The Official Yes Thread

[darkshade]

Does anyone know why Squire didn't just take up lead vocal duties?

[Orbert]

Probably not interested.  Squire has always sung background vocals and the occassional echo of Jon's lead, but that's it.  I don't have any interviews or quotes to back it up, but after 20 albums in 40 years, I think if he'd wanted to, he would have by now.

He has a great voice, but again, I've always gotten the impression that he'd rather "just" play bass and sing backgrounds.  His personality doesn't seem the type to be a front man.

[Nel]

The entire Fly From Here suite is excellent, but the stand-out track to me is Into The Storm.

Listening to the new album made me put my entire Yes library on shuffle, and now Real Love from Talk is stuck in my head. Why didn't I notice that song before? I remember listening through the entire album plenty of times...

[Quadrochosis]

I agree that Into the Storm is the best song.

[emtee]

Really enjoying the new album. It's got such a nice comfortable retro feel to it. Truly feels like it could have been
released right after Drama. Glad I bought it.

[KevShmev]

Probably not interested.  Squire has always sung background vocals and the occassional echo of Jon's lead, but that's it.  I don't have any interviews or quotes to back it up, but after 20 albums in 40 years, I think if he'd wanted to, he would have by now.

He has a great voice, but again, I've always gotten the impression that he'd rather "just" play bass and sing backgrounds.  His personality doesn't seem the type to be a front man.

Yep.  Plus, the Yes harmonies would suffer greatly, as Howe's voice is not good, but when a distant third behind two stronger voices, it adds a fullness to the harmonies (since the other two always drown him out, but it still adds a fullness to them).  With Squire as the lead singer, would Howe then be the lone guy to sing along with him and do harmonies?  That would never be good. 

Listening to the new album made me put my entire Yes library on shuffle, and now Real Love from Talk is stuck in my head. Why didn't I notice that song before? I remember listening through the entire album plenty of times...

Great song from a great album.

[Orbert]

Okay, I tried to do the right thing.  I went to Best Buy over the weekend to pick it up and was told they'd have it on July 12th (today).  I double-checked AMG and AMG said it was released last Tuesday, but that still didn't sound right because I thought it was released last month anyway.  People have it, and have had it for a while.

So I went to Best Buy today to get it, and they didn't have it.  No copies in stock, although some of the other stores in the area each had one copy.  Now that Borders is dead (well, online only), Barnes & Noble was my only other option.  They didn't have it either.  As it happens, we were there on Sunday to get some books for my daughter and I checked, and they were supposed to have it today, too.

Fuck it.  I downloaded it, looks like 256 VBR.  Sounds great.

I really hope I don't hear shit about poor sales of this album, when you can't actually find it in stores.  And if someone is gonna give me shit about downloading it, you can save it.  I tried to buy the album and couldn't.  I'm not driving all over the county to buy it when two different stores actually told me they'd have it today and did not.

[wolfking]

We Can Fly video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKJwXLCnBKs&feature=feedu

Good song, I might check the album out.

[glaurung]

Went to a record store and it was $19 for the special edition copy with the DVD. I don't really care about the new album enough to pay that much. It may be getting favorable reviews but I'll wait 'till I can find it cheaper or just get a used copy.

[KevShmev]

I really hope I don't hear shit about poor sales of this album, when you can't actually find it in stores.  

Well, I suspect the great majority of CD sales are done online nowadays, so I think the likely poor sales numbers will be a mostly accurate representation in the lack of interest in this, Yes diehards notwithstanding, IMO.

 And if someone is gonna give me shit about downloading it, you can save it. 

Not sure why anyone would give you shit about that.  If you are planning on buying something, there is nothing wrong with downloading it ahead of time, especially if their record companies didn't stock physical stores with copies on the day of the release.

[Orbert]

Thanks.  Yeah, I'm still gonna buy this one, it was just really disappointing.  The two places I went to have always had what I wanted on release date, but online sales are just the way things are done nowadays I guess.

Mini-Review:  It's pretty good.  I just love hearing these guys play together, and new music is always good.  A lot of it seemed rather "safe" -- not too adventurous, not too crazy -- but overall it's Yes.  I'm not one of those who insists on any given person being in the band in order for it to be called Yes, and Benoit David does a fine job on lead vocals.  He actually sounds a little bit like Trevor Horn, adding to the "Drama II" sound and feel of the album.  Most importantly, his voice blends with Squire's and Howe's the same way, for that Yes three-part harmony.  Howe provides some nice guitar licks, maybe not quite as much as I'd like but still nice.  I've always liked Downes' approach to keyboards, and Squire and White are great as always.  I'll be giving it a second spin later tonight.

[Perpetual Change]

I really hope I don't hear shit about poor sales of this album, when you can't actually find it in stores.  And if someone is gonna give me shit about downloading it, you can save it.  I tried to buy the album and couldn't.  I'm not driving all over the county to buy it when two different stores actually told me they'd have it today and did not.

Welcome to my world. In Hong Kong, you can't legally use sites like Amazon MP3 or iTunes. Likewise, the stores barely get get good records and the few that do are really expensive because of what it costs to import them here. So if I go to the HMV, it's usually like $22 US for a CD. Pre-ordering yourself is even worse, the couple times I tried it was really expensive to do so and then the product came a couple weeks late anyway. Next time you check out a band's pre-order screen, you'll see there's usually options for North American and Europe, but not the rest of the world. The strange thing is, even though Hong Kong has copyright laws and stuff, none of the actual record companies try and get the music to you.

/rant

My current strategy is I'll download something, and by the time it shows up in stores here I'll either make the purchase or delete it from my hard drive.  Or I'll  just buy it online and have it sent home, and then have Casey rip it for me and send me the files via dropbox. With this record, I went with the first option. My impressions:

It's not really good. It sounds like a Drama-era Yes album, but there's not a lot here that really makes me want to listen again. And, honestly, after those live-vids, I've kinda decided that this particular Yes line-up is something that I really don't want anything to do with.

[glaurung]

Orbert, do know that the official release date in the US was July 12th, right? All of those places were just following the rules.

[Orbert]

But something was screwy with that.  Either a huge number of a people managed to get their hands on advanced copies, or the release date was in June, which is what I originally had heard.  At Best Buy, the girl said it was weird in the computer, with a release date in June, then another release date listed as today.

I have no problem with stores not selling it until release date.  I just figured I'd heard wrong and I'd come back today.  But today, the official release date, two different stores didn't have it after telling me that they would.  I mean, they literally said "We will have it on July 12" and then didn't have it because apparently very, very few physical copies are actually out there.

[Quadrochosis]

Orbert, do you like the new album?

[The Letter M]

Went out to Best Buy this morning to snag the CD/DVD set for $11.99 - and it WASN'T IN STOCK

Infuriated, I tried Target, just because it was nearly right next to my Best Buy, but to no avail...

...then I went to my mall, to check FYE, and they had plenty (six) of the CD and CD/DVD sets in stock but... their asking price was $19.99 for the 2-disc set, with their "sale price" tagged at $17.99. Ugh. My plan is to just buy it on Amazon (as well as The Living Tree) for fairly cheap, and buying both from Amazon allows free super-saver shipping, so I get both at low costs and no shipping!

-Marc.

[Orbert]

M, this is exactly what I'm talking about.  They're not going to sell them if people can't find them.

Orbert, do you like the new album?

Overall, I do.  I no longer expect these guys to break new ground, and I'm not sure if I'd want them to.  They have a sound which I like, and I'm happy to have "more of the same" as long as it doesn't literally sound just like other material (and it doesn't, so that's cool).  The new stuff has them combining their talents the way I would want them to, playing to their strengths.  

The epic title track feels a bit artificial; it's clearly a collage of shorter songs put together to form something greater.  One could argue that this is true of most epics, but Yes is usually better at hiding the seams.  Here they didn't even try, and even underscored the sections by making them separate tracks, which they've never done before.  Or maybe they figured that it would be obvious anyway, might as well track things that way.

It's an album by five talented individuals, four of whom I greatly admire, and I would pick up anything that they did together anyway.  The fact that their talents combine in a way which earns the Yes label is a bonus, but it's a big one.  This is a Yes album.  I already like it better than Magnification, The Ladder, and Open Your Eyes.  I don't know if it will surpass the combined studio tracks from the Keys to Ascension albums, but if it does, that would make it the best since Drama.

[darkshade]

Went out to Best Buy this morning to snag the CD/DVD set for $11.99 - and it WASN'T IN STOCK

Infuriated, I tried Target, just because it was nearly right next to my Best Buy, but to no avail...

...then I went to my mall, to check FYE, and they had plenty (six) of the CD and CD/DVD sets in stock but... their asking price was $19.99 for the 2-disc set, with their "sale price" tagged at $17.99. Ugh. My plan is to just buy it on Amazon (as well as The Living Tree) for fairly cheap, and buying both from Amazon allows free super-saver shipping, so I get both at low costs and no shipping!

-Marc.

The album has the $9.99 sale for new CDs, but the 5 closest Best Buys in my area don't have it, and I'd have to go to the next state over to get it. However my local record shop has it, but for a few dollars more. I'll probably go there and support them since they usually have a lot of stuff most other places don't.

...And fuck Best Buy/FYE/Barnes & Nobles when it comes to CDs. Overpriced, poor selection, and never well stocked.

[Nick]

This all begs the question, why the fuck are YES on Frontier records?

[darkshade]

This all begs the question, why the fuck are YES on Frontier records?

are they a big label?

[Nick]

They are a moderate sized label, but I know that their US distribution has been oddly spotty in the past. And for a band like Yes, who plays quite large crowds even today in the US to not have their new album found at Best Buys is an absolute failure of epic proportions by the label.

[darkshade]

They are a moderate sized label, but I know that their US distribution has been oddly spotty in the past. And for a band like Yes, who plays quite large crowds even today in the US to not have their new album found at Best Buys is an absolute failure of epic proportions by the label.

I agree. If they can have new DT releases (even before they were on Roadrunner), on release day, they can have the new Yes album. Yes are arguably the biggest prog band, one only has to look at record sales, and also their popularity chart at Prog Archives shows Yes at the top almost all the time.

[Orbert]

Yes has a long history of poor management, label, distribution, pretty much anything having to do with the business side of things.  They make this amazing music, put out a new album, and people never see or hear it.  Ask 10 people at random, at least nine of them will say "What?  Are they still around?"

I remember in '96 when Keys to Ascension came out.  Some bonehead made the decision to split up the new studio material and include it as bonus tracks to fill out two double CDs of live material from a one-off concert that no one had heard of.  Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman, and White had 75 minutes of new music; seven tracks including two epics.  This was the triumphant return of the classic lineup, and not even their own label cared.  Later, they attempted to remedy the situation by finally putting all the studio material together on a single disc called Keysstudio (what the...?) and again didn't promote it at all.  The material is good, maybe not great, but damn it, this was the same band that made Going for the One.  They were back!  It would have sold huge, if anyone actually knew about it.

I'm not a huge fan of the 90125 band, but one thing they did right during the 80's was make videos and actually promote the band.  "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was the band's only #1 hit, mostly because it's so catchy and commercial sounding, but it sure didn't hurt that it was actually promoted.

[KevShmev]

They are a moderate sized label, but I know that their US distribution has been oddly spotty in the past. And for a band like Yes, who plays quite large crowds even today in the US to not have their new album found at Best Buys is an absolute failure of epic proportions by the label.

They do?  I remember reading that on their last tour with Jon Anderson, he was frustrated that they weren't drawing nearly as many fans as they used to.  And them touring with Styx this summer smacks of the typical tour of multiple old bands touring together since none of them can draw well on their own anymore.  Yes, I know they are scheduled to do a headlining tour in the fall, but we'll see if it actually happens and how well it sells. 

Yes are arguably the biggest prog band, one only has to look at record sales, and also their popularity chart at Prog Archives shows Yes at the top almost all the time.

I don't think that matters.  Most people consider Yes to be long-washed up (or either defunct, as I'll bet many have no idea that they are still releasing new music and/or touring), and once you get past the Yes diehards in each city who will still pay to see them, there probably aren't many who are gonna pay money in this day and age to see them.

I'm not a huge fan of the 90125 band, but one thing they did right during the 80's was make videos and actually promote the band.  "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was the band's only #1 hit, mostly because it's so catchy and commercial sounding, but it sure didn't hurt that it was actually promoted.

Very true. Even Big Generator did pretty well thanks to MTV playing the crap out of the videos for both Love Will Find a Way and Rhythm of Love.

[darkshade]

I'm sure a lot of their fans are also very old or dead

[Quadrochosis]

I'm sure a lot of their fans are also very old or dead

[Gadough]

I lol'd

[Nick]

They are a moderate sized label, but I know that their US distribution has been oddly spotty in the past. And for a band like Yes, who plays quite large crowds even today in the US to not have their new album found at Best Buys is an absolute failure of epic proportions by the label.

I agree. If they can have new DT releases (even before they were on Roadrunner), on release day, they can have the new Yes album. Yes are arguably the biggest prog band, one only has to look at record sales, and also their popularity chart at Prog Archives shows Yes at the top almost all the time.

In the states at least, Rush are now unquestionably the biggest prog band. Ten years ago before all the Yes drama and Rush's recent surge in mass appeal that might have been different, but the last three Rush tours have seen them pull in some of the highest grossing tours of the year consistently.

[KevShmev]

I am not even sure that is true.  Okay, Yes might have had a brief surge again in the early 00s, but when I saw them in '94, it was not that big of a crowd (which surprised me at the time).

And despite Rush's surge in mainstream popularity, they are actually selling less concert tickets now than they did in the 90s.  Back in the 90s, they were still packing in 15 to 18K at most concerts, while nowadays it is more like 8-12K (although there are exceptions, like the Cleveland show for the DVD or over in the UK where they don't go as much anymore).  They are making more money now because tickets cost a lot more now. My Rush ticket for the Test for Echo tour was $37.50 (before service charges).  Most Rush tickets (not counting the VIP ones) are about 3 times that much nowadays, which is why they are grossing a lot more now.  But make no mistake about it, Rush doesn't sell as many concert tickets as they used to.  Even here in St. Louis, which has always been one of their biggest supporters, the lawn was only about 3/4 full last year (where it would have been packed to the max 10-20 years ago).

[Nick]

As to your last point, that doesn't take anything away from Rush. Popularity isn't just measured in the number of people you pull in, but how much those you do pull in care, as reflected in the amount they are willing to pay for a ticket.

Edit: And personally, I'd rather play for 1,000 people who payed $100 to see me than 10,000 people who paid $10.

[KevShmev]

True, and to that end, it does make you wonder if the more casual fans would have paid those prices back in the 90s if they were much higher, as opposed to being as inexpensive as they were, but Rush has figured out that getting 10,000 fans to pay $100+ a ticket is more lucrative for them than getting 15,000 fans to $50 a ticket.  Plus, with some of the casual fans weeded it, there is less crying about them not playing Fly by Night, In the Mood, etc. (since the casual fans who used to frequent their shows back then seemed to be casual fans then because they had loss interest in the band post-MP, but still loved the old stuff enough to pay $40 to see them).

In the case of Yes, when they headline a tour this fall, if they charge a lot of money for tickets, which I suspect they will, I expect low turnouts across the board.  

[Nick]

Well, I'd say it was the venues and promoters who got wise to Rush's hardcore fans, the band typically doesn't have a say in the ticket prices.

[King Postwhore]

Just as an example guys, I saw the Yes/Styx tour and said, WOW!  I'd like to see it but when I saw the prices for the tickets, I backed off.

[KevShmev]

Sorry, but I never buy that, especially when a band has as much control as Rush does.  I am not saying they set the exact prices, but they still have to have a general say in how much ticket prices will range from.  No way would Rush sign a deal with Live Nation without knowing about how much tickets are gonna cost.

[Nick]

The only way I can see a band getting significant control is by saying, look, we're worth $xxx, but we're only asking $xx, but you must keep ticket prices at such and such a level. And as much as I love Rush it's clear that ain't happening.