JON ANDERSON - (1994) CHANGE WE MUST

CHANGE WE MUST

(Review from allmusic, progarchives.com)

Jon Anderson joins conductor Nigel Warren-Green and his London Chamber Academy for orchestral arrangements of new material and old favorites on "Change We Must".

The result is a good music, on an empathy towards heart and mind pushing the composition in a strong fit, mixing its best charming emotions or unveiling the sensations into their best line of achieved effort.

Beginning with the Jon & Vangelis chestnut "State of Independence," the singer and orchestra achieve a natural beauty that the previous pairing aimed at but rarely captured. Likewise, "Hurry Home" and "Under the Sun" -- both of which originally appeared on In the City of Angels (the latter as "It's on Fire") -- are given a second life with Celtic and Third World arrangements, respectively.

Some of the new material -- such as the "Chagall Duet," with soprano Sandrine Piau, or "Candle Song," with daughter Jade -- offer a double dose of sweetness, while other songs (notably John Adams' adaptation "Shaker Loops") are intentionally edgy. Anderson even steps out of the spotlight for a trio of piano-led instrumentals co-written with David Tolley and featuring pianist Gwendolyn Mok. These serve as a spirited interlude between songs and represent a unique departure from Anderson's often-elusive arrangements.

For nostalgists, who might regard the lack of anything from Olias of Sunhillow as a missed opportunity, the Yes song "Hearts" is given a faithful but welcome reading. The title track serves as a fitting finale, with flawless production and otherwordly arrangements transporting the listener to Anderson's own plane of consciousness. Dedicated to spiritualist Nana Veary, Change We Must speaks in a multitude of musical tongues -- classical, rock, Third World, choral -- with beauty as its common thread.


Track List :
01. State of Independence (5:37)
02. Shaker Loops (5:31)
03. Hearts (5:03)
04. Alive and Well (4:43)
05. The Kiss (3:51)
06. Chagall Duet (3:31)
07. Run on, Jon (2:46)
08. Candle Song (3:36)
09. A View from the Coppice (2:46)
10. Hurry Home (6:52)
11. Under the Sun (5:01)
12. Change We Must (5:39)

Line-up :
- Jon Anderson / vocals and orchestration
with
- Matt Clifford / keyboards, orchestration on (7,9)
- Opio Singers Chior (1-3,10,12)
- Orchestration- Nick Ingram (1,4,12)
- Ian Thomas / drums (3)
- Milton McDonald / guitar (3,12)
- Steve Pearce / bass (3,11,12)
- Toby Alington / synthesizers (3)
- Gwendolyn Mok / piano (4,7,9)
- Geoffrey Alexander / orchestration (5,6,8,10,11)
- Sandrine Piau / vocals (6)
- Tim Handley / orchestration (7)
- Jade Anderson / vocals (8)
- Christopher Warren-Green, Rosie Furness, Roger Chase, Steve Trees, Jonathan Williams (8) / string quartet
- Skalia Kanga / harp (8)
- Nadya / Sun Chant (11)