The Official Yes Thread

[Orbert]

Listening to The Ladder won't change your mind.  There are some good songs on it, but not enough to place it above Magnification.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't consider Magnification evidence that Yes is still capable of making great music.  It's nine years old and the lineup has no keyboard player (insert joke about how Wakeman left again and they needed an entire orchestra to replace him), although there are a few keyboard dubs.

[Seventh Son]

Listening to The Ladder won't change your mind.  There are some good songs on it, but not enough to place it above Magnification.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't consider Magnification evidence that Yes is still capable of making great music.  It's nine years old and the lineup has no keyboard player (insert joke about how Wakeman left again and they needed an entire orchestra to replace him), although there are a few keyboard dubs.

The orchestra still sounded fine, and I wouldn't mind them doing that again on another album, should they choose to do another one (Which I hope they do).

[Perpetual Change]

Union gets way too much hate. It's not a bad album!

And, of course, Going for the One is the best them.

[Quadrochosis]

Union gets way too much hate. It's not a bad album!

And, of course, Going for the One is the best them.

 

[Orbert]

Union gets way too much hate. It's not a bad album!

And, of course, Going for the One is the best them.

Union is hard for some Yesfans to stomach because it's a Frankenstein monster.  Tracks were recorded, more tracks were recorded, overdubs were done, messes were made, men in suits were allowed to toy with the music end of things, dozens of musicians entered and left the studio, and somehow parts that were played by actual members of Yes were cut in favor of those played by hired guns.  That has never happened anywhere else in the history of Yes.  It is musical blasphemy, pure and simple.

Other than that, it's not a bad album.

I agree about Going for the One.  Close to the Edge gets more play from me, but that's only because I intentionally save Going for the One for special occassions.  The brilliance of "Awaken" is just too amazing to spoil by playing too often.

[Seventh Son]

Union gets way too much hate. It's not a bad album!

And, of course, Going for the One is the best them.

 

Its the best Yes album that doesn't go crazy on making a ton of epics. I'm not against that, or obviously I wouldn't listen to Yes lol but Going For the One is just so consistent and I love the production on it. Someone else said earlier that it felt airy, I disagree, the production felt a lot heavier to me and that's partially why I love it so much.

Now, as for the albums that are about the epics, its Close to the Edge, no contest. Relayer/Topographic Oceans are great, but they just aren't Close to the Edge, very few albums reach that level of perfection.

[Quadrochosis]

Any answer for best Yes album other than Tales is the wrong answer.

[Seventh Son]

Any answer for best Yes album other than Tales is the wrong answer.

The Remembering is a boring song but other than that Tales is great. Its about 4th or 5th in my Yes album rankings though.

[King Postwhore]

Any answer for best Yes album other than Tales is the wrong answer.

I will disagree with you. Good yes, the best. no.

[Dittomist]

Tales is also my favorite Yes album--it's also one of the best albums ever to listen to when high 
I also love love love Going for the One (it's easily my most played Yes CD and it seems to get better every time) and Relayer.

[Seventh Son]

Tales is also my favorite Yes album--it's also one of the best albums ever to listen to when high 
I also love love love Going for the One (it's easily my most played Yes CD and it seems to get better every time) and Relayer.

I wouldn't know what Yes sounds like while high.... but whatever floats  your boat.

[Seventh Son]

Bumping thread because I found this!

https://newsok.com/article/3472712#di...#ixzz0sjPwC9ZP

So they are going to make another album, obviously without Jon. We'll see how that goes. Despite the lack of Jon, Drama is a great album and a lot better than what most other bands would put out.

[KevShmev]

Drama was also 30 years ago.  You have to wonder how much creativity these guys have left anyway, and without their main creative force, I have a bad feeling about this.

[Seventh Son]

Drama was also 30 years ago.  You have to wonder how much creativity these guys have left anyway, and without their main creative force, I have a bad feeling about this.

I dunno, I feel optimistic about this. Doesn't Steve Howe also get involved in a good bit of the songwriting normally? Granted, he's a lot older, but I'm confident Yes can at least put out a decent record.

[KevShmev]

A decent record?  Well, to each his own, but as a longtime fan, them releasing a decent record with a different singer excites me about as much as picking out socks.

[Orbert]

"In fact, we're planning to go into the studio Oct. 4 this year to do a new album of material," he said. "But of course that's going to be with Oliver Wakeman and Benoit."

I didn't expect this to happen, really.  I'll be cautiously optimistic.  Howe, Squire and White have been together a long time and still have some game.  If the newbies can bring something fresh to the table, it could spark something.  At the very least, it will be worth checking out.  I would check out a solo album from any of these guys, so checking out a new Yes album is a no-brainer.

[Mladen]

We'll see how it works out...

[Seventh Son]

A decent record?  Well, to each his own, but as a longtime fan, them releasing a decent record with a different singer excites me about as much as picking out socks.

Better than never getting a new album from them. But I've only listened to Yes for the past year or so.

[Perpetual Change]

Going for the One is the best because, musically, it's a lot more accessible than Relayer or Tales or even Close to the Edge without losing much of the depth those albums had, and it's more ambitious than Fragile or The Yes Album. Lyrically, Anderon's still sounding poetic, but not as dependent on experiences with hallucinogenic drugs. Anderson's lyrics have always been a little too "out there" for me, and later in the Yes discography they'd become painfully cliche. But Going for the One was his happy medium. It's only too bad that he couldn't maintain that level of lyricism afterwards.

To be honest, Relayer and Tales don't do that much for me, and, honestly, I'm not even that big on Fragile. Tales is just too long, with the good parts too far and few between. Relayer pulls everything back in, but while there's great parts like Soon, once again the long songs just seem to go on for too long. And Fragile just fails to sound like a cohesive "full band" effort. It really sounds like a very, very good demo stretched into a full album. If I had to pick my "holy trilogy" of Yes albums, it'd doubtless be (chronologically speaking) The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Going for the One.  

[ZBomber]

Meh. I doubt I'll even buy the new album. Wasn't impressed with Benoit or Oliver at all.

[ytserush]

Not sure if I would be interested, but it can't be worse than having Billy Sherwood involved, could it?

[Quadrochosis]

Close to the Togographic Ocean Relayed through Time and a Fragile Tormato Going for the Yes Album Union Talking to the Big Generator of Magnificated Drama of the Ladder and Yes, an Owner of a Lonely Heart

[The Letter M]

I just finished listening to Fragile (+"America) and wow... great album. It's been awhile since I've revisited it and it's just fantastic. I also listened to the first three Yes albums earlier today and while they aren't as proggy as the following three (Fragile, Close To The Edge and Tales From Topographic Oceans), they are great in their own right. Those young lads sure knew how to write catchy songs (particularly on their 2nd album) while also putting their own spin on some classics like "Every Little Thing" and "Something's Coming".

I think their first two albums are pretty underrated, and the original line-up has a unique sound that isn't quite captured on The Yes Album or even Fragile. What I enjoy most about the first two albums is probably Bruford and Squire, but also Kaye's keyboard work is done quite well.

-Marc.

[ZBomber]

The jump from Time and a Word and The Yes Album has always been so big to me. Steve Howe just added so much to the dynamics of the band.

[glaurung]

Time and a Word especially is under rated.

[KevShmev]

There are major gems on those first two records.  I am personally very fond of "Astral Traveller."  And obviously "Time and a Word" is killer.

[jasc15]

After getting acquainted with Close to the Edge and Fragile (and listening to "And You And I" about 10x more than any song on either album) I am now waiting for Tales From Topographic Oceans to arrive.  As you can see, I'm not venturing far from my Yes starting point here.

[Seventh Son]

You and I is the weakest song on CttE.


ib4rage

[skydivingninja]

In with rage

[Zydar]

I'm cool with that, since I like CTTE and Siberian Khatru more.

[ZBomber]

Tales is good, although I disagree with everyone else on it. Personally, I think its easier to get into if you do the album song by song, instead of listening through the whole thing. Its about 90 minutes long, so its easy to get kind of "lost" in it. I would say listen to it through once when you get it, and then listen to each song solo. The Revealing Science of God is probably my favorite Yes song ever.

[Quadrochosis]

Z is correct, except on Revealing. Ritual is the best them. To get into Tales, take each separate. Then when you know each song enough, try out the entire thing and have your life changed.

[glaurung]

I'm still not a huge fan of Tales. I haven't spent much time listening to it though, just because it's such a monster album to tackle.

[ZBomber]

Z is correct, except on Revealing. Ritual is the best them. To get into Tales, take each separate. Then when you know each song enough, try out the entire thing and have your life changed.

Ritual is great too, but the opening chant to the album is probably the greatest thing I have ever heard in music.



Ever.










EVER

And Jon Anderson did the chant at his solo show. 

[Mladen]

The Revealing Science of God is probably my favorite Yes song ever.

Same here. The Ancient is a huge favorite of mine as well, I'd say it's Howe's brightest moment in his entire career. However, I've always found the other two songs average, which is a real shame. Ritual has a cool opening, but outside of the first couple of minutes, it's rather tedious...