YOSO - Bobby Kimball/ Billy Sherwood New Project

[Jez]

Very tasty new project, which promises great stuff for any fans of '90125'/ 'Big Generator' period Yes and Toto. Count me in.

 

 

The term 'Super-Group' can only describe the band arising out of two of the most creative bands of the past 30 years: Yoso is formed out of TOTO's brilliant lead vocalist Bobby Kimball and the creative force of former Yes members, Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood, thus equalling the magic of Yes with the voice of Toto. However, Yoso is much more than a combination of two classic rock groups. The band's debut album Elements - which comes together with a bonus live CD where the band plays some old and new classics, presents a fascinating combination of the sound of Yes ("90125"/"Big Generator" era) and TOTO, with a very interesting and original sound that truly encompasses the styles.

Elements will see the light of day on July 2 in Europe and July 27 in the USA, where the band has already scheduled a number of tour dates in support of the album's release, on Frontiers Records.

Even though the band's heritage is from 2 classic bands, Yoso intends to become its own identifiable entity in a very short time, Yoso's collective mission is to make the next decade one where Yoso's music will be held up alongside their classic rock backgrounds as a band as important as Toto and Yes.

Billy Sherwood recalls: "Yoso was started when I suggested to Bobby Kimball we should write some new music and form a band, we had been working together on various tribute projects 'I was producing and one thing lead to another, before too long we had 5 songs in the can and were well on our way to making a record and thinking seriously about taking it to the next level. Once there was a few songs underway the concept grew into the band we now have, " Yoso ".

Yoso line-up was later rounded out with two amazingly gifted musicians: Johnny Bruhns as the guitarist and background vocalist and Scott Conner on drums, percussion and background vocals.

Yoso does indeed have the magic of YES and the voice of TOTO. However, in 2010 the band intends to convince fans of both bands that the brilliance of Yoso will be just as celebrated in the years to come.

 

'Elements' tracklisting includes: Yoso; Path To Your Heart; Where You'll Stay; Walk Away; The New Revolution; To Seek The Truth; Only One; Close The Curtain; Won't End Tonight; Come This Far; Time To Get Up; Return To Yesterday.

 

Bonus live CD: Yoso; Rosanna; Owner of a Lonely Heart; Walk Away; Good For You; Yes Medley (Yours Is No Disgrace/Heart of the Sunrise/South Side of the Sky/Starship Trooper/I've Seen All Good People); To Seek the Truth; Hold The Line; Cinema; Gift With a Golden Gun; White Sister.

 

Weblinks: www.myspace.com/Yosohq / www.frontiers.it / www.myspace.com/frontiersrecords.

[JC_AOR]

Yeah I'm very interested in this one. Though I am familiar with Bobby Kimball and the entire TOTO catalog, I'm not at all familiar with the YES catalog. Still I'm very keen to hear what this has to offer, particularly in the vocal department. Nice cover artwork too.

[Nick C]

Being a fan of both bands and most of Sherwoods other work I'm really looking forward to this....I think it'll be darn innerestin!

[JC_AOR]

I've had a good listen to 15 YOSO tracks that were recorded live sometime in 2009 and my prediction is that Toto/AOR fans who don't really like progressive music will perhaps be a little disappointed/uninterested.

 

The band has all the hallmarks of a progressive rock band and a lot of tracks running at 6-9 minutes long. I suppose this is not all that surprising given the make-up of the band and links to YES though I personally was hoping for something a bit more along the lines of TOTO, but apart from the voice of Bobby Kimball (and some TOTO covers), I'm not hearing a great deal of TOTO's influence here.

 

That being said, the songs I've heard are excellent and I imagine the upcoming YOSO album will please many people. Obviously one shouldn't comment too much before hearing the actual release and the tracks I heard may be quite different to what will be on the album but these are just a few early impressions of mine based upon some live bootleg recordings.

[JC_AOR]

This comment in the album description by Frontiers probably sums it nicely:

 

"Yoso does indeed have the magic of YES and the voice of TOTO"

[Stefan]

Good stuff if you're into Toto and Yes.