This page last updated: 24 Oct 2021

YES and projects with several Yesmen	Jon Anderson	Chris Squire	Steve Howe	Alan White
Geoff Downes	Trevor Horn	Tony Kaye	Peter Banks	Patrick Moraz
Bill Bruford	Rick Wakeman	Trevor Rabin	Billy Sherwood	Igor Khoroshev Oliver Wakeman
Benoît David Jon Davison	Asia	CIRCA:	Yes ft. Anderson Rabin Wakeman	Others associated with the band

On this page—Yes: Next album - Early years archival box - Cruise to the Edge - On tour - Other live releases - Covers of Yes songs - Documentaries & books

Projects involving multiple Yes men: Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman - CIRCA: (Sherwood, Kaye) - Arc of Life (Sherwood, Davison, Schellen) - Worlds on Hold (Sherwood, Davison, Moraz)

Yes news YesWorld; official Facebook; official Twitter; official SoundCloud; official MySpace; Yesfans.com Yes are Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood, with Jay Schellen (ex-CIRCA:, ex-Asia, ex-World Trade, Unruly Child). (Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin and Rick Wakeman were working together as Yes featuring Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman, but that band has now finished: they are covered here.) The band's 2020 and 2021 live work was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they are planning to return to touring in 2022: European dates May/Jun 2022 are on sale, and the band have also talked about starting touring in North America in Mar 2022. Instead of touring in 2020/1, the band completed a new studio album, The Quest, released 1 Oct 2021 (with physical release in the US delayed to 15 Oct for the CD and later for vinyl).

In a May 2020 live painting session, Roger Dean said, "There [are] [...] two important Yes projects going on at the moment. I can't tell you what one of them is, that's a big mystery [...] but I will be doing preliminary paintings for that. And the other project is we're looking to do something with Close to the Edge, which will have as many as 6 to 8 paintings in it, not just the original but a lot more, plus some of the narrative that the original was based on. So, that is probably going to come out some time around the 50th anniversary of Close to the Edge" (which would be Sep 2022). In Aug 2020, Dean said he would be painting the cover for the new Yes studio album, so I would guess that is the secret project. In a Jun 2021 interview, asked if there are any Yes projects that he is "currently working on right now", Howe replied: "We've got some unannounced plans about the early part of next year [2022], but right now, touring is the focus of our attention. The European tour has been moved to early spring [2022]". It is unknown what these plans for early 2022 are, but this may be a reference to the Close to the Edge anniversary.

In the Oct 2021 issue of Prog (#124), Downes said that the band are "already talking about the next" studio album.

Music writer Jon Kirkman reported that Yes have signed to BMG for The Royal Affair Tour. A rumour at the time had that there was a deal for 3 albums, but Kirkman in Jul 2021 said the deal was just for that album.

In a Jul 2020 interview, Davison was asked if there was any talk of retirement by Yes members. He replied, "No, there really isn't [...] Everyone's having a ball [...] Each year, [...] [Howe] is getting happier with the sounds and what we stand for. And apparently, he's much happier than he was in years past, before I even joined, so he never talks of it [retirement]". In a Mar 2018 interview, White also said the band have no plans to retire, adding, "It's just what I do. I've been doing it all my life. We do work in bundles, we do a lot then rest for a while."

• Limited edition 2LP (180g, glow in the dark) + 2CD + Blu-ray box set, with slipmat, enamel pin, 36 page booklet (including "The Story of The Quest" [Part 1: "I've Got an Idea", Part 2: "Together Apart"; Part 3: "Darkness Disappears"] by the Gottlieb brothers), poster (60×90cm, approximately A1) and numbered certificate of authenticity (trailer)
  
• Limited edition 2CD + Blu-ray artbook, with 44 pages (with art by Roger Dean; also including "The Story of The Quest")
• Japan has a limited edition 2CD + Blu-ray release in a jewel case with a Japanese language booklet with a translation of the lyrics, a cover art sticker and an autographed photo card
• Gatefold 2LP (180g) + 2CD, with 16-page booklet
  
• Limited edition 2CD Digipak, with 16-page booklet
• Digital (regular MP3s; or 24-bit 44.1 kHz Hi Res audio available from Qobuz
  

Howe says the two-disc configuration of “The Quest” was also a record company suggestion, “feeling that the bulk of it, the main album, should not go over 45, 50 minutes. So that’s eight songs, and the other three aren’t really bonus tracks in the sense they’re things we would have thrown away. We weren’t scraping the barrel or anything just to fill it out. They’re like high-quality reserve tracks, if you will. But it’s not so much a double album like the White Album by the Beatles. It’s more like there’s a second part of the story.”

Dare To Know presents a guitar theme played within many different arrangements, with different chord structures and altered textures. The 'idea' mentioned in the first verse gets described later as an awakening to the subtle goings on within our bodies and mind, all geared to nature's scheme of things, all fluctuating and rearranging according to the principles of life, as we know it. The centrepiece leaves the orchestra alone to elaborate and develop the way the theme is heard, then augments the closing minutes of the song as it rests, with an acoustic guitar cadenza.

Though our lyrics sometimes display concerns for the state of our planet, we are mainly attempting to express on The Quest reactions of hope and optimism. Indeed, the human race faces many environmental and sociological challenges, but I believe we must embrace these as a type of quest through which to evolve and better the human race. It’s tempting to react with fear and frustration, but how much more effective to focus on sending out to the world positive and healing wishes.

It was inspired by a piece by Francis Monkman. We worked on it, and I think it turned out really well. It also gave us a chance to have me and Steve soloing, which we had never done before. We did a little live, but not a record. To actually capture that on a recording is pretty amazing. I hope it opens the door to more collaborations with Steve and myself to explore guitar and keyboards. It is a dynamic piece and a very uplifting piece.

I think that the ideas [...], they've been around for a while and certainly the end section for that was… I think it was a grandiose theme that I've been working on for some time. In fact, there's a little snippet of it on the beginning of the DBA [Downes Braide Association] album [Halcyon Hymns]. Y'know, I felt that with a band like Yes, you should really make this just go bigger and bigger. And as a finale to the album [...] Yes are known for these big major chords, you know, you've got something like "And You and I". [...] they take "Awaken", something like that, it is this sort of spiritual experience almost for the listener. And so, that's really what I was trying to achieve with that is that you get that big majestic chord sequence coming out and I think it's a great way to finish the album.

Barbados is one of few coral islands in the world, it is actually a living island. I felt that was a beautiful title to touch on while the world was shutting down during that initial lockdown. I felt the need to express in words all those intense thoughts and feelings and my personal perception of it all. Conceptually, as the song progresses through its three themes, the lyrical concept of the living island then branches out from the personal and becomes more about the well-being of the world in general, and that the planet is indeed our precious living island in a sea of stars.

I asked Paul K. Joyce [...] to do some arranging on that song [...] I said, “Here’s the bit: When we sing ‘rearranging, rearranging,’ you’re off. You go in there.” Paul wrote that synopsis, almost, of the themes. One of the keys to that song which gives me a certain buzz, being a bit of a chord maniac: Most times you hear the theme that I play, it’s in a different chord or structure. One time, it’s no chords at all — it’s a drone. It’s major sevenths; another time, it’s a mixture of jazzy chords. Later in the song, you get the tune again, and it’s flatted fifth, and then you get back to the major sevenths.

Howe [...] says via Zoom [...] that Inside Out Music chief Thomas Waber reached out during 2019 to see if Yes was ready to make a new album, and the guitarist and Davison met in Sussex to start writing material. “I put myself forward to produce, ’cause I was tired of handing it to someone who sometimes didn’t full know what this band was. That’s always a mistake. This time I said, ‘Look, if it’s going to get my full commitment then I’d really like to produce, because I think that’s where we’ve been misled before.’ The others agreed, and we were off and running.”

Time, Howe says, has allowed Yes to become comfortable with “the idea there could be another Yes record without Chris” Squire. “We don’t underestimate the impact of that, but (his death) was some time back, and we’ve done a lot of work since that happened, and I guess we’ve become a better team [...] a closer team. We’ve suffered. That was what we had to contain. We had to get things in a mode where the mixing and the bass playing in particular was credible and satisfactory, but more than that, that it had respect for what’s come before and taking the styles of all the past members of Yes and conglomerating them into sort of a new Yes. That was my goal.”

My contribution to the album was all written before Covid[,] and by the end of 2019 I'd started showing Jon [Davison] those songs. We'd already recorded Damaged World and Future Memories before Covid and then, as the dreaded lurgy came, we thought 'Ok, this is a means to an end.'

Curtis Schwartz's studio in Ardingly was the headquarters of the steering of the files and the building up of the tracks and accumulating our whole album of music. We may have done it quite similarly even if we hadn't had the terrible disaster but it was the only way.

[Schwartz' studio] was like our headquarters — basically Jon and I started there with a couple days at the end of 2019. I said to him, “I’ve got a lot of songs.” We worked through a few of mine and some of Jon’s, and we got an idea that this was going to work with me producing. I said to the guys, “I’d like to produce, and that’s it. Yes or no kinda thing. [laughs] They said “yeah,” so that went ahead. I tried out my concept, which was the HQ studios and file-sharing. Fortunately Jon has been in England a great deal, and Geoff Downes lives in Wales, which is quite near my studio in the west country. He could come down and do actual keyboard sessions in the room, and Jon could do vocals in the room. We had just enough of that to keep ourselves satisfied. [...] I was able to steer. Not only were they willing to let me, but there weren’t the daily arguments about “Ah, you’ve taken that bit out” or “Why do you want to change that word?” I just kind of went for it and said to the guys, “I’ll do things on some tracks, and other tracks will come at me and I won’t need to do a whole lot.” Some of them did need my perspective of saying, “I like the material, but let’s rearrange it with beginnings and endings; let’s develop this.” I was able to do a lot of development sessions where the guys weren’t there but their songs were. I could help to bring things to it [...] I’ve said on a few occasions that if your producer isn’t coming up with good ideas, get another one! [laughs]

I think a producer’s world is very much about the right decisions being made and the right plan — finding the solution to every problem. He’s got to get on with it. [...] when we look at The Quest [...] it was good timing — there’s nothing good about the pandemic, for God’s sake. But the timing allowed us to get a strategy, get a methodology, to allow us to be able to do it.

we didn't know when we would record it. The ideas and songs were around before the lockdown started, so we were quite prepared for it before all of that happened[.]

It was an interesting way to work [...] Half the band are based in the west coast of the States, while the other half is in the U.K. [...]

They sent us the files. All the files went to a central location, Steve, who is producing the album. He would sift through the ideas, then send it back to you, with comments. It was quite civil and quite easy to do.

["Dare to Know"] was the first track where I said, “Guys, do you think we should [incorporate] an orchestra? Instead of an orchestral album, which I don’t want to think about doing. What I wanted to do was bring in an orchestra occasionally to show the breadth of our love for the textures [it] can bring — as much as a Hammond organ or a Gibson guitar or whatever. [...] Paul said to me, “We can do this. We’ve got the arrangement worked out, but you can do more in the session than what you’ve got on ‘Dare to Know.’” [...] Instead of what happened with things like Magnification or Time and a Word, which was just a swamp of stuff, we picked strategic moments. We found a happy medium of having orchestral work but it not sounding like an orchestral album. I haven’t heard many [such albums] that work.

It was something that was bubbling under. I think Steve had mentioned [...] that he was in touch with this orchestra [...] [The] album [...] very much, it features acoustic instruments [...] so it was a natural development [...] of that [...] There's a lot of acoustic piano on the album, there's a lot of acoustic guitar. This [...] makes it [...] almost a sort of urbane feeling that Yes has gone back to its roots in some ways and so, you know, if you go back to say Time and a Word [...] [the orchestra i]s a big feature on "No Opportunity Necessary" [...] I think that the key thing is for me was [...] having that orchestral feeling of the music already, it [...] really pointed towards maybe having these other acoustic sections that were played by an orchestra.

I'm a very orchestral player [...] I come up with these soundscapes and the layers of keyboards that, you know, I became more known for. So my whole thing is that [...] when I look at the orchestra, I don't see it as a me versus them, [...] but [...] I think it's an addition. [...] I think it's something that, in this case, I'm not saying it would be [...] on any future albums, per se, but [...] in this case with this particular album, I think it's very, very appropriate that, you know, it's on there.

The Quest is a strong album with a common theme: posing the great questions of life and finding that we have our destiny within our own hands. My contribution was all written before COVID and by the end of 2019 I'd started showing Jon [Davison] those songs. On the 1st of November [2019] Jon and I put down the basic ideas of [...] Damaged World (Howe) and Future Memories (a Davison love song, asking what the future holds). That was a test to see if working with the engineer, Curtis Schwartz, with me steering, was going to work. We felt it was pretty good and began sharing music between us, with me being able to make decisions about what Jon felt he could develop. If I liked it, then it had a bit of a roll to it.

No, not so much. It was just about what songs were feeling good, and what songs were working together well as far as making an album. [...] Steve was kind of the sieve for all the ideas coming through and really getting on to a production level with whatever material we were committing to

[...] But, y'know, I think it's safe to say we're all pretty prolific songwriters individually, so there was no shortage of material. We actually had probably too much (laughs), so it's just a matter of sorting through it all and seeing what's going to work the best

in terms of the arrangement and the mapping out of what it was, musically speaking, it's pretty much the same. That said, y'know, Steve put some amazing steel guitar on "Western Edge" and took it to another level, and Geoff's keyboards on all the stuff that we did together took it to another level. And of course Jon writing, y'know, great words and interesting melodies along the way [...] What was one of the most important parts for me, personally, was making sure the rhythm section was rockin' and and doing its job underneath the song [...] the band actually asked me to record the drums here in LA with Alan. So Alan and I spent a good 12 days together in the studio, just working on drums and batting ideas back and forth.

[...] the general gist of the melodic content of the song kinda remains what I had sent in. And I think that was what we were really going for was to try to have everyone's musical expression, y'know, and then just make it flower with all the other guys overdubs and their participation on each song. So, y'know, Steve was sending me things that he had done, and Geoff and Jon [...] so it worked out quite well, but it in terms of [...] where it began and where it ended up [...] I don't really produce demos so to speak, but [...] I'm kind of used to making records, so whenever I'm writing a song, whether it's got a home or not, I'm thinking about putting that production into place to show what I've got here, so, to my ears, what I presented and what's there is pretty much intact, but enhanced in many ways. One of the things I was really excited about was when Steve called me and said, 'What do you think about putting "Minus the Man", putting some real orchestra on there?' And, y'know, I thought, wow, this will take it to another level. So, things things like that are what I think a band does as opposed to an individual sitting in the studio […] there's a respect for each other as songwriters, so, y'know, there might be slight adjustments, but there's no major hacking of things out, replacing things without anyone's knowledge.

It [...] feels like we were all there in the same room together. And I think a big part of that is the rhythm section design, the way that that came about, set the framework for the other things to just fall right into place. [...] it's quite a different experience to do file sharing than it is to stand in a studio, with your buddies, and just, y'know, talk music and make music, but nevertheless it's the age we live in. I mean, I've been dealing with that a long time. I make tons of records and I barely see anybody (laughs)

[....] That said, I'd love to see a Yes record, in the future, made old school [...] Like, we did that with The Ladder, for instance, where we moved up to Vancouver, Canada, for a few months and all had our own apartments, and met at the studio every day, and wrote for 30 days

[...] you could be sitting in the back of the room, just not saying anything, and an idea comes out and you speak it to the room, and [...] it floats or it doesn't, but those moments are not there when you're doing file share. But, that said, [...] it feels like we were all in the same room somehow.

What happens nowadays is that a lot of albums are being done virtually. I just finished a Yes... a new Yes album and it was all [Levin interjects "Wow"] kind of done by passing stuff around on the computer.

A lot of Yes albums are totally different from the last one and this one's different yet again. I think it will be quite surprising to quite a few people. There's some more commercial kind of stuff on there. [...] But there's also a few [...] way out kind of stuff. It's a mixture.

I wouldn't say it was in the mixing stage at this moment, but it's certainly moved along a lot in, y'know, recent times. When we have had the breaks in the lockdown, y'know, I've been working with Steve on quite a bit of stuff. And so it's been moving along quite nicely. I think that, y'know, it's obviously much more difficult because none of us are in the same room for any great length of time, due to the restrictions, but, um, certainly we exchanged a lot of stuff originally via, y'know, via the Internet, and sending files to each other, and working out, y'know, how we would put it together. [...] Steve has been very instrumental, I think, in pulling it all together [...] I think it will surprise people. I think it's going to be a [...] very interesting album. And I think the Yes fans are really going to like it.

The Quest didn’t happen automatically. It was about developing as a guitarist and musician. I’m always going towards something that I might not know yet, but that I’m capable of doing. Like in the song Leave Well Alone, there’s a lot of piano and Spanish guitar. [He separately also mentioned playing koto on that track.] I’m into guitar flavours [...] tone and texture – the sound and the application. It’s about pulling out the right guitar at the right time and making it a feature. Like in the middle of the song Music to My Ears, I’m using my [Gibson ES-]175 but there’s also a Stratocaster in harmony. Less isn’t always more; sometimes more is more.

[...]

[Recording the album i]s a journey. There’s the initial idea, but then it’s a question of how’s it going to sound and who’s going to play what? [...] is the keyboard going to stab on the offbeat? Or is the bass going to drive across the whole thing? All those things aren’t yet known. [...] that’s what’s exciting about new music – there’s an idea, but it’s about finding out what you can do with it.

Sometimes it’s very subtle. For example, if you want to add rhythm guitar to a track: how much distortion you put on it, how hard you’re hitting it, what mic and amp you’re using et cetera – it all plays a part in giving you the sound you want. And that’s what I’m looking for; the right sound at the right time.

Well, we’re not in the end zone yet, but I think that we’ve done quite a lot of work over the months and certainly towards the end of last year [2020], in developing these ideas that we’ve been exchanging. And it’s just really a case of trying to get everybody into one place. Obviously it’s more difficult now because we’ve got the guys in the States, and Steve and I are over here in the UK. It’s not been the easiest way of working, but I think we’ve adapted to the new normal, rather than us all being in one room, which is the historic way that Yes have worked in the past. I think this is a new way of working. There’s been creative aspects that have come up that may not have happened had we all been in that position. But it’s been great. We’re not on the home straight yet but it’s shaping up very nicely.

I’ve wanted to talk about it forever, I get asked about it all the time.

[...]

Each album is different than the last and the same thing can be said here. [...] It’s going to be a special album for me, no matter what happens [...] because it will be the first studio Yes album that I’m playing bass. I never in a million years thought it would come to this place, but it is, and that is a very high honour.

I can tell you when I played the basslines that I was thinking about Chris a lot and I wanted to make sure that that feeling of Chris was conveyed into the recordings from my perspective, without imitating him and emulating him. It has those feelings [...]

Everybody has brought their A-game. I’m enjoying what I’m hearing a lot. We’ll just have to see how we proceed [...] and when it comes out.

Babb: We were going to have him on this, this new [...] project that we're doing, but we talked yesterday: he's tied up. They're in the studio right now, so, with Yes.

Tonar: […] I heard they'd been kicking some ideas around, so...

Babb: They're still kicking. Let's put it that way. I think they're back to the drawing board

I'm quite involved. I sort of feel like the pivotal man at this point. We're early on. We're just constructing and compiling demos. [...] what generally happens is another member will send me an instrumental sort of snapshot of an idea with which I'm able to build on, lyrically and create my vocal melodies. [...] I would say we have about half an album's worth of strong material. But, again, it's all in the early demo stages still.

the opportunity to go into the studio – Yes will make an announcement in a few weeks about what we’re tentatively, well not so tentatively: tentative at the moment – but yeah, sharing some songs, looking at material...because, for a good album, there’s no way you can do that quick. Unless you’re on a magic hiatus, like Yes were when we made The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge and Topographic Oceans! [...]

But things are much different now, people live in different countries, and there are not so many opportunities, so one has to sort of plan. But certainly, even in my own writing and recording work, this is gonna be a golden opportunity for that, and I daresay a lot of musicians will turn to their recording system and think, ‘well: I could do some more!’

Estamos empezando con ello, hay alguna música ya escrita, poca cosa… Es posible que empecemos a grabar después de Verano, pero hasta 2021 no habrá nuevo disco. No puedo concreter nada más, lo siento.

Howe: I'm not in a position to say yes, certainly in any way at all. I guess what we've been doing is [...] making a concerted effort to arouse material and do a little bit of collaboration. But basically we're still building a sort of pot, I suppose, of things. And until that's kind of there and we've got that sort of worked out, then we'll start talking about that we're actually doing it.

[...]

Howe: But until that point, we're not doing it. But as I say, we're making concerted efforts to see what it would be and how it could be. So, it's mildly being processed.

Kirkman: Watch this space! (Laughs)

Howe: Watch this space! (Laughs)

as we did before Fly from Here, and not so much before Heaven & Earth [...] I have a habit of holding Yes back and saying, 'Let's just get this right.' [...] we need a bit more of this kind of thing. So... There's a process going on that, that could, could result in what you said [new material], but [...] I rarely or don't talk about it much until, y'know, it's sort of on the table and the process is coming to a head [...] if things go well, there well could be [a new album], but I think it will have to go through a few more testing times.

There’s a good chance there will be. We haven’t got all the pieces quite together yet but we’re working towards a direction where we could start to think that we’ve got it. And I think it’s about how much you believe in your own music and how much we believe in the collaboration we have. So, if we’ve got the right vehicles – which we’ve got a wealth of  – I think we’ve got to whittle it to the point where we start to think we’ve got it. So, we’re not thinking that we’ve got it but it’s an option!

Wonder what these boys are up to

#yes#studio#working

I’m very good at not making promises that are premature. Basically, in a low-key way, we’ve been getting ready to investigate each other’s music. And if that is very productive, then we could have something pretty good. But we have to feel that way about it. We’ve got interest from labels and things like that, but we’re not taking anything on[ ]board until we’ve got the kind of thing we like. [...] there is sort of hope that we will find good ways of developing new songs, it’s [a] fairly early process. It wouldn’t take much time once we got the space.

We are starting to share things and have some plans, but nothing official. There is a lot of interest, but nothing until we internally have that feeling that we are growing the music together. We may put some time aside over the next 6 months to do a little more of that [...] It has to be right, it has to feel right. We have to assemble an outer shell that helps us make the record. It could be exciting, but there are no actual plans or a date or anything like that.

The trouble is, when you’ve got so many albums out that people love, it’s hard making more that they’re gonna love as much. [...] That’s a pretty hard act to follow. Sometimes I felt we shouldn't bother. If we can’t make an album as good as those [it's ambiguous here whether "those" refers to The Yes Album-Tales from Topographic Oceans, or through to Drama], don’t bother. But the other part of me says I make solo albums. I do collaborations. And basically Yes can still make records. We’re not making any promises, but we’re going to look at some stuff after this tour and see how we feel about the music. But you’ve got to be realistic about expectations. [...] The world doesn't move around what Yes’s next album is. It might move around what Coldplay’s next album is or some other band. So I understand that and I think we make albums for our fans. And that’s a pretty good thing.

Howe predicts [...] some new Yes music [...] “Later in the year [2018] there may be an opportunity [...] where we can be creative. But we haven’t rushed out and accepted a huge advance from a record label because we don’t want to do it like that. We want to have our music lined up a little bit[,] then we’ll look to how we’ll release it and how we’ll do it if we get that far. But there’s no promises, and we haven’t made a commitment to our public or any business concerns that we need to make a record. We love the support we may get, but basically until there’s music to play there’s nothing more to talk about. Individually we’re gathering momentum but that’s about as much as I can say.”

White: Everybody's got material. We are trying to figure out a plan – probably won't be until possibly next year [2019].

Interviewer: How do you approach composing?

White: I create on the piano. I have a little stockpile of ideas. I come up with ideas and beats and chord sequences. I'm not much for writing lyrics and melodies. I like writing chords and structure.

We hope to start working on new songs later in [2018]. I think that we`ll approach it in a slightly different way this time as I think we didn`t really have the strength of material for an album at that point [Heaven & Earth] and I`m not blaming anyone for that.  If we do another album we`ll be conscious that we have great material that`ll be another point in the history of Yes.

[...]

We`ll be spending a lot of time out on the road but we will be fitting in some writing at some point too.  We`ll be in The States in June and July so after that we`ll work on some new Yes material

when we came together [...] we would sort of try to, er, combine the ideas, expand the ideas [...] especially Geoff and I, we had a big prog piece, but unfortunately we didn't have time to finish it, so that'll probably be on the next album, and we've got a bunch of extra material too that just didn't make it because of, we had sufficient time for this album and things were just left undone [...] due to lack of time.

Jon [Davison] came over to my studio in Wales before we started going in the recording [of Heaven & Earth]. And we actually wrote two lengthy tracks, one of which was “Subway Walls” and the other one is still, as it stands unrecorded, but we did a substantial demo of it. And they are both, you know, 10 minute kind of tracks. And I think it was a great way that we worked together on that, because we literally had some different ideas and they just came together, and we put the whole thing together like that.

Everybody has ideas and develops songs. Once you get the basic idea for a song, it tends to take hold and then everybody contributes different pieces of music and certain lyrics and things like that. Things are tossed around quite a bit while we’re creating it. It’s something that just sort of falls together because of the people in the band.

[...]

Usually the demos are a one person kind of thing. But when you throw it out there, everybody’s creative juices get involved.

I have many ideas for music. A lot of the stuff I write is in collaboration with other artists including the members of YES. [...] I have things in my mind and demos I’ve recorded. I have a couple of songs that I did with Chris that we’re never released that I was thinking about reviving. It’s an excellent piece of music. Chris came up with certain chords and I wrote the melody. So, I’ve got some interesting stuff like that around. [...] in the back of my mind I have some music hanging around that I want to eventually record. I’m also getting new musical ideas all the time.

We all have it in our minds to record another album but it’s a question of trying to find time to get back into studio together. Geoff Downes is on tour with Asia for a few weeks this summer and YES will also be on the road in August & September playing about 30 shows. It’s quite possible we’ll be touring later in the year [2017] as well, so trying to please everyone, it will realistically be 2018 before we can block out enough time to do this. We all continue to write even when we’re doing other things like touring.

This is asked quite often. We like the fact that people anticipate and enjoy new music. Much of our focus admittedly is on the great pieces from the 70s and around that era. So we take it slow.

I tried to slow down ‘Heaven & Earth’, because I thought maybe we could refine it. But we’ve gotta get some material that we think is really worthy of doing this, first of all, and that’s gonna take a bit more writing and a bit more collaboration.

And there’s every chance that Jon Davison and I will do some more writing like we did on ‘Heaven & Earth’. YES albums are all about collaboration. Not only in the writing, but also in the arrangements because the skill of the great records in the 70s was definitely that we arranged the hell out of something that was really quite innocent. We’d drum it up to be something. And I think that allowed the musicianship and the ideas to flow.

Well, kind of.  Officially, we’re kind of moving slowly looking at new material. I’m one of the guys who’s most reluctant to start any kind of rush forward because I’ve been writing and Jon [Davison] has been writing. I’d be very surprised if Billy hasn’t been writing. There’s obviously going to be a pause to look at, at some point, but I think we’ve got our work cut out for ourselves pretty much all year. Maybe it’s a thing we’ll do after our cruise next year in February [2017]. We may, but that’s only just a “may” because we still need to be sure about what we’re doing now.

[...] You don’t book a record until you know what you’re going to play. With everybody’s demoing the possibilities are endless, but that’s actually part of the problem too, because we’re all very smart-assed people, you know. It is like, “Here’s a track, it’s me, it sounds like a band but it’s me.”

We do that, but actually true Yes records are written with fragments. Keys to Ascension was a good example of that. We didn’t come in and play anybody’s song. We actually kind of did the rehearsal thing and wrote together and that’s very trying and we’re all long in the tooth about that, but that’s one of the best ways to generate what we can call Yes. They are more of a collaborative record, but they take a long time and maybe that’s why we ought to take a long time.

we’ve just gotten to know each other better and the dynamic is more diverse. What I learned from doing Heaven and Earth is that we need to allow ourselves more time as a band. We kind of rushed into the studio to do Heaven and Earth because we were so busy touring [...] so people brought in their own ideas and said “Hey, here’s my idea, let’s work this up as a band and take your idea and work it up.” I’d rather take time to write our material as a group. I think that’s what Yes did in its best moments and that’s what I’d like to carry on doing, if possible.

Interviewer: There was a talk of an unfinished longer song with Jon Davison. [see above]

Downes: Yes that’s still there, it’s not completely on the back burner.

Interviewer: So is new YES music maybe in the plans for next year [2017]?

Downes: I hope so yes, I think it’s always good to do new music, it enables the touring to have a different angle, I mean we’ve been doing The Album Series for a while now but when you have a new album out it’s always nice to throw in a couple of the songs. [...] it not only keeps the fans interested I think, but it shows that we’re not just prepared to sit back and play the part, we always think about the future.

There are no plans, no, no. We don't have plans to do that. We have offers. We have other people wanting us to do it. Er, we're always being encouraged if you like, but when a band is ready to make a record — and we weren't necessarily when we made Heaven & Earth — when a band is ready to make a record, it knows and it has the audacity and the confidence to know that it's doing something really great and I think that's a calling that I'm prepared to wait for. But as members collaborate a little, they might get an idea, they like this song [...] but when you look at an album, it should be about 30 to 40 to 50 minutes long, so you need a few songs, y'know, and the standard and the excellence they should be at if you're going to honour what we've done before

Het maken van albums is trouwens helemaal niet zo spannend als het lijkt te zijn. Doe dus maar geen moeite om me te vragen of we een nieuw album gaan doen, dat zien we dan wel weer. Als we een paar dingen kunnen vinden, de juiste nummers, de juiste arrangementen en de goede locatie voor de opname, maar ook een producer die bij ons past en die er om de juiste reden is. Maar daar zijn we mijlenver van verwijderd, weet je, we hebben absoluut geen haast. We hebben sowieso geen tijd op dit moment om er te veel over na te denken. Jon [Davison] en ik zijn gewoon doorgegaan met schrijven, dat is normaal. Hij is bijna altijd aan het schrijven. Maar om uit te zoeken welke richting we uitgaan, dat is nog helemaal niet aan de orde.

[...]

ik kan niet veel meer toevoegen dan op een andere manier te zeggen dat als we materiaal kunnen vinden dat aan de norm voldoet, dat we dan misschien iets hebben om over te praten. Maar ik hou van het maken van nieuwe muziek en men zou verwachten dat het heel makkelijk is om dat te doen met Yes, maar dat is het niet, weet je, het is een groot project, het is een verantwoordelijkheid. Maar er is veel interesse dus we hoeven niet ongerust te zijn.

I’m always into making new music [...] That said, YES runs at its own pace. I’m not trying to come into this situation and jump into the front seat and grab the wheel, I’m very much a team player when in bands, A team member with strong opinions musically but never the less, part of a team working as one. That said.. with regards to YES I’m along for the ride right now, so if that vehicle starts heading towards a new album, I’m obviously extremely happy and excited to contribute and do whatever the band would like me to do with it and I have a ton of ideas about things that could go on and how to do things differently while maintaining the essence of that core YES feeling. [...] I’d love to make a new YES album and I’m ready willing and able at a moments notice to do so. On a personal note…. I believe in the band so much so that I could see a huge renaissance if you will by making a great new exciting fresh YES record and then touring that record.

I really can't comment on that. We're not wholly sure. [...] we're not interested in doing it very soon. The last record was quite difficult and we have to learn from that. It could be years in the pipeline. It certainly would be a huge mistake to make some quick record and put it out [...] because we've got something really tricky to live up to, it's called things like "Close To The Edge" [...] I would say [...] we better not do the wrong thing. Therefore, to do nothing is a lot safer ground, to move along slowly, until we know a bit more.

That’s the beauty of Yes, [i]t doesn’t relent [...] A lot of the heavier conversations I was having with Chris toward the end were about his desire for this thing to go forward. He kept reiterating that to me and I kept telling him, ‘Yeah, I understand that but we[']re going forward with you in it. I’ll produce it. But you’re going to be the guy playing on it.[’] He kept telling me, ‘No matter what happens, Yes needs to continue moving forward and make great music. So promise me that that’s something you want to do.’ And I have to keep making music. It’s just what I do. [...] I’m a fan of the band and I want to see it thrive and that means new music.

I do too; and with that we’ll just see where this goes. But I don’t think Yes is done producing new music. I am known for being one who pushes forward with new music and the band wants to, I’m sure, move forward too. It’s just a matter of the timing and when. [...] with Chris’ passing it’s very fresh for everybody so it’s not necessarily a topic going on right now. But the evolution of Yes is always about new music. It’s not just about touring. [...] I would love to make a statement with this band that shows vitality and forward thrust.

I'm about making new music, that's what I do. I make a lot of it and so making new music with Yes is something that I'd love to do. That said, Yes runs at its own pace [...] I haven't re-joined the band to become a dictator and set everybody's schedule the way I would like it to be [...] I just go with the flow until we're ready to make new music and at that point, turn the faucet on and let the water flow, so to speak.

Well, I mean, er, I think that everyone is capable of changing their mind about things depending on the situation, and I know that, y'know, with Chris's passing, it's definitely too soon to be rushing into the studio to make another album. But I think for the band's long-term health and prosperity, the path that we're on right now, just playing live and showing people that it's still alive and well and that this is what Chris wanted, the band wanted, I think doing that and getting around the world and showing people, for the lack of a better phrase, proof of life, will tee up the inevitable next record and it will all come naturally when it comes. But I don't have a problem with people changing their minds about things. [...] Anything's possible [...] had you asked me, do you believe you'll be the bass player in Yes in 2016 next to Steve Howe, y'know, I probably would've said no, because it's no mystery that, y'know, Steve and I have worked closely together and have been [at] odds at times, y'know, I think we've produced some great music through all that and I think that's what Steve really respects the most. He's a man who says what he thinks and I appreciate that because at least you know what you're dealing with, y'know. He's capable of changing his mind, but when he does, that's when things will start changing direction. Again, I think it will all happen naturally.

[Heaven & Earth] was done in such a pushed and rushed sort of fashion that we didn’t get to collaborate as much as a collective, there was definitely a one-on-one [...] which was very productive and that was a wonderful experience [...] but what we would like to focus on for the next one is collectively coming together, actually being in one room at the same time and creating the music as a unit. [...] Basically just jamming it out and recording it and piecing it together that way, that would just be great.  I think that would give it a whole new roundness and really expand [...] what we could do. [...] I want to have more time to explore as they did in the earlier years and really stretch things and see how far out on a limb we can go and of course you need funding to do that (laughs) …….. so we will see if we can actually make that happen in the practical sense as well.

The whole landscape has changed. If everybody who ripped off our album were prepared to give us two months' work of their lives for free, then maybe it would be a very well-balanced situation. [...] They’re taking more than two months – but let’s just whittle it down to two months’ studio work [...] So the reason why we do this has changed a lot. Some people in this band might say that the reason why we do it is because we’re musicians and we’re supposed to make new music. But that’s a bit blind. That’s a little like a mouse saying, ‘I’ll walk across this road even though there’s a cat on the other side.’ [Laughs]

[...] It took me a long time to decide that I would agree to do [Heaven & Earth]. [...] The Rolling Stones, The Who, Aerosmith [...] they make records and they don’t even chart! [...] some of the biggest bands in the world. Yes needs to learn this. [...] [It] is a very, very different scene, and it’s [...] mostly due [...] to the internet. People got the needle about labels making money, but they have to because they have to print, distribute and promote the record, and give us a lousy percentage. Yeah, I could moan about that.

But now we’ve got the situation where people take the music for free [...] it does hurt. It does grieve me that our rights and our copyrights are abused all the time. And yet, we’re stupid enough to go and make another record, which immediately is put on the internet by somebody.

[...]

So the inspiration is quite different. I make time, I make my Homebrew series, I’ve done records with Asia – I do things for quite a few different reasons. But when it comes to a high-profile group like Yes… It’s a very complicated question you ask me. 

I think something will be coming out on Warners this year [2018] that will be a historical view of Yes.  That`ll be a nice release for Yes fans.  They generally try to get everything that comes out so we`ll make sure it`s something really special.

I did a compilation for them featuring songs recorded all over the world and picked out all of the best versions of all of the great songs and they turned around and said it was going to cost so much money to get licensing that they wouldn`t be doing it.  I wish they`d told me that a few months ago before I`d done all of the work pulling it all together.  They said they were just going to put another best of album but we already have several of those.  I wanted to do something a bit different but the label just didn`t want to do it which was a shame.

Panegyric re-release series (with remixes by Steven Wilson)
Panegyric re-released a series of Yes albums: in order, Close to the Edge, The Yes Album, Relayer, Fragile and Tales from Topographic Oceans. The releases included bonus material and new stereo and 5.1 Surround mixes by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, No-Man, ex-Blackfield, worked with Steve Hackett, Ian Anderson, Marillion, Theo Travis). The new stereo mixes were then also released on the 6LP The Steven Wilson Remixes (Atlantic Catalog Group). The Steven Wilson Remixes has also seen a digital release.

There was talk about me doing “Drama”, an album I really love and that would sound great in 5.1, but not all the members of that line up are keen for the album to be remixed—which is totally understandable—and I wouldn’t want to do something without the band being behind it.

In an Aug 2015 forum post, Wilson said:

I believe that the multitrack tapes for Going for the One are currently [missing]. First 2 Yes albums I would think unlikely, not enough potential sales...etc But never say never.

And then:

I really hope Tales and Drama will eventually be done, they are (perhaps somewhat perversely) my 2 favourite Yes albums

Preliminary work for a Going for the One release was done. In an Apr 2014 interview, Howe was asked whether it is "open-ended that as many of the catalog masters you have in hand" will be included in the series, he answered, "I don't think we should say yea or nay yet, because there could be logistical things or even a question of taste." On this latter point, the interviewer teases out that Howe is referring to Tormato. Howe goes on, "It's not that it's dreadful; it's just that we didn't quite get it right. I don't know if a remix would make it right, but I really can't say because I don't think it could, because if you're going to be true to the original, then you have to base it on the original."

Asked about further archival releases on the 2015 Cruise to the Edge, Howe also said there was plenty more in the vaults.

Cruise to the Edge
Cruise to the Edge (Facebook) is a series of progressive rock cruises that have featured and been co-organised by Yes, and run by music cruise company On the Blue. A 2020 Cruise was planned for 27 Mar-1 Apr, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, as usual, were to headline. (In a May 2021 livestream, Davison and Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) mentioned that they had been planning to do something together on the Cruise.) There had been planning towards a 2021 Cruise too. Instead, Cruise to the Edge will next run 2-7 May 2022 (with tickets for the 2020 cruise carried over) on the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas, but so far Yes have not been announced as participating. Headlining are Marillion, Alan Parsons, Al Di Meola, and Transatlantic. Also appearing are Glass Hammer, Dave Kerzner, Headspace (with Adam Wakeman), District 97, The Flower Kings, Adrian Belew, Stick Men and many more. (Steve Hackett was announced, but had to withdraw.) Jon Kirkman will again host.

The sold out 2019 Cruise to the Edge was in Feb on the Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas out of Tampa, FL. Attendance was around 2000. Yes headlined, with Tony Kaye guesting, while also appearing were The Sea Within (with Tom Brislin), Steve Hackett, John Lodge (The Moody Blues), Brand X, David Cross Band ft. David Jackson, Adrian Belew Power Trio, Frost*, Soft Machine, PFM, Spock's Beard, Neal Morse Band, Focus, Alan Hewitt and One Nation, Riverside, District 97, Pendragon, Airbag, Electric Asturias, Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), In Continuum (with Dave Kerzner), Fernando Perdomo (Dave Kerzner Band), Gazpacho, Pendragon, Enchant, Haken, IO Earth, Rachel Flowers, Baraka, UniKuE, Marbin and Magic Pie. Fish (ex-Marillion) was scheduled, but had to pull out because of family circumstances, with Michael Sadler a last minute replacement. The cruise was again hosted by Jon Kirkman.

we created the brand, Cruise to the Edge, and we got something that’s quite palatable, quite manipulable. That isn’t to say that we’re going to keep doing it, we don’t know. Each time we do it, it is a test. “OK, are we going to do it again?” They always want us to commit to another one, but it depends on how it goes.

I think that [...] some of the more delicate tracks on there will [...] you know [...] amidst some of Yes's more powerful big fanfare type songs like "Parallels" or something like that, is to put one of these songs in there after it [...] in a way that we did with, say, I suppose "Madrigal" [...] It's a nice little release from some of the great full blown Yes sounds [...] [I]t'd be nice to open with [...] something like "The Ice Bridge", which has got a big powerful entry [...] We're not going to play the whole album. You know, there's nothing worse than trying to turn people on to an entire album in a live setting when they come to see see you play Yes's big hits

I’d say, very tentatively, that Yes has a quest that’s all encompassing. It’s never been a band with limitations. So there’s no reason why it couldn’t include some of this material as well. It’s been dabbled with a little bit along the way. Back in 1976 we each played songs from the solo albums [...] Maybe we could do a very select show where we could incorporate our outside work, much like Asia did, very successfully, when we re-formed. Everybody [in Yes] has things they’ve done outside the band, so it’s something that could be considered.

We’ve become more interested in really looking at the original recordings as much as possible, taking everything we can from them. There are obviously compromises we might make, but that doesn’t really matter. What we’re interested in is giving a sense of realism to it. Without that realism, we might as well not even go and play the right notes. [...] and I think that’s brought together with improvisation.

After all, a solo is a solo, and you can play what you like. [...] There’s got to be some freedom. But again, it’s nice hearing the raw, core tunes that call in that solo.

After bassist Chris Squire’s death in 2015, Howe inherited the job of putting Yes’ concert set list together. “I make a set list generally with two considerations. There’s gotta be some challenges; There’s got to be some things we haven’t been playing in the last two years or so. [...] you’ve got to go do some homework at home. But the other thing is we’ve got to make it possible. [...] our set list is generally a mix of challenging new things -- or new in the context of what we’ve been playing recently -- and then some really familiar stuff, but not the same-old, same-old -- although we can’t do a show without ‘Roundabout.’ [...]”

Downes also talked sets in a Jun 2018 interview:

Interviewer: Are there any songs that you personally would like to retire? [...]

Downes: We approach each tour differently. [...] it’d be nice maybe to look at a couple of 80’s era Yes tracks as well. And maybe even something from the 90’s, you know. Well we do a couple of tracks from the 90’s anyway. [...] there’s so much there [...] you’ve got 22 or 23 studio albums to pick material from, that’s a pretty enormous body of work to tackle. But certainly, I’m game to try anything that’s in the Yes catalog.

Interviewer: [...] is there a song or two you wish you guys could play, specifically?

Downes: I think I’d like to just do one of the big pieces from the album Relayer. We did a little bit of that, but something like either “Sound Chaser” or maybe “Gates of Delirium,” which would be an enormous challenge to actually learn something like that [...] quite a fascinating challenge to do that.

In a Jun 2018 interview of his own, White said, "we tried not playing "Roundabout" for a while. We got so many complaints because we didn't play it, we've been playing it ever since." Asked in the Yes Music Podcast about YesWest material, Downes replied, "that would be something a lot of the fans would appreciate [...] certainly I think Steve's up for doing some of it". Asked about the possibility of performing "The Gates of Delirium", he began by remarking on the challenge of doing so, but continued, "everything's possible […] Whether or not we do it next year [2018], I don't know. We might do it the year after [2019]. We might even at some point attempt the whole of Relayer. That's... that's something that has been put forward. I think in terms of it being the fiftieth anniversary of Yes that the focus is going to be more on a historical view of Yes's music rather than any specific albums". In his Mar 2017 Q&A, White had said, "we plan to play the entire "Relayer' album in the UK next year [2018]", but he backed away from that by this Aug 2017 interview: "I think next year [2018] should be a really good selection of songs from every era. We actually thought about playing the whole "Relayer" album, but I think that would be too much for the kind of show it should be next year [2018] for our 50th anniversary." In the Feb 2018 issue of Eclipsed, Howe also said they wanted to play all of Relayer but described this as challenging to do. In the mid-Mar 2018 interview, asked about whether Relayer is a possibility for summer US dates, Sherwood replied, "You never know. I've been lobbying for that for years now as it's one of my favourites. [...] As of yet it's not been spoken about, so we'll just have to see what happens." Sherwood in a Nov 2017 interview said he would like to play "The Gates of Delirium" and "On the Silent Wings of Freedom". Asked in his matching interview what songs he would like to include, White mentioned "America", "Awaken" and "Mind Drive"; he implied that, with Kaye present, they would do "Yours is No Disgrace". In the #YES50 tour programme, out Mar 2018, Downes said, "I'm excited about taking on the Relayer album". At the Jul 2018 YesFanFest, Howe was asked about doing Relayer in 2019 and replied, "Maybe". In an Aug 2018 interview, asked what songs he would like to do, Davison picked Relayer first, then saying, "I'd like to bring to the stage all of Tormato and Relayer and make the '70s Album Series a complete thing. Beyond that, some of the '80s and '90s material." He then mentions "The More We Live—Let Go" and "Shoot High Aim Low". In a Jul 2019 interview, Sherwood supported the idea of playing "Sound Chaser". Asked how set list decisions come about, he replied:

Steve [Howe] usually does it, and we have suggestions along the way, but Steve's got a really good sense of ebb and flow in the set. If too many songs are in the same key and they’re bundled up together, he can move them around, and based on tempos and all that type of thing. We sort of just wait for Steve to give us the set list. [...] then [...] anyone’s allowed to throw in their opinions but usually it’s pretty spot on, I’ve found.

I like playing new music. I’ve done 12 solo records over the years – I’ve been delighted to not have to only play old music. But my favorite stuff is definitely looking at Yes.

It doesn’t have to be that old – we might come onto the ‘90s at some point and start looking at Keys to Ascension or something. There’s a lot of music that we’d like to look at. But we do get a lot from the ‘70s, and we don’t have a problem.

I think you’re right; ‘The Remembering’ would be an interesting choice [...] But there are also so many other hidden gems on the albums that have been historically been overlooked by the touring band over the years. Talk, Big Generator, Union, The Ladder, & Keys to Ascension also have some killer tracks. How about ‘Mind Drive’ as a suggestion? ☺

In an interview for the Feb 2014 issue of Prog, Downes was asked about doing other albums and replied, "We've never discussed this at all, but it's not been ruled out. [...] I can see the subject coming up [...] But what we don't want to become is a band who just live in the past". He then talked of the possibility of varying tour set lists so that they "do a lot of more contemporary material on one tour and the next time we do something a lot more nostalgic." In an Apr interview, Howe said, "the one that everybody wants to hear is 'Relayer.' But we're not ready for that yet. [It] would be a heck of a challenge. [...] at the moment we haven't got the time or the inclination yet to do something like that."

In the interview with Vintage Rock conducted around Apr 2014, White put forth Drama and Relayer as two albums he would like to perform. In a Jul 2014 interview, Davison said: "There's been talk about any of the earlier albums up to '90125'". In a May 2014 interview, Squire said he hoped that they will do a tour one day playing material from the 1980s. He describes as interesting the idea put forth by the interviewer for a tour featuring Drama, 90125 and Big Generator. Reports from backstage on the 2014 summer tour suggested that Squire wanted to do all of Heaven & Earth, Howe and Davison wanted to do Relayer, and White and Downes wanted to do Drama and possibly 90125; US promoters are said to remain keen on 90125. One report from backstage on the 2015 summer tour has that Howe and White would like to do all of Time and a Word, but promoters prefer Relayer, which might produce a 3-album set of Time and a Word, Relayer and Drama. In an Aug 2015 YesWorld Q&A, asked what Yes pieces he would like to play, Sherwood replied:

There are many, but there’s only so much time in a set. As things progress, which looks like they are, we’ve had some successful touring here so far and there’s other promoters and more opportunity coming online – I envision YES being back at a place where it plays by itself for three hours, rather then playing with another band, and at that point with a three hour set that we can fill, there’ll be some other material that I’m definitely gong to be suggesting.

[...] There’s plenty of stuff out there that I would love to dive into, but my favorites, if I could choose – ‘Gates of Delirium’ would definitely be part of the set and so would ‘Tomato’ – a lot of it – I love ‘Future Times/Rejoice’, ‘On The Silent Wings Of Freedom’, ‘Release, Release’.

He also mentioned "Gates of Delirium" in answer to another question, but added: "but I don't know how far my vote goes just yet… give me some time!" He is then asked which albums he would pick if doing the whole album format; he nominated Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer.

Away from the while album format, several comments point to individual tracks under consideration of some sort. In a Nov 2014 interview for YesFANZ, Davison talked about the new material in the set:

we have been doing two [new] songs [...] live [...] [W]e were doing [...] 'To Ascend' for a while to start out with but it just didn’t quite stick as well with the ebb and flow of the concert, but we would like to incorporate at one point as much of the new album as possible.  We’re all still very focussed on that.  We just haven’t been able to promote that sufficiently in that regard because we are down to a 2 hour time limit [...] but we will get more of that into the live context.

[...]

I would really like to do 'Light of the Ages'

Relationships with past members
The question of a reunion between Yes and Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman (which had disbanded by early 2020), or between key past members and Yes, has always refused to go away. It appears unlikely. In a Dec 2017 interview, Todd Rundgren, who had recently toured with Yes, said, "There are actually two versions of Yes. There are conflicts between members of the band." However, Jon Kirkman claimed in a May 2021 edition of the Prog Report that "they're all talking to each other now. There's no arguments. All of the band, all the people who have ever been in Yes are now talking to each other and on good terms." In the Oct 2021 issue of Prog (#124), Howe said, "I like to think we still have contact with Bill Bruford and Tony Kaye, and I'm still friendly with Jon [Anderson] and the other guys who are around".

In an Oct 2021 interview, having previously been critical of Yes for using the name, Wakeman said:

I have tremendous admiration for Steve for keeping the ship afloat, especially after Chris died[.] There are so many bands these days that have got lineups of which, if people came back from the 1970s and could be reincarnated to look at them, they’d go: ‘Who are they?’

But Yes isn’t the only one. There are so many so many bands like it. And I think if it helps to keep the music alive, then I don’t see a problem.

In a Jul 2021 interview, Anderson was asked if there could be a merger between ARW and Yes. He replied, "Oh, yeah. I'm sure, I'm sure it will happen one day." He then talked about witnessing Chris Squire entering heaven in a dream. The interviewer said that Squire would want a re-union to happen, saying, "You gotta do this." Anderson replied, "We will! You've gotta speak to Steve. [laughs]"

In a Feb 2021 interview, asked if there was any possibility of a new Union, Tony Kaye replied, "No." He expanded:

I just don’t see it happening. I think the main reason I can come up with is that this [line-up of the] band actually likes each other. They’re all good friends. Everybody gets along. Jay and Alan are close. As a band, it works.

[...] the band works … it may not “work” for everyone, fans. But it just works together. Jon Davison is such a cool guy. [...] They do great justice to the music — I think they don’t want to lose that. Anderson can be a weird guy. There’s a lot of history. That’s really all I can come up with. The band just loves each other and has a great time together.

He also said, "if the band [Yes] asks me to do something in the future, I think it'll probably happen."

Steve Howe on one side and Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin on the other have voiced the strongest words against the idea. In a Jul 2020 article, commenting on the idea of a reunion, Howe said, "I don't think [fans] should stay up late nights worrying about that[.] There's just too much space out there between people. To be in a band together or even to do another tour like Union is completely unthinkable." He continued, "What I've done with Alan, and Chris until he passed, [...] has been trying to build something much more stable [than Union] and not so haphazardly sensational [...] Yes is about people who love working together and can. That word 'can' carries the whole story. That means compatibility and the same awarenesses about what we want to do." That said, in an interview conducted around Feb 2020, Howe commented on his relationship with Anderson, saying, "Jon and I get on really well now. We have the history and the friendship. But it's probably better that we don't attempt to work all the time together – because of this and that. But nobody knows what the future holds." A Jul 2019 Billboard article quoted Howe as saying that Yes "has had nothing to say" about Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman using the band name. It went on to quote him: "Anybody can play Yes music; [w]e'd never stop anybody doing what they want to do[.] Basically I say 'Good luck' to them." However, commenting on ARW's hiatus from activity in 2019, Howe also said, "we're not unhappy, so that maybe tells you something."

In an Oct 2019 interview, Wakeman said ARW should not have used the 'Yes' name and that their next tour (to have been in 2020, but which never happened) wouldn't. He said a reunion would not work: "I can't see it happening, although I've learned in rock & roll the word "never" doesn't exist. [...] Let's put it this way, it's highly unlikely. You've got more chance of Donald Trump getting divorced and marrying Hillary Clinton." He argued that neither band should have been called 'Yes' since Squire died: "If you want my real honest answer, the whole Yes thing is a mess since Chris died. It's a total and utter mess for the fans and the people because nobody knows what the hell is going on. Nobody knows who is in what, who is doing what. It's just one hilarious mess." In an Aug 2020 interview, he said, "when Chris passed away, that was it for me. Not the end of Yes music! But the end of the name Yes. Because Chris was the only founding member who remained throughout [...] I felt when Chris passed away, that was the time to retire the name, in his honour and in his memory. No reason why we can't all go off and play Yes music [...] Steve, myself, Jon, whoever — that's fine. But the name Yes, out of reverence and respect for Chris and the music, the name, I think, should've been retired. [...] that's the reason why, when anybody says, 'Is there ever likely to be reunion again?', my answer is, well, you can't have one without Chris." In a Sep 2020 interview, Rabin said, "I heard talk of... an interview somewhere where there was talk of maybe a [Yes] reunion and that's something that will never happen, not with me." He continued, "It's kind of ridiculous. I don't even think there should be a band with the name Yes without Chris Squire in it." He also said that the only "remaining legitimate Yes members" were White, Howe, Anderson, Wakeman and himself, continuing, "Without Chris, [...] it wouldn't be something that would include me."

White has had a different tone when answering questions on this topic. In a Feb 2019 interview from the Cruise to the Edge, asked what he would still like to accomplish with Yes, White said, "Well, it will be good to, maybe, in the future, see some kind of union tour. […] I don't think it's totally out of the question […] we'll see what happens." In a follow-up interview with Sherwood, told about White's comments, Sherwood responded, "Wow... he's the great uniter in the band, y'know. He's always wanting that to happen." Asked about the possibility of a reunion in a Mar 2019 interview, White said, "I'm not going to say definitely no. I'll say there is a possibility, but everybody is getting up there in age now. I don't see it as out of the question in the next few years [...] I definitely won't say "no." It's a "maybe."" In a Jun 2019 interview, asked about "bringing together many members of Yes from the past 50 years", White replied, "I'm not going to say no because anything's a possibility. Maybe one day everybody will just come together and be able to do a big show of everything again, which might be in the future. But as of now, we're just getting on with this Yes." In a Jul 2019 interview, Sherwood was asked about a reunion, and answered, "that question's a little above my pay grade [...] from my perspective I just see us going along this same course right now because we're a really happy unit moving forward [...] I know that the fans are speculating about another union-type scenario, but I don't know. I think it's kind of a long shot, to be honest with you."

It is Anderson who has been most supportive of the idea. A Jul 2020 article reports Anderson as being "keen on a reunion". It quoted him:

It was talked about three years ago, why don't we get Yes back together, it's the 50th anniversary of the band and I said, 'I don't see it, there would be about 15 people onstage, it's too much'[.]

But I had a dream the other week. I was backstage and I realised that's what happens: I'll start the show with my guitar and I'll sing a couple of songs and then Steve[ Howe]'s band will play, then I'll sing a couple more songs and Rick [Wakeman] and Trevor [Rabin] and myself will come on and do something and then all of a sudden we'll all get together and do 'Close To The Edge' and 'Awaken' and Bob's your uncle.

My mantra has always been it'll happen when it happens

In another Jul 2020 article, Anderson was asked about the possibility of a reunion, producing this exchange:

Anderson: Nobody has said, “Let’s do it.” But I think it would be great to get the Yes band back together. Obviously, it’s not going to happen this year [2020] with the coronavirus, but maybe in 2021 or 2022.

Interviewer: How would it work since Howe’s version of Yes features Jon Davison as the singer?

Anderson: We’ll figure it out. I’m not worried about that part. I just can’t wait to sing on a stage again.

In an Aug 2020 interview, Anderson responded to Howe's comment that a reunion is "unthinkable" by saying, "But he knows that I'm very open, but he has his own pocket decision to take". He continued, "I wouldn't go back into that band because I don't think they're that good [...] They're good! But they're not that good." In part 2 of the same interview, asked if he would sing on stage with Davison, Anderson replied, "Yeah, why not? [....] Of course I would. I'd sing with the band, y'know. I had this dream that I had a guitar and I was going to open the show by singing a couple of songs [...] And now Steve Howe and his band... eh... and I'd sit there [...] and sing along with some harmonies or whatever. And they'd come off stage, and then Trevor and Rick, are you ready yet? [...] And then we all did "Close to the Edge" and "Awaken"." In part 9 of the interview (released Oct 2020), Anderson blamed management for the failure to record an ARW album and then said: "I've left Yes twice and got kicked out when I got sick, I can't believe it, but that was the manager, you know? And I always say, 'Managers [...] don't care.' They don't care that audiences have paid a lot of money to see me sing. They'll put Mickey Mouse up." In a Sep 2020 interview, Anderson appeared to comment on that interview, saying, "I misspoke a little bit about the other band, because as far as I'm concerned, I work with really good musicians, and I expect brilliant things to happen [...] So, Steve and his band? I don't mind, they go out and sing songs that I wrote, and me and Steve wrote - which is fantastic – and keep the flag flying [...] They're very good at doing Yes classics, but I've been waiting for some new Yes classics, you know. It's very hard without me."

In the Dec 2020 issue of Prog magazine, in an interview conducted early Oct, he said, "For me, I am Yes. It's never left me." Talking about the current Yes, he said, "I haven't heard anything that hits me and says, '[...] I'm so happy they've evolved.' It's really great to hear them to the classic songs and Jon Davison's singing well". He again talked of his dream for a tour: "I'd love to do it as a final hurrah for the fans and go on a very special tour." He then outlined much the same plan of him opening with an acoustic guitar, the current Yes playing, him returning for two acoustic songs, and then him, Wakeman, Rabin "and all the others [...] There'd be about 20 of us on the stage all playing Close To The Edge."

In a Nov 2020 interview, Anderson was asked, "Do you think that it's possible for everyone [from Yes] to get together to make more music and tour?" Anderson replied:

Yeah, you never know. I’m a little bit like an open book. If they ask me, I will. But I don’t want to change them because I’ve asked them many times to get together and do this and that, and they’ve always been busy. I don’t mind that, you know? We’re like family, and family sometimes are close and tight, and sometimes they’re really not.

Howe guested on Anderson's 1000 Hands (albeit remotely). After discussing this, a Mar 2018 interview with Anderson has this exchange:

Interviewer: Of course, you'll never get the band back together [...]

Anderson: No. No, it's just one of those things. Life isn't... that organised. [chuckles] [...] For some reason, for whatever many reasons, it's not meant to be. That's OK. I've got things to do.

Interviewer: Yeah. Well, you've certainly got good relationships with everyone and you've kept in touch.

Anderson: Yeah, yeah, you keep in touch and, y'know, like anything, you have highs and lows. Like any family. Because we're family people. We're brothers, all musical brothers. Sometimes you love each other, sometimes you don't.

Later in the interview, Anderson was asked about his "next dream" after 1000 Hands, he replied:

I really want to do the final, great Yes album. I've got an idea of what it looks like, what it sounds like, but I'm not sure how to pull it off. [...] it's one of those things. I know what it should be, I know there's a lot of people who would love it to happen and I would love it to happen as well.

In another interview later that same month, talking about Howe's appearance on the album, Anderson said, "I just called him up and he said he'd love to play on it[.] I haven't sang with him in many, many years. It felt really comfortable and cathartic to do that. We're brothers. Sometimes you don't understand or misunderstand your brother and want to do different things. I think that is called a family." The article then raised the question of a reunion:

“I’m very open to it,” says Anderson. “It’s been 50 years now. You think something has got to happen. To me, a great album has to be made. That’s what I think. I don’t know how it’s going to be made, but the final Yes event should happen. I’ve talked to a couple of people about it and they get it. I really want to do this. I’ve even written eight songs for the record that I’m thinking would work with a full orchestra and a choir.”

Is Steve Howe into this idea? “I don’t know,” says Anderson with a sigh. “Maybe he’ll read this article and say ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ I don’t know.”

A Jul 2019 interview with Anderson had this exchange:

So is the recent Anderson/Howe collaboration on “1000 Hands” a harbinger of a real Yes reunion? Anderson doesn’t say no.

“When it happens, it’ll happen,” Anderson said.

In yet another Mar 2019 interview, Anderson said, immediately after talking about ARW, "I've always said it would be nice to do a Yestival and get everybody together on stage, that's like a magic wand to make that happen, but you never know in this life." And, in yet another Mar 2019 interview, asked what is the possibility of a reunion with Howe, Anderson replied, "I don't know [...] If I got the right phone call, I'd be there."

When Howe was asked by Prog magazine (Apr 2019 issue) about prospects of a re-union with Anderson and Wakeman, he replied, "We're happy doing our own parallel things. It's always a challenge to build the time to work with the people you are working with, let alone the people you did work with [...] let's leave it at that for now."

Asked about tensions between the two bands, Downes said in the Nov 2018 issue of Prog, "Any real direct confrontations have hopefully been nipped in the bud. As time has progressed it's become less critical. When they first came out they were pretty gung-ho—they were making a lot of comments in the press which were not very pleasant, calling us The Steve Howe Tribute Band. [...] For the most part, we've attempted to keep the high road and not get involved too much with slagging them off." Later in the same interview, he went on: "they do their thing, they've got their own agenda going on. They're not getting in my face. That's all I'm particularly bothered about." In a late Sep 2018 interview, Howe said any re-union is "completely off the table".

In an early Jun 2018 interview, Howe said this on the two bands situation:

When ABWH went out, Bill, Rick and I basically wanted to carry on being called ABWH. We weren't really interested in being called Yes, but there was a contingent in the band [i.e., Anderson] and the management [i.e., Brian Lane] that very much encouraged us to rejoin Yes. Actually, the three of us ended up with nothing. That lineup didn't continue after Union so we lost everything.

ARW came out and they justified their existence. They're ARW. Nobody can deny them the right to do that. Now there's a bit of game playing going on, adding that particular thing [presumably Howe means here the "Yes featuring..." part of their name]. I don't know if they are going to make things more interestingly confusing by calling it quintessential Yes [a reference to ARW's promotion for their 2018 touring].

It's up to them what they do. They're free, we're free. We're tolerant and they're tolerant. Hopefully, people won't go around saying "We don't like those guys." [Anderson in Mar 2017 said, "We don't like them" about Yes] We never said that. We want to be sharing and positive about everything we can generate, which I think is important.

If the fans have got a choice, now, to see different versions of things, then so be it. I can't see a problem.

In a Mar 2017 interview, Wakeman and Anderson both dismissed any possibility of a reunion. Asked about that in a Dec 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Rabin replied, "Oh, I very much doubt it. It's kind of like, if it's not broke, don't fix it. We've got the ARW thing right now and we're just loving it. That's certainly where we're at right now." In a matching interview, Howe replied to a similar question: "We know the 50-year anniversary is going to be quite colossal. The Union tour was popular with many fans, but it would have to be re-thought if we were considering that. It would need some reinvention. But that's a ways away." When the interviewer returned to the question of repeating the Union tour, Howe continued:

As long as its not trying to put a square peg in a round hole. The Union tour [...] [f]or the fans, it was seen in a particular light. But internally, it was complex. [...] you'd have to think about how it could work in a different way. It's nice seeing people play together, but it's really about the mood and the willingness and the love and the sharing. It just comes down to a lot of other things, unfortunately, like business and technical. Those other parts both help and interfere and destruct. A few people have said to me that although it was great to see us together all night for the Union tour, it was really a lot to try and fill your ears with. But I do appreciate that people are thinking about seeing us together, and that's a very nice sentiment.

Some of that was put to Anderson in his Rolling Stone interview and he was asked whether he thinks anything will happen to commemorate the 50th anniversary. He replied:

I'll call you! You'll be the first person I call [laughs]. Like anything, my idea of Yes is ARW at the moment. That's what I feel is the Yes I always dreamed of coming back together with.

In a late Jan 2017 interview, Howe was asked about the Union tour, and replied, "It's not something that we know we're going to do again. Obviously it would need good planning." White was asked why don't they "go back to Anderson & Wakeman" in his Mar 2017 YesWorld Q&A; he replied:

Well, you know, I’m open to anything in the future. I’m not opposed to the idea of that down the line but I’m part of the YES touring band and it makes more sense to continue with the group of musicians I’m currently working with… we have a great working vibe between us. You asked why we don’t “go back” and that’s really key because I always try to be positive and continue to move forward instead, I want to make progressively new and interesting music and we’re performing great on stage together. I’m happy with the way things are and looking forward to continuing on with the current YES line up.

In his late Mar 2017 Q&A, Howe was asked something similar. He replied:

This topic has gone round the houses a little bit. Before we can take on board ideas, there has to be a good line of communication. And as far as I understand ARW aren’t really interested in doing this and we’re most probably not really interested in doing this either.

Now that sounds like a big shut down, but in another way, one’s gotta understand that things aren’t always what they appear. Reinventing the ‘Union Tour’ is not really a concept that anyone from either of the lineups of YES or ARW have endorsed.

So basically, I would say, it’s not foreseeable. I think there’s ways that we can celebrate YES’s 50th year and most probably they want to as well. I think the complexity is unmeasurable by the fans. Those things aren’t easy. It’s not any one person that’s particularly making it difficult, but people can make it difficult and then it’s gotta be done in the right spirit. I’d say don’t hold your breath.

In a May 2017 interview, White was a little bit more positive: "There's a possibility [of a reunion] way down the line here[.] The next tour is the 50th anniversary of the band, so who knows what will happen then."

Relations between the band have not gotten any better since ARW switched name to "Yes featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman". Howe was interviewed for an article in the Jul 2017 issue of Prog on the subject, using language described by the magazine as "both damning and colourful", but he subsequently asked for his comments not to be used. However, it is also revealed that:

he [Howe] wrote to them before, their tour, wishing them good luck. "That's my true spirit: that anyone can play Yes."

In the same issue, Downes and Wakeman both professed to be unbothered about the other band, although their language comes across as rather passive aggressive! Downes said: "We're focusing on what we're doing [...] We wish them well. We've got no axe to grind. We hope they succeed. They may have something against us. If they do that's their problem not ours." Wakeman: "I don't care what they do. They're fully entitled to do whatever they live. [...] I have no idea what they're doing [...] It's of no interest to me. [...] They're not a rival band. They're another lot out there playing Yes music, same as we are. We're just doing it our way [...] Good luck to them." Sherwood meanwhile said that he would go see Yes featuring ARW perform if he was free.

Asked how he feels about the other band touring at the same time as them, White said in an Aug 2017 interview, "It's quite funny. Quite frankly, I don't think about it very much. [...] They're doing their thing." In answer to a similar question in this Aug 2017 interview, Sherwood replied:

It’s interesting and strange at the same time. I haven’t really been paying too much attention to it because we keep staying on our track [...] I’m happy to hear as much Yes music in 2017 from the participants thereof and see the music thriving. There’s the obvious political push and pull that goes on in Yes; it’s always been that way and will always be that way. [...] there’s always much chaos and many moments to have it. (laughs) It’s really not surprising that we’re in this current state of affairs, but we go forward as Yes doing what we do.

On Eddie Trunk's radio show broadcasting from the Cruise to the Edge 2018 in early Feb, Sherwood said much the same: "From my perspective, I'm a long-time Yes fan, the more Yes music out there in 2018, the better. Um... obviously there is a lot of politics involved, but that's way above my pay grade. I just want to play the music […] It's all good as far as I'm concerned."

Before hearing they would be inducted, in a Nov 2016 interview, asked about a reunion with Yes if the band get inducted in the Hall of Fame, Wakeman said: "I think there's no chance of us ever reuniting[.] There's not a hope in hell of that happening."

In an Apr 2016 interview, Howe was asked whether it is fair to say that Anderson will never be back in the band. He replied: "I don't think that's fair at all [...] I don't know what the future holds [...] We're just moving ahead as we are. [...] We need certainties, y'know, we need availabilities, we need, y'know, commitments and things like that". He was later asked if the band still has good relationships with R Wakeman: "Well, I hope we try and keep good relations with everybody, y'know [...] people put their foot in it occasionally [laughs] But [...] there are always people from the bands you've been in that you have stayed closer to and other people you haven't and that very much depends on who makes any effort and who's got any time and, y'know, how much you can, so, y'know, it spreads itself evenly across the... so many members of Yes [laughs] that we've had, besides the other bands I hasten to add I've been in. But, y'know, um, it's a lovely thing, y'know, there's a pool of musicians and, y'know, we can reach out to each other when we want to." In a Jul 2016 interview, asked whether they would work with ex-members, Howe focused on the current band's plans and said: "Well, I guess what we're going to do is we're going to try to contain ourselves in our ambition and figure out how to keep these things going. It takes a lot of work and a lot of agreement." Asked in the Dec 2016 interview when he last spoke to Anderson, Howe replied, "I don't know whether I can reveal things like that. It's a little bit personal. We've been working in different bands and different areas for a very long time."

Sherwood was asked in an Aug 2016 interview about the band's future: "Could another merger be on the horizon? Who even owns the Yes name?" The article continues:

“All that stuff is above my pay grade,” Sherwood says with a laugh. “Let’s be honest. Did anyone think Yes could survive Chris Squire not being there? I wasn’t sure, and I was the one being asked to do it. But it seems to be surviving and thriving.” The future is “a hard thing to even discuss, because you just don’t know until you get there.”

Sherwood says he tries not to draw “hard lines” about authenticity. “Life evolves and music evolves and bands change,” he says. “We’re losing guys. That’s sad to say, but it’s true. But the music lives on and it’s a testament to the music.”

In an Aug 2015 interview, Howe was asked whether "Chris' passing make it any more likely we'll see Yes work with former members like Jon Anderson or Rick Wakeman in some capacity, even just for one big concert to celebrate the band's legacy?" He replied:

I'd hate to say no, so I'll say I don't know. [...] From inside it's quite different. We have to try to stay on our course, and if we change something that changes multiple other things, then we don't know where we are. We spent a lot of time in 2008 kind of finding out where we are, with Benoit and Oliver Wakeman and now with Geoff Downes and Jon Davison and now with Billy Sherwood. In other words, we can't open the floodgates without thinking. So sure, we give these things some thought, but until we come to a conclusion, we'd rather do nothing than the wrong thing.

In a Sep 2015 interview (conducted late Aug), Howe talks about several past members of the band, saying how they met with Moraz while on tour. He then says, "We have some contact with Jon Anderson. [...] I think we ought to see this group as sort of an expanded family."

In an interview recorded in Apr 2016, White said, "I talk to Jon [Anderson] [...] on occasion. [...] I call him on his birthday, and that kind of stuff. [...] Rick, I haven't seen him for an awful long time. I'd like to see him again, y'know, because we used to get on very well." Asked if Anderson and Wakeman might ever return to Yes, he said, "I wouldn't rule it out [...] put it that way, but I think Jon doesn't want to do these long, arduous tours any more and if it was, it would be a kind of cameo appearance at some bigger venues like London [...] or Los Angeles". Asked in an early Nov 2016 interview whether, in the context of putting on a united performance should Yes be inducted into the Hall of Fame, there is animosity between the two bands, White replied: "There's a certain amount, y'know. I actually talk to everybody, so... so, it's a matter of other people sorting their opinions out". In the Dec 2016 interview, Howe was asked, "How do you feel about ARW being on tour now? Do you think that's a good idea? Are you cool with it?" He replied:

[Laughs] It's an idea that has every right to exist, as much as ABWH when we were together in the late 1980s. Basically there's room for anybody to play Yes music. We love to hear other people play Yes music. These guys have quite a bit of credibility to do that and they are outstanding musicians, so there's no reason why they shouldn't go out and play. There's not any reason.

Apparently responding to comments by ARW in a number of interviews, Sherwood posted to Facebook in early Oct 2016:

In light of current events...
In my view, anyone who puts on the uniform I.E. served playing with Yes, making records, touring etc... deserves respect for doing so (regardless of era), without ending up under a bus. It's my honor to play under the "YES" flag, of which there is only one flying... I have always been loyal to that flag... even at times when I was under fire for doing so (see OYE lol). I know Chris was loyal, as he was the only member to NEVER leave... I'm humbled and honored to now be back in "YES" [...] especially having been personally asked by my long time friend and musical comrade (inside and out of YES) Squire himself, he asked me to carry on in his position in the "band" and so it shall be done. My heart and soul are in it to win it, every time I play those bass parts I'm thinking of Chris and "YES" and what it all means to have had fate guide my life in this most unexpected manner, Yes was my world growing up as a kid. It became part of my career as an adult, a very surreal destiny indeed. With that I will continue to serve, putting on the uniform of a "YES" man once again, and as I promised Chris, I'll give it my full passion and priority... always remembering my fallen hero.

Asked in a May 2016 interview if he could see himself reuniting with other members of Yes, Anderson replied, "No, just Trevor [Rabin] and Rick [Wakeman]. That's enough." In an Apr 2016 interview, Anderson was asked about the continuing Yes, replying: "It's just business, and it's a group of people going out there and playing music that's very valid. I have a different perspective on what it is, and there are bands out there performing Yes music, called tribute bands[.] That's kind of the feeling of what's going on. That's why me and Trevor [Rabin] say, 'Well, listen if we're going to get together [in Anderson Rabin Wakeman], we've got to reignite Yes[.]'" In another May 2016 interview (presumably conducted in Apr), Anderson was asked whether they would reunite in the near future. He replied, "No, just Trevor and Rick. That's enough." Asked in another Apr 2016 interview how, if he had "a magic wand", he'd like to see Yes wrap up, Anderson replied: "Create some of the greatest music in the next 20 years. I'm still Yes, I'm still part of Yes in my heart and soul. I didn't leave the band, the band went off on their merry way when I wasn't very well. [giggles] [...] I've got it in my DNA".

In yet another May 2016 interview, Anderson said, "My history is intact musically[.] Yes became a brand and a business deal and that is not my idea of what music is. Music needs to touch you spiritually. When it is driven by money, then it takes away the joy of creation." In an interview for the Spring 2016 issue of Progression, Anderson was asked if he "keeps tabs on his former band". He replied: "Not really, no. I know they're on the road. Musicians need to make a living and that's what they're doing. [...] there's only two of them left". And in this Jun 2016 interview, he said: "people ask me, "What do you think of Yes?" I, honestly, never left Yes. Because Yes has been my life. The band itself are doing what they want to do. I can't tell them what to do, because it's not my band. They've got the name, but I've got the state of mind about what true "Yes music" should sound like".

[Squire] would just always call and be in touch, and we never stopped talking. On numerous occasions since I’d left the band and was very busy doing film work, he called a number of times and said, ‘You know, I think it’s time for you to get up from your desk job and get back on the street.’ And you know, I was always a bit reluctant about, if the band’s going to be called Yes, for it to not have Jon in it. It seemed a bit strange to me. But the prime reason was that I was just so busy with what I was doing and really enjoying it.

[laughs] Not really. We’ve all been replaced by somebody at one time or another. What I’m concerned about is that if one loses the idea of the adventurousness in this music — the dynamics that we need to play with that make the sensitivity and the crescendos and the lulls and all those things — if we suddenly think that we don’t need to do that, that we just play the songs, hammer them out, that would be a nonsensing of Yes, really. When we play “Five Percent for Nothing” for the first time ever onstage, we will be showing, if not ourselves, we’re showing the audience also that we’re challenging ourselves. If we don’t, then this isn’t Yes [...] That would be a good reason for you to moan all over the Internet, that Yes have lost the flame to be adventurous and to be musical and to be subtle as well as powerful [...] Subtlety is what Yes is.

I really feel that the name should have been retired. I think it was disrespectful to Chris. There were all sorts of stories going around that “Oh, Chris wanted it to continue.” I know for a fact people that spoke to Chris and that isn’t true.

3rd person anonymous “people who talked to Chris” ???
I can only speak to the 1st person conversations Chris and I had about YES future, which were many within the 6 weeks from him telling me he was sick to his passing. He wanted it to continue... for the fans and the music.
People can say what they like... I know first hand what Squires wishes were and to that end it’s 6 years later and we are going forward just as Chris wanted 😇

[Yes's music i]s similar to the way classical music works. Long after those marvelous composers [...] passed, and the centuries moved forward, their music lives on. It’s not so much about the personality anymore. And people have a hard time seeing that now, because obviously the members [of Yes] are still alive, apart from Peter Banks [...] But it’s so easy to associate the music with the personality, and that causes a lot of conflict among fans. But ultimately, it’s about the music, and just taking the music forward. And there will always be a Yes. And I’m a lover of Jon Anderson as much as I’m a lover of Chris Squire, but you can’t fight it. And when something has that power to it, it’s beautiful, and beauty transcends all of that personality, and it’s always gonna belong, you just can’t put a cap on it and say, “Well, the original members aren’t doing this music anymore, so it’s over.” That can never be. It just can’t be.

Someone asked me the other day, “Do you think the band will ever get to the point where there’s no [classic] members?” And I said, perhaps, because it’s the music that makes it all worthwhile. There are a few Yes tribute bands out there, but not as many as other tribute bands because the music is quite hard to play.

Animated film project: Roger Dean's "Floating Islands" film or something else
Yes had had preliminary discussions about possible film ventures, including one being developed by Roger Dean. In an Apr 2007 interview for Mexican newspaper, Reforma, Squire said that the band have been in contact with Universal Pictures about making an animated movie about the band's history from their formation to the present day, including their more representative songs. The article makes a comparison with The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine":

Hace poco la compañía Universal Pictures se mostró interesada en hacer una película de animación en la que se muestra un poco de nuestra trayectoria musical, desde cuando surgimos, hasta la actualidad, incluyendo obviamente, nuestras canciones más representativas. Lo estamos analizando, todavía hay algunas puntos por precisar, como la historia, de qué trataría y cómo se abordaría, cuáles etapas de la carrera se incluirían, las canciones, pero creo que es muy pronto para hablar del tema, esperemos pronto poder dar más detalles. [...]

Son muchos años, muchas anécdotas que contar, creo que tendríamos que seleccionar muy bien lo que quisiéramos abordar, porque una película, comúnmente tiene una corta duración, cerca de dos horas y es muy poco para contar tanto, ya casi cumplimos cincuenta años de estar juntos.

It is unclear how Yes are or were involved with planning for "Floating Islands". The film was expected to feature music by the band. Asked in the Mar 2008 interview about Yes making some music especially for the project, Dean replied: "all members of the band have spoken enthusiastically about doing that. [...] That's definitely what we would like." He goes on to say he would like both existing and new songs, and discusses the options for either existing or new recordings of old songs. He talks about both "Awaken" and "Soon". Back in Jun 2007, Dean had said that Yes are not currently involved with the project beyond authorising the use of their music. A report from around 2005 had that the film was intended to contain 8-12 classic tracks (a re-recorded "Close to the Edge" was mentioned in one rumour) and at least 4-5 new recordings. In Jun 2007, Dean confirmed there had previously been discussion of Yes writing new music for the film and that the band had been thinking of "re-recording everything" (presumably meaning re-recording classic pieces), but that there hadn't been any discussion of new music recently with Yes then being dormant.

Further back, there were more reports from Yes about contributing. In a Dec 2004 Delicious Agony interview, White said, "We're starting to write music for it." In his Christmas Newsletter 2004, Wakeman said: "There are certainly ideas in the offing which include [...] making a film/and/or DVD with Roger Dean involved with all of the visuals which I particularly like, but there is much to be sorted out within the band itself before any decisions". Wakeman indicated that one of their main reasons to prefer the DVD format over CDs is Internet piracy. In an Oct 2005 interview with Squire for YesFANZ, he said:

We are looking at various options from the various major companies. Universal have shown interest and we are going to be looking at trying to put together a show that maybe then after the film has been made of the same, we can then tour the world with that kind of a look and with that kind of combining the film and the touring aspect.

I think Roger’s floating Islands idea is a very good project. But after Lord of the Rings was made [...] with such good quality, it[']s hard to know quite whether Roger may be a bit late in thinking about that because it has been done so well with the correct amount of money [...] His idea, I fully support it but I am not quite sure where it is going to go. I had a couple of meetings with him to try and figure it out but so far nothing is happening.

[...] I think pretty much [he is looking for funding]. [...] Yes is a separate entity really from Roger [...] I have to look out for what’s best for Yes as opposed to Roger. But I think the idea of animated film for a Yes musical project is a good one but there are various options on the table that we are looking at.

• 3CD/DVD: Pensacola Civic Centre, 9 Apr 1991 (audience recording)
• 2CD/DVD: Worcester Centrum, Worcester, MA, 17 Apr 1991 (with "Clap/Mood for a Day" repeated in error on the DVD; audience recording, single camera source for the DVD)
  
• 2CD/DVD: Nassau Colosseum, 20 Apr 1991 (audience recording)
• 3CD: Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Germany, 31 May 1991 (a full audience recording and then an 80-minute edit of the show from a radio broadcast)
  
• 2CD: Wembley Arena, UK, 29 Jun 1991 (songs are out of order: some of this is sourced to a radio broadcast, the rest is from a soundboard recording)
  
• 2CD/DVD: McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, 9 May 1991 (soundboard recording; there are gaps between tracks on the CD and also micro-cuts)
  
• 2CD/DVD: Madison Square Garden, New Tork, 15 Jul 1991 (audience recording, single camera source for the DVD)
  
• 2CD/DVD: Shoreline Amphitheatre, 8 Aug 1991 (missing the second half of "And You and I", as previously)
  
• 2CD: Alpine Valley Music Theatre, Wisconsin, 26 Jun 1991 (audience recording)
  
• 2CD: Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan, 4 March 1992 (audience recording)
• 4CD: "Bonus tracks": Star Lake Amphitheatre, Pennsylvania, 24 Jul 1991 (soundboard recording, only first half of the evening's performance); soundchecks (although billed as such, some of these recordings appear to be from shows) from 9 Apr, 14 Apr, 24 Apr, 5 May, 11 May, 29 May, 30 May, 26 Jun 1991 ("Close to the Edge" from disc 4 is just an edit of the same recording on disc 2); "Up Close" US radio shows
  

YES must have recorded many things beyond 1972, hopefully tapes survive and will turn up in good shape. I have mixed some of their live stuff before, but it was considered (I agreed) too poor to release, with sound issues, keyboard tunings, etc. In particular a 1976 show we found with Patrick could have been amazing (JFK Stadium in Philadelphia maybe?), but the tapes made it clear it was a very sour night.

And people ask me, “What do you think of Yes [today]?” I, honestly, never left Yes. Because Yes has been my life. The band itself are doing what they want to do. I can’t tell them what to do, because it’s not my band. They’ve got the name, but I’ve got the state of mind about what true “Yes music” should sound like

While Jon Anderson has rights to use the name as one of the co-owners of the trademark, Yes' position is that every effort should be made by promoters, ticket agencies and all involved to respect Yes' magnificant and loyal fanbase and minimize confusion regarding the use of Yes Featuring Anderson, Rabin, Wakeman.

They`ve been really cool about it.  It`s never been a problem.  I had a conversation with the other guys and just said to them to let people know who`s in the band as I keep getting phone calls about me playing somewhere but I`m not in your band, so please tell people who`s in the band so they don`t expect to see me.

Well, I don’t know. I don’t really think about it much, to tell you the truth. It’s their thing; their version of Yes. We do our version, but really this band is still Yes. There are comments that come from the other camp, but I wouldn’t reply to the comments because I don’t need to.

It’s a lot of business stuff. We own the name. They own the name. Jon Anderson and I own it, but the logo we own, because Steve Howe owns most of the logo.

Interviewer: Who owns the name “Yes” since there are two of them now?

White: Well, there’s not really two of them. This Yes I’m in is the guys with the Yes name and always had it. And so legally, we are still Yes. Even though the other guys were in it for long periods of time at different times, they’ve all done other things. Chris and myself had never done anything else. We just carried on.

Interviewer: But they call themselves “Yes featuring ARW.” How is that legal if you guys own the name?

White: They can legally do that because Jon still has some of the copyright. It’s kind of a legal thing. They they can say “Yes Featuring ARW,” but they can’t call themselves “Yes.” We own the logo.

Kerzner is in new band, Arc of Life, described above, with Sherwood, Davison, Jay Schellen and Jimmy Haun. He has also been working on a mystery second project with Jon Davison. As well as In Continuum and the Yes tribute album (Yesterday and Today: A 50th Anniversary Tribute to Yes), Kerzner had written in Sep 2018 on ProgressiveEars.com that, "I may do some more stuff with both Jon, Billy and Geoff (either separately or in combination with each other)." In Aug 2020 on ProgressiveEars.com, he said he had "more than one side project with various musicians from Yes [...] in one band/project the music is co-written by me and in the other it isn't so..." The latter was Arc of Life. Soon after on Facebook he said, "I have yet another original music project that's Yes-related but it's almost completely unannounced apart from me hinting about it. There is a band name and no one but the people involved know what it is. It also involves someone from King Crimson but that's all I can say about that! Haha." Likewise, in Sep 2020 on ProgressiveEars.com, Kerzner posted, "Got a few in the works involving some of the guys mentioned in this thread [about Yes]. One project that I'm co-leader/co-singer of and another where I'm just the keyboard player for a change." In a late Dec 2020 Facebook post, after mentioning Arc of Life, Kerzner said, "I'm also working on a new album featuring Jon Davison and other musicians you know for another 2021 album release!" (He confirmed this is separate to the third In Continuum album, on which Davison appears.) He continued, "This other album I mentioned is very Proggy and a bit retro as well." In a Feb 2021 post to ProgressiveEars.com, he said, "I am already co-writing new music with Jon D for another project". In the Feb 2021 Arc of Life interview with SOAL Night Live, after talking about In Continuum, Kerzner said, "I am writing with Jon [Davison] for some other things". In a May 2021 appearance on the Yes Music Podcast, Kerzner said he and Fernando Perdomo (In Continuum, The New Empire, worked with Mika) have some "Yes-ish" track ideas, and they might get Davison or Robin Schell to do vocals, or he could offer them to Arc of Life.

Sonic Elements Fantasy Interactive Dark Side of the Moon w/ Alan Parsons
Sonic Elements XYZ Fantasy Band Tribute to Rush featuring Neil Peart Drums
Sonic Elements Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Fantasy Soundtrack Tribute to Genesis
Sonic Elements Trifecta (original music with Billy Sherwood and drums from Terry Bozzio, Rod Morgenstein, Neil Peart...)
Sonic Elements TBA fantasy progressive rock project featuring...

... all involving Sherwood in some capacity. A 5-song EP, XYZ—A Tribute to Rush, was released previously. Details in Yescography. In Apr 2012, Kerzner said that there:

will at least be another EP of different [Rush] material (the "keyboard era" stuff) and then eventually a full album and that will have different versions of some of these songs on it as well.

Plus there's going to interactive versions of the songs similar to Jammit except they can work inside products like AmpliTube where you can play guitar through modeled amps and pedals or inside Garageband and play anything you want. That's coming along with Neil Peart's isolated drum tracks. But these interactive versions are more for musicians to interact with.

In an Oct 2012 post to ProgressiveEars.com, he said the next Rush-related release would be the full-length album Moving Signals & Waves, covering tracks from the Rush albums Moving Pictures, Signals and Permanent Waves. Mixing was going on in May 2013. Confirmed tracks for the album included "Digital Man" with Sherwood (vocals, guitar, bass), Kerzner (keys) and Perdomo (guitars); "Spirit of Radio", with Sherwood (bass), Kerzner (keys), Mike Keneally (ex-Frank Zappa, ex-Stanley Snail, worked with Robert Fripp; guitars), D'Virgilio (vocals); and "Subdivisions", with Kerzner, John Payne (ex-Asia, Asia Featuring John Payne; vocals) and Erik Norlander (ex-Asia Featuring John Payne). Another song on the album features Kerzner (keys), Sherwood (bass, guitar), Steve Hackett (Squackett, ex-GTR, ex-Genesis) and Keith Emerson (ex-ELP), while either that one or another features guitar from both Hackett and Francis Dunnery (ex-It Bites, ex-The Syn, worked with ABWH). The album was also to include the 4 Rush tracks on the XYZ EP, but in different versions. At various times, Kerzner or others have described covers of further Rush songs:

• "Freewill", with Sherwood (bass), Dunnery (lead guitar), Alastair Greene (Alan Parsons Live Project; rhythm guitar)
  
• "Time Stands Still", with Sherwood (bass)
• "Mission" with Kerzner (keys), Steven Robinson (guitar), Valerie Spinner (bass), John Beagley (vocals)
• "Between the Wheels" with Kerzner (keys), Dorsey
• "One Little Victory" with members of Queensrÿche
• "Losing It"

Dunnery also sang on some of the Rush songs.

Also due is are 2 Genesis tribute albums: as Kerzner explained on Facebook in Sep 2021, "A general one with a variety of songs from the first album up to at least the Mama album and then there's another one that's the full Lamb album." He also said one of these is due in 2021. The plan, after some evolution, had been for a tribute to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway led by Kerzner (keys) and Dunnery (lead vocals), both of whom also worked on Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited 2 album. The album, It: A Tribute to Genesis & The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (teaser), was due 2015 but has been long delayed. On Facebook in Mar 2020, Kerzner said the album would be released in 2020, but it was further delayed. It features multiple guests, including Sherwood, Steve Rothery (Marillion), Lee Pomeroy (Anderson Rabin Wakeman, Rick Wakeman, It Bites, Steve Hackett), Dan Hancock (ex-Giraffe), Martin Levac (The Musical Box) and Nad Sylvan (Steve Hackett). The album is described as "done in a "classic rock-meets-modern film score" style combining authentic vintage instruments from the 70s (including sounds recorded at Genesis' studio with engineer Nick Davis) along with a full orchestra." Previous reports have also mentioned the involvement of Stan Cotey (ex-Giraffe), McStine and Mark Hornsby (worked with D'Virgilio), plus the use of samples of Tony Banks' keyboard playing. Sherwood plays on at least "Lilywhite Lilith". He also sang lead vocals on versions of that song and "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway": those and "Chamber of 32 Doors" sang by Sylvan were expected as bonus material on the album. A Peter Gabriel cover, "Rhythm of the Night", with Dunnery (vocals), using Sonic Reality's Jerry Marotta drum library was also mooted. In Jul 2020, Perdomo mentioned on Facebook Tony Levin recording bass tracks for "the Genesis Tribute Album Dave Kerzner and I are producing".

The Pink Floyd/Dark Side of the Moon project involves Nick Mason (ex-Pink Floyd), Davis, Dorie Jackson (works with Dunnery, ex-The Syn; vocals), Guy Pratt (worked with Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson; bass), Colin Edwin (ex-Porcupine Tree; bass), Natalie Azerad (vocals), Durga & Lorelei McBroom (vocals). The Sonic Elements Facebook page in Jan 2013 said: "I've assembled a Sonic Elements band in LA this week to work with the McBroom sisters [...] Billy Sherwood, Randy McStine, Fernando Perdomo and myself (with Pink Floyd's rhythm section already recorded/sampled)". An update in Jan 2014 announced The Dark Side of Sonic Elements album for 2014 with Sherwood, Dunnery, McStine, the McBrooms and "utilizing the brand new Sonic Reality 2014 sample library releases from Nick Mason, Guy Pratt, Alan Parsons, the McBroom Sisters and more." This has yet to appear.

I was just talking with Francis Dunnery about finishing up The Lamb tracks next month [Apr 2018]. The Rush tribute is the closest to finish and I was just holding out to do a track with David Longdon of Big Big Train [...] but it would have to be built from scratch since I don't have the drum track from Neil Peart for that song... and I was going to play it from the keyboard using Neil's drum samples but it's in 5/8 and a little tricky. A fun challenge but I need a bit of time to do it right. Arrrggghhh. Maybe I'll still do it. There's also an original music side to the project too and I have material from Glass Hammer, Billy Sherwood and others for that as well. The Floyd tribute split into two projects, one I did with Alan Parsons participating and the other that's become a female led Floyd tribute sung by the McBroom Sisters and it'll be their album that I'm co-producing which will also have original songs written with various people who played with Floyd like Guy Pratt, Jon Carin and others. Even a tune they wrote with Lemmy from Motorhead will be on that one. Some of the guys from Australian Pink Floyd are helping finish that album because I've gotten a bit too overloaded to do ALL of them at the same time. There is also another Genesis-related Sonic Elements thing that may come out as well but it hasn't been announced publicly so that's probably the lowest priority. Then there's the Yes stuff which I don't know if I have enough to do a full album of Yes music. Might put those on an SE compilation album or something just to get everything I've worked on a home and unless we do any others (might) that will wrap up the tributes. Obviously if they do really well for my distributors there could be more. [...] I'm imposing my own deadline of releasing them all before the end of the year [2018]. Probably around Summer time or at least by the end of the year [2018] as I'll be playing some of it on CTTE!

John Holden
John Holden (Facebook) has released 3 solo albums. His first two, Capture Light (details in Yescography) and Rise and Fall (details in Yescography), have both Billy Sherwood (bass) and Oliver Wakeman (piano, keys) guesting. His third album, Circles in Time, came out Mar 2021 (without any Yes-related guests). Before then, Holden organised a charity album, Together Apart, released digitally 4 Mar 2021 on Bandcamp, raising money for low grade ovarian cancer research with Cure Our Ovarian Cancer. The lead track is a cover of Renaissance's "Northern Lights" with multiple guest performers, most of whom have worked with Holden before, including Oliver Wakeman, Jon Camp (ex-Renaissance), Joe Payne (ex-The Enid), Sally Minnear (Kerry Minnear's daugther; Celestial Fire, worked with Dave Kerzner, Dave Bainbridge), Peter Jones (Tiger Moth Tales), Gavin Harrison (King Crimson, ex-Porcupine Tree), Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering, worked with iCon), Vikram Shankar, Marc Atkinson (Mandalaband), Michel St-Père (Mystery) and Holden himself. Tracks:

1. "Northern Lights" (7:02)
2. John Holden: "Circles" (5:46), from Circles in Time
   
3. Tiger Moth Tales: "Taking the Dawn" (5:23)
4. Mystery: "How do You Feel" (4:53)
5. Marc Atkinson: "Brave the Storm" (3:16)
6. That Joe Payne: "Love (not the same)" (6:35)
7. Oliver Day: "Chasing the Sun" (2:27)
8. Band of Rain: "Larkspur" (7:53)
9. Lux Terminus: "Epilogue: Fly" (4:35)
10. "Northern Lights radio mix" (4:05)
    

exo-X-xeno
exo-X-xeno (Facebook, Bandcamp) released a single, "Onward, Love" (YouTube) on 15 Jan 2021. A second song, "Reaching for Beyond" (YouTube), followed 5 Jul 2021. The band consists of Craig Maher (guitars, lead vocals), Billy Sherwood (bass, backing vocals), Patrick Moraz (keys) and Jay Schellen (drums). Maher wrote both songs, and both were mastered by Maor Appelbaum (worked with Yes, Arc of Life). They are working on an album, Luminous Voyage.

White Car
Leon Alvarado (worked with Rick Wakeman, Billy Sherwood, Trey Gunn, John Goodsall) had described a forthcoming project called White Car with Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison and Johnny Bruhns (ex-CIRCA:, ex-Yoso). Alvarado said on 20 Mar 2020 on Facebook, "This is coming down the pipe but because of the Covid-19 situation we aren't sure as to when it will be completed." However, asked about in a 4 Jul 2020 interview, Sherwood said he "didn't know about that project". In May 2021, Alvarado posted an update to Facebook, saying:

Update on new music. It has been a long time since I have put out any music at all. My circumstances went through a lot of changes with being put out for two years as we fixed our house from massive flood damaged and rebuilt the studio. Finalizing things just to get under the pandemic which delayed things even more. However, during that period I did managed to make some music from time to time but not all of it goes well with each other. I just started to work on unfinished projects and even though there's enough material to fill up a regular album, it is very different sound-wise between one another so they will have to be subdivided into different releases. Some of the work was done with Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison and Johnny Bruhns. Billy and Johnny played on my last record release and this was the first time I worked with Jon but he's such a professional. In the middle of that project I got distracted by another project I was working on prior to that one. [...] To put it into perspective, the work I am doing with the Yes chaps sounds a lot like Yes and so I'll keep it that way. The work I am doing with these other musicians sounds very different from that

1. "Conduit" (6:41), instrumental
2. "Nothing Wrong" (6:17), new version of song previously on Spirals and Portals
3. "In the Night I" (0:51)
4. "Life-Line" (5:49)
5. "You Have It All" (14:30)
6. "In the Night II" (1:03)
7. "Beautiful Light" (5:46), new version of song previously on Spirals and Portals
8. "Our Test Tube Universe" (7:38)
9. "Flowing Through the Change" (17:20)
1. "Futureflow"
2. "In the Night III"
3. "Dreamflow"
4. "A New Beginning"
5. "Dreams are Coming True"
   

United Progressive Fraternity
Planetary Overload Part 1: Loss (GEP, GEPCD1061; details in Yescography), released 2019, and Part 2: Hope, due later, come from United Progressive Fraternity (Facebook). The band are led by Mark "Truey" Trueack (Unitopia) and Steve Unruh (The Samurai of Prog). A promo video for the track "What Happens Now" credits Trueack (vocals), Unruh (vocals, flute, violins, slide guitar, keys, percussion, mix), Lisa Wetton (John Wetton's widow; vocals), Marek Arnold (Damanek; sax), Cides (Stick), Brendon Darby (trumpet, flugelhorn), Mark Franco (fretless bass), Clive Hodson (trombone, alto sax), Angus Keay (electric guitar), Christophe Lebled (worked with Jon Anderson; keys, piano, synth), and Jerry Marotta (worked with Tony Levin, Peter Gabriel, Iggy Pop; drums). Another for "Loss to Lost" credits Trueack (vocals), Raf Azaria (vocals, piano), Unruh (vocals, electric guitar, sitar guitar, flute, percussion), Bawden (vocals), Cides (Stick), Jesús Gancedo García (works with Guillermo Cides; drums). The band wrote on Facebook in Feb 2021, "having so much fun making this the second part of Planetary Overload-Hope. [...] 2022 will be a big year for all of us."

The band's website credit Trueack (vocals, songwriter, artistic direction, co-production), Unruh (violin, guitars, flute, vocals, songwriter, co-production), Lebled (keys, soundscapes, guest arranger), Cornel Wilczek (Qua; orchestration, conductor on "Seeds for Life"), Dan Mash (Damanek; bass), Matthew Atherton (Sound; vocals, soundscapes, synths), Arnold (sax), Joe Toscano (The Loving Tongue; drums, vocals), Mark Franco (Sound; bass, vocals), and with guests including Jon Davison, Claire Vezina (vocals), Michel St-Père (Mystery; guitar), Angelo Racz (keys), Nick Magnus (ex-Steve Hackett, ex-The Enid; keys), Michelle Young (ex-Glass Hammer; vocals), Gancedo García (drums), Hasse Fröberg (The Flower Kings; vocals), Cides (Stick), Bawden (vocals), L Wetton (vocals), Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis, ex-GTR, ex-Squackett; acoustic guitars), Charlie Cawood (Knifeworld, Mediaeval Baebe; oud, bağlama saz, bouzouki, hammered dulcimer, zither, pipa, zhongruan, liuqin, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass), Azaria (piano, synth, slide guitar, electric guitar), Hodson (alto sax, trombone, trumpet), Marotta (drums), Keay (guitar), Alex Grata (Sixth Sense, Voices of Babylon; vocals, piano, synths, loops, electric guitars, acoustic guitars), Hans Jörg Schmitz (drums), Colin Edwin (ex-Porcupine Tree; fretless bass, soundscapes), Phill Soka (CosMoS; drums), Brendon Darby (trumpet, flugelhorn), George Perdikis (guitar), Valentine Halembakov (guitars on "Forgive Me, My Son"), Matt Williams (electric guitars, acoustic guitars, backing vocals on "Mercenaries"), David Hopgood (Unitopia; drums on "Mercenaries"), Marc Papeghin (French horn) and Ettore Salati (worked with David Jackson; electric & acoustic guitars on "Cruel Times", arrangements). Artwork is by Ed Unitsky (worked with The Tangent, The Flower Kings).

The project dates back some years. Trueack and Stephen Layton (worked with Jon Anderson) made contact in 2009 and planned a project called The Hope to feature multiple guest musicians. That led to Jon Anderson guesting on an album entitled Fall in Love with the World, the United Progressive Fraternity debut, released 2014. The Hope was then initially expected in 2015. The project evolved further, splitting into 2 albums. Trueack was also, at various times, in contact with Anderson, Billy Sherwood and Nikki Squire about possibly guesting, but none of them are now involved. There was talk of Igor Khoroshev contributing keys and arrangements, as described here, but he is not listed as being involved on the website and not on Loss.

Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts. Thanks.