Frontiers Music [Release date: 27.03.26]

Yes, you read that right, two Jon (Yes) Anderson reissues, Survival And Other Stories, and Earth Mother Earth, both now resurrected, dusted down and freshened up.

Survival and Other Stories, based on music submitted to him online at his request, came in 2011.

The music media were falling over themselves to praise it. Why?

Because the solo Anderson always seems to have gone out of his way to not sound like Yes. Until now.

With Survival… he returned to the proven Yes template: the ability, one, to rock in triumphant and celebratory fashion, and two, to tease a spiritual meaning out of slender stories. In each case showing a winning ear for mood and melody.

It’s like he’s accepted his fate as a solo artist whose biggest successes came in the past, as his parent band’s frontman.

Instead of fighting it, he’s embracing it.

From ‘New World’s dancing strings, chasing the urgent lyrics past sombre cellos, through the whimsical ‘Sharpening of The Sword’, to ‘Unbroken Spirit’s torch held high, this is as concise, as intricate and as commercial as Yes at their creative peak.

Those three collaborations with Jamie Dunlap, movie music composer, placed Anderson squarely within a larger cinematic landscape.

Earth Mother Earth was released in 1997.

Its blend of pop, folk, world and country wasn’t to every critic’s taste. Or fans.

If it hadn’t been a JA album, it would have been written off as an idiosyncratic, new age indulgence.

Recorded at home, EME is a genuine family affair, with wife and pets in attendance, (and in fact joining in). His love affair with the living world finds music in the intimacy of home life and indeed garden life.

A Homes and Gardens edition for the Progrock generation.

This “framework for a Yes album” arguably peaks with ‘Concerto Uno’ and ‘Concerto Due’, a two part concerto for guitar and voice. Anderson drops the Italian conceits and goes for a new age Simon and Garfunkel vibe with bells on. Album standouts.

Except maybe for ‘Time Has Come’, a cool, almost acoustic number, with only bass and bird calls providing the song’s subtle rhythms.

The sheer variety of musical styles gained it plaudits from several sources, not least “a magic voice with a few dazzling tunes” (Amazon), and “an unabashed flowering of his cosmic muse” (Allmusic).

Both recordings have been remastered, and will be released on March 27 on CD and green vinyl. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

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Upcoming sessions:

April 12

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 8 March 2026.

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Power Plays w/c 16 March 2026

THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Brat With A Baseball Bat (Eonian Records)
ARANDA You Don’t Wanna Know (indie)
MYRATH Breathing Near The Roar (earMUSIC)
DELBHOY KENNEDY Sky’s The Limit (Flip Flop Records)
ALL THEM WITCHES Starting Line (BMG)
HER FURY Use And Abuse (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 16 March 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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