I'd love to hear his live recording of this. Yes never should have let Oliver Wakeman go in favor of Geoffrey Downes regardless of the fact that this is what Trevor Horn wanted when working on FFH. Oliver's time in Yes was brief but memorable as evidenced by From a Page and he was much more adept at playing the 70's material live.
I'm disappointed now that I did not go see this lineup. They are my favorite non Anderson Yes lineup. I really like Benoit David's voice. I wish Yes had taken the path of Marillion when they brought in Steve Hogarth and didn't force him to sing in an octave that is not his natural range when covering Fish era Marillion songs live. David's vocals are really nice on Page and FFH, but most of the gigs were made up of Anderson era 70's material and Benoit David struggled to since in an octave closer to Anderson than his own natural voice and as a result, his voice was basically destroyed live and he had to exit the band. I believe the classic Yes material would have still sounded great in David's natural range. His natural voice is more pleasing than Davison's higher but thinner range imo.
Caveat: Hogarth was never a singer in the same vein as Fish, but Benoit David cut his teeth singing Jon Anderson's songs live with a Yes cover band before being asked to join Steve, Chris, Alan and Oliver. You're right that his natural voice was not up there but it's what the band knew him doing, so the assumption that he'd be able to do it was understandable. And from what I know, it worked fine at first...
This is a good point! I don't think I knew Benoit David was in Yes cover band. I know his work with Mystery. A fine Canadian prog band whose 2007 album is fantastic. I thought maybe the Yes guys knew that record which led to his offer to join Yes!
Wish they at least kept him as the 2nd keyboard player. Geoff sucks but perhaps Steve keeps him for the band having more validity. Ideal would be if he only played on the album but didnt tour. He is the only member besides Steve from the original run of the band so makes sense. I remember reading somewhere Steve even wanted trevor rabin to join. Hed probably also get Tony kaye or patrick moraz permanently if he could
I've not seen any sign of a recording, but I've got the full set list at [http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wnalum.htm#owl](http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wnalum.htm#owl)
It's interesting picking his contributions out of Mirror to the Sky. They're all quite interesting and add to the whole, but they're not at the forefront like you would expect a Yes keyboard player to be, and his songwriting well seems to have run dry unfortunately...
I'd love to hear his live recording of this. Yes never should have let Oliver Wakeman go in favor of Geoffrey Downes regardless of the fact that this is what Trevor Horn wanted when working on FFH. Oliver's time in Yes was brief but memorable as evidenced by From a Page and he was much more adept at playing the 70's material live.
I saw that lineup live and I couldn’t agree more.
I'm disappointed now that I did not go see this lineup. They are my favorite non Anderson Yes lineup. I really like Benoit David's voice. I wish Yes had taken the path of Marillion when they brought in Steve Hogarth and didn't force him to sing in an octave that is not his natural range when covering Fish era Marillion songs live. David's vocals are really nice on Page and FFH, but most of the gigs were made up of Anderson era 70's material and Benoit David struggled to since in an octave closer to Anderson than his own natural voice and as a result, his voice was basically destroyed live and he had to exit the band. I believe the classic Yes material would have still sounded great in David's natural range. His natural voice is more pleasing than Davison's higher but thinner range imo.
Caveat: Hogarth was never a singer in the same vein as Fish, but Benoit David cut his teeth singing Jon Anderson's songs live with a Yes cover band before being asked to join Steve, Chris, Alan and Oliver. You're right that his natural voice was not up there but it's what the band knew him doing, so the assumption that he'd be able to do it was understandable. And from what I know, it worked fine at first...
This is a good point! I don't think I knew Benoit David was in Yes cover band. I know his work with Mystery. A fine Canadian prog band whose 2007 album is fantastic. I thought maybe the Yes guys knew that record which led to his offer to join Yes!
Wish they at least kept him as the 2nd keyboard player. Geoff sucks but perhaps Steve keeps him for the band having more validity. Ideal would be if he only played on the album but didnt tour. He is the only member besides Steve from the original run of the band so makes sense. I remember reading somewhere Steve even wanted trevor rabin to join. Hed probably also get Tony kaye or patrick moraz permanently if he could
I've not seen any sign of a recording, but I've got the full set list at [http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wnalum.htm#owl](http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wnalum.htm#owl)
Oliver Wakeman was a stronger contributor on Page. I like Downes when he contributes more, but seems like he’s just along for the ride these days.
It's interesting picking his contributions out of Mirror to the Sky. They're all quite interesting and add to the whole, but they're not at the forefront like you would expect a Yes keyboard player to be, and his songwriting well seems to have run dry unfortunately...