Yes

What is your favourite Yes album?

  • Yes (the album)

  • Time And A Word

  • The Yes Album

  • Fragile

  • Close To The Edge

  • Tales From Topographic Oceans

  • Relayer

  • Going For The One

  • Tormato

  • Drama

  • 90125

  • Big Generator

  • Union

  • Talk

  • Open Your Eyes

  • The Ladder

  • Magnification

  • Fly From Here

  • Heaven & Earth

Results are only viewable after voting.
I still don't get why so fans hold Be The One, That, That Is and Mind Drive in such high regard. Okay, maybe I like Mind Drive a lot more than the other two but still I wouldn't rank it in the same league as something like South Side Of The Sky or heck, even Perpetual Change.

I was just wondering why.

PS. All of these songs are from the two Keys To Ascension albums.
 
Mind Drive is a good song. I think it's more the novelty of it than anything else. Yes hadn't done a true prog album since Drama and hadn't done the side long epic since Gates of Delirium. I don't think many Yes fans hold the Keys songs in as high regard as the best songs from the 70s, but it was cool to see them going back to their roots after several pop albums of varying quality. It'd be like if Rush did a side long epic again. I don't think anyone would expect it to be at the level of 2112 or Hemispheres, but just the fact that they were doing it again would be exciting enough.
 
Mosh said:
Yes hadn't done a true prog album since Drama
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Because the current line of Yes has three members who recorded Drama, as you pointed out to me via the tour announcement, they are playing it in its' entirety on current tour. Without Chris or Jon, I know you don't consider this Yes, but are you thinking about going to Paramount show? (I am seeing DC show)
 
I don't care if Jon is in the band or not, if he was there it would have a bit more validity but he is not as vital as Chris.

Drama is a good album to do because, like you said, the current band is pretty close to the lineup that made that album. I think not doing more stuff together was a missed opportunity and I love Fly From Here for being a followup to that album. If Yes has to continue, I think that's the way to do it.

Probably not going to go though. The live videos I've seen of Yes in recent years haven't been impressive and the tickets are a bit expensive.
 
Mosh said:
The live videos I've seen of Yes in recent years haven't been impressive and the tickets are a bit expensive.
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I saw them in May 2014, performing the albums Close to the Edge, The Yes Album & Going for the One in their entirety + Roundabout as an encore. It was good, but - considering the setlist - it was underwhelming. My best description would probably be "anemic". I can't say much wrong about it, but it felt to me like a band way past its prime. I was never a huge fan of Anderson (I appreciate the uniqueness, but personal tastes may differ), but the new guy made me nearly scream for him. Close to the Edge (the song) was excellent, but I guess you just cannot fuck that one up. However for the remainder of the show, they seemed somewhat lifeless and I don't see how it might be any better now.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I saw them in May 2014, performing the albums Close to the Edge, The Yes Album & Going for the One in their entirety + Roundabout as an encore. It was good, but - considering the setlist - it was underwhelming. My best description would probably be "anemic". I can't say much wrong about it, but it felt to me like a band way past its prime. I was never a huge fan of Anderson (I appreciate the uniqueness, but personal tastes may differ), but the new guy made me nearly scream for him. Close to the Edge (the song) was excellent, but I guess you just cannot fuck that one up. However for the remainder of the show, they seemed somewhat lifeless and I don't see how it might be any better now.
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That's the impression I've had. The songs are so lifeless and without any energy. Even CTTE drags big time now.

I don't expect them to be able to play the way they did in the 70s. But they could do like Rush and accept the limitations that have come with age and stick with the less demanding stuff.
 
Mosh said:
The songs are so lifeless and without any energy.
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For the first couple of songs that was true, but after that they warmed up and were better than expected. Steve Howe is THE man on guitar! Billy has IMPOSSIBLE shoes to fill on bass, but he is a true student of Chris' as he showed best during the playing of the Drama CD. Geoff was SURROUNDED by at least 10(!) different keyboards and kept jumping from one to the other within each song. Jon was my favorite of the night. He plays acoustic guitar when needed and sang GREAT. Just the fact he can remember all the lyrics to side 1 of TFTO blew my mind.

Speaking of TFTO, they started playing side 1 without introducing it and most important, they played the vinyl version, not the remastered CD version. What I mean by that is there is no two minute quiet keyboard intro. The song just STARTS with all the vocals and builds up from there. The thing that surprised me most during the playing of sides 1 & 4, was that it was anything but boring. I was worried after a day of walking downtown DC, me and my family might fall asleep during these two 20 minute songs; not at all true. First of all, they feel harder live. Second, there is so much going on. Not just musically but the VISUALS were the biggest surprise of the night for me. The animated (which might be the wrong word for it; more like a painting that only has the running water coming to life) backdrops changed for every song. They complimented each song, not as a distraction but the show as a whole.

After hearing the TFTO CD so much this past year, I was still worried I might not remember the songs, but that was not the case. As Mosh pointed out to me, Side 1 is commercial enough to have verses and segments repeating (I won't call them choruses) so I was actually singing along!

Siberian Khatru was probably one of my favorite songs of the night that just rocked! And You and I was VERY well received by the audience.

I saw this in The Warner Theater in Washington DC. It was VERY similar to the Paramount Theater in Denver. No photography allowed. Bought a cool tour program ($30!) and a key chain, but not a shirt ($40-60). Spent too much on UBER, food and souvenirs around DC!
 
Cool. TFTO would be cool to see, I've found difficult music is easier to appreciate when you're watching it being performed.
 
Just ordered new Yes shirt from current Drama/TFTO tour for $15 less than was selling at show from web site called Bonanza. I'll see what the quality is like when it arrives...
 
Just bought tix for ARW in San Antonio in November. Looking forward to hearing Jon & Trevor play the 80s material.
 
terrell39 said:
Did not know about this band! Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, and Rick Wakeman (ARW). They start touring next month:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/f...mail&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=091916_12

http://www.arw-tour.com/
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I hope they will tour next year. I would love to go but I have to work and I'm in China. I've seen Jon Anderson solo once and he was awesome. He was doing a one man show around dinner tables so he could tell more stories, I especially enjoyed the ones about him working with Vangelis and his stories about traveling to Argentina and China. I hope to see him with Wakeman and Rabin because I have not seen Rick Wakemen or Trevor Rabin live yet.
 
That's a pretty decent setlist. Still on the fence about going. Can Jon still sing Hold On?
 
terrell39 said:
ARW started their tour last night. I feel it better covers the history of the band than the recent Yes album tours. Here is the setlist:

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/arw/2016/hard-rock-live-orlando-fl-23fd34c7.html
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That's a great setlist. I hope they plan on touring next year. I haven't heard any so
terrell39 said:
ARW started their tour last night. I feel it better covers the history of the band than the recent Yes album tours. Here is the setlist:

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/arw/2016/hard-rock-live-orlando-fl-23fd34c7.html
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Thanks Terrel, I hope they will tour next summer.
 
Saw ARW last night in San Antonio at a beautiful place called the Majestic Theatre. Rabin's guitar work was good, but i thought too low in the mix compared to the bass. Steve's guitar was easier to make out when I saw Yes in concert back in August. Rabin's voice sounded like it had not aged. Jon & Rick were living legends and performed as such! Rick's cape of course was ever present and ruled on the keyboards. But Jon was the conductor of the night. How can someone in his 70's still have such a great voice? He also introduced several songs. He is the heart of Yes. He also played acoustic guitar in several of the 80's songs.

The drum & (especially) bass solos by the new members were more impressive than I was expecting! The bassist received a standing ovation by half the audience!

Cinema was played live, not a recording over the PA. When they started Perpetual Change, I could feel (& hear) the excitement of the crowd being transported back to the 70's. But the next song was one of the main reasons I took my family 3 hours from home: the 90125 material they are more familiar with (Hold On). And yes @Mosh, Jon & Trevor can still sing it! Lift Me Up & Changes were surprises that have only sparingly been played live on previous dates that I was really hoping for and greatly enjoyed. Jon dedicated Long Distance Runaround to "1 of the greatest bassists who ever lived: Chris Squire". Rhythm of Love sounded great. Heart of the Sunrise (IMO 1 of their heaviest songs) was a real treat to see live. I own the ABWH CD and was not impressed with it, but The Meeting was nice to see (even though it put my son to sleep. To his defense, we did walk about 8 miles around the Riverwalk that day). But...Awaken was the revelation of the night. Epic! I don't know if Rick's keyboard solo during the long quiet 2nd half of the song was that long on the studio version, but it was an experience! Then finally after starting Make It Easy, they snuck into Owner of a Lonely Heart (my son's favorite Yes song of course). Killer jam at the end with Make it Easy reprise where we saw Trevor & Rick going into the audience while playing (Rick used his portable guitar shaped keyboard).

Yes's new singer did well when we saw them in August, but Jon IS Yes.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ander...majestic-theatre-san-antonio-tx-43fa276f.html
 
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Jon, Trevor, and Rick jamming at finale of show

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Yesterday I finally started to plunge, more seriously than ever, into Yes. I'm doing this chronologically and begin with focusing on the first three albums. While doing this, I like reading Wikipedia articles on the band, the members and of course the albums.

I have played the debut (Yes) once (I'm not really eager to repeat it anytime soon), the 2nd album Time and a Word twice, and The Yes Album (third) once and will soon give it a second spin. Although, I think I prefer to go deeper into the pre-Howe era first by listening to live concerts/BBC sessions.

The fast part in the song Everydays from Time and a Word is great! To me it stuck out above everything I've heard until know (although there's a striking polyrhythmic moment near the end of The Yes Album that I'm looking forward to hearing again). I mean the part starting here and continuing til 4:39. Within that section there's another highlight: from 3:45 til 3:58. I really like Tony Kaye on his Hammond. From the same album, the track Then contains heavy, busy parts and I can see how Steve Harris brought such music into Maiden (Phantom of the Opera in particular).

I have a question for all you people who like Yes. What do you like (most) about these first three albums. If possible, say something positive about every album. Much appreciated!

Another one: is this
an official release? I can't find it in the Yes discography. How should I relate it to other early BBC recordings releases? Are these versions the same?
 
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