The Yes Album by Album Thread (Part 2)

Played ABWH. First time in a long time. Ditched my copy many years ago.

Played Union. First time. Last time.

I played ABWH quite a bit when it first appeared, and it seems I liked it slightly less with each spin. Until I just gave up. Other posters have pointed out details with which I agree. Obviously it takes more than reconvening The Original Guys. I wouldn't want them to recreate the good old days; a prog band should progress. But there was no ambitious work created here, despite some nice ideas and touches here and there. A Yes band needs to think BIG. Not Big Sales. Big Art.

Sidebar 1: I never understand the immutable hatred for electronic drums. But even I agree they're out of place on ABWH.

Sidebar 2: I should never have skipped the concert when it came through. Did so deliberately.

I guess I've figured out what it is about Yes that I like, and wish was still intact. And which couldn't possibly sell records anymore. Big, complex, compositions. Songs within songs. Abrupt left turns followed by abrupt U-turns. Classical ambitions played with serious rock muscle. It was still in evidence as late as Drama. And now the songs, albeit with thoughtful embellishments, can't be described any more charitably than AOR. With an icky 80s flavor. I'm sure he's a force in other arenas, but Rabin no more belongs in Yes than Mike Love does.

From my Proggist point of view, anyway.

There are a couple more albums I haven't heard, but will as the thread plows along. Expectations are low. That doesn't mean I don't like Yes; they've given us significant music. But there is an expiration date.

Oh yeah, Union. Putrid from start to finish. I'll be nice and let it go at that.

Great Dean cover though, one of his best. Shades of Maxfield Parrish.

 

Does anyone have Union on vinyl? I've seen it around a couple of times but I've been hesitant to pick it up as I can't imagine such a long album would sound good (audio quality-wise).

 

Sweet Dreams was used intermittently, on about 15-or-so occasions.

Starship Trooper was the regular encore, with Roundabout ending the main set. What the hell Gonzo were thinking on the Live At NEC CD by switching the order of the last three tracks so that it ended with Order instead of Trooper is anyone's guess. Truly baffling!

 

Ah yes, you are indeed correct. If I remember correctly, SD wasn't introduced until the European leg.

 

ummmm....not sure where you get your info but I was there and unless there was some part of the tour I missed they never played Sweet Dreams, I was surprised to see them do it for this anniversary...also Howe and anderson didn't open the show together. it was anderson walking through the crowd and the guitar was being played by the extra musician on the stage while anderson sung the medley, anderson walks off then howe comes out to do mood and clap by himself

am I pretty sure the video clip was an 8 minute medley for the anniversary...the reason they didnt have their equipment and it was just a quick appearance

 

when I first got that cd it was screwy listening to it....I put it on my computer and fixed it, even the intros and crowd noise didn't mix right

 

For anyone interested, here are some posts about the first three Jon and Vangelis albums from a Vangelis ABA thread. Anyone real interested should check out the thread itself which contains additional posts. These first three all came out between Drama and 90125. J&V's 4th (and last), which came much later in 1991, is next up in that thread - which puts that thread chronologically not far from where this thread is.

 

90125 link here is not working. Not sure which of the others work.

 

friends and short stories are great albums.....especially mr cairo, Jon sounds so good

 

Seconded and the record sounds great too

 

I couldn't have been more excited when I heard "Brother Of Mine" on the radio in 1989. Rushed right out to by the ABWH cd and. . . was very disappointed with the rest of it. Over the years it has really grown on me. With the exceptions of "Teakbois" and "Order Of The Universe" which I will never warm to and can be easily removed to make for a more reasonable album length, I really like this album. "Let's Pretend" is a particular favorite, a great album closer.

 

1. Yes S/T
2.Time And A Word
3. The Yes Album
4. Yours Is No Disgrace Song Structure Breakdown
5. Fragile
6. Roundabout Song Structure Breakdown
7. Close to the Edge-Part I
8. Close to the Edge-Part II
9. Close to the Edge-Part III
10. CTTE Song Breakdown-The Solid Time of Change
11. CTTE Song Breakdown-Total Mass Retain
12. CTTE Song Breakdown-I Get Up, I Get Down
13. CTTE Song Breakdown-Seasons of Man
14. Yessongs
15. TFTO-Part I
16. The Revealing Science of God Song Breakdown
17. TFTO Parts II-IV
18. Relayer Part I
19. Relayer-Part II
20. Sound Chaser Song Breakdown
21. Relayer Part III
22. Yesterdays
23. Beginnings by Steve Howe
24. Fish Out Of Water by Chris Squire
25. Olias Of Sunhillow by Jon Anderson
26. Going For The One
27. Awaken Song Breakdown
28. Rick Wakeman-The Six Wives of Henry the VIII
29. Tormato
30. Drama
31. The Story of I by Patrick Moraz
32. Yesshows
33. Ramshackled by Alan White-Review by Mike B
34. 90125
35. Song of Seven by Jon Anderson
36. Classic Yes
37. Animation by Jon Anderson
38. 9012Live: The Solos
39. Big Generator
40. Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe

 

I fixed the 90125 link. The others should be OK. Thanks for alerting me to it.

 

Sensitive Chaos from Steve Howe's Turbulence which formed the basis for I Would Have Waited Forever on Union

 

I decided to give ABWH a shot again all these years later. All of the musicology aside, it is still a baaaaaaaaad album filled with cheesy sounding synth playing and synth backdrops (when often the backdrops are completely unnecessary), uninventive guitar playing and fake sounding drums. It's clear to me that by the time that ABWH was recorded, both Wakeman and Howe had lost a good bit of what made them great. It was a telltale sign of what would we could expect out of them going forward. For those who believe that there's a general dislike for synth drums, I'd say that, for me, synth drums that SOUND like synth drums are the bigger issue than their mere usage. Fortunately, Bruford would go on to play on albums (one, a full 5 years later) that would make this one sound like child's play by comparison.

 

I really don't think you can judge music by the timbre of the synths or electronic drums. The music is the notes. Timbres and technologies go in and out of fashion.

A lot of musicians and producers made what now seem like bad choices in the 80s regarding styles of production, use of electronic drums, gated drums, drum machines and DX7s. It makes it hard to listen to and appreciate now, much as many find it hard to listen to and apprecite recordings made in the 30s with acoustic recording techniques that had performers playing into megaphones mechanically connected to needles carving grooves in wax.

But much as many folks have learned to listen past the sound quality to hear the music made by Robert Johnson, Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith, folks may one day learn to listen past 80s fashions in terms of production and electronic instruments to hear the music in the notes played by those musicians.

None of this is to say that ABWH is on the level of Robert Johnson, Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. It is to say that the criticisms that are most valid to me are those regarding the compostitions, arrangements, and execution - not the sounds of the instruments used.

 

I either forgot or never knew there even was an ABWH studio album.

I'm on vacation and then traveling for work so I'm falling way behind for a while but i hope to catch up end of next week and dig some sweet 80s & 90s proggish goodness

 

You're assuming a lot by implying that I can't tell the difference between bad "sound" and bad music.

I didn't think I needed to criticize the compositions, arrangements and execution. I think I made it pretty clear that I don't consider them great.

 

Here's a really good interview with Trevor Rabin where he talks all about the Union experience and what Yeswest were up to during the ABWH period.

 

I stumbled on ABWH in the CD cut-out bin in late '93. I still have the long box with the big blue sticker on it:



At the time, I didn't know it existed. After a few listens, it was an okay album. I liked Fist of Fire and Brother of Mine, but the rest just left me underwhelmed. If anything, An Evening of Yes Music Plus spent more time in my cd player than this album.

 

Apologies, I should have said "one" not "you."
I was speaking generally, though the thoughts were inspired by your post, which does focus somewhat on the sound of the synths and synth drums

 

No prob, but here's something to remember: bad sounding music (as in, played using instruments that sound bad) usually IS bad.

 

That is awesome you still have the long box. I just saw one on Ebay and I was tempted to buy it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANDERSON-BR...251610861376?pt=Music_CDs&hash=item3a952d0f40

 

Gotta love that sticker! "Sixty minutes of music that takes them closer to the edge!!" Damn corny record companies...

 

Pretty funny, that 20 years ago it was practically being given away, along with Union in the cut-out bins. $18 is too much to ask for though.