I've never heard most of them despite being a YesFan since 1996. However, one of my votes was Song Of Seven, a beautiful album that is criminally overlooked by some fans just because it's not Close To The Edge part II.
Most of the later ones from the 90s and beyond are pretty cheap to pick up on Amazon or eBay...I would recommend Toltec, Survival and even though I didn’t vote for it Deseo...
I like everything through 3 Ships . Song of Seven and Animation are my favorites. I would like to get Page of Life. I really lose track around then. I actually wrote a very positive review for my college paper for Song of Seven in 1981.
I went with Olias, Song of Seven, Friends of Mr. Cairo, Change We Must (mostly just for the opening track), and Angels Embrace, but really for me it's Olias at the top of a mountain (coming out of the sky?) and most everything else happily floating down below. For fans obviously, but there's a lot of good stuff on a great many of those records, as mellow as some may be. An my daughter was born to the sounds of Angels Embrace playing, so there's that...
For me it's Olias, Short Stories, Friends Of Mr Cairo, Change We Must, 1000 Hands... But Song Of Seven, Deseo, Animation, and Toltec are right up there too. And Page Of Life (both versions). I own them all. Only Promise Ring, Earth Mother Earth, and The More You Know I rate as poor. The rest is good... I love Jon... And I wish he'd release Open on a CD. Shame it's only available as an mp3 cos it's great.
You should include the album with Kitaro 'Dream' as it has 2 of the best songs from Jon's solo output that being 'Lady of Dreams' and 'Island of Life'.
I know I will probably get blasted for this but 'Olias' in my opinion isn't that great. Yes it's great that it's a true solo album as Jon played all the instruments. However what I love about Jon is his great voice and there is about 8 minutes on the album where he actually sings. The rest is all instrumental and while it's nice I just don't think it's great. I would have preferred an album that his voice was prominent through the entire album.
The first three proper solo albums. I would love to start a thread discussing Olias. Despite its derivative and of its time cover and concept it is a stunning achievement. The sound and production comforts me perhaps like no other record (maybe Oldfield's Ommadawn is another). It transports me to my teenage years, out on a perfect summers night looking at a starry sky. It's almost a nieve, outsider artist, new age, world music mash up. A genius record that is realized to perfection. Songs of Seven has at times brought a tear to my eye. It's super corny and syrupy, but if you buy in, the longer suite is a moving experience. Animation is an overlooked record with superlative production and playing from Simon Phillips and Clem Clempson among others. Great writing with some really intense passages. I so wish I liked the Vangelis and Anderson records. I've tried. They seem boring and tossed off to me. I'm happy to be proven wrong.
Not listed here but "Open'" (from 2014) is the winner. One long piece that actually has some strong melodies and some muscle, the closest thing to a Yes record he's done on his own since Olias.
As a great fan of Jean-Luc Ponty I appreciate this album. However I think Yes songs were not necessary. Anderson´s voice fits very well with Ponty´s violin but Ponty´s violin sounds strange with Yes songs. Ponty's instrumentals take on a new dimension with Anderson's vocals and this is an improvement without a doubt.
I voted for Invention of Knowledge as it's the only one I own. I used to have Olias of Sunhilow but gave it away as it just wasn't for me. Invention of Knowledge is pleasant enough but could be easily and vastly improved: a) with a less compressed (CD) mastering b) with Jon's vocals mixed lower and the instruments mixed higher - so I could better hear the instruments c) if there were far fewer vocals - so I could better hear the instruments. YMMV
You're lucky, his recent albums are all about the lyrics/vocals. Invention Of Knowledge, for example. It's so crowded with vocals, I get tired after the second track and I love his singing.
I think Invention is not great but pretty good. I just think it was weird that the lead singer of Yes who has an amazing voice released his first solo album with barely any vocals on it.
I enjoyed Olias Of Sunhillow but that is the only solo Jon I have heard. I loved The two Vangelis albums they did together Friends Of My Cairo and Private Collection
Does anybody remember about 15 years ago or so, Jon was offering a whole series of releases on his website. When put together in the box it made some kind of design. There were dozens of cds IIRC.
I have a few of these LPs, most of the early ones. The only one I also have on CD is Olias. I voted for that as well as Animation, whose title track is rather good and one of my favourite songs of '82.