Is Yoso a super group? Featuring Toto’s Bobby Kimball on vocals (you’ll remember him singing those big hits “Africa” and “Rosanna”), Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood, both formerly of Yes, plus Johnny Bruhns on guitar and Scott Conner on drums, one wonders when a band has all this talent if they are worthy of the title. The band’s name was supposed to be AKA but with a few member changes, the new group was christened Yoso, a combination of Yes and Toto. To gewt things started on the right foot, the group has issued Elements, which contains one disc of new music and a live CD with a few old classics.
Vocally Yoso certainly is super. Kimball tends to bleat a bit in his singing but his range sounds just as good as ever, especially when he gets slightly bluesy on “Path To Your Heart,” which features a nice string chorus and some tasty guitar work from Bruhns. The rest of the band members are in all great vocal form, providing backing vocals on “Close The Curtain.”
We get a few big moments with Kaye in the couple of songs, like the grooving “The New Revolution” where the organ really comes to the fore. “To Seek The Truth” is another one featuring Bruhns and Sherwood singing lead. “Return To Yesterday,” the last and longest on the album is probably my favorite. The heavy break mid-song is a damn good instrumental sectionl. As a whole, Elements is pretty much pop progressive with lyrics a little light for my tastes. Still, there is no denying the solid songwriting and certainly the strength of the playing and singing from A-listers who have chops to spare. The live disc, which features “Rosanna,” “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” and “Hold The Line,” is a showcase of both old and new, underscoring a flavor of historical significance, as well as prospects for a bright future.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
