“Has his voice withstood the test of time? The answer is an emphatic yes”: Jon Anderson effortlessly recreates the best of Yes on new album Live – Perpetual Change

Hats off to Jon Anderson. The set-list here – a full show from August 2023 – is immaculate. The cream of three classic studio works – The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To The Edge – plus Relayer epic The Gates Of Delirium, and Awaken from Going For The One. Anderson’s band is up to the task, respectfully reproducing songs created five decades ago.

This two-CD/triple vinyl set has a listening time of more than two hours, but if you’ve read this far then that probably won’t bother you at all.

The big question, though, remains: has Anderson’s voice withstood the test of time? The answer is an emphatic yes (no pun intended). Five of the six musicians deliver stunning backing vocals, but not as a crutch. Jon’s voice still soars. A sublime instrument, making this album ridiculously good.

Freelance contributor to Classic Rock and several of its offshoots since 2006. In the 1980s he began a 15-year spell working for Kerrang! intially as a cub reviewer and later as Geoff Barton’s deputy and then pouring precious metal into test tubes as editor of its Special Projects division. Has spent quality time with Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Ritchie Blackmore, Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore – and also spent time in a maximum security prison alongside Love/Hate. Loves Rush, Aerosmith and beer. Will work for food.