Official Yes Top 50 Countdown Thread! - THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

[Animal]

This thread is moving too fast. We are now in each-song-deserves-its-own-essay territory, but I can hardly keep up doing brief write-ups:)

Roudabout - 12   What more can I say here?

Siberian Khatru - 9  For being a part of the most iconic prog album ever, this song is an incredible earworm, especially the main riff. The word that springs to mind when listening to this song is "effortless" - this is how it feels to me, starting with that earworm groove, continuing with one of my favorite short solo sections that starts around 3 minute mark. While CTTE's complexity makes it obvious that a lot of work went to it, SK really feels like it sprang out in one moment of effortless creativity, already perfect as it is.

South Side of the Sky - 10  I left this out by accident in the initial version of my list. Fortunately, I spotted this and corrected this. I also thought this was underrated gem (since it wasn't on Yessongs), so I am happy to see the song - and especially its middle piano/vocal interlude - gets almost universal appreciation. The fact is, although we like what we like and do not really have to give a damn about whether the others like it too, it's always nice to see someone else sharing our appreciation.

Heart of the Sunrise - 6 As with Roudabout, I can't say much about this one. I first heard Yessongs version and that riff grabbed me immediately.

And You and I - 8 It took me a while to fully appreciate the side 2 of CTTE, despite the fact that it is a lot more accessible. I was just too fascinated by the title track so I didn't give AYAI and SK their due. I am now fully on board with thinking that these two are absolute prog masterpieces, just as important to complement the most iconic prog album ever as the title track.

The Gates of Delirium - 1
  I had this as n. 1, but it was a tough battle with two other songs - I think of my Top 3 more like 1a,1b,1c
After CTTE and TFTO, Yes showed they could still create masterful epics without repeating themselves. Unlike CTTE which starts with the bang, TGOD begins rather unremarkably. Like some classical music greats (say Beethoven), Yes could do wonderful job working with less than promising motives and build them up into most amazing compositions. And this is exactly what they are doing here. The vocal melody in the verses , if you just played on guitar and sang, would be nothing to write home about, but is transformed by Yes treatment. The slow build-up to the battle section is something that never ceases to amaze me. And the battle section is where the song finally gets as flashy and in your face amazing as CTTE does right at the beginning. Moraz does wonderful job with keys here (his "pipes from hell" around 12 minute mark, right after you have though the section can't get any more intense).  The final "Soon" section is how Yes actually manages to capture the essence of the russian classic novel it is based on (and Russian 19th century novels in general) - the narrative can be long-winded, sometimes confusing, sometimes intellectuially fascinating, it may make less than a perfect sense at times – but it ends in a beautiful catharsis that suddenly makes the story pay-off. That's what Soon does here. When the slide guitar starts playing that melody, it is one few tear-jerking Yes moments for me (on a related note, the final section of The Count od Tuscany always felt like it was inspired by Soon to me). What a way to end a total prog masterpiece!

[Mladen]

Roundabout was my #7, so I pretty much nailed it. As overplayed as it is, I've never gotten tired of it. It's a masterclass of a Yes composition in every single way and features the new and classic line up already at the top of their game. And yeah, that bass line is out of this world...

Siberian khatru was my #9. I like how it's one of the happier sounding Yes tunes, it's truly a song that makes me feel good. That guitar solo is also brilliant.

South side of the sky was my #11. Wakeman is the guy that makes this song pop for me. The vocals on that middle section are glorious, and so are the key changes. It's interesting nobody had it in the top four and yet it almost cracked the top five.

Heart of the sunrise was my #22. It is excellent, but there are several songs on Fragile I prefer. I even put Long distance runnaround ahead of it. 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen “And You And I” cited as the best prog song before.

I'll say it - And you and I might quite possibly be the best prog song. I had it at #1 and am also surprised I was the only one that had it as the best Yes song. It's perfect.

The Gates of delirium was my #12. I felt bad about not putting it in the top ten, because it truly is impressive in every single way. I don't know what I enjoy more about it, the insanity or the beauty.

[Stadler]

It’s a nice song! I just don’t think it is one of their 5 best though, and it is easily my least favorite part of CTTE.

But I feel more strongly about Heart of the Sunrise being overrated. That’s just not a melodically pleasing song.

You're fired.

[HOF]

I do appreciate the intro to HotS (and it’s cool that it recurs throughout the song). Just don’t really care for the vocal bits at all.

It’s funny because I’m pretty sure my first exposure to this song was as an instrumental cover by California Guitar Trio, and I guess maybe I just prefer it as an instrumental.

[Stadler]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen “And You And I” cited as the best prog song before.

It was a sort of unfair comment on my part; I do remember some poll from a couple years ago - around the time that Transatlantic covered it - that had it at number one.  To be fair there are probably a significant number MORE cites that have it's album-mate at the greatest prog song ever. 

I will say this about "And You And I" though; I've heard it live a number of times both in person and through live records/videos, and it's an interesting song in that it lends itself to softer, more measured interpretations (Orbert is right: the Symphonic version is something to behold) but it also lends itself to harder, more muscular interpretations.  The Rabin-led versions I've heard are powerful, ROCK numbers.   

[pg1067]

Welcome to the least surprising top-2 in DTF countdown history!




2 – Awaken (Going for the One – 5)

Appeared on 17 of 17 entries
Top 10 finishes: 11
Highest Ranking: 1 (jammindude)

So…I think the most surprising thing here is that only one ranker had Awaken at #1.  Every bit of this song is amazing.  Beautiful lyrics, amazing playing by all five band members.  The vocals are otherworldly.  I ranked it at #3, as did 4 others, and it also got 2 votes at #2.


1 – Close to the Edge (Close to the Edge – 3)

Appeared on 17 of 17 entries
Top 10 finishes: 15
Highest Ranking: 1 (pg1067, romdrums, TheHoveringSojourn808, Metro)
Lowest Ranking: 22

I don’t know that I’d ever say it without reservation, but Close to the Edge might be the single greatest piece of rock music ever created.  It is absolutely amazing that this song (along with the other two on the album) was written and recorded over a span of only four months.  I LOVE the story that, on some occasions during the process, the arrangements they had come up with were so complex that they were forgotten when the arrived in the studio the next day.  The other great story from the sessions was that a piece of the recording tape had been thrown away by the studio cleaning crew, and someone had to dig through the trash to find it and splice it into the master tape (of course, there’s also a section where Eddy Offord threw away the “good take,” which couldn’t be recovered).  By the way, compare the mix of the pipe organ in this song to what’s on Parallels and you’ll see why I’ve criticized the latter.

By the way, this wasn’t even close.  The gap between CTTE and Awaken was 91 points, which is the biggest gap between any two songs in this countdown (second closest being the 79 point gap between Turn of the Century and Going for the One).

That’s it!  Sorry for rushing through this, but I will be out of pocket the rest of the month.  Hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for participating!


P.S.  I'll post the full list later today.

[Zydar]

If I had participated, I'd have Close To The Edge as my #1 as well. Not many big epics can hold my attention for that length but this and a few others do (like Supper's Ready and ACOS) on the pure strength of its greatness.

If I have to get picky I'm not too fond of that chaotic intro, but after that it's just pure bliss. "I get up, I get down" indeed.

[Stadler]

I do appreciate the intro to HotS (and it’s cool that it recurs throughout the song). Just don’t really care for the vocal bits at all.

It’s funny because I’m pretty sure my first exposure to this song was as an instrumental cover by California Guitar Trio, and I guess maybe I just prefer it as an instrumental.

Not to argue, just discuss among fiends, but the end part when Jon sings the Sharp!! part for the last time... still gives me chills to this day. 

[HOF]

Not to argue, just discuss among fiends, but the end part when Jon sings the Sharp!! part for the last time... still gives me chills to this day.

That part is probably the best part of the vocal (both "I feel lost in the city" lines), and I guess to an extent it's the payoff for the rest of the vocal line which is kind of unresolved until that point.

[Stadler]

122 - Onward
119 - Sound Chaser
96 - Homeworld (The Ladder)
88 - Mood For A Day
86 - Leave It
81 - Mind Drive
77 - Roundabout
72 - City Of Love
71 - Siberian Khartoum
68 - The Remembering (High The Memory)
65 - The Fish
63 - The Ancients (Giants Under The Sun)
57 - I Am Waiting
56 - To Be Over
51 - Ritual



50 - Fly From Here
49 - Long Distance Runaround
48 - Parallels
47 - Changes
46 - The Gates Of Delirium
45 - White Car
44 - Our Song Slim chance Nope
43 - Does It Really Happen?
42 - Beyond And Before No chance in hell
41 - We Have Heaven No chance in hell (though, oddly, may be referenced by technicality)
40 - Sweat Dreams No chance in hell
39 - Hold On
38 - I Would Have Waited Forever No chance in hell
37 - I've Seen All Good People
36 - Cinema
35 - Miracle Of Life No chance in hell
34 - The Prophet Slim chance Nope
33 - Perpetual Change
32 - Time And A Word Slim chance Nope
31 - Endless Dream
30 - Into The Lens
29 - Run Through The Light No chance in hell
28 - It Can Happen
27 - Future Times/Rejoice
26 - Owner Of A Lonely Heart
25 - Release, Release
24 - Saving My Heart No chance in hell
23 - Magnification No chance in hell
22 - Close To The Edge Lock
21 - The Calling
20 - Hearts
19 - Into The Storm No chance in hell
18 - On The Silent Wings Of Freedom
17 - The Revealing Science Of God (Dance Of The Dawn)
16 - Machine Messiah
15 - Love Will Find A Way
14 - Yours Is No Disgrace
13 - Final Eyes
12 - Lift Me Up
11 - Shoot High, Aim Low Slim chance at this point Nope
10 - Wonderous Stories
9 - Tempus Fugit
8 - America Lock Nope
7 - And You And I
6 - Starship Trooper
5 - South Side Of The Sky
4 - Going For The One
3 - Heart Of The Sunrise
2 - Awaken Lock
1 - Turn Of The Century

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Nice. came pretty close with Awaken at 3 to having the same top 2 as the main list CTTE is the foremost example of "Prog Rock Epic". That and Supper's Ready. Awaken and Ritual are very close behind, but I think CTTE is a better epic for people that aren't necessarily Yes fans (yet )

Added the ones on my list that didn't make the cut below in red. As I predicted, the majority of them are from Union, but I am a bit surprised at America not making it

1. Close To The Edge
2. Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil)
3. Awaken
4. The Gates of Delirium
5. The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)
6. Heart of the Sunrise
7. The Remembering (High the Memory)
8. Starship Trooper
9. I've Seen All Good People
10. Sound Chaser
11. Siberian Khatru
12. And You And I
13. Perpetual Change
14. Roundabout
15. South Side of the Sky
16. Yours Is No Disgrace
17. Long Distance Runaround
18. The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun)
19. Machine Messiah
20. America (I know it's a cover but the live version fucking rips)
21. Parallels
22. Wonderous Stories
23. Turn Of The Century
24. Going for the One
25. Time And A Word (Amazing Yes ballad, surprised it didn't make the Top 50)
26. Tempus Fugit
27. To Be Over
28. Owner Of A Lonely Heart
29. Lightning Strikes (Some may roll their eyes at this pick but man do I love this one. The modern prog sound sounds so good on Yes [sometimes])
30. Onward
31. The Clap
32. We Have Heaven
33. Lift Me Up
34. Leave It
35. Mood For a Day
36. The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)
37. A Venture
38. Miracle Of Life
39. I Would Have Waited Forever
40. The More We Live - Let Go
41. Silent Talking
42. Astral Traveler
43. Into The Lens
44. Cans And Brahms
45. On The Silent Wings of Freedom
46. Saving My Heart
47. Shock To The System
48. Sweet Dreams
49. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
50. Dangerous (Look in the Light of What You’re Searching For)

Not ranked: Future Times / Rejoice
Not ranked: Cinema
Not ranked: City of Love
Not ranked: Does It Really Happen
Not ranked: Final Eyes
Not ranked: Love Will Find A Way
Not ranked: It Can Happen
Not ranked: Release, Release
Not ranked: Fly From Here
Not ranked: The Calling
Not ranked: Hearts
Not ranked: Mind Drive
Not ranked: Hold On
Not ranked: Endless Dream
Not ranked: Changes

[Stadler]

Added the ones on my list that didn't make the cut below in red. As I predicted, the majority of them are from Union, but I am a bit surprised at America not making it

We have a fair amount of overlap in the songs that didn't make it.

I LOVE Sweet Dreams, and the vocal harmonies on "I Would Have Waited Forever" make up for the shitty production later on. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear the Wakeman version of Yes play IWHWF live.  That won't ever happen now, but that would CRUSH.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

40 - Sweat Dreams No chance in hell

This was the working title while the songwriter was dealing with writer's block

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

We have a fair amount of overlap in the songs that didn't make it.

I LOVE Sweet Dreams, and the vocal harmonies on "I Would Have Waited Forever" make up for the shitty production later on. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear the Wakeman version of Yes play IWHWF live.  That won't ever happen now, but that would CRUSH.

Totally agreed, IWHWF is very underrated, and Wakeman doing that would have been otherwordly

[HOF]

Awaken - 10. This is one I ranked highly despite not having as much familiarity with it as some of the other songs on the list. It had an immediate impact the first time I heard it, which was the opposite of the rest of the album. Is it Yes's second best song? I don't know about that, but it is a great song indeed.

Close to the Edge - 4. This is magnificent, and I have found it to hold up very well to repeated listens. I went back and forth a bit between it and The Gates of Delirium (3), but on another day I could have ranked Close to the Edge higher. Probably could have been as high as 2 for me. I love the "I get up I get down" refrain, and the build up to the organ section is tremendous. Definitely up there in the inner circle of great prog epics.

[emtee]

I don't have the spare time to participate in these threads but Awaken is my #1.

Serious question to you all - how do you come up with a top 50? Especially with a band like Yes where I love well over 50 songs. I mean, I can probably be pretty accurate with top 5 but then after that it's like equal love for 45 more. What is your criteria?

[HOF]

Yes for me was one of the easier ones, but I'm not a hardcore fan and don't own anything past Big Generator (or the first two albums), so I didn't have too many songs to sort through. I've agonized over lists for some bands, and less so for others. This one I kind of threw together and I don't know that I have hard and fast favorites for Yes anyway. It's all a bit of fun mostly!

[devieira73]

Personally my criteria is to not take these rankings too seriously and being not afraid of ranking the songs just based on what I like more, not considering their classic status, without rationalizing too much. Still, it's indeed difficult.

I don't have the spare time to participate in these threads but Awaken is my #1.

Serious question to you all - how do you come up with a top 50? Especially with a band like Yes where I love well over 50 songs. I mean, I can probably be pretty accurate with top 5 but then after that it's like equal love for 45 more. What is your criteria?

[devieira73]

Talking about classic status...

I love both songs, Close to the Edge (my #14) and Awaken (my # 38), but recently I always have a strange feeling about the 20 minutes epics in general, even if they are mostly amazing, if there are some parts that I don't feel so much engaged, it  takes down a little more the whole experience than in a shorter song. Just being honest with my personal taste, my fave Yes big epic is The Gates of Delirium (my #11) and Mind Drive (my #15) is very close to CTTE.

Thanks PG for running this and all of you for the very interesting and deep opinions and analisys!

[lonestar]

I had Awaken at #1, truly a perfect song.

[pg1067]

Not to argue, just discuss among fiends, but the end part when Jon sings the Sharp!! part for the last time... still gives me chills to this day.

The way he altered his vocals on that part so that each repeat got higher and higher was amazing!  Just great technique.

Serious question to you all - how do you come up with a top 50? Especially with a band like Yes where I love well over 50 songs. I mean, I can probably be pretty accurate with top 5 but then after that it's like equal love for 45 more. What is your criteria?

It was easier with Yes than it was with DT and Rush.  With Yes, I'm not well-versed in the post-Keys material, so that made it more manageable.  I also didn't include anything on Talk since I knew it wouldn't make my top 50, and I only selected a few songs from the first two albums.  I added in some of the b-sides and ended up with 87 songs that I put into the ranking engine (link in the original post).  I don't think I'd have done nearly as many of these if the ranking engine didn't exist.  It takes your list and then gives you a series of A v. B choices and eventually gives you a list.  Obviously, CTTE v. Delirium is an almost impossible choice, but I choose not to agonize over it (as devieira73 noted, this isn't life or death).  I usually make a few tweaks to the list that gets spit out, but nothing major.  Without the ranking engine, I wouldn't have participated in most of the countdowns.

[Stadler]

I don't have the spare time to participate in these threads but Awaken is my #1.

Serious question to you all - how do you come up with a top 50? Especially with a band like Yes where I love well over 50 songs. I mean, I can probably be pretty accurate with top 5 but then after that it's like equal love for 45 more. What is your criteria?

For me, the ranker is invaluable.  And it's just "gut".   I was faced at one point with "Circus Of Heaven" and "Arriving UFO" one-on-one, and I hate both, but do I hate one a LITTLE more?  Yup, yup I do.  I hate the spoken word part of Circus Of Heaven more.  So it lost.   I think the only time I have a problem with that methodology is when I lose perspective of where songs are in the pecking order.   "Roundabout" lost a ton of one-on-one battles, but did it deserve 77? I don't think so.

It's also hard when it comes to songs like, say (and I'm looking at my list for this) "Love Shine" and "Spirit Of Survival".  I couldn't sing you even one note of either of those songs from memory.  I always have my iTunes open when I do this, to listen if need be, but honestly, does it really matter which one I choose?  Nope. 

But, TL;DR:  The Ranker and using gut feel.

[pg1067]

My personal list:

1. Close to the Edge (1)
2. The Gates of Delirium (3)
3. Awaken (2)
4. The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn) (12)
5. Heart of the Sunrise (5)
6. Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil) (27)
7. Yours Is No Disgrace (10)
8. And You and I (4)
9. Siberian Khatru (6T)
10. Turn of the Century (13)
11. Into the Lens (29) (high ranker)
12. Roundabout (8)
13. Starship Trooper (11)
14. The Remembering (High the Memory) (25)
15. Machine Messiah (9)
16. City of Love (48)
17. Perpetual Change (23)
18. Changes (24)
19. Mind Drive (31)
20. Tempus Fugit (17)
21. Onward (28)
22. South Side of the Sky (6T)
23. Release, Release (36T)
24. Make It Easy (88T) (only one other person ranked this song)
25. Don't Kill the Whale (52) (appeared on 9 total lists but missed the top 50 by 12 points)
26. Parallels (21)
27. Our Song (54) (appeared on 7 total lists)
28. On the Silent Wings of Freedom (30)
29. The Ancient (Giants under the Sun) (42)
30. Hearts (33)
31. Love Will Find a Way (38)
32. Mood for a Day (47)
33. Sound Chaser (15T)
34. Hold On (32)
35. America (56) (appeared on only 4 lists - I was the lowest ranker among the 4)
36. Run with the Fox (112) (appeared on only my list)
37. To Be Over (18)
38. Quartet (88T)
39. The Meeting (74) (appeared on only 3 lists but got one relatively high rank)
40. Birthright (77T) (appeared on only 4 lists)
41. The Fish (39)
42. Brother of Mine (68) (appeared on 5 total lists and was the highest ranking ABWH song)
43. Money (123) (appeared on only my list)
44. It Can Happen (36T)
45. Long Distance Runaround (19)
46. Cinema (49)
47. Wonderous Stories (20)
48. Owner of a Lonely Heart (22)
49. Future Times/Rejoice (50)
50. Masquerade (92) (appeared on only 3 lists)

NR:  Lift Me Up (65), Homeworld (The Ladder) (NR), I Am Waiting (NR), Leave It (83), Does It Really Happen? (62), Final Eyes (NR), Fly from Here (NR), The Calling (NR), Endless Dream (NR), Going for the One (57)

[HOF]

This was a really fun countdown, so thanks, pg1067!

My biggest snub was Out Song (my number 5). That’s an amazing song with possibly my favorite bass line ever. Extremely joyful and infectious. Yes does not have 50 songs greater than that!

Don’t Kill the Whale (29) was one of the few others that didn’t make it. That song is just good fun. Not sure what’s not to like about it.

[Stadler]

"America" surprises me a lot.  I would have thought it would get more mention, especially since it's so different than the original.

[HOF]

"America" surprises me a lot.  I would have thought it would get more mention, especially since it's so different than the original.

Was America even eligible? I personally do not care for their cover.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

"America" surprises me a lot.  I would have thought it would get more mention, especially since it's so different than the original.

I agree; when you do a cover that is adding as much new material or as unique of a take as that cover does, it can count on a list like this. If it was just a straightforward cover of the S+G original we wouldn't have bothered ranking it, lol

[Stadler]

Paul, thanks so much for running this.  Well done, as usual.

Now what's next!?! 

[pg1067]

Was America even eligible? I personally do not care for their cover.

Yes.  Once the countdown started, the original list was removed, but it was part of the b-sides list at the bottom:

Dear Father
Something's Coming
America
Vevey (Parts 1 and 2)
Montreux’s Theme
Money
Abilene
Run with the Fox
Make It Easy
Love Conquers All

My thought process in including it was similar to what THS808 mentioned.  The original 3 1/2 minute S&G song is in there, but Yes added a full 7 minutes of music, so I thought it was reasonable to include it.  It was only 22 points away from making the top 50.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Thanks for running this! Was fun to participate in one of these threads, especially with a band as special as Yes Would do this again with other bands!

[pg1067]

Now's as good a time as any to post the complete list (sorry about the formatting)!


1.   Close to the Edge         779
2.   Awaken               688
3.   The Gates of Delirium         675
4.   And You and I            653
5.   Heart of the Sunrise         600
6T.   South Side of the Sky         595
6T.   Siberian Khatru            595
8.   Roundabout            569
9.   Machine Messiah         560
10.   Yours Is No Disgrace         551

11.   Starship Trooper         543
12.   The Revealing Science of God   529
13.   Turn of the Century         507
14.   Going for the One         428
15T.   I’ve Seen All Good People      426
15T.   Sound Chaser            426
17.   Tempus Fugit            420
18.   To Be Over            407
19.   Long Distance Runaround      394
20.   Wonderous Stories         390

21.   Parallels               354
22.   Owner of a Lonely Heart      341
23.   Perpetual Change         338
24.   Changes               330
25.   The Remembering         325
26.   Endless Dream            321
27.   Ritual               318
28.   Onward               315
29.   Into the Lens            292
30.   On the Silent Wings of Freedom   289

31.   Mind Drive               259
32.   Hold On               258
33.   Hearts               257
34.   The Calling            231
35.   Fly from Here            220
36T.   Release, Release         205
36T.   It Can Happen            205
38.   Love Will Find a Way         204
39.   The Fish               202
40.   Final Eyes               183

41.   Does It Really Happen?      176
42.   The Ancient            174
43.   Leave It               165
44.   I Am Waiting            159
45.   Homeworld (The Ladder)      152
46.   Lift Me Up               145
47.   Mood for a Day            144
48.   City of Love            142
49.   Cinema               141
50.   Future Times/Rejoice         140

51.   Run Through the Light      129
52.   Don’t Kill the Whale         128
53.   Clap                  126
54.   Our Song               124
55.   Shoot High Aim Low         112
56.   America               108
57.   New Language            107
58.   That, That Is            105
59.   Spirit of Survival         102
60.   Magnification            95

61T.   We Have Heaven         94
61T.   Be the One            94
63.   I’m Running            92
64.   I Would Have Waited Forever   88
65.   Holy Lamb               85
66.   Real Love               81
67.   Time and a Word         78
68.   Brother of Mine            77
69.   Rhythm of Love            76
70.   A Venture               74

71.   Big Generator            73
72.   Order of the Universe         65
73.   Dreamtime            63
74.   The Meeting            58
75.   Into the Storm            54
76.   Cans and Brahms         50
77T.   Birthright               48
77T.   The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be      48
79.   Miracle of Life            47
80.   White Car               46

81T.   Almost Like Love         45
81T.   Bring Me to the Power      45
83.   It Will Be a Good Day (The River)   44
84T.   Yesterday and Today         41
84T.   Arriving UFO            41
86.   Madrigal               40
87.   Future Memories         38
88T.   Quartet               37
88T.   Make It Easy            37
90.   Mirror to the Sky         36

91.   Lightning Strikes         35
92.   Masquerade            33
93T.   Fist of Fire               32
93T.   Saving My Heart         32
93T.   Open Your Eyes            32
96.   I See You               30
97.   Where Will You Be         28
98.   Five Percent for Nothing      27
99.   No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Required   26
100.   Finally               25

101T.   Themes            22
101T.   Shock to the System      22
103T.   The Prophet         21
103T.   If Only You Knew      21
105T.   Beyond and Before      19
105T.   Circus of Heaven      19
105T.   The Messenger         19
108T.   Then               18
108T.   State of Play         18
110.   Somethings Coming         17

111.   Walls                  16
112.   Run with the Fox         15
113.   Sweet Dreams            14
114T.   In the Presence Of      13
114T.   All Connected         13
116.   Luminosity            12
117T.   Astral Traveller         11
117T.   The More We Live - Let Go   11
117T.   Circles of Time         11
120T.   Silent Talking         10
120T.   Cut from the Stars      10

122.   The Solution            9
123.   Money               8
124.   Face to Face            7
125.   Everydays               6
126T.   Without Hope You Cannot Start the Day   5
126T.   Time Is Time         5
126T.   The Game            5
129T.   Survival            4
129T.   Nine Voices (Longwalker)   4

131.   Holding On            3
131.   Dare to Know            2
132T.   Dangerous (Look in the Light of What You’re Searching For)   1
132T.   Don’t Go            1
132T.   The Ice Bridge         1

The following received no votes:
Looking Around
Harold Land
Every Little Thing
Sweetness
Clear Days
Teakbois
Let’s Pretend
Vultures in the City
Angkor Wat
Evensong
Take the Water to the Mountain
Give & Take
Foot Prints
Children of Light
Sign Language
New State of Mind
Universal Garden
No Way We Can Lose
Fortune Seller
Man in the Moon
Wonderlove
From the Balcony
Love Shine
Somehow, Someday
Can I?
To Be Alive (Hep Yadda)
Give Love Each Day
Can You Imagine
We Agree
Soft As a Dove
Life on a Film Set
Hour of Need
Solitaire
Believe Again
Step Beyond
To Ascend
In a World of Our Own
Light of the Ages
It Was All We Knew
Subway Walls
To the Moment
Words on a Page
From the Turn of a Card
The Gift of Love
Minus the Man
Leave Well Alone
The Western Edge
Music to My Ears
A Living Island
Living Out Their Dream
Unknown Place
One Second Is Enough
Magic Potion
Dear Father
Vevey
Montreux’s Theme
Abilene
Love Conquers All

[James Mypetgiress]

1   The Gates of Delirium
2   Close to the Edge
3   Sound Chaser
4   To Be Over
5   The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)
6   The Fish
7   South Side of the Sky
8   Going for the One
9   Wonderous Stories
10   Perpetual Change
11   Heart of the Sunrise
12   Onward
13   Machine Messiah
14   Awaken
15   Tempus Fugit
16   I’ve Seen All Good People
17   Starship Trooper
18   The Remembering (High the Memory)
19   Yours Is No Disgrace
20   Siberian Khatru
21   On the Silent Wings of Freedom
22   And You and I
23   Spirit of Survival
24   A Venture
25   The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be
26   Parallels
27   No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
28   Homeworld (The Ladder)
29   Release, Release
30   Run Through the Light
31   Into the Lens
32   Does It Really Happen?
33   Roundabout
34   Mirror to the Sky
35   Madrigal
36   It Will Be a Good Day (The River)
37   Clap
38   All Connected
39   Luminosity
40   Don’t Kill the Whale
41   Beyond and Before
42   Turn of the Century
43   Long Distance Runaround
44   Cut from the Stars
45   Then
46   In the Presence Of
47   Survival
48   Circles of Time
49   Minus the Man
50   The Ice Bridge

A lot of the picks I made here, I was fully aware they would never make it into the Top 50. Certainly every pick from the post-Jon Anderson era. I think I'm in the very, very small minority of people who loves the modern era of Yes, just as much as the classic era. The one that surprises me the most in terms of it's non inclusion has to be "No Opportunity Necessary"

[romdrums]

2. Awaken (3). There are many days when this could be my number 1. Such a majestic, other worldly piece of music. It's saved my life a few times.

1. Close to the Edge (1). I mean, it had to be. It's Yes's symphony.

@pg1067, thanks for running this! This was fun!

Here's my top 50.

50. The Remembering (High the Memory)
49. I Am Waiting
48. Holding On
47. Miracle of Life
46. Without Hope You Cannot Start the Day
45. Where Will You Be
44. Love Will Find A Way
43. Leave It
42. The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)
41. The Fish
40. Lift Me Up
39. Rhythm of Love
38. Brother of Mine
37. Tempus Fugit
36. Does It Really Happen?
35. Real Love
34. Onward
33. Cinema
32. The Calling
31. Hearts
30. Order of the Universe
29. Birthright
28. Starship Trooper
27. Long Distance Runaround
26. I Would Have Waited Forever
25. Parallels
24. Owner of a Lonely Heart
23. Almost Like Love
22. Perpetual Change
21. Ritual
20. Sound Chaser
19. To Be Over
18. Mind Drive
17. Wonderous Stories
16. Changes
15. Shoot High Aim Low
14. Final Eyes
13. Machine Messiah
12. Roundabout
11. Yours Is No Disgrace
10. I’m Running
9. South Side of the Sky
8. Siberian Khatru
7. Endless Dream
6. Heart of the Sunrise
5. Turn of the Century
4. And You And I
3. Awaken
2. The Gates of Delirium
1. Close to the Edge

[pg1067]

The one that surprises me the most in terms of it's non inclusion has to be "No Opportunity Necessary"

The first two albums (including the two b-sides) garnered a total of 19 votes.  Yesterday and Today got the highest rank (#10 on Dittomist's list), and only Time and a Word appeared on more than two lists.

On a similar subject, only 5 of the 17 lists included any ABWH songs, while 9 of the 17 lists included songs from Union.  The highest single ranking for an ABWH song was Order of the Universe, which was #7 on DTwwbwMP's list.  The highest individual ranking for any Union song was Stadler's #12 ranking for Lift Me Up.  Only 3 lists didn't include any songs from Talk, and the highest individual ranking for any Talk song was devieira73's #4 ranking for I Am Waiting.

Two lists included no post-Keys material, and the highest individual ranking for any post-Keys song was Dittomist's #7 ranking for Fly from Here.

Each album from The Yes Album through 90125, excluding Tormato, received more total points than all of the post-Keys material combined (and Tormato was only 7 points short).

Now what's next!?! 

I would be willing to do one for Black Sabbath or Judas Priest.  I'd also be down for Styx, Kansas or Triumph, but I doubt if there'd be enough interest in any of those bands to make it worthwhile.


Thanks to everyone for the thanks, and again, sorry for rushing through this.

[Dittomist]

I'm mostly happy with the final results. Thanks to pg1067 for doing such an excellent job with the countdown and to everyone else who participated!

Although I wasn't confident about their chances, I was really rooting for "Yesterday and Today," "Future Memories," and "Holy Lamb" because I think they're among the most beautiful Yes songs.

Here's my complete list:
1    The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)
2    The Gates of Delirium
3    The Remembering (High the Memory)
4    Siberian Khatru
5    Going for the One
6    Turn of the Century
7    Fly From Here
8    Onward
9    Close to the Edge
10    Yesterday and Today
11    Wonderous Stories
12    Awaken
13    Future Memories
14    To Be Over
15    Holy Lamb (Song for Harmonic Convergence)
16    Be the One
17    City of Love
18    Big Generator
19    I Am Waiting
20    And You and I
21    I See You
22    That, That Is
23    Hearts
24    Changes
25    Machine Messiah
26    Ritual
27    Bring Me to the Power
28    Roundabout
29    Mind Drive
30    Future Times/Rejoice
31    Owner of a Lonely Heart
32    Don't Kill the Whale
33    South Side of the Sky
34    The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun)
35    Sound Chaser
36    Into the Lens
37    Heart of the Sunrise
38    Into the Storm
39    Yours is No Disgrace
40    Rhythm of Love
41    Leave It
42    Spirit of Survival
43    Magnification
44    Arriving UFO
45    Everydays
46  Final Eyes
47  The Prophet
48  Brother of Mine
49  Astral Traveller
50  Birthright