Conspiracy

Conspiracy" was the album Yes bassist Chris Squire and his talented pal Billy Sherwood were working on when some of the songs (along with Sherwood himself) were detoured to Yes's "Open Your Eyes" album in 1997. "OYE" wasn't particularly well received by Yes fans, maybe in part because the Squire/Sherwood songwriting didn't seem to mesh well with the more traditional progressive rock tendencies of Jon Anderson and Steve Howe. "Conspiracy" is in a lot of ways a more listenable album than "OYE", though, because Chris and Billy don't have to force the songs to fit into the Yes mold -- not progressive rock, but hard rock/pop influenced by prog. Sort of like a harder rocking version of the Alan Parsons Project. Prog fans will be most enchanted by longer, melodic songs such as "Violet Purple Rose", "Lonesome Trail", and "Red Light Ahead", while more commercially oriented listeners might like "Light of My Life" or "No Rhyme". While Yes fans will indeed lament that Chris doesn't engage in much of his amazing basswork here, the musicianship is solid. Fans who have enjoyed Chris' occasional vocals with Yes will like this record, with his lead vocals all over the place. Sherwood has an nice voice, as well (but unsuited for lead vocalist with Yes, which was considered briefly at one point). Besides the new songs, three new versions of songs that eventually were recorded by Yes are included. Most of these are as good or better than the Yes tracks: "Love Conquers All" is more upbeat and better sung by Sherwood than the Trevor Rabin- sung outtake from the "Union" album; nothing can save Squire's lyrics from the most despised "OYE" song "Man in the Moon", but the vocals are good. And the best song is the original version of "Open Your Eyes", the one place where both Chris "lead bass" and lead vocals shine. If you enjoy the more pop/rock sound of Yes albums like "OYE", "90125", or "The Ladder", or like straighforward rock better than prog-rock, than "Conspiracy" will appeal to you. A fun, intelligent, commerical album that won't insult the intelligence of the listener."