''Animation'' is the third solo album by

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

, a founder-member and former lead singer of

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

. It was released in May 1982.

Overview

''Animation'' was recorded during a busy time for Anderson when he was collaborating with

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

and

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

and exploring

new age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

and

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a r ...

. As with the previous album ''

Song of Seven ''Song of Seven'' is the second solo album by Yes lead singer Jon Anderson, released in 1980, and his first to use an actual band (the New Life Band). Overview ''Song of Seven'' was released during Anderson's first hiatus from Yes and supporte ...

'', several well-known musicians were involved in ''Animation'', including Simon Phillips,

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on '' Human Touch'' (1992), '' Tra ...

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disban ...

and

Morris Pert Morris David Brough Pert (8 September 1947 – 27 April 2010) was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music. His compositions include three symphonies, p ...

. The album was produced by producer

Neil Kernon Neil Kernon is an English musician, record producer, mixer and recording engineer from London. He is a Grammy Award winner and has worked on over 100 Gold and Platinum records. Biography Born to a musical family, Kernon's formal musical trai ...

who had worked with acts such as

Daryl Hall and John Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two w ...

and was released on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...

but no CD version was published until 2006, when a limited edition CD re-release of the album with two bonus tracks was issued by Opio Media. Unfortunately the CD was not made from the original masters but from a worn copy of the vinyl, which led to complaints from purchasers. The song "All God's Children" was produced by producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of many ...

(who had worked with more mainstream British acts such as

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and

T. Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' liv ...

) "Surrender" and "All in a Matter of Time" were released as singles. The album was promoted with a world tour on which Anderson performed songs from the album as well as several Yes classics, mostly in medley form. A follow-up album entitled ''Chagall'' was recorded but not released. One track on the album, "Boundaries", later appeared on other works by Anderson (entitled "O'er" on ''The Promise Ring'') and Yes (entitled "Somehow, Someday" on '' Open Your Eyes''). For this album, Anderson met an old friend from the past: Ian Wallace had been playing drums in his band The Warriors in the 1960s before Yes. In June of 2021, a "Remastered and Expanded Edition" was released by Esoteric Recordings.

Track listing

Side One

# "Olympia" (4:58) # "Animation" (9:07) # "Surrender" (3:53) # "All in a Matter of Time" (3:06)

Side Two

# "Unlearning (The Dividing Line)" (4:56) # "Boundaries" (3:20) # "Pressure Point" (3:20) # "Much Better Reason" (4:27) # "All Gods Children" (4:25)

Bonus tracks

* "The Spell" (previously unreleased) (11:40) * "Spider" (B-side of the Atlantic 7" single issue of "Surrender") (2:51)

Personnel

* Jon Anderson – vocals, acoustic guitar *

Clem Clempson David "Clem" Clempson (born 5 September 1949) is an English rock guitarist who has played as a member in a number of bands including Colosseum and Humble Pie. Career Clempson began his career in the late 1960s with the power trio, Bakerloo (or ...

– guitars * Stefano Cerri – electric bass guitar *

Chris Rainbow Christopher James Harley, known by the stage name Chris Rainbow (18 November 1946 – 22 February 2015), was a Scottish pop rock singer and musician whose songs "Give Me What I Cry For" and "Solid State Brain" were often played by British radio ...

– vocals *

– keyboards * Simon Phillips – drums and percussion Additional musicians *

Dave Lawson Dave Lawson (born 25 September 1978) is an Australian comedian, actor, and TV and radio personality. He is a regular performer on the stand up comedy circuit, and at one time participated in a talk back radio segment on the commercial radio st ...

: keyboards *

Ronnie Leahy Ronald Leahy (born 4 October 1947 in Glasgow) is a Scottish keyboard player best known for his work with Jack Bruce, Jon Anderson, Steve Howe on his second solo album and Nazareth (1998–2002, when Leahy retired from touring). He first gained ...

: keyboards *

Blue Weaver Derek John "Blue" Weaver (born 11 March 1947) is a Welsh rock keyboardist, session musician, songwriter and record producer. Career Weaver's career as a musician began as a co-founding member of 1960s Welsh rock band Amen Corner and its succ ...

: keyboards * Delmay String Quartet : strings * Billy Kristian : guitar *

John Giblin John Giblin, is an active session musician, contributing mainly as an acoustic and electric bass player, and spanning genres of jazz, classical, rock, folk and avant-garde music. Best known as a studio musician, recording film scores and cont ...

: bass guitar *

: bass guitar * Ian Wallace : drums * Brother James : percussion *

: percussion * Brazil Idiots : Brazilian percussion

Charts

References

{{Authority control Jon Anderson albums 1982 albums Albums produced by Tony Visconti Albums produced by Neil Kernon