Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, no longer members of Yes, Wakeman by choice and Anderson by circumstance, have teamed up to release an acoustic guitar/piano CD of nine poignant tracks. The album was written by the duo in two different locations with songs being refined on MP3 and emailed back and forth.

The album comes across a tad on the boring side and is a bit redundant, mainly due to the pair’s voice and piano style. There just isn’t the texture and variety that one would expect from these two muses. This is probably by design yet it just does not have the “It” factor that Wakeman and Anderson have had in the past. That said, it is well written, lyrically worthwhile and even evokes the spiritual new age vibe that is intended.

The best songs are the title track, both parts one and two, “House of Freedom” and, “23/24/11” which is also the best of the bunch and the closest to what Yes fans want from these two. One looks forward to the promised live version of these songs mixed with stripped down Yes classics due later in the year.