It was released on 22 June 2011 by Frontiers Records, and is their only album featuring lead vocalist Benoît David and keyboardist Oliver Wakeman.

Yes reformed in 2008 after a four-year hiatus with a line-up of David, Wakeman, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, and drummer Alan White.

The band prepared material to record for Fly from Here during breaks in touring in 2010 and 2011, during which they enlisted former Yes frontman Trevor Horn as producer.

Yes promoted the album with a video release of "We Can Fly" and worldwide tours in 2011 and 2012, during which David was replaced by singer Jon Davison after he contracted respiratory illness.

An alternative version of the album titled Fly from Here – Return Trip, featuring new lead vocals and mixing from Horn and instrumental parts, was released on 25 March 2018 during the band's fiftieth anniversary tour.

In September 2004, the Yes line-up of singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and drummer Alan White began a five-year hiatus.

[4] Squire found out about David after he saw a video of the group performing on YouTube and was impressed with his ability to sing in a style similar to Anderson.

Wakeman recalled a period of "lovely integration" between the three of them during this time,[6] although Squire wanted greater involvement in the production and David was unsure if the decision for the band self-produce was right.

Wakeman then suggested that Yes contact producer and former Yes frontman Trevor Horn, who had replaced a departing Anderson in 1980 and sung on Drama (1980) with Geoff Downes, his partner in The Buggles, on keyboards, to bring more validity to the album.

The song was performed live during the Drama tour in 1980, and the band rehearsed it for a short while with session drummer Paul Robinson.

[14] The first recording sessions took place in October and November 2010 at SARM West Coast Studios in Los Angeles, and lasted around six weeks with Horn present for two.

[19] The reissue of Adventures in Modern Recording also contained "Riding a Tide", another Buggles demo that was reworked into "Life on a Film Set".

"Sad Night at the Airfield", "Madman at the Screens", and "Life on a Film Set" were all written for the second Buggles album, but Downes has described them as "heavily influenced by our stint in Yes at the time.

[24] Wakeman left, taking the tracks that he worked on with the band with his collaborations with Gordon Giltrap and his solo album Cultural Vandals.

He recalled the difficult task of coaching David to sing the English lyrics as he wanted them, given his French-Canadian accent, which took further time.

[8] The song originated from a bass riff from Squire that was among the ideas discussed while the band were in Phoenix, played with added flanger and phaser effects.

"[25] Work began in May 2016 after Horn performed on stage with Yes in London during their 2016 European tour, the band travelling to the studio the following day to oversee the production.

[41] The new version, titled Fly from Here – Return Trip, was released on 25 March 2018 through PledgeMusic and at the two-day fan convention in London during the band's fiftieth anniversary tour.