Benoit David up to much these days?

[patrickq]

Agree wholeheartedly. I like (or liked) him better than JD. Was a shame his voice couldn’t handle the strain.

x2

To repeat others here, he was fantastic on Fly From Here. As for Return Trip, I didn’t see it as an insult, but either way it paled in comparison—this is coming from a Trevor Horn fan btw.

[Kevin W]

I think the big problem a lot of people have with Return Trip is that it seems to have deleted the original Fly From Here from Yes' catalog. The band insists that it hasn't, but it's four years on from the release of RT, and AFAIK, the original FFH is still unavailable to stream, purchase as a download, or buy new physically (A situation that actually predates the release of RT); whereas RT is still available in all of those formats. I've seen people who weren't aware of FFH when it was originally released try to find a copy to buy or stream who can only buy or stream RT. What Yes says is in it's catalog is almost just a technicality under those circumstances.

Yeah this stinks to be honest. As I've said before I can understand the reason behind RT and for a while listened to it over the original. But Benoit's vocals are better and it does seem a bit disingenuous to effectively remove the original from sale.

After From A Page came out (and credit to the band for doing that) I went back to it after adding the 4 new tracks in to it, along with Don't Take No For An Answer as it was evident that they were working on this with Oliver still in the band, and the Japanese version of Hour of Need to make a good double album. Thankfully I had bought the CD version of FFH which came with the bonus DVD so I've been able to use the CD case to house my double album version of the FFH - that's the one that sits on my shelf and gets listened to.

The David/Wakeman/Howe/Squire/White was another 'what if' line up for me - a bit like the Relayer album - I would have loved both line ups to have lasted for a couple of studio albums at least because they were both promising in their own way.

[pianozach]

They could have in theory released three different packages at the same time as when they released only Return Trip. It seems like older bands (or their agents and labels) love sets of all sorts, so what about Fly From Here: Round Trip as a boxed set including the original Fly From Here album with Benoit David, Fly From Here: Return Trip with Horn and it's bonus track of Steve Howe signing "Don't Take No for an Answer", the live version of the original "Fly From Here" song that's already on The Word is Live, and the two or three Buggles demos that had been released previously as bonus tracks on Buggles re-releases but were reworked as Yes songs for FFH?

Then, so it isn't a money grab for people who might already have the original or only want one of the two main versions of the album available in there, they could have offered Fly From Here and Fly From Here: Return Trip for sale separately, at least as paid downloads if the hypothetical Round Trip is all they could release physically for whatever reason.

I think the big problem a lot of people have with Return Trip is that it seems to have deleted the original Fly From Here from Yes' catalog. The band insists that it hasn't, but it's four years on from the release of RT, and AFAIK, the original FFH is still unavailable to stream, purchase as a download, or buy new physically (A situation that actually predates the release of RT); whereas RT is still available in all of those formats. I've seen people who weren't aware of FFH when it was originally released try to find a copy to buy or stream who can only buy or stream RT. What Yes says is in it's catalog is almost just a technicality under those circumstances.

Now, this doesn't effect me personally, because I bought the original FFH as a paid download in 2011 when it came out, and I'll have access to it on all my devices as long as my hard drive and my backup don't fail simultaneously or something of that nature. However, FFH was a good album with a good leader singer and it's lack of availability, and replacement by an inferior version, affects the ability of new fans or old fans who hadn't been keeping up with the band, to discover and enjoy the same album I'm enjoying, and to hear the same lead singer I'm hearing.

Imagine The Yes Album disappeared in all formats and was replaced by a studio recording of the current band playing the songs. I like the current band, but that would not be acceptable situation IMO. The Yes Album as it was originally released is important to have available.

Whether intentional or not, the net effect IS a re-writing of Yes history. Typical. They're not the first.

The Nazz wiped Todd Rundgren's vocals from Nazz II prior to its release.

John Denver did it when he released his first Greatest Hits album; he re-recorded the songs because "he felt he could sing them better than on the original versions". Now it's rather difficult to find those original versions that made him so very popular.

Taylor Swift just conquered both the Grammys and the AMAs with her re-recording of Red (titled Red: Taylor's Version, or something like that).

I think Zappa may have replaced a couple of musicians on a re-release. Yeah. We're Only In It For The Money and Crusin' With Reuben and the Jets got brand new drums and bass in the 1980's.

The Beatles' catalog have been remastered, remixed, retro-engineered, and damnit, I really love the original mixes, with what people now think were wonky stereo-separation throwback vintage obsolete mixing.

[Somis Sound]

Benoit is a great singer when singing in his range. His vocals on FFH and From a Page are excellent.

I do prefer the original version of FFH with a few exceptions: I like that Chris’s backing vocals are more upfront in RT, that Trevor cleaned up some of the acoustic guitar squeaking at the beginning of Sad Night, and I like having the full version of Hour of Need with Steve’s vocalizing (not present in the Japan bonus track). I also prefer the RT version of Life on a Film Set. I don’t mind having an extra bonus track, even if it is kind if weak.

I wish they had re-released the original mix at the same time so it didn’t look like they were rewriting history.

I agree with everything you said... . Benoit and Horn were great in their own rights, but trying to sing some of the Jon A. register stuff just was out of their range. I really like the sound of his voice and prefer it to JD by far. I absolutely love his work on FFH and Gift of Love. Beautiful stuff! I also enjoy RT, especially how Chris' voice is very present, but do prefer some of the Benoit versions though.

He was great at all the 3 shows I saw. Hung out with him at The Greek briefly the night Rabin joined them for OOALH. A very down to earth friendly cool guy with shorts and flip flops on and a cool vibe. Hope he's doing great and appreciate his time in Yes.

[downbyariver]

I wish they had re-released the original mix at the same time so it didn’t look like they were rewriting history.

They could have in theory released three different packages at the same time as when they released only Return Trip. It seems like older bands (or their agents and labels) love sets of all sorts, so what about Fly From Here: Round Trip as a boxed set including the original Fly From Here album with Benoit David, Fly From Here: Return Trip with Horn and it's bonus track of Steve Howe signing "Don't Take No for an Answer", the live version of the original "Fly From Here" song that's already on The Word is Live, and the two or three Buggles demos that had been released previously as bonus tracks on Buggles re-releases but were reworked as Yes songs for FFH?

Then, so it isn't a money grab for people who might already have the original or only want one of the two main versions of the album available in there, they could have offered Fly From Here and Fly From Here: Return Trip for sale separately, at least as paid downloads if the hypothetical Round Trip is all they could release physically for whatever reason.

I think the big problem a lot of people have with Return Trip is that it seems to have deleted the original Fly From Here from Yes' catalog. The band insists that it hasn't, but it's four years on from the release of RT, and AFAIK, the original FFH is still unavailable to stream, purchase as a download, or buy new physically (A situation that actually predates the release of RT); whereas RT is still available in all of those formats. I've seen people who weren't aware of FFH when it was originally released try to find a copy to buy or stream who find that they can only buy or stream RT. What Yes says is in it's catalog is almost just a technicality under those circumstances.

Now, this doesn't effect me personally, because I bought the original FFH as a paid download in 2011 when it came out, and I'll have access to it on all my devices as long as my hard drive and my backup don't fail simultaneously or something of that nature. However, FFH was a good album with a good leader singer and it's lack of availability, and replacement by an inferior version, affects the ability of new fans, or old fans who hadn't been keeping up with the band, to discover and enjoy the same album I'm enjoying, and to hear the same lead singer I'm hearing.

Imagine The Yes Album disappeared in all formats and was replaced by a studio recording of the current band playing the songs. I like the current band, but that would not be an acceptable situation IMO. The Yes Album as it was originally released is important to have available.

[JMKUSA]

Benoit is a great singer when singing in his range. His vocals on FFH and From a Page are excellent.

I do prefer the original version of FFH with a few exceptions: I like that Chris’s backing vocals are more upfront in RT, that Trevor cleaned up some of the acoustic guitar squeaking at the beginning of Sad Night, and I like having the full version of Hour of Need with Steve’s vocalizing (not present in the Japan bonus track). I also prefer the RT version of Life on a Film Set. I don’t mind having an extra bonus track, even if it is kind if weak.

I wish they had re-released the original mix at the same time so it didn’t look like they were rewriting history.

[alex peters]

I saw Yes with Benoit three times, Newcastle in 2009 and Sheffield and Glasgow in 2011. He was great on all three occasions. My biggest beef in 2009 was that Oliver was too low in the mix. Check out the Fly from Here tour set list from 2011 if you've any doubt of how much of a new album the band might play. They were corkers!

I know he had voice issues, but Benoit's tenure in the band was nothing but positive from where I stand, recorded music and tours attended.

Bravo, my wee Canuck!

Oliver was consistently low in the mix. Benoit nailed it when I first saw him. The 2nd time his voice was cracking and the show was real bad. I felt for him as he did the best he could but too many shows did him in.

[Homemade Parachute]

To this day, I can't understand why anyone thought Return Trip was worth doing. To me, it's a straight downgrade in every possible way. Inferior vocals, questionable mixing decisions, an additional track that ought to have stayed on the cutting room floor, and a horribly over-compressed mastering job that sucks all life and dynamic range out of the music. The Benoit version will always be definitive in my view.

I agree, the original version with Benoit is definitive for me as well, and I like his performance just fine. I do see maybe some of the personal reasons Trevor H may have had to make Return Trip, and I don't mind kicking a few buck his/their way for RT, even if I don't listen to it often, and don't consider any of its changes to be improvements (in most cases, detriments). But hey, he wrote most of the words, he can do what he wants.

What I really didn't like are the insulting comments he made about Benoit, likely not intended as harshly as they seem, regarding him, being French Canadian, not understanding the intricacy of Yes lyrics… My dude, "And we can fly from here, and we can fly from here", T.S. Eliot it ain't. Giving him shit for not grokking the words is probably no different from listeners giving him shit for not grokking Anderson's purple fucking wolfhounds back in the day, either, and it was wrong then as now. We'd have some pretty fucking short setlists if this was the case…

[Yorkshire Square]

I saw Yes with Benoit three times, Newcastle in 2009 and Sheffield and Glasgow in 2011. He was great on all three occasions. My biggest beef in 2009 was that Oliver was too low in the mix. Check out the Fly from Here tour set list from 2011 if you've any doubt of how much of a new album the band might play. They were corkers!

I know he had voice issues, but Benoit's tenure in the band was nothing but positive from where I stand, recorded music and tours attended.

Bravo, my wee Canuck!

[Close to the Edge 72]

I wrote Benoit after listening to the From a Page tracks. I told him how great I thought they were. He said credit should go to Oliver. I told him it must be bittersweet with how things turned out but he should be proud of his contributions to the band. He said that comment went right to his heart. He's a nice guy...

[Davy]

I also think the band did him a great disservice by re-recording FFH. Felt that was disrespectful. Although I understand business is business.

Me too. Not only was it a disservice, but in general I think FFH is better than Return Trip anyway. Forgetting the vocals for a moment, even the musical changes don't work for me. Trevor Horn is smart, but he's not infallible. The only songs I like better on Return Trip are Sad Night at the Airfield and Madman at the Screen.

[Mr. Holland]

Contrary to a lot of people here (apparently) I can say I was more than a little relieved when Benoit's tenure with the band ended.

His presence and unstability and unreliability during concerts actually prevented me from going to Yes concerts when he was in the band. I did listen to quite a few bootlegs from the concerts in those days, also at the time, and to my memory and ears there wasn't a single one where he didn't either crack a couple of times or his pitching was off or both. In my view he really wasn't up to the task. When, in 2012, I heard the recordings of the first concerts (Australian tour) with Jon Davison, I remember breathing sighs of relief. Not only because of the vocals, singing, but also because I thought the instability of Benoit and the worries, certainly on that last Euro tour in 2011, influenced both Chris' and Steve's performances in a negative way. It was as if they couldn't fully focus on their own performances, because they were trying to keep the whole thing on track as much as possible. Those first concerts with Davison, to me it felt and sounded like Chris and Steve were finally freed from those chains, that they could finally move and play free again.

I'm sure, from all the accounts, that Benoit David is a wonderful and lovely person and I do love his singing in Mystery, and feel he was great there. But to me he was an ill fit for Yes.

[Gtkgasman]

Saw Benoit twice with Yes. He was great both times. Loved his tenure in the band.

Agree wholeheartedly. I like (or liked) him better than JD. Was a shame his voice couldn’t handle the strain.

I also think the band did him a great disservice by re-recording FFH. Felt that was disrespectful. Although I understand business is business.

[downbyariver]

Benoit, as a one-off album vocalist, never really worked WITH Sherwood in Yes did he?

That's correct to the best of my knowledge, and I alluded to it in the post you're replying to. However, I don't think that Billy necessarily has pre-existing working relationships with everyone he asks to contribute to a song on the Prog Collective albums or some of the other albums where he has a lot of guest contributors.

I'm sure Billy or his agent could get ahold of Benoit's contact information if they wanted to. I'm not sure they want to or that Benoit would agree to do something, but I'd love to hear him singing lead on a Billy Sherwood song with a rock band type sound backing him up.

[Kevin W]

Saw Benoit twice with Yes. He was great both times. Loved his tenure in the band.