Born John Roy Anderson on October 25, 1944, in Lancashire, England, Jon Anderson would grow up to become one of the most recognizable voices in progressive rock. He began his musical career by joining his brother Tony's group the Warriors. Eventually, that band relocated from England to Germany, but…
Listen to Jon Anderson's most popular song
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How is it possible that in this day and age there is still great music that has not been digitalized? Who’s to blame? The artist, the record labels or the streaming services? Has this ever happened to you? Please tell me I am not alone!
Most likely this is a generational issue and if you are under 40 you are probably laughing at me right now and calling me a geriatric old fart. Well, lemme tell you something, you are not only missing great music but, most importantly and as the world shoots for 100% digitalized content, the music industry is losing an important part of its history for future generations to study, learn or to simply enjoy.
Such is the case of legendary Yes vocalist Jon Anderson "Animation" album. Nowhere to be found, not Spotify, not Rdio, no iTunes, nowhere! This album was released in 1982, in the midst of the cold war with Russia and a busy time for Anderson when he was collaborating with Vangelis and Mike Oldfield and exploring new age and electropop. Thankfully, a fan of the album uploaded it to YouTube and I can reference some of the most memorable tunes from the album so you can “hear” what you have been missing, here is a sample:
If you happen to come across the CD or the vynil, start with Animation, the song bearing the album’s name, with one of the most beautiful melodies (and vocals) I have ever heard then move on to “Surrender”, my favorite song of the album which talks about a world free of nuclear weapons and it is absolutely spectacular lyrically and musically followed by another great track “All in a Matter of Time” or Skip to “Unlearning” and you will find legendary John Symon Asher (a.k.a. "Jack" Bruce), considered by Rolling Stones Magazine readers as the eighth greatest bass guitarist of all time, with a bass performance capable of making Flea (Red Hot Chili Pepper’s awesome bassist) shit in his pants. What the heck! Just listen to the whole album it is totally awesome…
While it is true that the present is generally better than the past, when it comes to music you can always argue the opposite; at least judging by the legacy of artists like Jon Anderson. So all I need is google for Spotify’s toll-free 1-800 number to request the addition of this album to their music catalog. Wish me luck!
