Jon Anderson - Song of Seven
#442
by Tim Mancl
November 15 1980
Jon Anderson
Song of Seven
Genre: Jon Anderson
Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Tim’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Highlights:
For You for Me
Don’t Forget (Nostalgia)
At some point during the late 1970s I bought Yes’s Fragile at a tag sale. The only song I knew beforehand was Roundabout. Mostly it was the bass lines that grabbed me. At the same time, I wished Jon Anderson would stop yelling the lyrics. I found I could only listen to a few songs at a time because it was all I could take of his singing.
The same is true for Song of Seven. The opening track, For You for Me, is everything you’d expect in an upbeat Yes song, then Anderson jumps into a few slightly funky pop songs, each of which I enjoyed. Still, as I had anticipated, I felt the need to take a break from Anderson’s singing, but kept the album playing. Big mistake.
For track five, Hear It, Anderson changes it up. It's the type of song I imagine beloved by Renaissance Fair types. You know, it contains words like “mystic,” “princess,” and “armor." I needed a break before completing the first listen through. After returning, I learned that this songs starts a swift, and steady decline. It’s a few bland tunes, then the closing title song, Song of Seven.
I found Song of Seven unlistenable. All during the 11:15 minutes of the song I prayed it would end. After reading a few online reviews, I found fans love this song. I listened again. Still unlistenable.
I knew I wasn’t much of a Yes fan going into this review (I’ve only bought that one album), and Song of Seven it good example of why. And yet, often enough Anderson and his compatriots nail it. Perhaps I need to make a playlist of the songs I like from throughout his career, then only hear them as they come up in iTunes when set to random? I don’t ever want to listen to a Yes or Jon Anderson album completely through again.
https://open.spotify.com/album/51DsX4yQEhFcor8Gpz7KNq?si=IDSue3xEQOaAhMuiDeabWA
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