I Love Yes

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Well, am I the only one? They seem here to be liked less than ELP!

― Anna Rose, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

EL-P is fekking GRATE.

― cuba libre (nathalie), Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I made an ELP/El-P joke the other week. I was quite pleased with myself.

― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Do tell. I've known people search for El-P because I keep talking about'em... Then they discover it's all ELP. hah

― cuba libre (nathalie), Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

no i think yes are MORE popular on ilm than ELP, but possibly only by a whiskah

dave q wrote a tremendous review of TORMATO!

― mark s, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Since You've Been Gone" > "The Diary of Horace Wimp"

― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I think Close to the Edge was possibly my favorite record in high school, but at the moment I'm not really a fan of the band. I still like some moments here and there ("Starship Trooper", "South Side of the Sky", Jon Anderson's "We Have Heaven" for some reason), though they seem a bit on the rococo side to me (as does a lot of sympho prog).

I'd much rather go for 5uus or Thinking Plague, sometimes featuring Bob Drake's singing, a dead ringer for Jon Anderson, but in a band playing very hard RIO-sounding stuff. Tougher than Yes, and that's about all I ask.

― dleone, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"tougher than yes" wd be a great t-shirt slogan

― mark s, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I think all here know that I believe Yes to be one of the best pop groups ever.

― Jeff W, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

dave q's review (thanks, google)

― Jeff W, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

dominique, 'we have heaven' is rubbish!

― Josh, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Josh, why don't you consult this picture, and quit giving me bad vibes:

http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/JA-SoS.jpg

― dleone, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

ma$e to thread!

― Josh, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Yessongs version of "Siberian Khatru" is monstrous. The only ELP song I like is "The Barbarian".

― Kris, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The only band to have members from the UK, USA, Switzerland, Russia, AND The Buggles (both of 'em). Not even Weather Report can say that.

― Joe, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

South Africa too, right?

― Kris, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

if weather report don't reform w.geoff downes as a membah my millennium is spoiled NOW!

― mark s, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"We Have Heaven" is great.

Anna, I don't know what you're even referring to. Lots of us like them and they get talked about favourably all the time. There's a C/D/S/D thread in the archives. "Starship Trooper" is one of my favourite songs of all time. Some of the most gorgeous pop music ever is on The Yes Album. I listen to Rush a little more frequently though. I always preferred Donald Duck to Mickey Mouse.

Out of curiosity, and because there's not enough randomness on this board, what do you think of "No Rain" by Blind Melon?

― sundar subramanian, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Could anyone recommend a good YES album to start with? I've only heard "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and "5% of Nothing", both of which are ace, but lead me to think their albums are likely to be different.

I have a copy of "Best of ELP" on Music Swap Shop iff'n anyone wants it!

― 1 1 2 3 5, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Yes Album (1971) is almost certainly the best starter for exploring what they did when they did it best--just the right amount of intricacy and accessibility. Another good starter along these lines is Going for the One (1977).

Their two peak moments (IMO) are Close to the Edge (1972) and Relayer (1974).

― Joe, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

South Africa too, right?

Hmm, that's right. Forgot about Rabin (not a difficult thing to do, admittedly)...

― Joe, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Josh, why don't you consult this picture, and quit giving me bad vibes:

Better yet, give a thorough listen to "Heart of the Matter" off that sepia-toned album posted by Dominique. Sample lyric (remember, this is Jon-fucking-Anderson singing this):

"Submit me, baby, you can do what you want to me, as long as we can get inside the back of your car!"

[While simultaneously, Trevor Horn and the boys were crooning:

"Cables that carry the light to the cities we build, Threads that link diamonds of light to the Satanic mills, Ahhhh!"]

and isn't it ironic dontcha think...

― Joe, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Rabin's score was probably the worst thing about the Jerry Bruckheimer movie I just saw and enjoyed.

― Josh, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes = k-klassick

― Sarah, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

A friend pointed out to me that the stuff coming out of the Manchester scene in the early 90s sounds exactly like early Yes, and pretty much, I have to agree. Listen to "Looking Around" from the first Yes album (_Yes_) and tell me that couldn't have been on a Charlatans UK album.

Despite their ridiculousness and pretentiousness (think Rick Wakeman wearing a long silky cape), I am fond particularly of their early to mid 70s output. The _Yesyears_ boxed set is somewhat awful, though. I'd say about an entire CD's worth of the music included is unlistenable, the dubious apex of which is the execrable "Love Conquers All" which has to be one of the worst songs I own - and I have stuff by Leonard Nimoy. One obvious flaw of the track selection was giving equal representation to all albums. Another flaw: including previously unreleased material that should've remained unreleased.

― Ernest, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i think that vince gallo declared that his two all-time heroes in life were 1. Richard Nixon 2. Chris Squire

yes rule!

the only people who don't like yes are sad british lefty music reviewers who are so old that they think that dissing prog-rock in favour of punk is actually relevent to anybody under 35

case and point...the guy from the neptunes loves rush...booo

― geeg, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The _Yesyears_ boxed set is somewhat awful, though. I'd say about an entire CD's worth of the music included is unlistenable... One obvious flaw of the track selection was giving equal representation to all albums. Another flaw: including previously unreleased material that should've remained unreleased.

Not sure I concur entirely, Ernest. It was never supposed to be a 'best of' - there's at least one of those on the market already. And, given the length of their career - not to mention the length of many of their tracks :) - it's pretty much impossible to construct a Yes 'best of' that would make everyone happy anyway. Also, while I agree the last CD of Yesyears contains a lot of rubbish, the rare and unreleased stuff from 1977-81 is fantastic.

― Jeff W, Thursday, 13 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I've always been a sucker for the bright-eyed, Xmas tune "Run with the Fox", myself...

― Joe, Thursday, 13 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Good points, Jeff. Still, I would prefer quality over scope - something entirely listenable, as opposed to a historical overview. For example, the King Crimson _Frame by Frame_ boxed set. It includes almost all of _In the Court of the Crimson King_, but only one track from _Lizard_, one of the weaker KC albums. I can put it on and not feel compelled to skip tracks. But then, I think KC's output has been consistently good, while Yes's catalog is a bit uneven. Also, those prog musician incest maps included with both boxed sets are wacky.

― Ernest, Thursday, 13 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

lizard = weak becuz it wz only a 12"

― mark "the s is for boom tisch" s, Thursday, 13 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I think you mean 12'.

I was just browsing a mad mental discussion of Yes lyrics. Apparently Close to the Edge is based on Hesse. I'm mildly disappointed, I had always hoped the 'I get up I get down' bit was a James Brown reference.

― Alexander Blair, Thursday, 13 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"(Can I Get) Close to the Edge"

― dleone, Thursday, 13 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Sex Machine Messiah" !

― Jeff W, Thursday, 13 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

seven months pass...

My mother unearthed a crate of my old things from high school in her garage, and one of those artifacts was my cassette copy of the Yesyears box. After a hearty week of running through the entire thing, band family tree and all, I now proclaim Going for the One to be a good album, and everything they released post-Drama to be incredible crap.

PS - Yes should never allow any member of the band to perform a solo of any kind. Especially a solo where they're the only one playing.

― dleone (dleone), Tuesday, 4 February 2003 18:25 (twenty-two years ago)

ten years pass...

http://www.allaxess.com/guitar-blog/guitar-news/william-shatner-to-tour-in-support-of-new-prog-rock-album

yes!

― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 4 September 2013 18:56 (twelve years ago)

For all those who felt 'Touch' didn't go far enough...

― "Turkey In The Straw" coming from someplace in the clouds (Sparkle Motion), Thursday, 5 September 2013 06:13 (twelve years ago)

This is a bit uneven but has some great bits in it, esp. regarding Yes and Genesis, "The Lamb Lies Down" era. Also features a nice essay on Todd Rundgren.

http://www.amazon.com/Yes-Is-The-Answer-Prog-Rock/dp/0985490209

― kwhitehead, Thursday, 5 September 2013 18:47 (twelve years ago)

i've been meaning to check that out. how much yes stuff is in there? this is my favorite book just about them ~

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Yes-Structure-Progressive-Contemporary/dp/0812693337/ref=pd_sim_b_4

― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 5 September 2013 20:46 (twelve years ago)

nobody writes them like they used to

http://thequietus.com/articles/13259-stuart-murdoch-belle-sebastian-favourite-albums?page=5

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 6 September 2013 01:16 (twelve years ago)

ps -- wakeman wasn't on the yes album, stu!

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 6 September 2013 01:18 (twelve years ago)

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