Also see: Rick Wakeman ~ Jon Anderson ~ Steve Howe ~ Chris Squire ~ Patrick Moraz ~ Geoff Downes
Bookmarks: The Ladder ~ Magnification
From: Kevin <>
> ...can anyone comment on whether either of their 1997 releases
'Keys to Ascension 2' and 'Open Your Eyes' are worth getting? What's
the deal with Rick Wakeman rejoining and then quitting again? What
else has Yes done in the 90's?
I'll field that question. I will state my bias towards YES now. I
LOVE 'EM. Whether it was the Trevor Rabin YES (not my favorite line
up but very good nonetheless). Or the Steve Howe YES (I'm on cloud
nine now). The ORIGINAL YES (Peter Banks better watch who he diss's)
and the first two albums are must haves to get the evolution of the
band. Now to your question: Key's 2 and OPEN YOUR EYES are (to
me) great albums. Keys 1 has great live stuff but the studio tracks
could have been developed more. Keys has more of a keyboard feel to
it and OPEN YOUR EYES is definitely a guitar oriented CD. Get 'em and
be happy. Yes is still the most visible of all PROG rockers. The
problem with YES is that when you see them your never quite sure
which YES your getting. I label them like they label the USS
Enterprise in Star Trek tm. Original, A, B, C, D, E etc.... I think
this line up is they way it should be. Rick Wakeman is the master but
he has his own path now and if he does not want to be a REAL member
of the band then he is doing the right thing be keeping out of the
way. I am going to see YES on Wednesday the 24th of June in
Pittsburgh. IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE WHO IS GOING TO BE THERE? I
would like to meet you. They are going to be playing outside in
SURROUND SOUND by Clair Brothers Audio (the undisputed masters of
concert sound). I hope that answers your question. Do not
expect Close To The Edge. Expect Keys 2 and Open Your Eyes. That was
then and this is now. It will have to grow on you but it will.
From: drj_saro <>
strictly IMO, but the studio side of KTA2 while still somewhat weak
lyrically, is the strongest music Yes has produced since "Relayer".
unfortunately, they chose to follow it up with a crass revisitation
of the blatant commercialism of the "90210"/Gas Generator era.
>What's the deal with Rick Wakeman rejoining and then quitting
again?
from what i understand RW was frustrated by a number of things
on the "business" side, as well as the fact that he wanted to see the
studio side of KTA2 released as a stand-alone album (he felt _very_
strongly about this new music and his contribution to it and thought
that it would go relatively unnoticed if it were packaged with the
remnants of a "live greatest hits" show....which he was more or less
correct about). there was also some difficulty in arranging a
mutually compatible tour schedule (if i remember correctly, he was
ready to _go_ and the rest of the band were sitting on their thumbs,
until it developed to a point where he wasn't able to tour when
_they_ wanted to.)
From: Otso Pakarinen <>
I'll throw in my 2 bits': KTA2 is definitely worth getting if you
like the "classic" Yes. It is maybe somewhat better than KTA1 -
although KTA1 is not bad either. It's no "Relayer", though...
> unfortunately, they chose to follow it up with a crass
revisitation of the blatant commercialism of the "90210"/Gas
Generator era.
Actually I quite like "Open Your Eyes". It has a couple of,
well, embarrassing songs (like "Man in the Moon"), but then again
there are a few songs I really like (like "Love Shine"). It's pop
oriented, though, with really corny lyrics. So if you don't like
Rabin-era Yes, you probably don't want to check OYE.
> > What else has Yes done in the 90's?
> well, there was the ill-conceived "Union" (or "onion" as i refer to
it)
Yeah, that's probably the worst record Yes has ever made.
> and "Talk" (to which _I_ say "SHUT UP!!!")
I'm in the minority who think "Talk" is great.
From: Elias Granillo, Jr. <>
> (if i remember correctly, he was ready to _go_ and the rest of the
band
> were sitting on their thumbs, until it developed to a point where
he
> wasn't able to tour when _they_ wanted to.)
Add to that Rick Wakeman was left quite jaded years earlier
after mismanagement of his submissions and unfair arbitrations that
Jonathan Elias (the producer of _Union) made while supervising Rick's
keyboard tracks. Elias claims Wakeman was woefully tardy and flakey,
yet Wakeman asserts that all of his material was re-arranged and
re-recorded by Elias (who plays keyb's/synths, and has scored various
feature motion pictures like "Vamp" with Grace Jones) and guest
keyboardists (including Steve Porcaro of Toto), and declared that
when one puts on _Union_, you cannot *hear* Wakeman's playing. You
may hear his *writing,* but you cannot hear his PLAYING. And when I
listen to _Union_ (trust me when I say it's been years since I
bothered, though I like two or three songs), I believe it!
> > What else has Yes done in the 90's?
Aside from KTA 1 & 2, nothing remarkable.
From: "willfred"
I guess I'll preface this post by saying I seldom listen to Yes or
Genesis anymore. Their influence upon my tastes was definite (KC and
TD being much larger), but not as large as others. So, keeping this
in my mind here are my faves by Yes and Genesis.
Yes....... 1. Close To The Edge; 2. Relayer; 3. Yessongs; 4. Drama;
Genesis....... 1. Selling England By The Pound; 2. Nursery Cryme /
Foxtrot; 3. Wind And Wuthering; 4. Seconds Out. Steve Hackett never
got enough credit for hiscontributions, IMO. Spectral Mornings is
definitely still one of my favorite albums.
From: Rob <>
(back to top)
I helped run a fairly large Yes/Genesis rarities site (with a lot of
MP3 files) until it was shut down last October, and I used to be a
duplicator for Yesoteric (a 25-volume tape collection of Yes
rarities) so I've had some boot experience. I think that,
while I prefer official archival releases over bootleg recordings,
there will always be interesting material out there in the grey
market no matter how many official releases there are. For example,
I've heard two different versions of "Long Distance Runaround" from
the Relayer tour by Yes with two wildly different Patrick Moraz
keyboard solos after them. Neither version of "LDR" itself remotely
resembles any legitimately released version (though I think a show
from that tour is available on LD in Japan for exorbitant prices with
poor sound.) Genesis should be given an award for producing
their recent boxed set, and I can't wait for the second one if it
ever appears. Everything sounds great and there's stuff on there I
never knew existed. On the other hand, I'm not throwing away my
copies of Lamb-era bootlegs yet because the new vocals Gabriel added
to the boxed set are noticeable. (The same goes for Yes' two "Keys to
Ascension" sets, for which Jon Anderson redid most of the vocals and
many people feel the originals were a better performance even if he
lost the words here and there.)
From: Rob <>
At 04:40 PM 11/19/98 -0800, Jeff Marx wrote:
>1)Close to the Edge--YES at the height of their
compositional/performance power in the "classic" lineup.
I actually really like the unremastered version of CTTE but
that's probably because it makes my copy of the Japanese remastered
Tales sound great. :)
>3)ABWH-Self-Titled...features more Wakeman soloing than on any
other studio album. This is the kind of instrumental balance missing
on many of their earlier works where Howe got about three-fourths of
all instrumental attention.
When this album came out, my Yesfriends and I referred to it as
"Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Wakeman's Amp." I think Tales or
Relayer is a much better example of balance, but I'm probably biased
because I *hate* every single cheesy 80's workstation sound Rick
used. He may have programmed them from scratch but they still sound
like the same overused presets to me.
>Squire, Pat Moraz, Geoff Downes, and Trevor Rabin...and from
what I've heard on the list, Igor Koroshev is no slouch either. Love
'em or hate 'em for some of their er...directional decisions, it's
been a great ride!
Of interest to e-progmight be the grand piano MP3 clips Igor
put up on his unofficial website last week. People on the Yes list
have described them as Emersonian; they sound more Moraz-esque to me
but either way I like 'em a lot. Get them at:
http://www.geocities.com/~yeshoo/ikmusic.htm with the main page
being
http://www.geocities.com/~yeshoo/khoroshev.htm
Since they're on geocities, you may have trouble downloading some of
the clips; I suggest a program like Getright or Go!Zilla which will
resume broken downloads if you don't have one already. Khoroshev has
two solo albums in the can and I hope he'll put at least one of them
out soon (or if not, I hope it's an indication he's too busy
writing/recording with Yes ;) )
From: "George Khouroshvili" <>
To the pity I haven't got any GD solo albums yet (they are too hard
to find in Moscow), but I aquired DRAMA by YES about a month ago and
it became my favorite album by the band (together with their YESSHOWS).
Though this album doesn't contain any _GREAT_ pieces (like Gates of
Delirium, for example), it's a very solid and good work. I couldn't
stop listening to it during the 1st day I've got it. It's the last
album that can be compared to their earlier works. Geoff did pretty
good job for the album (bith performing & songwriting). Regarding the
Payne-era ASIA, though I'm not the big fan of this line-up, the band
still produces some good pieces on every album. And AQUA (1992)
wasn't bad at all.
From: "upnsm0ke" <>
I think Geoff and Trevor Horn performed VERY well with Yes. DRAMA is
one of my favorite Yes albums. It has a harder edge than all of the
albums before it, even RELAYER, and Geoff's keys are exceptional - I
really like his lines on "Machine Messiah" and "Run Through The
Light." Chris Squire's bass-work on this album is also very tasty.
Too bad this line-up couldn't have recorded a second album together,
it would have smoked!
From: "Fisher,
Lee"
Announced at the E3 expo this weekend is that Yes will contribute
some music for the upcoming Sierra video game Homeworld. There's an
interview with Jon (spelled John) Anderson at
http://www.gamecenter.com/News/E399/Item/0,162,0-2805,00.html?st.gc.fd.bb4
Jon describes the next album Ladder coming out in August as "it's the
album I've been waiting [to do] for 20 years. It's the best thing
we've ever done. It's magic. " Allan White and Billy Sherwood also
contribute to the interview, which also mentions a Summer tour...
From: Mark DiNapoli <>
(back to top)
Yes is kicking off its latest tour with dates in South America, which
are subject to change. Dates and venues are on the Tour page:
http://www.yesworld.com Yes's
new CD, The Ladder, will be released in Japan with two live tracks
from the 1997 Universal Amphitheatre show: "And You And I", and "All
Good People". Classic Rock Magazine, a British publication, has
included "HomeWorld" from the forthcoming album on a compilation CD
free with the September/October issue. More Yessongs are making big
screen appearances. "Roundabout" is on the soundtrack of the 1970s
era movie "Outside Providence", and "All Good People" can be heard in
"Dick". Yes - The Union Tour Live has been released in Japan on VHS
and laserdisc. Shot on August 8, 1991 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre
at Mountainview, California, it is distributed by Vap Video.
From: Otso Pakarinen <>
I just wanted to drop a line saying that if anyone's shying away from
buying Yes' "The Ladder", don't! After about 10 spins I think it may
be the best Yes album since "Going For The One"!
From: "Casey Van Tieghem" <>
I haven't heard the whole album, but I've heard 'Homeworld' and
'Lightning Strikes'. Rather than compare it to other albums and set
you up for disappointment. It's just a good album, and I agree with
Otso that you shouldn't be too afraid to shell out a little cash for
this one. Some of you can't stand the post Close to the Edge Yes
sound at all, mainly I suspect because of the changes in the vocal
arrangements especially Jon's singing higher and higher. This is not
really a major change in the sound of Yes since ABWH or Keys to
Ascention from what I hear. So if you can handle the later Yes sound
this one is not going to dissapoint you. Those of you still stuck in
1972, don't bother. I personally like all the Yes albums except parts
of Union and Talk, and 'Wonder Love' from Open Your Eyes amuses me
because it is so awkward. Nobody I have heard so far has called this
Close Your Eyes II or has had any major criticism. But nobody has
DARED say it's better than those '70's albums either (excluding
Tormato).
From: "Carsten Busch" <>
>A.B.W.H.-We Make Believe(2CD) Demus for lost Unreleased CD,
GREAT!!!!! What's this one all about?
second unreleased AWBH CD. Much better than most of Union!
From: "Surjorimba
Suroto" <>
Subject: Yes Magnification
Finally Yes latest album on hand! After one round on CD, I decided to
made a copy on tape so I could listen more often while driving. I
random the tracklist so I might get a different impression from those
who listened the original sequence.
The opening track, Magnification, is very interesting. It opens with
Howe?s playing, then Squire follows, then the orchestra follows
(first some flute (?) then violin ensemble). After some few seconds,
Anderson enters. White?s drumming keep the tempo. The song itself is
typical 90?s Yes (similar to KTA
tracks), but the string arrangement makes this song beautiful. The
most important part here is Howe?s guitar playing that fills here and
there. Although it?s a good song, I wish the Magnification is not the
opening track. It lacks the strength and power as an opening track.
Track 2, Spirit of Survival, is one of the best track. Squire bass?
rules this song. Tempo speeds up compared to the title track and
again the orchestral arrangement is very beautiful.
Track 3, Don?t Go, IMHO is a very good song. It?s more like a song
that should be included in Squire-Sherwood?s Conspiracy. At least the
vocal arrangement made me think of it. It?s a short song, but the orchestral arrangement is
quite good. I couldn?t imagine why people didn?t like this song when
Yes played it on recent tour. It?s potential to be released as a
single.
Track 4, Give Love Each Day, opens with strings (violins, cello, etc)
and it really gives you a good, enlighten mood. Very beautiful!
Thanks to Groupe for making this lovely intro. White?s drumming is quite boring in this song.
Very monoton. Perhaps the song gave him no other choice than playing
like that.
Track 5, Can You Imagine, is another gem in this album. Finally
Squire on lead vocal and Anderson as backing vox! Squire?s voice is
just like what I remember on Fish Out of Water album. Again Groupe?s arrangement to
fill spaces here and there gives you a beautiful environment. Vocal
arrangement is not common in Yes? history (at least that?s what I
remember). So I guess this song
was originally Squire?s track.
Track 6, We Agree, is another good slow-track although I can?t
comment more about this.
Track 7, Soft as a Dove is another slow song. Anderson only
accompanied by Howe in the beginning, then a flute (I think it?s a
flute) follows. Very beautiful, especially Howe?s acoustic guitar playing here is one of
his best job I ever heard. The song itself reminds me of other Yes
song but couldn?t remember what. Is it From the Balcony?
Track 8, Dreamtime is the BEST track in this album. It represents
everything I expected in a prog rock with orchestra album. In
first seconds, acoustic guitar, bass, strings, solo violin, opens with majesty. Then Anderson came
with cello on background. Then bass, drum, strings again, etc. WOW!
Dreamtime is the best song since Mind Drive!!!! They should have
played this song on tour!
Track 9, In the Presence of, IMHO is one of the most boring Yes song
I ever heard. It?s a slow song and its 12 minute duration really
proves that this song is one of the weakest in this album. It?s four part/ movement just
made things worst. There are no changes in tempo (compared to Close
to the Edge or And You And I) and I couldn?t believe they chose this
song to be played in recent
tour.
Track 10, Time is Time, is the closing track and it?s a poppy song.
Overall it?s still a very good album. At least Yes has the courage to
made an orhestral album with all-brand-new songs. Can?t wait for the
DVD!!!!!
From: "Gandalf ." <>
Subject: Re: Re: Yes - Magnification
Magnification is a very interesting album - softer than expected but
the musical quality is really excellent. Yes still write great songs.
I also found that with just four in the group, Steve Howe and Chris
Squire have more to do, and the difference is amazing! Howe's playing
is exquisite and Squire's bass footprints are all over the album,
particularly so in "Spirit of Survival". The orchestra works really
well and I've found that the best way to enjoy Magnification is to
play it with the volume turned up - this gives the quieter moments,
particularly the orchestral ones, real texture. This album will take
a few listens to really get into it, but it's a great piece of work.
Yes continue to impress.
From: Otso Pakarinen <>
Subject: Re: Re: Yes - Magnification
> Where are you people buying the album from? It isn't available
till December. How says so??? You Americans aren't alone on this
planet !! It has been available in the shops in Europe for 2 weeks
already :-))
I bought it exactly 3 weeks ago from a store here in Helsinki. My first impression was: "Oh my! Yes
has gone really soft here."
After maybe a dozen listenings I can just say that I like it. Very
much. They have made a good, pleasant album. But somehow I still
can't get excited about it.
Anyway, I'm eagerly awaiting to see them with the orchestra on
November 4th as I have never seen Yes live before!
From: "Kevin Pearson" <>
Subject: Yes - Magnification
Having listened to Magnification several times now I have to say that
artistically this is a good album. Creatively it is a so so album.
Don't get me wrong. I love the album. There are some really nice
melodies and cool instrumenation on several tracks.
Magnification: This reminds me of two groups. The Moody Blues with
the "ahhhs ahhhs" inn the background vocals. The Chorus for some
reason reminds me of an Aerosmith song of about 10 years ago. Nice
song with decent time changes. The orchestration really adds alot to
this piece.
Spirit Of Survival: This piece has a really cool Peter Gun bass line.
Steve and Chris really play well off each other. Fans will really
like this. Could make a good concert showcase piece. Hope they play
it on the second leg of the American tour.
Don't Go: Yes pop at it's near best. I have not seen Yes live on this
tour so have not actually heard it live but have several boots. This
song is much better on the official release. The mix is very good.
Maybe it will get some airplay.
Give Love Each Day: This is my favborite track on the album. Very
positive message. Very Beatles like in production color and texture.
Especially of the orchestra. This song IMHO should have been the last
song of the album. Leaving you with the feeling of WOW!! Yea that's
right! If this track was edited properly or a shorter version re-
recorded it could be a BIG hit song for them.
Can You Imagine: This reminds me of Peter Cetera and Chicago. OK
tune. One of the weaker songs on the album IMO.
We Agree: Very haunting melody and nice vocals by Jon. Parts of it
remind me of Tears For Fears "Seeds Of Love" period.
Soft As A Dove: This is a nice Jon type melody with Moody Blues and
Jethro Tull Celtic feel.
Dreamtime: This song is really cool! Great interaction with the
orchestra. Nice oriental/mideastern feel.
In The Presence Of: We all know this one by now too. I'm not sure
this piece bears up well on repeated listenings. In any case with
other great songs to perform on tour from this album I would not
likely have chosen this.
Time Is Time: Nice song but like I said earlier I would have put Give
Love Each Day here instead. Think John Lennon ala Jon Anderson.
Well that's it and this is of course all my very own humble opinion
and others are free to agree or disagree. So overall on a scale of 1
to 10 this album rates an 8 in my book. Probably the best work on a
whole since GFTO. IMHO
From: hugh manatee <>
> 1= YES = Magnification
after seeing the orchestral tour this past summer i was looking
forward to this, but with slight trepidation....the concert was
_great_, but the two songs they played from this were by far the
weakest things they played all evening.
i finally got to hear the album and trepidations were
justified...while Howe and Squire play spendidly troughout and the
orchestrations are absolutely _wonderful_, every single song is
ruined for me my the pedestrian and plodding drumming (which is also
_way_ too far forward in the mix!), and JA's lyrics just keep getting
more and more insipid. (they were _much_ better when they were more
impressionistic and poetic.)
if this album was entirely instrument, with more inventive or more
senistive to the arrangement drumming (or even with the drumming more
subdued in the mix) i would be _raving_ about it - as it stands it
barely rates an "eh, so what" from me.
From: "ramsrock2" <>
Subject: Magnification
I own all the Yes studio albums. I've been listening to YES's
Magnification a lot since I purchased it. The last Yes album that I
loved this intensely was Tormato. Even though the albums after
Tormato were fantastic, I always felt Yes had lost the magic that
gave me my beautiful visions.