Jon Anderson 3 Ships Vinyl

For Day 5 of Blogmas it’s another vinyl, this time something of a lost Christmas classic. Jon Anderson is perhaps most famous to many as the occasional partner of Vangelis in the 70s and 80s. However, prior to that he was the driving force behind the prog rock supergroup Yes, along with Rick Wakeman amongst others in a changing line up of incredibly innovative musicians. By 1985, he was contributing to soundtracks, making appearances on St Elmo’s Fire, Biggles and Legend, In this busy period he made his Christmas themed album 3 Ships. It didn’t chart in the UK, scraped into the Top 200 in the US and only charted in one other country, reaching Number 66 in the Dutch charts! It did not get a great critical reception at the time. This could be because his unusual move of recording a Christmas album when they were perhaps less of a seasonal banker didn’t go down well with the more purist vision of the critics. It could be that it was such a personal vision that they just didn’t buy into it, especially coming from the leading light of progressive rock. It may be this lack of critical enthusiasm that accounted for the poor sales. However, when I discovered it a few years ago and bought it on the strength of his name I was able to come to it completely fresh. So, let’s take a listen.

Side 1

The album starts with Save All Your Love and the first thing that hits you is the incredible purity of Jon Anderson’s voice, one of the most beautiful male voices in rock music. He can lift the quality of any material simply by singing on it, but in the case of the opening track which is short and sweet at less than 90 seconds he just makes a lovely song even better. Already Said and Done is a track that has the 1980s writ large and it is one that may sound rather underpowered to modern ears, but it has its own charm and once you let that voice wash over you it is a song that works its own understated magic of the season. Three Ships is great fun as it gives the listener a synthesised treatment of the famous carol complete with fast paced verses which I really enjoyed. Not for the purist perhaps, but if you want something different in your Christmas carols it definitely works very nicely. Forest of Fire is a Christmas themed song set in a jungle! It sounds like a prototype of The Lion King in places and is one of the most unusual festive songs you could ever hear. Ding Dong Merrily on High has a synthesised backing that takes the familiar carol into some quite interesting territory! Once again, the voice rises above the material and gives it its own individuality and appeal. The final track is a reprise of the gorgeous Save All Your Love which could easily be a companion piece to the classic I’ll Find My Way Home. By the end of this side you will either be into the album or you won’t, but I can guarantee you that you won’t have heard another Christmas album quite like it!

Side 2

The Holly and The Ivy has a Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells feel to it and it gives this familiar carol a very different feel. Despite the synthesiser backing it actually has a more medieval feel than most with the use of trumpet fanfares and the use of a tune that sounds like an Elizabethan dance in places. The next three songs reflect upon the same event, namely the birth of Jesus. Day of Days is an interesting song that has hints of a spiritual alongside an unmistakeably 80s touch that contrasts with very traditional lyrics about the Nativity. 2000 Years covers similar ground in a track that is short but effective, and my favourite of the trilogy of more devotional songs. Finally, Where Were You? reflects on the experience of the shepherds before looking at the event in a more global perspective. O Holy Night is an instantly recognisable piece of music, or at least it usually is! On this track Anderson gives us a version utterly unlike any other with a much more minimal backing than we are used to. With the now traditional huge ballad approach on pretty much every other Christmas album, I found this a very nice change of pace, and with his gorgeous voice you can’t go far wrong anyway. How It Hits You can be read either as a love song or a devotional anthem according to taste and has a soft rock feel that sets it apart from the rest of this album. The vocals and the tune put me in mind of Mr Mister in places and also The Thompson Twins, so I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. The final track is Jingle Bells! By this stage nothing really surprises the listener so why not? It’s definitely an album where you have to go with the flow. It is the briefest of codas with a very soft child’s voice singing the famous refrain and in that way it is a fitting end to a very atypical Christmas album.

What I really like is when artists follow their vision and back it to the hilt as Jon Anderson did in this case. It won’t be for everyone, but that’s actually a good thing because so many Christmas albums play it safe and become interchangeable. Three Ships definitely goes out on a limb and if you are prepared to follow it out on that limb, you are in for a treat – or at least a very original listening experience.

It’s not on Spotify as far as I can see, but the vinyl is here on Discogs. Go on, give it a try!