The Official Yes Thread

[jammindude]

People are already griping about the new tour, saying Fragile is a poor choice.  I somewhat agree.  A lot of Fragile is the individual pieces, and most of the band that made that album aren't in the current lineup.  Geoff Downes is cool, but "Cans and Brahms" is a Wakeman piece; it makes no sense for Geoff to play.  "Five Per Cent for Nothing" is a 32-second Bruford composition, why would Alan White even want to play it?  And how are they going to do "We Have Heaven"?  The band songs are fine; they've been doing most of them for years with every lineup.

But wow, those two classics, the new album in its entirely and "Greatest Hits"?  That sounds like a hell of a show.

The press release only says "material off their new studio album"...not the album in its entirety.   Apparently only Fragile and CttE get the full album treatment.

[Orbert]

Ooh, you're right; I misread that.  Still a hell of a show, though.

[Nel]

Wouldn't that be something, though, if the new album sucked and it was wedged into the middle of the show, and you had to sit through that whole thing just to get to the rest of the good stuff? 

[Orbert]

Nah, that's not gonna happen.  Yes is not capable of making an album that sucks.  There are some albums of theirs which I consider less favored, but there isn't a single album of theirs which I would say sucks, and every one of them has some redeeming value.

[Nihil-Morari]

Finally considering myself a minor Yes-fan. Not a big one, far from that, but I've been reading into their discography all day (one of the advantages of being sick), and I'm quite interested.
I've loved Close to the Edge for a long time, but the biggest problem I've had with Yes is that they just don't seem to sound good on CD, on youtube or on spotify. Now that I'm diving into their discography, and now I've finally bought myself a decent collection of second hind vinyl, I can say I love their music. The vinyl albums (most notably Dean's artwork on larger scale) make it much more of a 60's/70's experience, and now everything seems to fit.
Biggest problem I face now is that I cannot grasp the vastness of their career. Here's what I've got:

The Yes Album
Fragile
Tales from Topographic Oceans
Close to the Edge
Yessongs
Relayer
Going for the One
Symphonic live (DVD)

What to get next?

[Orbert]

Drama.  It's the only album which I would consider essential that I don't see on your list.  A slightly different direction for them, due to the presence of Trevor Horn on vocals and Geoff Downes on keyboards, but an excellent album, highly regarded by most Yesfans.  If you like that, consider their most recent album (so far), Fly From Here.  It has a very similar sound, but updated.

After that, consider either stopping, or moving into more recent stuff.  If you're only a casual Yesfan after all this, it will probably not get much deeper for you.  But if you really want more, maybe The Ladder, or the studio tracks from the Keys to Ascension series.

[Nihil-Morari]

Drama.  It's the only album which I would consider essential that I don't see on your list.  A slightly different direction for them, due to the presence of Trevor Horn on vocals and Geoff Downes on keyboards, but an excellent album, highly regarded by most Yesfans.  If you like that, consider their most recent album (so far), Fly From Here.  It has a very similar sound, but updated.

After that, consider either stopping, or moving into more recent stuff.  If you're only a casual Yesfan after all this, it will probably not get much deeper for you.  But if you really want more, maybe The Ladder, or the studio tracks from the Keys to Ascension series.

Cool, I'll look for that one. In the meantime I found their first two albums for a nice price (I actually went out to a local record store to check for Yes lp's), so I bought them too.
I've thought about getting Drama before, but the different singer put me off. I'll check it out. After that it's mostly getting to know the material.

What's the story behind Lennon and McCartney being credited on the debut album then?

[KevShmev]

Don't sleep on the Rabin years.  Even though it is very pop rock-ish, 90125 is excellent.  And while Talk is still not as proggy as the 70s material, it sure does rock like crazy at times.

[The Letter M]

Drama.  It's the only album which I would consider essential that I don't see on your list.  A slightly different direction for them, due to the presence of Trevor Horn on vocals and Geoff Downes on keyboards, but an excellent album, highly regarded by most Yesfans.  If you like that, consider their most recent album (so far), Fly From Here.  It has a very similar sound, but updated.

After that, consider either stopping, or moving into more recent stuff.  If you're only a casual Yesfan after all this, it will probably not get much deeper for you.  But if you really want more, maybe The Ladder, or the studio tracks from the Keys to Ascension series.

Cool, I'll look for that one. In the meantime I found their first two albums for a nice price (I actually went out to a local record store to check for Yes lp's), so I bought them too.
I've thought about getting Drama before, but the different singer put me off. I'll check it out. After that it's mostly getting to know the material.

What's the story behind Lennon and McCartney being credited on the debut album then?

Since you already have albums 3-8, and you're thinking of getting Drama anyway, you might as well get Tormato. It's the same line-up as GFTO and it's got some good songs on it, but it's not as great as the albums on either side of it.

As for the Lennon/McCartney credit, I believe it's for the cover of The Beatles' "Every Little Thing" they did on that album. They did like 5 or 6 covers back in the day of the first line-up/first two albums, and even later with "America". "Something's Coming" is one of my favorites, next to "America" of course.

-Marc.

[FreezingPoint]

Finally considering myself a minor Yes-fan. Not a big one, far from that, but I've been reading into their discography all day (one of the advantages of being sick), and I'm quite interested.
I've loved Close to the Edge for a long time, but the biggest problem I've had with Yes is that they just don't seem to sound good on CD, on youtube or on spotify. Now that I'm diving into their discography, and now I've finally bought myself a decent collection of second hind vinyl, I can say I love their music. The vinyl albums (most notably Dean's artwork on larger scale) make it much more of a 60's/70's experience, and now everything seems to fit.
Biggest problem I face now is that I cannot grasp the vastness of their career. Here's what I've got:

The Yes Album
Fragile
Tales from Topographic Oceans
Close to the Edge
Yessongs
Relayer
Going for the One
Symphonic live (DVD)

What to get next?

Since you have Symphonic Live, why not get Magnification? Though not really considered a "classic", there are some good songs on there that aren't on Symphonic Live. It is going to be a bit different than the studio albums you've listened to, but on the plus side, it has good production and IMO the orchestra is utilized quite well.

[Nihil-Morari]

Haha, soooo

Magnification
Tomato
90215
Talk
Drama

That makes a total of 14 studio albums that you guys think are essential, haha. Nice, I'll see what I can find.
 

[KevShmev]

Tormato is anything but essential.  In fact, it's mostly dog crap.  Imagine 70s Yes making an album that sounds really ugly, with a major drop-off in songwriting, and you've got Tormato.  I love Yes, but, man, does that record blow.

[The Letter M]

Haha, soooo

Magnification
Tomato
90215
Talk
Drama

That makes a total of 14 studio albums that you guys think are essential, haha. Nice, I'll see what I can find.
 

Also, if you like the idea of Jon Anderson being back with Bruford, Wakeman and Howe (along with Tony Levin), then definitely check out ABWH (Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe). They only had one studio album and one live album, released between Yes' Big Generator and Union albums. It's an 80's twist on the classic Yes sound.

IMO, the last two albums you should get are probably Big Generator (unless you end up loving 90125 and Talk) and Open Your Eyes (ironically abbreviated OYE [like oi], the sound I make while thinking about the album). I would even say Yes's last three albums (from The Ladder to FFH) are all better than that mediocre-sounding album.

Tormato is anything but essential.  In fact, it's mostly dog crap.  Imagine 70s Yes making an album that sounds really ugly, with a major drop-off in songwriting, and you've got Tormato.  I love Yes, but, man, does that record blow.

Do you prefer Tormato over BG or OYE? I mean, sure, after the string of TYA-GFTO, it's hard to top any of those albums, and so in comparison to those behemoths, Tormato is a bit lacking, but there's some good ideas on there. It's more or less like a Yes-sketchbook, a lot of ideas but nothing was ever truly fleshed out the way it should have been. It had potential to be so much more, but it's still the same Yes that produced GFTO, so there's still some good stuff on there.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Hell no.

Big Generator, I like a lot, but I usually do not recommend it since most are usually looking for prog Yes, so I tend to say that starting off with 90125 and Talk are better as far as the Rabin years go.  But if someone likes those two, then I'll recommend getting Big Generator (which has probably five songs I would call really good or great). 

Open Your Eyes is a bit strange at times, but is still better than Tormato. 

The fact that it is the same lineup that produced GFTO (which isn't that great either, but nonetheless is still far better than Tormato) is irrelevant. 

The only good thing about Tormato is them producing Onward, which isn't even that good on that record, but kicked ass on the live version on the Keys live CD in the 90s.

[jammindude]

Tormato is anything but essential.  In fact, it's mostly dog crap.  Imagine 70s Yes making an album that sounds really ugly, with a major drop-off in songwriting, and you've got Tormato.  I love Yes, but, man, does that record blow.

I thought most people at least acknowledge that OtSWoF salvages the album somewhat.   At least makes it worth the purchase price.   And most other people have found another 2-3 tracks that they like.

[Orbert]

I like the studio version of "Onward" better than the live version.  I'm not sure what's supposed to be so special about the live version.  The horn patch, and playing, on the studio version are both perfect.  I've never heard a synth sound more like a French horn or any other emulated instrument.  "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" rocks and is a great album closer.  "Don't Kill the Whale" is Greenpeace set to music, but come on, that Polymoog solo with the whalesong patch is sweet.  "Madrigal" is mellow, but awesome.  "Release, Release" rocks out.  That's over half the album in the plus column, as far as I'm concerned.

And much has been said about the sound quality of the album, but that's a completely separate issue from the music quality.  Turn down the treble, or activate your Dolby decoding if you have it.  Problem solved.

[ytserush]

I like the studio version of "Onward" better than the live version.  I'm not sure what's supposed to be so special about the live version.  The horn patch, and playing, on the studio version are both perfect.  I've never heard a synth sound more like a French horn or any other emulated instrument.  "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" rocks and is a great album closer.  "Don't Kill the Whale" is Greenpeace set to music, but come on, that Polymoog solo with the whalesong patch is sweet.  "Madrigal" is mellow, but awesome.  "Release, Release" rocks out.  That's over half the album in the plus column, as far as I'm concerned.

And much has been said about the sound quality of the album, but that's a completely separate issue from the music quality.  Turn down the treble, or activate your Dolby decoding if you have it.  Problem solved.

I think that's at least part of my problem with it -- the way it sounds.

Never thought about this until now, but if I were to combine the best of Going For The One and Tormato, it would be one damn fine album -- certainly comparable to what came before and after it. (I think I might have given myself an pretty good idea.)

[Mister Gold]

So from the sound of things, the new album will probably more resemble Fragile and Going for the One; it has eight songs in total, three of which will range from about nine-to-ten minutes long in length. I can dig that.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/6032603/chris-squire-of-yes-talks-heaven-and-earth-album-new-singer-rock-hall
https://progreport.com/jon-davison-yes-interview/

[Mister Gold]

YES – New album “Heaven & Earth” artwork & track listing revealed

Tracklisting:

Believe Again
The Game
Step Beyond
To Ascend
In A World Of Our Own
Light Of The Ages
It Was All We Knew
Subway Walls

Among the world’s most influential, ground-breaking, and respected progressive rock bands, Grammy Award winning, YES, is proud to announce its new album, ‘Heaven and Earth.’ Having sold nearly 40 million albums in a career that has so far spanned more than four decades, ‘Heaven and Earth’ sees YES continuing with its tradition of symphonic progressive rock that remains timelessly fresh and innovative.

‘Heaven and Earth’ contains eight new tracks, each of which boasts the unique musicianship and craftsmanship that have come to be known as ‘the YES sound.’ YES’ distinctive layered music, swirling arrangements, brilliant vocals and harmonies are all in abundance. ‘Heaven and Earth’ is an album sure to please both long-time and new YES fans.

For ‘Heaven and Earth,’ YES teams up with legendary Grammy Award winner, Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars, Guns N’ Roses, Foreigner, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice Cooper, etc.), who handles production and mixing.

Also onboard is long-time YES artist, the world-renowned Roger Dean, who again brings his masterful artistic creativity to the album’s cover art and packaging.

Since its founding in 1968, YES has created much of rock history’s most important music, including iconic pieces like ‘Roundabout,’ ‘Close to the Edge,’ ‘I’ve Seen All Good People,’ ‘Owner of a Lonely Heart,’ ‘Starship Trooper,’ and countless others. YES’s albums, including ‘Fragile,’ ‘Close to the Edge,’ ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans,’ and ‘90125,’ have been certified multi-platinum, double-platinum, platinum, and more by the RIAA. YES continues to inspire millions of musicians, fans, and music lovers around the world.

Personnel

STEVE HOWE – Electric, Acoustic, & Steel Guitars. Backing Vocals
CHRIS SQUIRE – Bass Guitar. Backing Vocals
ALAN WHITE – Drums. Percussion
GEOFF DOWNES – Keyboards. Computer Programming
JON DAVISON – Lead & Backing Vocals. Acoustic Guitar on tracks 1, 4 & 6

Produced and Mixed by Roy Thomas Baker

https://yesworld.com/2014/05/yes-heaven-earth/ 

The Fragile vibe continues. I dig!

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Artwork looks awesome.

[Orbert]

Sweet!  New music from my favorite band.

[Zydar]

Yes! Can't wait.

[Mladen]

What a great way to start your day. 

[King Postwhore]

Word.  Can't wait to hear this!

[KevShmev]

I wish I could pretend to be excited about this, but I just can't.  Odds are, it will be similar to Fly from Here, in that it will be somewhat enjoyable, while having almost nothing that makes me think, "Dang, this is great," and all the while I'll be thinking about how weird it sounds to have someone besides Jon Anderson singing lead vocals on a Yes album again.  I hope I am wrong.

[Orbert]

Oh don't get me wrong; I don't expect this to be like their 70's stuff or anything.  But Jon Davison has proven himself to be a great singer, and a great lead man for Yes, and the rest of the band are still top-shelf musicians.  It's gonna be good stuff.  You can't put that much musical talent together and not get some good stuff.  It won't be another Close to the Edge, but I'm still looking forward to it.

[The Letter M]

This can't be worse than the new Asia album, which I've listened to a few songs of, and while it's not BAD, it's still very same-y as their last three albums, just without Howe.

Add this album to the tiny list of 3 albums this year that I've had any interest in: the aforementioned Asia, Anathema, and IQ. It's a slow year for music for me. I guess I needed the break SOME time.

-Marc.

[Nel]

To be fair to Asia, I quite liked Phoenix and Omega. Never got all the way through XXX though. And Gravitas is just kind of gathering dust on my shelf until I finish XXX. 

[KevShmev]

Oh don't get me wrong; I don't expect this to be like their 70's stuff or anything.  But Jon Davison has proven himself to be a great singer, and a great lead man for Yes, and the rest of the band are still top-shelf musicians.  It's gonna be good stuff.  You can't put that much musical talent together and not get some good stuff.  It won't be another Close to the Edge, but I'm still looking forward to it.

Good points.  Honestly, given that I am not expecting a great album from start to finish from them at this point, if they give me a couple or three good songs that I can add to my Yes playlist, I'll be happy. 

[Zydar]

I liked Fly From Here a lot, but that was partially based on older compositions by Downes and Horn - plus I don't know anything about Jon Davison and his compositional skills. I don't know what to expect.

[Orbert]

But that's good.  You'll get some stuff you didn't expect!

[Zydar]

You're right

[Orbert]

I've been re-listening to Fly From Here, I guess as some kind of prep for the new album, and it occurred to me that with Steve Howe and Geoff Downes in both Yes and Asia (at the time), there would obviously be some similarity and overlap.  Fly From Here wasn't very prog by Yes standards, but if Asia had made it, it would've been the most prog thing they'd ever done.

I'm not simply saying "prog = good, 4/4 = bad" but the expectations of the two bands, and their respective audiences, are different.  With Yes, I expect a certain degree of "outside the box".  It doesn't have to be all 20-minute epics and screaming Moog solos, but if it's all just "regular" songs, even really good songs, then that's still a disappointment.  On the other hand, if Asia has an eight- or 10-minute song with a couple of changes it in, that's more than I'd expect from them.

This is all hypothetical, by the way.  Fly From Here is not just regular songs, and I don't think they're all really good.  And Asia has actually gotten a bit more adventurous from time to time.

I don't remember what my point was anymore.    I think it was that when Steve and Geoff get together, they fall into a power-pop (Asia) mode and not progressive (Yes) mode, or actually end up somewhere in between, when I wish they polarize things more.  I'd be okay with Asia keeping things straight and narrow of it meant that Yes got more crazy.

[Nihil-Morari]

On a side note, woke up way too early this morning, put Relayer on my turntable, and fell in love again with this band. Man, that ending of The Gates..., I love how it gets bigger and bigger and just implodes and ends with such a quiet piece.

[ytserush]

To be fair to Asia, I quite liked Phoenix and Omega. Never got all the way through XXX though. And Gravitas is just kind of gathering dust on my shelf until I finish XXX. 

I'd be more than happy to take XXX and/or Gravitas off your hands.  A swap perhaps?