Your Eyes
Universal Garden
No Way We Can Lose
Fortune Seller
Man in the Moon
Wonderlove
From the Balcony
Love Shine
Somehow, Someday
The Solution