SKU
OPIOVP03
Remastered edition with 4 bonus tracks.
"I've got my Reviewer's 'Get out of Jail Free' card out, and I'm using it on this one, Yes vocalist Jon Anderson's fourth solo album. You may as well stop reading right here if you're expecting anything even remotely resembling an impartial review, for I am one of the 20 people left on this planet who continue to harbor enduring, fond feelings towards this album. As I would assume for the other 19, almost all of it's considerably held by the sway of nostalgia. Flashing back to December 1985, like most of the 'second wavers' of Yes fandom whose attention was captured by the band's sudden pop resurrection, I was eagerly awaiting the band's next move. Then one day, pop on MTV and bam! I was met with the video for "Easier Said than Done," with a warm melody, reflective lyrics, and easy-going harmonies that seemed to perfectly fit the season. This album alongside with 9012Live would turn out to be pretty much all there was to fill the four-year gap between 90125 and the release of Big Generator.
Before continuing, though, my God look at who participated on this one: producer Roy Thomas Baker (Queen), drummers Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot) and R.J. "As long as you've got the sex and drugs, I could live without the rock 'n' roll" Parnell (Spinal Tap), Elliot Easton (The Cars), gospel singer Sandra Crouch and husband Andre. If this ain't heterogeneity, I don't know what is. One can quickly conclude that this album was probably meant to be little more than a lighthearted one-off to promote some good vibes, rather than one of burning, unyielding, cohesive artistic vision.
At least I hope so, because 3 Ships is as badly dated an album as you could possibly get in terms of production. Not even the lovable post-analog era of new wave keys that marked the early 80s. Nope, it's the natural anathema of most prog fans: the hopelessly mechanistic "programming" sound that defined mid-late 80s pop music. The actual Christmas covers mostly range from forgettable to completely rank, all getting ruthlessly choked by the biceps of the Fairlight CMI.
The album's strongest points are definitely to be found in Anderson's originals, though one of them, the positively nauseating "2,000 Days," easily takes the prize for worst track. The rest, though, benefit from Anderson's undeniable knack for composing simple but effective melodies with a razor sharp, Mozart-like clarity to them. Many of these I believe would actually hold up well were they to be re-recorded today on more organic instruments. Yet even as it stands, "Save All Your Love," swirling away in its synthetic world of digital snowflakes still manages to evoke a sense of innocence and purity. The basic tune of "Where Were You" could be easily slipped into a caroling book with no eyebrows raised, and even I find myself smiling at Trevor Rabin's gloriously overwrought, 25-second lead guitar cameo. Other tracks take atypical, worldbeat cues: the chant "Forest of Fire" and the beautiful "Day of Days." Apart from "Easier Said than Done," my favorite track on this album is "How It Hits You." God help me, too, because impartially speaking...well, it gets as frighteningly close to the Miami Sound Machine as Jon ever got. But to these ears, it's still a personal gem, somehow managing to tie together traditional (e.g., the 'pipe organ' middle; too bad Jon couldn't coax Tony Kaye to do that bit), gospel, and Latino elements into a pop whole. Favorite moment: the faint "crying" after Jon sings "Who stopped my heart from crying." Whoa, I love that.
I'll end this on a hopefully conscientious note, and say that there is pretty much nothing about this album that would appeal to the vast majority of prog followers. This is an album almost certainly to be the exclusive province of the most exceptionally tolerant (maybe even delusional) Yes fan, or those who first came to love the band in the 80s. But hey, who said liking music was always a rational thing?" - Ground And Sky
- Style:Progressive Rock
- Record Label:Voiceprint