Cut From The Stars Vs. The Ice Bridge

[John Vehadija]

An obvious thread after listening to the new single

[Gilly Goodness]

Do we have to Choose?. . Rank?...Compare?

Yes and no.

Both begin with I imagine and even hope are sly winks. To us the listeners.

TIB has Geoff parp some fanfare notes that chime with ELP's Fanfare for the Common Man. Again. Hope these decisions are made in the spirit of "the tongue in the cheek".

CFTS starts with an audacious stabbin' string section for 4 bars or so. Like the classic scene from The Simpsons where there is some tension buildin', stabbin', dramatic music is playin'. Bart is alone in a forest. Turns out the music is comin' from a school orchestra club travellin' in a bus behind him. What Hitchcock would called delayed suspense.

Now Juano and Billy wrote the song. I imagine Steve listenin' to their demo and sayin', "Ok. Not bad. But I will only let it be on the album if my North Macedonian orchestra can set it up. OK? We gotta deal?"

The beginnin' was unexpected. The music not played by any YES man. 4 or so bars. Will probably be a triggered sample if played LIVE.

Felt like. Jesus. Gotta wear a tuxedo to listen to this. To suddenly. Whip the tie off with Billy's drivin' bass attack. The groove. The attack. Seems to draw everythin' to it like a black hole. See what I did there? Matt Bellamy may be havin' conniptions in wherever his mansion is.

Steve's guitar spoke to spidery tremolo guitar breaks from the swingin' sixties. The Tornadoes. Matt Bellamy's father's band.








So both songs are their own things. Both develop worlds. TIB has a healthy dose of swag and cheese. A dose of the Austin Powers. Which I like. No po-faced hymns. Just a blast off adventure. Star Trekkie with multicultural influences.

Gotta say. This song CFTS is all the cover by Roger. Where can MtttS and Luminosity go?

To the outer reaches of the universe I hope.

Juano is singing and reachin' far beyond his grasp as the proverb goes.

Both he and Billy have evolved before our eyes.

Juano came of age through grief, singin' to the world at Taylor Hawkins memorial. Billy has just realised he owes nothin' to anyone. Is his own man. Zero f's given.


PS Also. Just goes to show. You start a YES album with momentum. Not like H+E. Soft and wafty. Believe Again.

You grab us by the short and curlies and do not let go.

[Mr. Holland]

Giving it to Cut From the Stars. If only for Billy's bass playing alone. I like The Ice Bridge, but Cut From the Stars has more depth, swagger and oomph.

[madbear]

Definitely the new one. I'm just hoping the rest of the album is as lively... The Quest was somehwat dreary imho

[pjt]

CFTS
I liked TIB at first listen, it was nice, but nothing really "Yes nice". I still consider it a good opener for TQ, but it would have weighed much more if the rest of the album were more adventurous.
CFTS hits harder with the twists and dynamics that TQ most lacked (except for Howe's longer pieces). I don't think we can interpolate the whole album from one track, but I still feel it's a good indicator what the concept behind the new album could be.

[Frumious B]

My first impression of “The Ice Bridge” was that it sounded like they took some Jean Michel Jarre instrumental and threw a bunch of stuff on top which didn’t turn out to be that far from the truth. Also it still reminds me of Saga. I’d say “Cut From The Stars” is much better, good enough to tempt me to preorder the album.

[Soundwaveseeker]

I voted Cut From The Stars without even hearing a note of it yet. I just have a feeling it's better somehow, and I love The Ice Bridge.

[Enlighten]

It’s not even close. CFTS is a band effort that plays to the strengths of all the musicians involved. It doesn’t sound derivative, it’s sounds fresh and it sounds like Yes.

[soundchaser09]

Both are exceptional, everytime i listen to this new track i like it more and more so I dont know! DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE :P

I will vote in a few days after I have considered everything

[patrickq]

“The Ice Bridge” is mediocre at best, but it was, by far, the best song on either Heaven and Earth or The Quest. “Cut from the Stars” is a good song, so it and “To the Moment” are the best releases so far since Fly from Here. In my opinion, of course.

[Susanne]

Both are exceptional, everytime i listen to this new track i like it more and more so I dont know! DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE :P

I will vote in a few days after I have considered everything

Same for me, about a decision. I like The Ice Bridge a lot. It would be fantastic if I ended up liking this new one even more! I need more listens to work it all out.

[Drone Decipher]

I'm voting Cut From The Stars because I think the construction of it is more "progressive"

[alex peters]

I am voting for the Partridge Family. A tad more catchier. But right on par with The Monkees Daydream Believer

[TerryTT]

Cut from the Stars by a mile. The Ice Bridge is too repetitive and way longer than it should be.

[Susanne]

After listening to Cut From The Stars some more, I found that The Ice Bridge kept popping into my head. It's too soon for the new song to be doing that, but my brain does seem to have already quietly categorised it somewhere alongside The Ice Bridge.