This is a reissue of Jon Anderson’s second solo album, back in 1980, when he left the group Yes after they seemed spent out on Tormato. He returned a while later to the band, which sounded revitalized on 1983’s 90125, so you have to assume that this album served its purpose in having the vocalist try out a few new ideas and environments on his own.
This one is quite different than 1976’s Olias of Sunhillow in that it is not a “Yes-lite” album, but one of his own personality. Anderson himself plays a wide variety of guitars and keyboards, supported by an impressive team that includes Jack Bruce/b, Ian Bairnson/b, jazzers Johnny Dankworth/sax and Dick Morrissey and Simon Phillips/dr. Th emusic inclues African chants on “Some Are Born”, bluesy and poppish tunes such as “Don’t Forget (Nostalgia)” and synth tones akin to Genesis on “For You For Me”. Some folksy tunes reminiscent of Yes are heard on “Hear It” and the troubador’d “Take Your Time” with ethereal sounds that became known as World Music on “Days”, the childlike “Song of Seven” and chanting “Everybody Loves You”. As with all things Anderson, the lyrics are optimistic and obscure, and his Hobbit-like voice making this album, in retrospect, seem like a musical Tolkein adventure.