Yes!? NO! - The all purpose Yes arguing and complaining thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Harvest Your Thoughts, Jun 27, 2014.

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  1. Harvest Your Thoughts

    Harvest Your Thoughts Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    The band Yes needs little introduction. Formed in 1968 the band has released over 20 studio albums, numerous live albums and compilations and remain one of the most influential rock bands of all time.

    However, that doesn't mean that all of those albums receive equal acclaim, nor do all of the members who have been part of the band. If you think Yes doesn't exist without Rick Wakeman, or Drama isn't a real Yes album, or Bill Bruford is Yes' true drummer, this is the thread for you!
     
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  2. Evan Guest

    Evan Guest Forum Resident

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    Influential is an interesting sentiment. I'm sure they've been influential but I'm not too sure
    how obvious the results are. There are those who've played Progressive Rock who've obviously
    been influenced by them. Outside of the Prog genre though, and considering Rock Music in a
    more diverse sense, it becomes more difficult to locate their effect. They operate in a sphere of
    their own, isolated perhaps by their own unique vision.
     
  3. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

    Yes mostly influenced people inclined to like music by Yes. Pretty much nobody else.
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2014
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  4. JimW

    JimW In the Process of Becoming

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    Charlottesville VA
    Nice job trying to get the arguing out of the thread for the new album, though I'm not optimistic it will meet it's intention... But I'll play along.

    I've been a die-hard Yesfan since Close to the Edge blew my mind in '75. I'm one of those luddites who feels that w/o Jon, it isn't really Yes, regardless of the name on the album or the tickets. This may be partially due to my disappointment w/ the Drama tour, where I bought tix before it was announced Jon and Rick had departed. While I enjoyed the show, it was definitely missing some of the magic. I was also disappointed w/ the Drama album, though I came to appreciate it later. But mainly, I feel the band is missing an irreplaceable element when Jon is not there: in arrangements; in lyrics; and in vocals. I see Jon as the leader of the group, who helps focus all the disparate talents and makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts- even though the individual parts are great.

    While I enjoy Drama now and think there's some great music on there, I still don't consider it "Yesmusic." The same goes for Rabin's Yes; I think it's a shame the marketing forces made them change from the Cinema name. Even though Jon was present, Rabin was the leader and has stated that it was his intention to bring Yes back down to earth. In my mind, Yesmusic belongs in another dimension. Again, I like the music of "Yeswest," I just don't consider it true Yes.

    For me, one of the defining aspects of Yesmusic is it's ability to transport me to a place of sublime beauty. The journey often (usually?) involves getting though some darkness, but that just makes the light at the end that much more brilliant. This journey relies on the excellent musicianship of the band, the way the instruments and vocals interact and the thoughtful, creative and unique arrangements. At the core of all this is what the band is trying to express, which I believe is often focused by Jon. But I think Chris and Steve are almost as irreplaceable. It all adds up to a mystical quality that I feel is missing when any of those three are absent. I think the band is best w/ Wakeman on keys, but he is not irreplaceable (I've always loved Relayer and I really like both Ladder and Mag).

    I know many feel different and I'm not trying to say I'm right, just expressing my feelings. I'm also aware that all this may just be a justification for my preference of the "classic" line-up. One thing I know (though perhaps it's more an expression of my bias than a reflection of reality) is that there's always been an extremely high level of "magic" when I've seen Yes w/ what I consider the "crucial core." And while I've greatly enjoyed Yesshows that didn't have all of them, they didn't have that same magical, mystical feeling.
     
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  5. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

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    I like Yes from before Rick Wakeman joined and like Drama, but I am still the typical contrary Yes fan in that I like Tormato and dislike Topographic Ocean.
    Aside from that I will recognize Yes as being Yes as long as Chris Squier is able to build a band around that name.

    I wonder if there are any die hard fans that reject everything Yes has done since Peter Banks and Tony Kaye left and considered Roundabout to be "sellout pop drivel" when it was first released as a single, as well as view Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe with contempt.
     
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  6. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

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    I think the entire "new age music" movement in the 80s grew directly out of appreciation for bands like Yes and Pink Floyd as well as Jimmy Page.
    I suspect other bands didn't copy them because Yes is such a unique sound that any attempt to get into their realm would be obviously viewed as being a copycat act.
     
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  7. Agent57

    Agent57 Marshall will buoy, but Fender control

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    One of my favorite bands too but since you asked:

    Squire should have made more solo albums and Howe should have never sang on his.

    I'm still angry with Bruford for using those damn electronic drums on ABWH and "An Evening of Yes Music. And for phoning it in on the Union tour (at least the night I was there).

    Hearing the "Union" CD for the first time while being all fired up about the tour was one huge letdown.

    They should have made Tony Kaye fix that clam in the intro of "A Venture".

    They should have left that 'ambient section' in "The Calling".

    That should do it...
     
  8. Meng

    Meng Forum Resident

    I'm normally not very keen on electronic drums, but in the hands of The Master, they sang.

    To me, at least.
     
  9. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    My first prog band, Yes will always be a sentimental favorite. I hardly ever listen anymore however because I wore those records out as a kid, and because listening now requires a certain amount of attention and patience that I no longer possess. I will say I am not a fan of their current output, especially what little I've heard of the new album, but horses for courses.
     
  10. marke

    marke Forum Resident

    I've liked Yes for about 21 years. Close to the Edge, Fragile and The Yes Album are magical. I also have a fondness for 90125 and Big Generator (I know this isn't considered one of their classics but I like every song from it). Drama is also high on my list as is Talk and Going for The One. Certainly one of the great prog groups along with Genesis, King Crimson, Camel, Caravan etc.
     
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  11. DLeet

    DLeet Forum Resident

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    In my case - never get tired of them. 70s albums that is. An amazing case... just like with The Beatles. I know everything by heart but I still do not get tired of the records.
     
  12. Agent57

    Agent57 Marshall will buoy, but Fender control

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    To clarify, my problem with those is that they don't trigger fast enough to catch all those perfect press rolls on the snare drum that Bruford usually slips in all over the place - so he didn't. Bruford has one of the best drum rolls in the business and I expect to hear some! ;)

    But at the Union show, Bill spent most of the night playing dated triggered sounds on his pads - I wanted to see more kit playing from him. The few songs where he and Alan played double-kits were great (the double drum solo in "Heart of the Sunrise" was awesome.) but those were few and far between...the one song where those pads actually added something was the intro to "Lift me Up".
     
  13. ssmith3046

    ssmith3046 Forum Resident

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    A Yes bitchfest thread. Now we're talking!
     
  14. Harvest Your Thoughts

    Harvest Your Thoughts Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    That's right! Let it all out! :)

     
  15. Aggie87

    Aggie87 Gig 'Em!

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    Howe should never be allowed to sing anything:

     
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  16. Stan

    Stan Forum Resident

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    I found them to be influential for the band Phish
     
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  17. hi_watt

    hi_watt The Road Warrior

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    I heard their music from 90125 first, because of MTV in the early '80s. I was of course a little kid, and didn't think they'd sound even more amazing once I heard material from the Classic Yes compilation a short time later. I really enjoy their music to this day, and they helped pave the way for my appreciation/love for progressive rock.
     
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  18. zen

    zen Senior Member

    Silly boy.
     
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  19. rburly

    rburly Sitting comfortably with Item 9

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    Orlando
    I'll play along. No Jon = No Yes.
     
  20. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    Some of the artier indie bands will give Yes a nod, like St. Vincent and the Flaming Lips.
     
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  21. One Louder

    One Louder Well-Known Member

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    Peterborough, ON
    Wild Flag and Ween as well. Also Yes and Rick Wakeman's solo stuff has been sampled in rap and hip hop a surprising amount of times. RZA from Wu-Tang Clan said he was a fan of stuff like Yes in the first issue of Revolver magazine.

    I used to listen to Rick Wakeman's show he did for Planet Rock and one time he talked about when he recorded some stuff for the 1984 album with Chaka Khan. He said that wasn't planned but she was recording down the hall from him and came to see him to tell him his Journey to the Center of the Earth album was what finally got her kids interested in reading and she was so thankful she said if you ever need vocals on something, just ask.
     
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  22. Aggie87

    Aggie87 Gig 'Em!

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    Agree on the Lips - Wayne's nod to Yes:

     
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  23. kevinsponge

    kevinsponge Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR USA
    Huge Yes fan. Here's my complaints.
    Relayer was my fave album during my senior year of high school (1983). It's just too bombastic for me now to feel it's a masterpiece, like I once did,
    but it sure beats the next two Wakeman albums.

    I don't like 'Going for the one'. I think Wakemans keyboard sound sucks on that album! I don't like that airy, new-agey sound of his at all!
    I also can't believe they thought Howe's overbearing, grating slide guitar on the title track was worth keeping.
    I REALLY wanted to like these albums, I was already a fan and I tried to get into them but it just wasn't gonna happen.

    Going for the one and Tormato were also the last two Yes albums I had left to investigate. This was right before 90125.

    Drama. Now there's a return to fighting form if I've ever heard one!
     
  24. One Louder

    One Louder Well-Known Member

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    Peterborough, ON
  25. Agent57

    Agent57 Marshall will buoy, but Fender control

    Location:
    PA
    LOL I knew that was gonna pop up in here sooner or later. All I can ask for in that clip would have been a separate camera on Bruford's face just to see his reaction to what he was hearing...
     
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