In The Present: Live From Lyon (2011)

In The Present: Live From Lyon (2011)

This is a live album with Benoît David on vocals. Though it was released in 2011 — less than six months after Fly From Here, the only studio album with David, in fact — it was recorded in 2009. What’s that mean? It means there are no new songs on it, despite it being recorded during what the band called the “In The Present Tour.” It’s a greatest-hits-live album, performed with the singer from a Yes cover band, and Rick Wakeman’s son Oliver in the keyboardist’s chair. This redefines “inessential,” unless you really, really want/need to hear “Astral Traveller” or “Machine Messiah” (the only songs not heard on basically every other Yes live album) performed with vocals just a little bit below Jon Anderson’s range, and enunciated super-clearly, which gives the effect of making it seem like there’s something wrong with the recording.