''3 Ships'' is the fourth solo album by

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 ...

lead singer

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 ...

, released on Elektra Records in 1985. It includes versions of traditional

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

s as well as original material by Anderson. The album title references the song "

I Saw Three Ships "I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)" is an English Christmas carol, listed as number 700 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The earliest printed version of "I Saw Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was also published by ...

", which states, "I saw three ships come sailing in, on Christmas day in the morning". It was dedicated to the organisation

Beyond War Beyond War (distinct from World Beyond War) is a movement founded in 1984. It seeks to end war, on the premise that, in the broad view, the continued practice of war will ultimately lead to a global catastrophe. Aims Beyond War aims to end war by ...

Trevor Rabin Trevor Charles Rabin (; born ) is a South African rock musician and composer. Born into a musical family and raised in Johannesburg, Rabin took up the piano and guitar at an early age and became a session musician, playing and producing with a va ...

plays guitar on the album. The 'Holiday Card Pack, Jon Anderson Special Edition' came with a personal autograph from Anderson, as well as a set of five Christmas cards. Each card displayed an image of an Anderson watercolour painting. ''3 Ships'' was reissued on compact disc in 2007. This remastered '22nd Anniversary Edition' contains all of the album's original songs, plus five bonus tracks, two of which were previously unreleased.

Reception

The album received only a single star from ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' reviewer Hugh Fielder, who called it a "soppy retreat from realism". Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Dave Connolly wrote: "This is an oddity: a Christmas album incognito. Save a red and green stripe on the back cover, the outside packaging is conspicuously devoid of the usual holiday trappings, leaving the astute person to deduce from the track listing Three Ships' true intent. ��The Christmas songs are processed with synthesizers, overwhelming Anderson's voice most of the time, and the end result is a disappointing and superficial collection of Christmas classics (including one of the lamest versions of "O Holy Night" on record). As with ''

In the City of Angels ''In the City of Angels'' is the fifth solo album by Yes lead singer Jon Anderson, released in 1988. Unlike most of Anderson's previous solo works, this album contains many additional songwriters. Consequently, it is the most straight-ahead ...

'', also recorded in Hollywood, fans would do well to let Three Ships sail by."

Track listing (Original 1985 LP version)

;Side One #"Save All Your Love" 1:25 #"Easier Said Than Done" 4:12 #"3 Ships" 3:44 #"Forest of Fire" 3:34 #"Ding Dong! Merrily on High" 1:58 #"Save All Your Love (Reprise)" 3:05 ;Side Two #"The Holly and the Ivy" 3:07 #"Day of Days" 3:37 #"2000 Years" 0:54 #"Where Were You?" 3:57 #"O Holy Night" 4:25 #"How It Hits You" 5:13 #"Jingle Bells" 0:30 * Note: There are incorrect timings on the original album label (side 1). "Easier Said Than Done" is incorrectly listed as 3:14, "Ding Dong! Merrily on High" as 3:36 and "Save All Your Love (Reprise)" as 2:20.

Track listing (2007 CD version)

Tracks marked by * are bonus tracks not available on the original album. #"Give Hope" * 4:37 ecording era of this song is unknown#"Save All Your Love" 1:22 ''(Anderson)'' #"Easier Said Than Done" 4:14 ''(Vangelis)'' #"

Three Ships Three Ships is a brand of whisky distilled at the James Sedgwick distillery in Wellington, Western Cape (Drakenstein Local Municipality), South Africa. The distillery produces both Malt whisky, malt and Grain whisky, grain whiskies on the same si ...

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'' album, recorded 1989-90] #"2,000 Years" 0:56 ''(Anderson)'' #"Where Were You?" 3:55 ''(Anderson)'' #"Oh Holy Night" 4:15 ''(Traditional)'' #"How It Hits You" 5:09 ''(Anderson)'' #"Jingle Bells" 0:32 ''(Traditional)'' #"Ray of Hope" * 6:11 .Anderson/M.Marshall/D.Black1991

Recording Credits

: Lead Vocals *"Beyond War Philharmonic" – Orchestration *Concert Master: Paul Cheng *Conducted by Bob Esty *Gospel Choir: Calvary Baptist Church, Santa Monica *Inspirational Choir, courtesy of Pastor Robert de France Jr. *Choir Director: William Bryant II *Children's Choir: "Reach for the Stars Singers" *Choir Director: Marta Woodhull *Children's Choir on "Give Hope:" Millikan Middle School, Sherman Oaks, CA *Choir Director: Leo Krubsack *Sandra Crouch & Friends: Directed by Andre and Sandra Crouch & Gary Lanier *

Sandra Crouch Sandra Crouch (born July 1, 1942) is an American gospel music performer, drummer and songwriter. Musical career Crouch won a Grammy Award in 1984 for "Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female" for the 1983 album, "We Sing Praises," and was nominate ...

: special guest Duet Vocals on "Oh Holy Night" * Jade Anderson: Additional Vocals on "Jingle Bells" * Rhett 'Pepsi' Lawrence: Fairlight CMI, * Mike Marshall GB: Keyboards, orchestration *

and

Elliot Easton Elliot Easton (born Elliot Steinberg, December 18, 1953) is an American guitarist. He played lead guitar and sang backing vocals for The Cars, and his guitar solos are an integral part of the band's music. Easton has also recorded music as a so ...

: Guitar *

Frankie Banali Frankie Banali (November 14, 1951 – August 20, 2020) was an American rock drummer, most widely known for his work with heavy metal band Quiet Riot. His signature tone and iconic drum intros first became famous on their album ''Metal Health' ...

Ric Parnell Ric Parnell (13 August 1951 – 1 May 2022) was an English rock drummer. Notable for his work in the band Atomic Rooster, he is probably best known for his role as the ill-fated drummer Mick Shrimpton in the film ''This Is Spinal Tap''. Caree ...

: Drums & Percussion * Paulinho da Costa: Percussion *

Novi Novog Novi Novog is an American viola player. She is sometimes simply credited as "Novi" and is a cousin of Lauren Wood (also known as "Chunky"). In 1973, Novi became one of three members of her cousin's band Chunky, Novi and Ernie with the bassist Ern ...

: Electric Viola

Production

*Produced by

Roy Thomas Baker Roy Thomas Baker (born 10 November 1946) is an English record producer, songwriter and arranger, who has produced rock and pop and songs since the 1970s. Career Baker began his career at Decca Records at the age of 14 and later worked as an a ...

for RTB Audio Visual Productions, U.S.A. *Engineered & Mixed by George Tutko *Assistant Engineering by Jim McMahon *Additional Mixing by Brad Gilderman *Recorded at Crystal Studios, Hollywood CA. *Production Co-ordination by Bob Keasler, assisted by Freddie Henderson & Jem Scott *Re-Issue Engineering & Mastering by Mike Pietrini *Executive Producer: Rob Ayling for Voiceprint Group of Companies *Musical Arrangements by Bob Esty except track 18, Mike Marshall GB *Art Direction and Design by KOSH & Larson *Cartography by Bob Blakeman

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:3 Ships Jon Anderson albums 1985 Christmas albums Albums produced by Roy Thomas Baker Christmas albums by English artists Rock Christmas albums