I got into Yes in 1972 when my then girlfriend (Beverley Brown, bless her) encouraged me to listen to The Yes Album. That album remains my favourite, though I also got into Close to the Edge. I had Tales of Topographical Oceans, but try as I might, that album was not quite as enjoyable as the others. I don't think I bothered listening seriously to any more Yes albums after that. Until I decided to do this blog, of course....
The band were formed in 1968 by Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Bill Bruford, along with guitarist Peter Banks, and keyboardist Tony Kaye, when Mabel Greer's Toyshop had a personnel shuffle with all founding members being replaced, and changed its name to Yes. Mabel Greer's Toyshop had been founded in 1966, with Squire and Banks joining in 1967 when their band, The Syn, broke up.
Banks was only present for the first two rather dull albums. Apparently ex Sniffin Glue and NME journalist Danny Baker once said that Banks was the architect of progressive rock, though nobody seems to know when or where he said this, even though some sources report that he "often" said it. Be nice to see the context, as in "Banks was as much the architect of progressive rock as Sid Vicious was the godfather of bubblegum music." The evidence of the importance of his guitar playing is not there on the second Yes album. On Time and a Word he is mainly swamped by the keyboards and orchestration. Squire's fluid bass playing is striking, but Banks' guitar work is stilted and often clumsy. His most obvious playing is on "Sweet Dreams" when he attempts and often fails to produce some fast, fluid and high pitched guitar work - but it's rather amateurish stuff. There are notes coming from his guitar on "The Prophet", but boy how stiff and awkward they are - there's nothing crisp, sweet, or confident let alone electrifying or elegant. This is no Steve Howe, and the band did the right thing in getting rid of him. However, there is something quick, neat, melodic and interesting going on during the first album. The sounds he makes there - a flash of flamenco, some hard rock, are confident, amusing, imaginative, and do set the groundwork for what Howe would later do. The contrast between his playing on the two albums do show that he wasn't happy with what was going on during the making of Time and a Word.
It seems widely acknowledged that the band's best album is Close to the Edge, with The Yes Album, and Fragile being the next best, though opinions vary on which of those two is favourite. Tales of Topographic Oceans divides opinion, with many seeing it as overblown and pretentious, while others find it rich and ambitious, and there are plenty in the middle, who acknowledge both the ambition, and the failure of that ambition - the point at which Yes over-reached themselves and discovered the limit of their talent; a discovery from which they wouldn't quite recover. Essentially the band had a peak lasting for just two years, but in that time they created a classic album in Close to the Edge, which is widely seen as one of the Top Ten Progressive Rock albums, and is generally regarded as well within one of the top 1,000 greatest albums of all time.
Albums
 |
| Yes (July 1969) |
The band's first album. It's listenable, but largely unremarkable psychedelic pop which lacks focus. The decent guitar playing by Banks on this album is in marked contrast to his dismal lack of performance on the next. The elements that are associated with the classic Yes are all here, especially on the opening track "Beyond And Before" - well structured music that takes its influence from folk, classical music, and baroque pop; Anderson's high, clear voice, jazzy guitar work, jazzy drumwork, a full sound, multi-layered harmonic backing vocals, a sound hovering between psychedelic pop and jazz fusion. It's OK.
Wikipedia
YesWorld
AllMusic: 6
Score: 4 1/2
YesWorld
Wikipedia
BestEverAlbums: 454th
AllMusic: 8
Score: 8
Wikipedia
YesWorld
BEA: 1,190th
AllMusic: 6
Score: 4
YesWorld
Wikipedia
BEA: 4,392th
AllMusic: 4
Score: 2
The album was clearly Anderson's project - he was assimilating ideas and even recordings from the others, and putting them together in his own way, before assembling everyone (apart from Howe) on the Caribbean island of Montserrat to record the album. Credit for all the songs on the album are given equally to Anderson, Howe, Wakeman, and Bruford, though Howe has reported that he had no part in composing some songs, and the others had no part in composing his songs. A video, In the Big Dream, was made of the recoding of the album and includes a live performance by ABWH of "Heart of the Sunrise" in which the bass player, Tony Levin, who replaces Chris Squire, is clearly regarded as a session player as the camera never focuses on him.
There are nine tracks on the album, four of those are divided into short suites, the longest of which, at 10:16, is "Brother of Mine". Howe not being present during the recording generally means that his guitar pieces are rather swamped by Wakeman's keyboards - as can be noticed when comparing the alternative version of "Fist of Fire" on the In A Word: Yes boxset, in which Howe was present and produces some typically searing and soaring guitar. Bruford was during this period using a hybrid electronic and acoustic drum set, which gave a different sound to that of the classic Yes period of Fragile and Close To The Edge. Wakeman, who was clearly engaged, switched on, and perhaps with an ambitious desire to show what he could do back in the Seventies, seems on this album to behave more as a hired hand, and money rather than desire may have been what prompted him to do the album, as he'd been having financial problems for most of the 80s.
Anderson's lyrics throughout the album appear to focus on the idea that music made from love and friendship is better than music made for money. It's not quite a concept album, but is close to it. The opening lines of the first track, "Be gone you ever piercing / Power Play machine / Cutting our musical solidarity" appears to set the theme that Anderson is rejecting commercial/corporate music in favour of "musical solidarity". "Fist of Fire" introduces a bird image which will reappear, and which is reflected on the album cover, and the Big Dream documentary, and is perhaps symbolic of the power of "true" and natural music. "Brother of Mine" has "Brothers...in the big sky" who see Anderson "fly like an eagle". "Birthright" appears to be vaguely about big countries/powers identified as "stars and stripes" and "white and red" which are too big for a small new born country - it may make reference to atomic bomb tests in Australia in the 1950s which contaminated the land so it couldn't be returned to the aborigines until 2014. "My love" and "she" in "The Meeting" and "Quartet" could refer to music, or the inspiration/the muse which creates music. "Teakbois" - a word that possibly relates to wood and nature, is perhaps the celebration of natural music over the corporate music, and Anderson brings back the bird symbol - "I've dreamed of music that comes from the heart / As though the eagle has landed". "The Order of The Universe" celebrates rock music: "Rock gives courage, a way to win the trust / Rock gives lovers a way to win or bust / Rock gives sisters a way to speak their mind / Without this gift of rock and roll / We'd all be wasting time". The final track, "Let's Pretend", ends the album with a sense of coming together in love and nature to return to something wholesome: "Let's get our hearts together / And as before, and like before / We'll do again". So there is a rough sense that the lyrics are about the classic Yes coming together in love to make natural music once again, rather than for money, as had been the case with the previous Yes albums.
The music throughout the album is remarkably softer and more pastoral than previous 80s Yes albums - indeed, more pastoral than Yes at their peak. It is, though, closer in style and intent and sound to the 70s Yes than the 80s Yes. What perhaps holds the album back is the feeling that the band are not fully engaged creatively or spiritually with the album. It feels like a group of session musicians going through the motions, and lacks the energy and tightness of something like Close To The Edge. But it's not a bad album. It's certainly a better album than I expected. I had stopped listening to Yes by the time it was originally released in 1989, and though I did listen to it reasonably closely a few years ago I did so with a degree of prejudice accumulated though what Yes had been releasing from Tormato onwards.
The album opens with "Themes", which has the feel of Fragile, but with less energy and inventiveness. It's an attractive though modest piece which becomes a little repetitive, and doesn't fully develop or go anywhere. "Fist of Fire" is brighter and more assertive, though has the same issue as "Themes" in that the musical structure doesn't develop, and it feels too repetitive. This feeling of unambitious, undeveloped, and repetitive music will become a common theme across the album. "Brother of Mine" is one of the strongest tracks on the album, and one that feels like the classic Yes with some changes in time signature to keep it interesting. "Birthtrack" is another brighter, stronger track, which contains some sounds like aborigine musical instruments to key in to the possible theme of the atomic tests at Maralinga. "The Meeting" is the most pastoral and acoustic track with some pensive piano, though rarely develops beyond the feel of a demo.
"Quartet" is a pleasant pastoral piece that doesn't really go anywhere and eventually overstays its welcome. It has an attractive sound, but at 9 minutes long with no contrast, the attraction does wear out. "Teakbois" is the weakest track on the album - a piece of nonsense calypso style music which flirts with native Australian music, and feels rather falsely happy clappy, and - like "Quartet" - at over 7 minutes overstays its welcome. "Order of The Universe" competes with "Brother of Mine" for which is the strongest track, closest to classic Yes. The album finishes with the very pleasant "Let's Pretend", which could almost have come off The Yes Album.
All in all a much better album than those which immediately proceeded and followed it. It does stand out as a decent attempt to make something worthwhile rather than something just for the money. But in the attempt to make an album like the classic Yes albums it ends up making the listener make a comparison in which ABWH will always come off as second best. It does invoke memories of the classic period, and - somewhat awkwardly - in "Quartet" Anderson makes lyrical references to older Yes songs: "Long Distance Runaround", "Gates of Delirium", "Roundabout", etc; but such invocation makes one feel sad that the band one is listening to isn't able to come up with the goods.
So, not a turkey by any means. But, also, sadly, not the soaring eagle it so wishes to be.
6/10
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 8
Score:
* Wikipedia
* Notes from the edge
* ProgArchives
* Early TV appearances (1969-1971)
| Released | 25 July 1969 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | April-May 1969 |
| Studio | |
| Genre | |
| Length | 41:30 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer |
|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beyond and Before" | Chris Squire, Clive Bailey | 4:51 |
| 2. | "I See You" | Jim McGuinn, David Crosby | 6:48 |
| 3. | "Yesterday and Today" | Jon Anderson | 2:53 |
| 4. | "Looking Around" | Anderson, Squire | 3:59 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Harold Land" | Anderson, Squire, Bill Bruford | 5:39 |
| 2. | "Every Little Thing" | John Lennon, Paul McCartney | 5:39 |
| 3. | "Sweetness" | Anderson, Squire, Bailey | 4:30 |
| 4. | "Survival" | Anderson | 6:18 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals, incidental percussion
- Peter Banks – guitars, backing vocals
- Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals
- Tony Kaye – organ, piano
- Bill Bruford – drums
Wikipedia
YesWorld
AllMusic: 6
Score: 4 1/2
 |
| TV appearance of Yes in January 1970 |
 |
| Time and a Word (July 1970) |
This has a dated symphonic rock feel (including snippets of the theme to The Big Country played by a small orchestra), which reminds me of ELP though it predates the first ELP album by four months. I recognise the album cover, and no doubt heard it back in the early 70s, but I don't really recall the music, and it's not making an impression on me now. The band - apart from Banks, to be fair, play well. And there are elements here that will be found on classic Yes albums - the band's sound emerged here.
The Soft Machine (Dec 1968) Soft Machine
Caravan (Jan 1969) Caravan
On the Threshold of a Dream (April 1969) The Moody Blues
A Salty Dog (June 1969) Procol Harum
Renaissance (June 1969) Renaissance
Stand Up (Aug 1969) Jethro Tull
Ahead Rings Out (Aug 1969) Blodwyn Pig
The Aerosol Grey Machine (Sept 1969) Van der Graaf Generator
Nice (Sept 1969) The Nice
Ummagumma (Oct 1969) Pink Floyd
In the Court of the Crimson King (Oct 1969) King Crimson
To Our Children's Children's Children (Nov 1969) The Moody Blues
Some albums released in the 12 months prior to recording (which ran from Nov 1969 to Jan 1970) which may have influenced the music style on Time and a Word:Shine On Brightly (Sept 1968) Procol Harum
The Soft Machine (Dec 1968) Soft Machine
Caravan (Jan 1969) Caravan
On the Threshold of a Dream (April 1969) The Moody Blues
A Salty Dog (June 1969) Procol Harum
Renaissance (June 1969) Renaissance
Stand Up (Aug 1969) Jethro Tull
Ahead Rings Out (Aug 1969) Blodwyn Pig
The Aerosol Grey Machine (Sept 1969) Van der Graaf Generator
Nice (Sept 1969) The Nice
Ummagumma (Oct 1969) Pink Floyd
In the Court of the Crimson King (Oct 1969) King Crimson
To Our Children's Children's Children (Nov 1969) The Moody Blues
The late Sixties & early Seventies was probably the most fertile, experimental and interesting in musical history. Time And a Word is an example of that, but is not in itself that interesting.
YesWorld
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 4
Score: 3 1/2
| Released | 24 July 1970 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | December 1969–February 1970 |
| Studio | Advision Studios, London, England |
| Genre | Progressive rock |
| Length | 39:35 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer | Tony Colton |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" | Richie Havens, Jerome Moross | 4:45 |
| 2. | "Then" | Jon Anderson | 5:39 |
| 3. | "Everydays" | Stephen Stills | 6:04 |
| 4. | "Sweet Dreams" | Anderson, David Foster | 3:47 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "The Prophet" | Anderson, Chris Squire | 6:30 |
| 6. | "Clear Days" | Anderson | 2:06 |
| 7. | "Astral Traveller" | Anderson | 5:51 |
| 8. | "Time and a Word" | Anderson, Foster | 4:30 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals, percussion
- Peter Banks – electric and acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals
- Tony Kaye – Hammond organ, piano
- Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
YesWorld
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 4
Score: 3 1/2
 |
| TV appearance of Yes in September 1970 |
 |
| The Yes Album (Feb 1971) |
I love this album. It was introduced to me in 1971 when I was 15 by my 12 year old girlfriend Beverly Brown. She introduced me to a lot of things. She was very advanced for a 12 year old. Now, it's difficult to know how much my affection for this album is influenced by the circumstances of my first hearing it, but it has certainly stood the test of time. There are some strong songs here which the band continued to play throughout their career. This is my favourite Yes album, and for me this is the best line-up of the band. The band suffered somewhat when Wakeman joined; even though he is a supremely skilled keyboardist, and the band's sound required the depth and richness his keyboards could bring, he is also a little inclined to go overboard, to lose focus, and to go for bright sounds rather than emotional impact. I wonder how the band would have developed with Kaye remaining on the keyboards.
| Released | 19 February 1971 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | 17 July 1970 ("Clap") Autumn 1970 |
| Venue | "Clap": Lyceum Theatre, London |
| Studio | Advision Studios, London |
| Genre | |
| Length | 40:56 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer |
|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yours Is No Disgrace" | Anderson, Squire, Howe, Kaye, Bruford | 9:41 |
| 2. | "Clap" (instrumental) | Howe | 3:17 |
| 3. | "Starship Trooper"
| Anderson, Howe, Squire | 9:29 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4. | "I've Seen All Good People"
| Anderson, Squire | 6:55 |
| 5. | "A Venture" | Anderson | 3:20 |
| 6. | "Perpetual Change" | Anderson, Squire | 8:57 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals, percussion
- Chris Squire – bass guitar, vocals
- Steve Howe – electric and acoustic guitars, vachalia, vocals
- Tony Kaye – piano, Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer
- Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
YesWorld
Wikipedia
BestEverAlbums: 454th
AllMusic: 8
Score: 8
 |
| Fragile (Nov 1971) |
Wakeman joins, and the band develop an overblown sound which I'm not quite sure about. There's stuff to like here, but this does feel like a transition album between the excellent Yes Album and the classic prog album Close to the Edge.
BestEverAlbums: 251st
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 5
| Released | 26 November 1971 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | September 1971 |
| Studio | Advision, Fitzrovia, London |
| Genre | Progressive rock[1][2] |
| Length | 39:52 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Roundabout" | Jon Anderson, Steve Howe | 8:29 |
| 2. | "Cans and Brahms" (instrumental) | Johannes Brahms, arr. Rick Wakeman | 1:35 |
| 3. | "We Have Heaven" | Anderson | 1:30 |
| 4. | "South Side of the Sky" | Anderson, Chris Squire | 8:04 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Five Per Cent for Nothing" (instrumental) | Bill Bruford | 0:35 |
| 2. | "Long Distance Runaround" | Anderson | 3:33 |
| 3. | "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" | Squire | 2:35 |
| 4. | "Mood for a Day" (instrumental) | Howe | 2:57 |
| 5. | "Heart of the Sunrise" | Anderson, Squire, Bruford | 10:34[ |
- Jon Anderson – lead and backing vocals
- Steve Howe – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitars, backing vocals
- Rick Wakeman – Keyboards
- Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
BestEverAlbums: 251st
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 5
 |
| Close To The Edge (Sept 1972) |
Probably, along with Dark Side of The Moon, one of the most successful and popular progressive rock albums of all time. It works. It serves as a template (good and bad) for all progressive music since its release in 1972. The lyrics are daft, but somehow certain lines and phrases resonate, and Anderson has a compelling voice. Yes clearly had very competent musicians, because the playing on the album is impressively competent. However, while technical competence is admirable in itself, when it comes to rock music we tend to look for other things than simple technical accomplishment. "Louie Louie" is awesome because of the feel of the thing, the sweat, desperation and sheer joy of the moment not because of the playing, which is simple and clumsy. While Bruford called the album Close to the Edge because he felt the band were at the edge of reason and madness while making it, citing Squire spending over two hours balancing just two controls on the recording desk, it could also apply to the music being close to the edge of rock music - there is a fair degree of jazz playing and formulations, especially in Bruford's drumming and Squire's bass; however, though the music and lyrics are close to the edge of disengagement from emotion, and close to the edge of frippery and meaninglessness, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and is held together by Steve Howe's guitar work which flips elegantly from jazz to rock via country, folk, classical and several other genres. Such a virtuoso display could be another barrier to emotional engagement and enjoyment, yet there is a cool ease about the playing, and it always appears to be fitting rather than showboating, so it somehow works. Wakeman's keyboards, especially on the organ, is less effective, and can be described as distractingly showy at times; while it adds a sonic depth and richness which overall aids the album, I suspect the album would have been better had Tony Kaye been playing instead of Wakeman, whose excesses do grate at times. Side One is quite stunning, particularly the opening track, and mostly overcomes the flaws in terms of excess, flash and superficiality that holds the album back a little. Side Two's "And You And I" is more folky, and less successfully constructed and performed; contrary to the first side, it is Wakeman's sweeping keyboards that lift the track with a simple but effective organ swell - a cheap trick, but it works. It can't however, completely save the track, which moves disjointedly along as though a series of demo notes - ideas tried out here and there in preparation for being worked together in a harmonious whole. Changes in tone and mood are often quite abrupt, and done rather crudely. "Siberian Khatru", despite being more layered and containing more instruments at the same time and more intricate weaving interplay, is much more successful, and does feel finished and satisfactory.
Reviews: ProgArchives (fans enthusing rather than insightful commentary); SoundBlab; UltimateClassicRock; ClassicRockReview; Pitchfork (an overview of Yes's main albums); LiveForliveMusic; Consequence;
BestEverAlbums: 113th; Lyrics: Genius
YesWorld
Reviews: ProgArchives (fans enthusing rather than insightful commentary); SoundBlab; UltimateClassicRock; ClassicRockReview; Pitchfork (an overview of Yes's main albums); LiveForliveMusic; Consequence;
BestEverAlbums: 113th; Lyrics: Genius
| Released | 13 September 1972 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | February–July 1972 |
| Studio | Advision, London |
| Genre | Progressive rock[1] |
| Length | 38:42 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer |
|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Close to the Edge"
| Jon Anderson, Steve Howe | Anderson, Howe | 18:12 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "And You and I"
| Anderson | Anderson, Bruford,Howe, Squire | 10:40 |
| 2. | "Siberian Khatru" | Anderson | Anderson, Howe, Rick Wakeman | 9:50 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals
- Steve Howe – guitars, Coral electric sitar,[78] steel guitar, backing vocals
- Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals
- Rick Wakeman – acoustic and electric pianos, Hammond organ, Minimoog synthesizer, Mellotron, harpsichord
- Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
YesWorld
Triple live album. Good album, offering a decent range of the best of Yes up to date (which means, the best of their previous three albums, which means the best of Yes, because that's the band's peak). But it's not an essential album. It's a triple album, so it's not exactly a compact version of those three albums, and it contains
Wikipedia
YesWorld
AllMusic: 8
Score: 5
| Released | May 1973 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | February–December 1972 |
| Venue | Various locations in the US and Canada and the Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park, London |
| Genre | Progressive rock |
| Length | 129:55 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer |
|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Opening (Excerpt from 'Firebird Suite')" | Igor Stravinsky | 3:47 | |
| 2. | "Siberian Khatru" | Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman | Close to the Edge | 9:03 |
| 3. | "Heart of the Sunrise" | Anderson, Bill Bruford, Chris Squire | Fragile | 11:33 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Perpetual Change" | Anderson, Squire | The Yes Album | 14:12 |
| 2. | "And You and I"
| Anderson, Bruford, Howe, Squire | Close to the Edge | 9:33 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mood for a Day" | Howe | Fragile | 2:53 |
| 2. | "Excerpts from 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII'" | Wakeman | The Six Wives of Henry VIII | 6:37 |
| 3. | "Roundabout" | Anderson, Howe | Fragile | 8:33 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I've Seen All Good People"
| Anderson, Squire | The Yes Album | 7:09 |
| 2. | "Long Distance Runaround"/"The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)" | Anderson, Squire | Fragile | 13:37 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Close to the Edge"
| Anderson, Howe | Close to the Edge | 18:13 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yours Is No Disgrace" | Anderson, Squire, Howe, Bruford, Tony Kaye | The Yes Album | 14:23 |
| 2. | "Starship Trooper"
| Anderson, Howe, Squire | The Yes Album | 10:08 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Howe – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards
- Bill Bruford – drums on "Perpetual Change", "Long Distance Runaround", and "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
- Alan White – drums on all other tracks
Wikipedia
YesWorld
AllMusic: 8
Score: 5
 |
| Tales from Topographic Oceans (Dec 1973) |
This was the point I left Yes. I had this album and would play it. There is promise here of something like Close to the Edge - it is symphonic and at times compelling in its breadth and depth, but it is also indulgent and boring. At half the length it would work so much better, but even then it doesn't have the majestic melodic sweep of Close to the Edge, or the playful, aspirational bravado of The Yes Album. For many people this is everything they hate about prog rock. For some symphonic-prog enthusiasts, this indicated what was possible. Ultimately it is a failure, but it is a fairly admirable and reasonably pleasant failure which sold hugely. Yes, however, never fully recovered from the failure of this album; Wakeman left the band because he couldn't support the self-indulgent direction the band were taking with the album; and the mocking scorn the album received, which spread to all prog bands, apart from Pink Floyd, was devastating and humiliating. The band's fan base was enough to sustain it on a fruitful career which still continues, but they were never again a musical force that serious critics paid attention to.
Wikipedia
BestEverAlbums: 937th
YesWorld
AllMusic: 7
Score: 3 1/2
| Released | 7 December 1973 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | Late summer–early autumn 1973 |
| Studio | Morgan Studios, Willesden |
| Genre | Progressive rock |
| Length | 81:14 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer |
|
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)" | 20:27 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Remembering (High the Memory)" | 20:38 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun)" | 18:34 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil)" | 21:35 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
- Steve Howe – guitars, electric sitar, backing vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards
- Alan White – drums, percussion
Wikipedia
BestEverAlbums: 937th
YesWorld
AllMusic: 7
Score: 3 1/2
 |
| Relayer (Nov 1974) |
There are some who prefer this to Tales. Each to their own. This to me lacks the scope and ambition of Tales. It's a boring album that borders on Heavy Metal and Jazz Fusion, but never quite getting into either, merely skimming the surface. At this point Yes are no longer truly creative or new and are just rehashing their earlier ideas, but with a lack of imagination and self-awareness. I comment below in the Popular songs section on the "Gates of Delirium" track, with reference to other albums released at the time, as to why the band are now clearly past it.
"Gates of Delirium" Another track liked by Yes fans only. Gee, it's tedious. The anti-war lyrics are the sort of undisciplined vague nonsense that some sixth formers write before they get a sense of perspective. The music is both overblown and boring. Only a Yes fan could like this. And to think that this track was made after albums like A Wizard, A True Star, Dark Side of the Moon, Phaedra, The Faust Tapes, Angel's Egg, Here Come The Warm Jets, and Autobahn had been released. Me, I was listening to those other bright, inventive, intelligent albums which pointed the way to the future, so drivel like this did not attract me, and still doesn't. By 1974 Yes were already musically stagnant and out of date, and they would remain so for the rest of their career.
| Released | 28 November 1974 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | Late summer and autumn 1974 |
| Studio | New Pipers, Virginia Water, Surrey |
| Genre | |
| Length | 40:28 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer |
|
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Gates of Delirium" | 21:55 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sound Chaser" | 9:25 |
| 2. | "To Be Over" | 9:08 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals, acoustic guitars, piccolo, percussion
- Steve Howe – acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel, electric sitar, backing vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Patrick Moraz – keyboards, piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, Minimoog, Mellotron
- Alan White – drums, percussion
YesWorld; BestEverAlbums: 838th
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 3
Yesterdays (1975)
Useful compilation of early material, including a 1972 cover of the Simon & Garfunkel song, "America", that had been released as a b-side, and then included on an Atlantic sampler album. It has echoes of The Nice's cover of Leonard Bernstein's "America". The tracks chosen are from before Yes found their true voice, so the album is historic and informative rather than essential.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 3
Yesterdays (1975)
Useful compilation of early material, including a 1972 cover of the Simon & Garfunkel song, "America", that had been released as a b-side, and then included on an Atlantic sampler album. It has echoes of The Nice's cover of Leonard Bernstein's "America". The tracks chosen are from before Yes found their true voice, so the album is historic and informative rather than essential.
- Side one
- "America" (Paul Simon) (from The New Age of Atlantic, 1972) – 10:30
- "Looking Around" (Jon Anderson, Chris Squire) (from Yes, 1969) – 4:00
- "Time and a Word" (Anderson, David Foster) (from Time and a Word, 1970) – 4:32
- "Sweet Dreams" (Anderson, Foster) (from Time and a Word, 1970) – 3:50
- Side two
- "Then" (Anderson) (from Time and a Word, 1970) – 5:45
- "Survival" (Anderson) (from Yes, 1969) – 6:20
- "Astral Traveller" (Anderson) (from Time and a Word, 1970) – 5:53
- "Dear Father" (Anderson, Squire) (b-side of "Sweet Dreams" single, 1970) – 4:21
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
After a three year break, and the return of Rick Wakeman, the band released Going For The One which contained the hit "Wonderous Stories". For many people, "Wonderous Stories" is Yes, and they would have bought the album based on hearing that single, so the album was reasonably successful. This is a more varied album than the band's main prog-rock albums, and is closer in style to The Yes Album. It's an accomplished and listenable album, and "Wonderous Stories" is a classic track. The 15 minute "Awaken" is a dire return to plodding prog-rock, and significantly holds the album back, but other than that I can see myself returning to this now and again.
I note that "Awaken" appears to be a track that Anderson thought was particularly good, and some fans and commentators feel it is one of the band's best. I comment below in the Popular songs section on why I feel this is Yes at their worse rather than their best:
I note that "Awaken" appears to be a track that Anderson thought was particularly good, and some fans and commentators feel it is one of the band's best. I comment below in the Popular songs section on why I feel this is Yes at their worse rather than their best:
A number of Yes fans like this track, but by 1977 the band had already developed their sound and their structure, so nothing new happens on this track. The band follow their by now familiar style of moving the music forward in stages - there is a solo intro (this time piano) and then more sounds are added before the whole band comes in and they rock along in a pleasant enough but unremarkable and fairly familiar (almost plodding) manner, with the slight shifts in tempo and bursts of electric guitar that previously would delight, but here sound strained, as though the band have run out of new musical ideas, and are simply running along on what they know the fans like. There are musical changes, different sections, but the changes are often done in a clumsy manner, and the new sections add little to what has gone before, other than as a different mood. At times it feels rather messy. The lyrics are trivial and uninviting - there are few images to delight as in mountains coming out of the sky, or phrases that excite thought as in "Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face". We have an over-indulgent Wakeman going too far on the organ, and the the band throwing in a cheap angelic choral section as though that would impress. Far from being great Yes, this is Yes bereft of new ideas, and flogging a very dead and bloody horse. This is Yes pretty much at their worse. I can only imagine folks like this because they came to it before they heard the band at their best, and we tend to have emotional attachment to such discoveries.
| Released | 15 July 1977 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | 1976–1977 |
| Studio | Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland |
| Genre | Progressive rock |
| Length | 38:49 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer | Yes |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Going for the One" | Jon Anderson | 5:30 |
| 2. | "Turn of the Century" | Anderson, Steve Howe, Alan White | 7:58 |
| 3. | "Parallels" | Chris Squire | 5:52 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wonderous Stories" | Anderson | 3:45 |
| 2. | "Awaken" | Anderson, Howe | 15:38 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals
- Steve Howe – guitars, vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitar, vocals
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards
- Alan White – drums
Wikipedia
YesWorld
BEA: 1,190th
AllMusic: 6
Score: 4
 |
| Tormato (Sept 1978) |
This has all the familiar Yes features, but it's uninspired. The band just seem to be going through the motions. It's not a bad album, it's just not that good. After this Anderson and Wakeman left the band for a while.
| Released | 22 September 1978 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | February–June 1978 |
| Studio | Advision Studios (Fitzrovia, London) RAK Studios (Regent's Park, London) |
| Genre | Progressive rock[1] |
| Length | 40:57 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Producer | Yes |
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Future Times"/"Rejoice" | Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman, White | 6:46 |
| 2. | "Don't Kill the Whale" | Anderson, Squire | 3:55 |
| 3. | "Madrigal" | Anderson, Wakeman | 2:21 |
| 4. | "Release, Release" | Anderson, Squire, White | 5:40 |
| Total length: | 18:42 | ||
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Arriving UFO" | Anderson, Howe, Wakeman | 6:02 |
| 2. | "Circus of Heaven" | Anderson | 4:28 |
| 3. | "Onward" | Squire | 4:00 |
| 4. | "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" | Anderson, Squire | 7:45 |
| Total length: | 22:15 | ||
- Jon Anderson – vocals, 10-string Alvarez guitar (1, 5 and 8)
- Steve Howe – guitar, vocals
- Chris Squire – bass, vocals
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards
- Alan White – drums, vocals (4)
YesWorld
Wikipedia
BEA: 4,392th
AllMusic: 4
Score: 2
 |
| Drama (Aug 1980) |
Wakeman and Anderson have left. Trevor Horn of Buggles is now the vocalist. It sounds like Yes, but Yes on a bad night. Or, perhaps, it sounds like a Yes cover band who have written their own pastiche material. It's not bad as such, but other than a cleaner, crisper sound, this has not advanced the band beyond 1972. There's nothing original or meaningful here - it's just too much pastiche. Horn's voice is not as pleasing as Anderson's, and its jerky harshness begins to grate after a while.
| Released | 18 August 1980 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | April–June 1980 |
| Studio | Townhouse and SARM East Studios, London (album) Roundhouse and RAK Studios, London (guitars) |
| Genre | |
| Length | 36:30 |
| Label | Atlantic Records |
| Producer |
|
All songs by Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn, Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Machine Messiah" | 10:18 |
| 2. | "White Car" | 1:18 |
| 3. | "Does It Really Happen?" | 6:27 |
| Total length: | 18:04 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Into the Lens" | 8:31 |
| 2. | "Run Through the Light" | 4:41 |
| 3. | "Tempus Fugit" | 5:12 |
| Total length: | 18:24 | |
- Trevor Horn – lead vocals, fretless bass on "Run Through the Light"
- Steve Howe – guitar, backing vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitar (except "Run Through the Light"), piano on "Run Through the Light", backing vocals
- Geoff Downes – keyboards, Fairlight CMI, vocoder on "Into the Lens"
- Alan White – drums, percussion, backing vocals
YesWorld
BEA: 4,258th
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 2
The second compilation album. This covers the band's classic period when the band produced their best music. The choice of tracks could have been better, but is a reasonable selection.
BEA: 4,258th
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 2
 |
| Classic Yes (1981) |
The second compilation album. This covers the band's classic period when the band produced their best music. The choice of tracks could have been better, but is a reasonable selection.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Heart of the Sunrise - Fragile (1971)" | Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Bill Bruford | 10:35 |
| 2. | "Wonderous Stories - Going for the One (1977)" | Anderson | 3:50 |
| 3. | "Yours Is No Disgrace - The Yes Album (1971)" | Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Steve Howe, Tony Kaye | 9:41 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Starship Trooper" - The Yes Album (1971)
| 9:25 | |
| 5. | "Long Distance Runaround - Fragile (1971)" | Anderson | 3:30 |
| 6. | "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) - Fragile (1971)" | Squire | 2:37 |
| 7. | "And You and I" - Close to the Edge (1972) | Anderson; themes by Bruford, Howe, Squire | 10:05 |
Anderson returns, and they release their biggest single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart", which makes them sound like a cross between Buggles and Genesis, and very Eighties (though it's a better song than that makes it sound!). The band have moved on, but the movement is toward commercialism and popularity rather than the symphonic musical vision which had clearly propelled Anderson and Squires since 1969. It's a more attractive album than Drama and Tormato, but it's superficial, and seems to be as far from Yes as its possible for the band to get. Oddly, at this point, Yes appear to be copying Genesis rather than Genesis copying Yes. The short instrumental "Cinema" won the band a Grammy. Though there are similarities and connections, the 80s Yes is different to the 70s Yes, and this is very much of its time, and is probably the best 80s Yes album.
YesWorld
Wikipedia
BEA: 1,478th
AllMusic: 9
Score: 3 1/2
| Released | 7 November 1983 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | November 1982–July 1983 |
| Studio | SARM and AIR Studios (London, England) |
| Genre | |
| Length | 44:49 |
| Label | Atco |
| Producer |
|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Owner of a Lonely Heart" | Rabin, Anderson, Squire, Horn | Anderson, Rabin | 4:27 |
| 2. | "Hold On" | Rabin, Anderson, Squire | Anderson, Squire | 5:18 |
| 3. | "It Can Happen" | Squire, Anderson, Rabin | Anderson, Squire | 5:25 |
| 4. | "Changes" | Rabin, Anderson, Alan White | Rabin, Anderson | 6:16 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cinema" | Squire, Rabin, White, Kaye | Instrumental | 2:07 |
| 2. | "Leave It" | Squire, Rabin, Horn | Rabin, Anderson | 4:10 |
| 3. | "Our Song" | Anderson, Squire, Rabin, White | Anderson | 4:13 |
| 4. | "City of Love" | Rabin, Anderson, Squire, Kaye, White | Anderson | 4:46 |
| 5. | "Hearts" | Anderson, Squire, Rabin, White, Kaye | Anderson, Rabin | 7:36 |
- Jon Anderson – vocals
- Trevor Rabin – guitars, keyboards, vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitars, vocals
- Alan White – drums, percussion, backing vocals, Fairlight CMI
- Tony Kaye – keyboards
YesWorld
Wikipedia
BEA: 1,478th
AllMusic: 9
Score: 3 1/2
 |
| Big Generator (Sept 1987) |
There's a big Eighties sound to this, with drums mixed to the fore, and lots of spacey echo. It's not exactly ugly, but it's not my thing. It feels clinical, mediocre, and lacking in soul and musical finesse. It's a crude album of musical notes which doesn't really amount to music.
YesWorld; BEA: 19,919th
| Released | 21 September 1987 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | 1985–1987 |
| Studio |
|
| Genre | |
| Length | 43:14 |
| Label | Atco |
| Producer |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rhythm of Love" | Tony Kaye, Trevor Rabin, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire | 4:49 |
| 2. | "Big Generator" | Rabin, Kaye, Anderson, Squire, Alan White | 4:31 |
| 3. | "Shoot High Aim Low" | White, Kaye, Rabin, Anderson, Squire | 6:59 |
| 4. | "Almost Like Love" | Kaye, Rabin, Anderson, Squire | 4:58 |
| Total length: | 21:27 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Love Will Find a Way" | Rabin | 4:48 |
| 2. | "Final Eyes" | Rabin, Kaye, Anderson, Squire | 6:20 |
| 3. | "I'm Running" | Rabin, Squire, Anderson, Kaye, White | 7:34 |
| 4. | "Holy Lamb (Song for Harmonic Convergence)" | Anderson | 3:15 |
| Total length: | 21:57 | ||
- Jon Anderson – vocals
- Trevor Rabin – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, string arrangements
- Tony Kaye – keyboards
- Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Alan White – drums, percussion, backing vocals
YesWorld; BEA: 19,919th
After the dire Big Generator, Anderson left the official Yes to form an alternative Yes with other ex-Yes members. They released this one studio album, and two live albums of Yes material. Plus they worked with the official Yes on the Union album.
Yes are the epitome of progressive music. With Close To The Edge they made the greatest ever prog album - the album that pointed the way for what was possible with symphonic prog, and then with the over ambitious Tales From Topographical Oceans they made the album that for many sums up everything that is awful about prog rock. Though they pulled themselves together after Tales - modifying their impulse to be ambitious, leaning more on conventional song structures, recording the occasional focused track, such as "Wonderous Stories", and remaining a commercial force - by the late 80s they were not quite the creative team at their peak as they were in the 70s; indeed, the essential creative team had dissipated, with the remnants drifting in and out - the only constant being bass player Chris Squire.
At this point, Anderson, who had left Yes after 1978's awful Tormato, and then re-joined for 1983's commercially successful 90125 and the less successful follow up 1987's Big Generator, was unsatisfied by the commercial sound that producer Trevor Horn had delivered on those albums (making them sound like a cross between Yes and Buggles). Anderson wanted a clean return to the classic Yes, and pulled together the old team, the essential creative team - the musicians who had recorded Fragile and Close To The Edge: Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe. But not Chris Squire, the musician who had been the constant through all the other Yes albums, good, bad and indifferent. Quite why Squire wasn't included in Anderson's new band is unclear to me.
So a new (or old) Yes band was assembled; but, because of a legal agreement in May 1984 that all present and former Yes members had signed, only the existing band - whoever was in it - could be called Yes; so instead they used their surnames as the band name: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH).
Yes are the epitome of progressive music. With Close To The Edge they made the greatest ever prog album - the album that pointed the way for what was possible with symphonic prog, and then with the over ambitious Tales From Topographical Oceans they made the album that for many sums up everything that is awful about prog rock. Though they pulled themselves together after Tales - modifying their impulse to be ambitious, leaning more on conventional song structures, recording the occasional focused track, such as "Wonderous Stories", and remaining a commercial force - by the late 80s they were not quite the creative team at their peak as they were in the 70s; indeed, the essential creative team had dissipated, with the remnants drifting in and out - the only constant being bass player Chris Squire.
At this point, Anderson, who had left Yes after 1978's awful Tormato, and then re-joined for 1983's commercially successful 90125 and the less successful follow up 1987's Big Generator, was unsatisfied by the commercial sound that producer Trevor Horn had delivered on those albums (making them sound like a cross between Yes and Buggles). Anderson wanted a clean return to the classic Yes, and pulled together the old team, the essential creative team - the musicians who had recorded Fragile and Close To The Edge: Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe. But not Chris Squire, the musician who had been the constant through all the other Yes albums, good, bad and indifferent. Quite why Squire wasn't included in Anderson's new band is unclear to me.
So a new (or old) Yes band was assembled; but, because of a legal agreement in May 1984 that all present and former Yes members had signed, only the existing band - whoever was in it - could be called Yes; so instead they used their surnames as the band name: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH).
The album was clearly Anderson's project - he was assimilating ideas and even recordings from the others, and putting them together in his own way, before assembling everyone (apart from Howe) on the Caribbean island of Montserrat to record the album. Credit for all the songs on the album are given equally to Anderson, Howe, Wakeman, and Bruford, though Howe has reported that he had no part in composing some songs, and the others had no part in composing his songs. A video, In the Big Dream, was made of the recoding of the album and includes a live performance by ABWH of "Heart of the Sunrise" in which the bass player, Tony Levin, who replaces Chris Squire, is clearly regarded as a session player as the camera never focuses on him.
There are nine tracks on the album, four of those are divided into short suites, the longest of which, at 10:16, is "Brother of Mine". Howe not being present during the recording generally means that his guitar pieces are rather swamped by Wakeman's keyboards - as can be noticed when comparing the alternative version of "Fist of Fire" on the In A Word: Yes boxset, in which Howe was present and produces some typically searing and soaring guitar. Bruford was during this period using a hybrid electronic and acoustic drum set, which gave a different sound to that of the classic Yes period of Fragile and Close To The Edge. Wakeman, who was clearly engaged, switched on, and perhaps with an ambitious desire to show what he could do back in the Seventies, seems on this album to behave more as a hired hand, and money rather than desire may have been what prompted him to do the album, as he'd been having financial problems for most of the 80s.
Anderson's lyrics throughout the album appear to focus on the idea that music made from love and friendship is better than music made for money. It's not quite a concept album, but is close to it. The opening lines of the first track, "Be gone you ever piercing / Power Play machine / Cutting our musical solidarity" appears to set the theme that Anderson is rejecting commercial/corporate music in favour of "musical solidarity". "Fist of Fire" introduces a bird image which will reappear, and which is reflected on the album cover, and the Big Dream documentary, and is perhaps symbolic of the power of "true" and natural music. "Brother of Mine" has "Brothers...in the big sky" who see Anderson "fly like an eagle". "Birthright" appears to be vaguely about big countries/powers identified as "stars and stripes" and "white and red" which are too big for a small new born country - it may make reference to atomic bomb tests in Australia in the 1950s which contaminated the land so it couldn't be returned to the aborigines until 2014. "My love" and "she" in "The Meeting" and "Quartet" could refer to music, or the inspiration/the muse which creates music. "Teakbois" - a word that possibly relates to wood and nature, is perhaps the celebration of natural music over the corporate music, and Anderson brings back the bird symbol - "I've dreamed of music that comes from the heart / As though the eagle has landed". "The Order of The Universe" celebrates rock music: "Rock gives courage, a way to win the trust / Rock gives lovers a way to win or bust / Rock gives sisters a way to speak their mind / Without this gift of rock and roll / We'd all be wasting time". The final track, "Let's Pretend", ends the album with a sense of coming together in love and nature to return to something wholesome: "Let's get our hearts together / And as before, and like before / We'll do again". So there is a rough sense that the lyrics are about the classic Yes coming together in love to make natural music once again, rather than for money, as had been the case with the previous Yes albums.
The music throughout the album is remarkably softer and more pastoral than previous 80s Yes albums - indeed, more pastoral than Yes at their peak. It is, though, closer in style and intent and sound to the 70s Yes than the 80s Yes. What perhaps holds the album back is the feeling that the band are not fully engaged creatively or spiritually with the album. It feels like a group of session musicians going through the motions, and lacks the energy and tightness of something like Close To The Edge. But it's not a bad album. It's certainly a better album than I expected. I had stopped listening to Yes by the time it was originally released in 1989, and though I did listen to it reasonably closely a few years ago I did so with a degree of prejudice accumulated though what Yes had been releasing from Tormato onwards.
The album opens with "Themes", which has the feel of Fragile, but with less energy and inventiveness. It's an attractive though modest piece which becomes a little repetitive, and doesn't fully develop or go anywhere. "Fist of Fire" is brighter and more assertive, though has the same issue as "Themes" in that the musical structure doesn't develop, and it feels too repetitive. This feeling of unambitious, undeveloped, and repetitive music will become a common theme across the album. "Brother of Mine" is one of the strongest tracks on the album, and one that feels like the classic Yes with some changes in time signature to keep it interesting. "Birthtrack" is another brighter, stronger track, which contains some sounds like aborigine musical instruments to key in to the possible theme of the atomic tests at Maralinga. "The Meeting" is the most pastoral and acoustic track with some pensive piano, though rarely develops beyond the feel of a demo.
"Quartet" is a pleasant pastoral piece that doesn't really go anywhere and eventually overstays its welcome. It has an attractive sound, but at 9 minutes long with no contrast, the attraction does wear out. "Teakbois" is the weakest track on the album - a piece of nonsense calypso style music which flirts with native Australian music, and feels rather falsely happy clappy, and - like "Quartet" - at over 7 minutes overstays its welcome. "Order of The Universe" competes with "Brother of Mine" for which is the strongest track, closest to classic Yes. The album finishes with the very pleasant "Let's Pretend", which could almost have come off The Yes Album.
All in all a much better album than those which immediately proceeded and followed it. It does stand out as a decent attempt to make something worthwhile rather than something just for the money. But in the attempt to make an album like the classic Yes albums it ends up making the listener make a comparison in which ABWH will always come off as second best. It does invoke memories of the classic period, and - somewhat awkwardly - in "Quartet" Anderson makes lyrical references to older Yes songs: "Long Distance Runaround", "Gates of Delirium", "Roundabout", etc; but such invocation makes one feel sad that the band one is listening to isn't able to come up with the goods.
So, not a turkey by any means. But, also, sadly, not the soaring eagle it so wishes to be.
6/10
In the Big Dream (video of the making of the album); Alternative version of "Fist of Fire"; Lyrics; DPRP; ClassicRockReview; Sputnik; ProgAspect; VocalMedia; ClassicRockAlbumOfTheWeek;
| Released | 20 June 1989 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | 1988–1989 |
| Studio | La Frette Studios (Paris, France) AIR Studios (Montserrat, British West Indies) AIR Studios (London, England) |
| Genre | |
| Length | 59:05 |
| Label | Arista |
| Producer |
All music and lyrics by Anderson, Howe, Wakeman and Bruford. Additional writing credits are below:
| No. | Title | Additional writers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Themes"
| 5:57 | |
| 2. | "Fist of Fire" | 3:27 | |
| 3. | "Brother of Mine" | Geoff Downes | 10:16 |
| 4. | "Birthright" | Max Bacon | 6:00 |
| 5. | "The Meeting" | 4:16 | |
| 6. | "Quartet" | Ben Dowling | 9:16 |
| 7. | "Teakbois" | 7:35 | |
| 8. | "Order of the Universe" | Rhett Lawrence | 9:01 |
| 9. | "Let's Pretend" | Vangelis | 2:56 |
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals, production
- Bill Bruford – Tama acoustic drums, Simmons SDX electronic drums
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards
- Steve Howe – guitars
- Tony Levin – bass, Chapman stick, vocals
- Matt Clifford – keyboards, programming, orchestration, vocals
- Milton McDonald – rhythm guitar
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 8
Score:
 |
| Union (YouTube link) (April 1991) |
The two bands, Yes and Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, record an album together, but each band plays separately, Anderson being the only common factor. Apparently most people dislike it. I dislike the Yes tracks - they are superficial and glassy; the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe tracks are more approachable, but reach too much into the past, so they sound like a Yes pastiche band.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 5
Score: 2
| Released | 30 April 1991 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | 1989–1991 |
| Studio | Various locations |
| Genre | |
| Length | 59:37 (LP) 65:00 (International CD) 69:29 (European, Japanese CD) |
| Label | Arista |
| Producer |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Would Have Waited Forever" | Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Jonathan Elias | Jonathan Elias | 6:32 |
| 2. | "Shock to the System" | Anderson, Howe, Elias | Elias | 5:08 |
| 3. | "Masquerade" | Howe | Howe | 2:16 |
| 4. | "Lift Me Up" | Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire | Rabin | 6:29 |
| 5. | "Without Hope You Cannot Start the Day" | Anderson, Elias | Elias | 5:16 |
| 6. | "Saving My Heart" | Rabin | Rabin | 4:38 |
| 7. | "Miracle of Life" | Rabin, Mark Mancina | Rabin, Mancina, Eddy Offord | 7:30 |
| 8. | "Silent Talking" | Anderson, Howe, Rick Wakeman, Bill Bruford, Elias | Elias | 3:57 |
| 9. | "The More We Live – Let Go" | Squire, Billy Sherwood | Offord | 4:53 |
| 10. | "Angkor Wat" | Anderson, Wakeman, Elias | Elias | 5:23 |
| 11. | "Dangerous (Look in the Light of What You're Searching For)" | Anderson, Elias | Elias | 3:37 |
| 12. | "Holding On" | Anderson, Elias, Howe | Elias | 5:23 |
| 13. | "Evensong" | Tony Levin, Bruford | Elias | 0:50 |
| 14. | "Take the Water to the Mountain" | Anderson | Elias | 3:11 |
- Jon Anderson – lead and backing vocals (all except tracks 3 and 13), production
- Steve Howe – acoustic and electric guitars (tracks 1, 3, 8, 12 and 15),[23] production (track 3)
- Trevor Rabin – electric guitars, lead and backing vocals (tracks 4, 6, 7 and 9), production (tracks 4, 6, 7), engineering (track 9)
- Chris Squire – harmony and backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4-7, 9 and 11), bass (tracks 4, 6, 7)
- Tony Kaye – Hammond B-3 organ, piano (tracks 4, 6, 7 and 9)
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, 10-12, 14 and 15)
- Bill Bruford – acoustic and electric drums, percussion (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, and 11-15)
- Alan White – acoustic drums and percussion (tracks 4, 6, 7 & 9)
Additional personnel
- Jonathan Elias – piano (track 5), synthesizers/programming, backing vocals, production
- Tony Levin – bass guitar (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 15), Chapman Stick (track 13)
- Jimmy Haun – electric and acoustic guitars (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15)[23]
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 5
Score: 2
 |
| Talk (YouTube link) (March 1994) |
On first hearing I hated this - plodding Eighties drums, hollow production spaces, slashing wannabe heavy MOR rock guitar. Pretty trashy and unlistenable. I was just about to disregard the whole album as I couldn't take much more, when I got to "Where Will You Be", and was pleasantly surprised. This is where the heart of what was good about Anderson's vision for Yes in the 70's meets modern production and arrangements. Yes, the song structure is simple, and is merely pleasant rather than engaging, but the track is decent, and is probably the best thing that's come out under the Yes name since Close To The Edge. The next track "Endless Dream" also has moments that hark back to classic Yes, while keeping a foot in the modern day, but is a much weaker track. It feels like a genuine attempt has been made to write a Yes song, rather than a commercial song, or a throwaway pastiche just to keep the fans interested. But there's not enough here to sustain repeat listenings. Ultimately the album is a failure, but the last two tracks save it from being an epic failure.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 4
Score: 2
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 4
Score: 2
 |
| Open Your Eyes (Nov 1997) |
Wakeman leaves - again. He is replaced with Billy Sherwood, and the band make an album totally lacking in ideas. I think the band, the critics, the buying public, and the fans all dislike this album. It is pretty dreadful. The most interesting track is the hidden 15 minute one at the end of "The Solution", which consists of some irritating low white noise and what sounds like artificial bird song with occasional snatches of Anderson's singing from the album dropped in randomly here and there. And that sums up the lack of creativity in the band at this point.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 4
Score: 1
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 4
Score: 1
 |
| The Ladder (Sept 1999) |
Igor Khoroshev joins the band, taking over keyboards from Sherwood who moves to second guitar. It's another dreary plodding album lacking in ideas. It was generally seen as an improvement on Open Your Eyes, but pissing on an electric socket would be an improvement on listening to that album again. This is pretty bad.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 1/2
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 1/2
 |
| Keystudio (YouTube link) (May 2001) |
This is an album of just the original material from the two Keys To Ascension albums which mainly consisted of older material recorded live.
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score:
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score:
 |
| Magnification (Sept 2001) |
With Sherwood gone and Khoroshev fired after being accused by two female security guards of sexual assault during a concert (which appears not to have gone to court, so the full truth of that incident is unlikely to come out) the band were down to the core members of Anderson, Squire, Howe and White. They brought in an orchestra to compensate for lack of a keyboard player. It's not an unpleasant album, though there's little here to encourage repeat listens. It sounds like soundtrack music to a cheap movie. The simplistic string arrangements add nothing - sometimes detracting with their slushy simplicity, and are not an adequate replacement for a creative keyboardist like Wakeman.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 2
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 2
 |
| Yes Acoustic: Guaranteed No Hiss (YouTube link) (Jan 2004) |
I like this. Yes unplugged, with the core members. This was originally broadcast live to 25 cinemas in America. There's a pleasant atmosphere, and nice choice of songs. The playing is a little crude and clumsy at times as though the band were under-rehearsed, but that sort of adds to the casual charm. Not a great album, but pleasant enough.
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score: 4
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score: 4
 |
| Fly from Here (YouTube link) (June 2011) |
Benoît David replaces Jon Anderson to create an imitation Yes album. It's not unpleasant, but after a while I am left wondering why I am listening to this. It's all been done before and so much better.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 7
Score: 2
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 7
Score: 2
 |
| Heaven & Earth (July 2014) |
Still containing some core Yes members, and still with a sound recognisably that of Yes, this has Jon Davison on vocals, sounding like Anderson, but without the magic, and Geoff Downes on keyboards going through the motions. The band are clearly trying to recapture some of the sound and structure of their classic past, but for whatever reason, it ultimately fails. I wonder if a track like, say "One Step Beyond", had appeared on The Yes Album would it now be part of the canon? It sounds like classic Yes, and it's a pleasant breezy track. But I suppose the problem is that it is out of time. In 1970 or 1971 it would have fitted in fairly nicely with it's psychedelic pop sound, but in 2014 it is out of time, and clearly an attempt to imitate.
YesWorld
Wikipedia
BEA: 17,052th
AllMusic: 4
Score: 2 1/2
* Yessongs live version (overblown and lacking focus)
* Beat Club live 1971 (probably the most electric and stunning version)
The opening track on the classic The Yes Album introduces both Steve Howe, and a new direction for the band - one which will shape Yes for the rest of the band's career. The band themselves particularly liked this track as they all had a part in creating it. It is the only track that Tony Kaye is given writing credit for.
Much has been written on the song - Bill Martin goes into deep and tortuous whirlpools to try to define and describe it. On the one hand he is reluctant to pin down the lyrics, and yet examines at great length and in precise detail the notion that it's about the Vietnam War. I can't see any reference to the Vietnam War in the song, and it appears that people have been working hard to make the lyrics fit that concept. While the meaning is not clear, what we can say is that the song is addressed to an imaginary or actual listener: "Yours is no disgrace", "a smile upon your face", "tell/show me where you are", "that's just where you are", etc. While this person could be an individual, perhaps an elusive lover, there is also the possibility it might be humanity as a whole ("a smile upon your face ... silly human race") or the planet Earth: when the morning comes the Sun shines on the face of the Earth. There are seasons changing, and a lot of movement - "a sailing ship to nowhere", "flying", "travel very far", "gather near", "crawling out", etc. There is the sense of something lost or gone - the song is foregrounded with "Yesterday", "Lost" comes twice, along with "losing", "leaving" and "disappear". There seems to be some form of quest going on to find what or who has been lost: "tell me where you are", "show me where you are", "Lost in losing circumstances, that's just where you are". However, whatever it is that has been lost, or needs to be found, we get the repeated refrain "Yours is no disgrace", emphasising, perhaps, that there is no blame here. Summer is associated with warmth, life, richness and gaiety, while winter is cold, harsh, unforgiving, and deadly. Yet there is a reassurance to the person or thing addressed in the song, that "If" (interestingly not "When") the summer changes to winter, there will no blame or disgrace. It's a reassurance to us, perhaps, that whatever changes are being made, whatever is happening, the "you" of the song is not at fault. From this a listener can insert whatever personal meaning suits their mood or thought. If a listener wishes it to be about war in general, or even a specific war, it can be. If the listener wishes it to be about a relationship ending, and there being no regrets, it can be. If the listener wishes it to be about mankind destroying planet Earth, it can be. The lyrics are too vague to pin anything down exactly; though personal, even idiosyncratic meanings, can be found - and this accords with what Anderson said during the Sounding Out documentary a few months after the song was released, and which finishes with a live version of the song: "I think I work a bit backward because I write a tune and then I write the lyrics, not so much for the idea behind the lyrics but for the sound of the words. After you've written a song and put it together and recorded it I start to look at the thing as a whole and then decide there is a meaning to it; if I can find a meaning then possibly people that listen to it will find different meanings."
The unique lines (removing repetitions) are:
Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face.
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer change to winter, yours is no disgrace.
Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are,
Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me where you are,
Lost in summer, morning, winter, travel very far,
Lost in losing circumstances, that's just where you are
Death defying, mutilated armies gather near, [usually misprinted as "scatter the earth"]
Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals, their morals disappear.
The track's length at 9.41 was the longest that Yes had recorded to date, and pointed the direction the band would go in: extended free flowing exploration of song structure. Such a length, though, was not unusual for the time. Since Dylan's 1966 Blond on Blond, with the the record buying public had been used to songs of over 11 minutes, and a number of the early symphonic rock and progressive rock bands like Procol Harem with the 17.31 minute "In Held 'Twas in I" from 1968's Shine On Brightly album, and Renaissance with the 10.51 minute "Kings & Queens" from their eponymous 1969 album, had made good use of the ability to extend themselves musically on the album format.
"Yours Is No Disgrace" opens with a musical section that leads into the main music motif. After the intro the track is essentially an R&B jam, where the music motif is explored repeatedly, changing each time. Steve Howe explained in 2003 that the jam was done slowly and methodically rather than organically as it would with a band like Cream. Where "Yours Is No Disgrace" perhaps differs from similar R&B jams or keyboard-led symphonic rock tracks, is in the thoughtfulness and democracy of the band which shows in the range of ideas they have, share, discuss, and develop, and in the musicianship of the band, which gives the music an authority and a joy. Cream were accomplished musicians, but perhaps came at what they were doing more organically, while Yes thought about it more, and structured it in advance, so the ideas when played out come quicker and are crisper. "Spoonful" by Cream is awesomely skilful, ground-breaking, and inventive, but the roots of the organic jam can be heard in the slowly shifting changes to the main motif. I like "Spoonful" (probably more than "Yours Is No Disgrace"), and I like those organic developments, but the end result is a serious or "heavy" atmosphere compared to the lightness and joy of "Yours is no Disgrace".
The richness of orchestral sounds (sometimes using a full orchestra, or more commonly using modern keyboard instruments that give a similar range and depth, such as organs and synthesisers) and a symphonic structure where a musical piece may have separate "movements" or musical sections, is key to the success of Yes. Consciously or unconsciously Anderson may have been thinking of the Moody Blues album Days of Future Past when writing the lyrics, as the theme of time passing is similar to Anderson's theme, and Graeme Edge's poem "Morning Glory" opens and closes the album.
The jazzy guitar playing (reflecting contemporary British jazz-fusion bands such as Soft Machine, King Crimson, Caravan, and Colosseum, and other jazz-tinged musicians such as Frank Zappa) ignites the song and clues us in as to why Yes are different - Howe is a supremely gifted player supported by very accomplished and creative musicians.The band are symphonic, yes, but they also rock in the style of Cream. The blend of symphonic pop, jazz-fusion and "progressive" British R&B with Anderson's pleasant, ephemeral voice and flighty, suggestive lyrics is compelling. On this first track with Steve Howe they get it all together; from this point forward the band would explore the basic structure they had found on this track. For a couple of albums such development worked very well, but eventually started to repeat itself in a downward spiral.
There's a teasing opening of tinkling noises which get louder until the band bursts in in full flight. After several abrupt pauses for a brief choral from Anderson, the band come together with the main theme. It is probably the most audacious start of any Yes track. This is musically sound from start to finish, and is the heart of the Close To The Edge album.
You know, pretty much every track on The Yes Album is solid. The only relatively weak track is "A Venture", and even that is more likeable and listenable than much of their output after Close To The Edge. All the tracks, including "A Venture", would continue to be played live for the rest of the band's career.
Yessongs live version (fairly close to the studio version)
Everything works well on this. Tight rhythmic drumming, playful clear guitar picking like crystal ice tinkling. sweeping and varied keyboards, expressive but binding bass that holds it all together, and Anderson's airy voice with meaningless but evocative lyrics containing lines like "River running right on over my head". The song doesn't do anything new, but it works well, and creates an impressive mood. This is a band at their confident peak.
Yessongs live version (messy and barely listenable)
This has pleasant moments, and in general I like it, but it does feel like an album or live concert track - something that is barely able to stand on its own, but is perfectly fine as part of a longer moment of music. Essentially this is wall paper music. Dum de dum, pleasant waffling. It is, however, a staple of the band's live performances, and is frequently highly placed on Yes song lists. The live Yessongs version is painful to listen to - the balance is poor, Wakeman is out of control, and Anderson is sometimes out of tune.
Roundabout
Starts with Spanish guitar. Most Yes songs seem to have a guitar intro before the band comes in.
9) "Beyond And Before" from Yes, 1969
The first track from their first album contains the elements that are present in the classic Yes. An earlier version of "Beyond And Before" had been recorded by Mabel Greer's Toyshop for John Peel's Radio One programme. A new version was recorded in 2016 by a reformed Toyshop.
* "Beyond And Before" from Yes, 1969
* "Beyond And Before", 1968 version recorded by Mabel Greer's Toyshop for John Peel's Radio One programme.
* "Beyond And Before", 2016 version by a reformed Mabel Greer's Toyshop for the album New Way of Life
"You Came Along" (1964) "Mr Nobody Nothing" "Don't Make Me Blue"
The Syn 1966 - 67 Chris Squire & Peter Banks
"Created By Clive" "14 Hour Technicolour Dream" "Flowerman" "Grounded"
Wakeman started his music career as a session musician; notably playing the Mellotron on "Space Oddity" (1969), and piano on Hunky Dory (1971). The day that Bowie's death was announced, Wakeman was interviewed on Radio Two, and was asked to play the piano part of "Life On Mars?" at the end of the programme, which he did with great feeling and perfect timing, filling the space available exactly. While working as a session musician he was also briefly a member of The Strawbs, a folk-rock group led by Dave Cousins. He worked as a session musician on Dragonfly (1970), after which he joined the band for two albums, Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios (1970) and From the Witchwood (1970). He then joined Yes to record Fragile, Close to the Edge, and Tales of Topographic Oceans, At the same time he recorded the solo albums The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973) and Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974), at which point he left Yes. He recorded another solo album, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975).
* Wikipedia
* Alchetron
* Website
Yes is mainly Jon Anderson's band. It is clear that he and Chris Squire drove the shape and direction of the band, and of the two, Anderson - as the lead singer and main song-writer - is the person most associated with the band. His singing style and his lyrics are a significant feature of the band. The bass playing is superb, but you don't recognise Yes by the bass playing, you recognise Yes by the voice and lyrics.
Anderson's first band was The Warriors. He was with them from 1962 to 1967, and recorded two singles for Decca "You Came Along" / "Mr Nobody Nothing" (1964), and "Don't Make Me Blue" (1964). He split from The Warriors in 1967, briefly joining The Party, before returning to London to record two singles for Parlophone under the name Hans Christian: "Never My Love" and "Mississippi Hobo". He then joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop, a band with Chris Squire on bass. The line-up changed to include Banks on guitar, Bruford on drums, and Kaye on keyboards. They recorded "Beyond and Before" (1968) before they changed their name to Yes, and the rest is history.
* Wikipedia
* Alchetron
* Jonanderson
* Alchetron
* Website
* Wikipedia
* Website
Original guitarist. Decent guitar work on the first album but seemed hardly there on the second, so was replaced by Steve Howe who lifted the band, and, along with Anderson, made the distinctive Yes sound. Went on to work with Flash and Empire, as well as releasing solo albums. He died in 2013.
YesWorld
Wikipedia
BEA: 17,052th
AllMusic: 4
Score: 2 1/2
Discography
- Yes (1969)
- Time and a Word (1970)
- The Yes Album (1971)
- Fragile (1971)
- Close to the Edge (1972)
- Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973)
- Relayer (1974)
- Going for the One (1977)
- Tormato (1978)
- Drama (1980)
- 90125 (1983)
- Big Generator (1987)
- Union (1991)
- Talk (1994)
- Keys to Ascension (1996)
- Keys to Ascension 2 (1997)
- Open Your Eyes (1997)
- The Ladder (1999)
- Magnification (2001)
- Fly from Here (2011)
- Heaven & Earth (2014)
Significant songs
These are the most significant Yes tracks in my opinion, ranked from most to least significant.1) "Yours Is No Disgrace" from The Yes Album, Feb 1971
* The Yes Album studio version (the classic)* Yessongs live version (overblown and lacking focus)
* Beat Club live 1971 (probably the most electric and stunning version)
The opening track on the classic The Yes Album introduces both Steve Howe, and a new direction for the band - one which will shape Yes for the rest of the band's career. The band themselves particularly liked this track as they all had a part in creating it. It is the only track that Tony Kaye is given writing credit for.
Much has been written on the song - Bill Martin goes into deep and tortuous whirlpools to try to define and describe it. On the one hand he is reluctant to pin down the lyrics, and yet examines at great length and in precise detail the notion that it's about the Vietnam War. I can't see any reference to the Vietnam War in the song, and it appears that people have been working hard to make the lyrics fit that concept. While the meaning is not clear, what we can say is that the song is addressed to an imaginary or actual listener: "Yours is no disgrace", "a smile upon your face", "tell/show me where you are", "that's just where you are", etc. While this person could be an individual, perhaps an elusive lover, there is also the possibility it might be humanity as a whole ("a smile upon your face ... silly human race") or the planet Earth: when the morning comes the Sun shines on the face of the Earth. There are seasons changing, and a lot of movement - "a sailing ship to nowhere", "flying", "travel very far", "gather near", "crawling out", etc. There is the sense of something lost or gone - the song is foregrounded with "Yesterday", "Lost" comes twice, along with "losing", "leaving" and "disappear". There seems to be some form of quest going on to find what or who has been lost: "tell me where you are", "show me where you are", "Lost in losing circumstances, that's just where you are". However, whatever it is that has been lost, or needs to be found, we get the repeated refrain "Yours is no disgrace", emphasising, perhaps, that there is no blame here. Summer is associated with warmth, life, richness and gaiety, while winter is cold, harsh, unforgiving, and deadly. Yet there is a reassurance to the person or thing addressed in the song, that "If" (interestingly not "When") the summer changes to winter, there will no blame or disgrace. It's a reassurance to us, perhaps, that whatever changes are being made, whatever is happening, the "you" of the song is not at fault. From this a listener can insert whatever personal meaning suits their mood or thought. If a listener wishes it to be about war in general, or even a specific war, it can be. If the listener wishes it to be about a relationship ending, and there being no regrets, it can be. If the listener wishes it to be about mankind destroying planet Earth, it can be. The lyrics are too vague to pin anything down exactly; though personal, even idiosyncratic meanings, can be found - and this accords with what Anderson said during the Sounding Out documentary a few months after the song was released, and which finishes with a live version of the song: "I think I work a bit backward because I write a tune and then I write the lyrics, not so much for the idea behind the lyrics but for the sound of the words. After you've written a song and put it together and recorded it I start to look at the thing as a whole and then decide there is a meaning to it; if I can find a meaning then possibly people that listen to it will find different meanings."
The unique lines (removing repetitions) are:
Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face.
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer change to winter, yours is no disgrace.
Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are,
Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me where you are,
Lost in summer, morning, winter, travel very far,
Lost in losing circumstances, that's just where you are
Death defying, mutilated armies gather near, [usually misprinted as "scatter the earth"]
Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals, their morals disappear.
The track's length at 9.41 was the longest that Yes had recorded to date, and pointed the direction the band would go in: extended free flowing exploration of song structure. Such a length, though, was not unusual for the time. Since Dylan's 1966 Blond on Blond, with the the record buying public had been used to songs of over 11 minutes, and a number of the early symphonic rock and progressive rock bands like Procol Harem with the 17.31 minute "In Held 'Twas in I" from 1968's Shine On Brightly album, and Renaissance with the 10.51 minute "Kings & Queens" from their eponymous 1969 album, had made good use of the ability to extend themselves musically on the album format.
"Yours Is No Disgrace" opens with a musical section that leads into the main music motif. After the intro the track is essentially an R&B jam, where the music motif is explored repeatedly, changing each time. Steve Howe explained in 2003 that the jam was done slowly and methodically rather than organically as it would with a band like Cream. Where "Yours Is No Disgrace" perhaps differs from similar R&B jams or keyboard-led symphonic rock tracks, is in the thoughtfulness and democracy of the band which shows in the range of ideas they have, share, discuss, and develop, and in the musicianship of the band, which gives the music an authority and a joy. Cream were accomplished musicians, but perhaps came at what they were doing more organically, while Yes thought about it more, and structured it in advance, so the ideas when played out come quicker and are crisper. "Spoonful" by Cream is awesomely skilful, ground-breaking, and inventive, but the roots of the organic jam can be heard in the slowly shifting changes to the main motif. I like "Spoonful" (probably more than "Yours Is No Disgrace"), and I like those organic developments, but the end result is a serious or "heavy" atmosphere compared to the lightness and joy of "Yours is no Disgrace".
The richness of orchestral sounds (sometimes using a full orchestra, or more commonly using modern keyboard instruments that give a similar range and depth, such as organs and synthesisers) and a symphonic structure where a musical piece may have separate "movements" or musical sections, is key to the success of Yes. Consciously or unconsciously Anderson may have been thinking of the Moody Blues album Days of Future Past when writing the lyrics, as the theme of time passing is similar to Anderson's theme, and Graeme Edge's poem "Morning Glory" opens and closes the album.
The jazzy guitar playing (reflecting contemporary British jazz-fusion bands such as Soft Machine, King Crimson, Caravan, and Colosseum, and other jazz-tinged musicians such as Frank Zappa) ignites the song and clues us in as to why Yes are different - Howe is a supremely gifted player supported by very accomplished and creative musicians.The band are symphonic, yes, but they also rock in the style of Cream. The blend of symphonic pop, jazz-fusion and "progressive" British R&B with Anderson's pleasant, ephemeral voice and flighty, suggestive lyrics is compelling. On this first track with Steve Howe they get it all together; from this point forward the band would explore the basic structure they had found on this track. For a couple of albums such development worked very well, but eventually started to repeat itself in a downward spiral.
2) "Close To The Edge" from Close To The Edge, Sept 1972
Close To The Edge album version (the classic)There's a teasing opening of tinkling noises which get louder until the band bursts in in full flight. After several abrupt pauses for a brief choral from Anderson, the band come together with the main theme. It is probably the most audacious start of any Yes track. This is musically sound from start to finish, and is the heart of the Close To The Edge album.
3) "Starship Trooper" from The Yes Album, Feb 1971
4) "I've Seen All Good People" from The Yes Album, Feb 1971
5) "Clap" from The Yes Album, Feb 1971
You know, pretty much every track on The Yes Album is solid. The only relatively weak track is "A Venture", and even that is more likeable and listenable than much of their output after Close To The Edge. All the tracks, including "A Venture", would continue to be played live for the rest of the band's career.
6) "Siberian Khatru" from Close To The Edge, Sept 1972
Close To The Edge album version (the classic)Yessongs live version (fairly close to the studio version)
Everything works well on this. Tight rhythmic drumming, playful clear guitar picking like crystal ice tinkling. sweeping and varied keyboards, expressive but binding bass that holds it all together, and Anderson's airy voice with meaningless but evocative lyrics containing lines like "River running right on over my head". The song doesn't do anything new, but it works well, and creates an impressive mood. This is a band at their confident peak.
7) "And You And I" from Close To The Edge, Sept 1972
Close To The Edge album version (the classic)Yessongs live version (messy and barely listenable)
This has pleasant moments, and in general I like it, but it does feel like an album or live concert track - something that is barely able to stand on its own, but is perfectly fine as part of a longer moment of music. Essentially this is wall paper music. Dum de dum, pleasant waffling. It is, however, a staple of the band's live performances, and is frequently highly placed on Yes song lists. The live Yessongs version is painful to listen to - the balance is poor, Wakeman is out of control, and Anderson is sometimes out of tune.
8) "Roundabout" from Fragile, Nov 1971
One of the most popular and acclaimed Yes songs.Roundabout
Starts with Spanish guitar. Most Yes songs seem to have a guitar intro before the band comes in.
9) "Beyond And Before" from Yes, 1969
The first track from their first album contains the elements that are present in the classic Yes. An earlier version of "Beyond And Before" had been recorded by Mabel Greer's Toyshop for John Peel's Radio One programme. A new version was recorded in 2016 by a reformed Toyshop.
* "Beyond And Before" from Yes, 1969
* "Beyond And Before", 1968 version recorded by Mabel Greer's Toyshop for John Peel's Radio One programme.
* "Beyond And Before", 2016 version by a reformed Mabel Greer's Toyshop for the album New Way of Life
Popular but over-rated songs
"Awaken" from Going For The One, July 1977
A number of Yes fans like this track, but by 1977 the band had already developed their sound and their structure, so nothing new happens on this track. The band follow their by now familiar style of moving the music forward in stages - there is a solo intro (this time piano) and then more sounds are added before the whole band comes in and they rock along in a pleasant enough but unremarkable and fairly familiar (almost plodding) manner, with the slight shifts in tempo and bursts of electric guitar that previously would delight, but here sound strained, as though the band have run out of new musical ideas, and are simply running along on what they know the fans like. There are musical changes, different sections, but the changes are often done in a clumsy manner, and the new sections add little to what has gone before, other than as a different mood. At times it feels rather messy. The lyrics are trivial and uninviting - there are few images to delight as in mountains coming out of the sky, or phrases that excite thought as in "Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face". We have an over-indulgent Wakeman going too far on the organ, and the the band throwing in a cheap angelic choral section as though that would impress. Far from being great Yes, this is Yes bereft of new ideas, and flogging a very dead and bloody horse. This is Yes pretty much at their worse. I can only imagine folks like this because they came to it before they heard the band at their best, and we tend to have emotional attachment to such discoveries."Gates of Delirium" from Relayer, Nov 1974
Another track liked by Yes fans only. Gee, it's tedious. The anti-war lyrics are the sort of undisciplined vague nonsense that some sixth formers write before they get a sense of perspective. The music is both overblown and boring. Only a Yes fan could like this. And to think that this track was made after albums like A Wizard, A True Star, Dark Side of the Moon, Phaedra, The Faust Tapes, Angel's Egg, Here Come The Warm Jets, and Autobahn had been released. Me, I was listening to those other bright, inventive, intelligent albums which pointed the way to the future, so drivel like this did not attract me, and still doesn't. By 1974 Yes were sadly musically stagnant and out of date, and they would largely remain so for the rest of their career.Background
The Warriors 1962 - 67 Jon Anderson"You Came Along" (1964) "Mr Nobody Nothing" "Don't Make Me Blue"
The Syn 1966 - 67 Chris Squire & Peter Banks
"Created By Clive" "14 Hour Technicolour Dream" "Flowerman" "Grounded"
Significant people
Rick Wakeman
Wakeman started his music career as a session musician; notably playing the Mellotron on "Space Oddity" (1969), and piano on Hunky Dory (1971). The day that Bowie's death was announced, Wakeman was interviewed on Radio Two, and was asked to play the piano part of "Life On Mars?" at the end of the programme, which he did with great feeling and perfect timing, filling the space available exactly. While working as a session musician he was also briefly a member of The Strawbs, a folk-rock group led by Dave Cousins. He worked as a session musician on Dragonfly (1970), after which he joined the band for two albums, Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios (1970) and From the Witchwood (1970). He then joined Yes to record Fragile, Close to the Edge, and Tales of Topographic Oceans, At the same time he recorded the solo albums The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973) and Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974), at which point he left Yes. He recorded another solo album, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975).
* Wikipedia
* Alchetron
* Website
Jon Anderson
Yes is mainly Jon Anderson's band. It is clear that he and Chris Squire drove the shape and direction of the band, and of the two, Anderson - as the lead singer and main song-writer - is the person most associated with the band. His singing style and his lyrics are a significant feature of the band. The bass playing is superb, but you don't recognise Yes by the bass playing, you recognise Yes by the voice and lyrics.
Anderson's first band was The Warriors. He was with them from 1962 to 1967, and recorded two singles for Decca "You Came Along" / "Mr Nobody Nothing" (1964), and "Don't Make Me Blue" (1964). He split from The Warriors in 1967, briefly joining The Party, before returning to London to record two singles for Parlophone under the name Hans Christian: "Never My Love" and "Mississippi Hobo". He then joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop, a band with Chris Squire on bass. The line-up changed to include Banks on guitar, Bruford on drums, and Kaye on keyboards. They recorded "Beyond and Before" (1968) before they changed their name to Yes, and the rest is history.
* Wikipedia
* Alchetron
* Jonanderson
Chris Squire
* Alchetron
Steve Howe
* AlchetronBill Bruford
The original drummer in Yes, and present for the first five albums, including the three classic albums, so he is the essential Yes drummer. He left Yes in July 1972 for King Crimson, playing on Larks Tongues In Aspic (1973), and other albums. He played with Genesis from 1975 to 1977, from then on he would play on and off in Yes and King Crimson, while also forming his own bands Bruford and Earthworks.
* Alchetron* Website
Roger Dean
Roger Dean designed all their covers from Fragile onwards, and his imagery is closely associated with the band.
* Wikipedia
* Website
Peter Banks
 |
| Flash (1972) |
The first Flash album is probably the most representative of Banks' playing. It is competent and varied, though not quite on the same technical level as Howe. It's not really my thing. The band here are decent enough, with some particularly attractive bass playing, but the overall sound is like a Yes pastiche band, which is probably the level of their ambition. They do sound like a minor footnote to the history of progressive rock.
* Wikipedia
* Alchetron
* Website
The original Yes keyboard player, Tony Kaye had played with the Federals, recording several singles including "In A Persian Market" (1963) which is drenched in Kaye's lush Hammond organ, and several other bands before he joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop just as that group became Yes. Kaye's playing is OK, but Anderson had visions of something grander and more orchestral than the Hammond alone could offer, but Kaye had no interest in expanding, so he was dropped after The Yes Album, and Wakeman brought in because he was both willing and able to play a range of keyboards, thus expanding Yes' sound. Kaye played on Peter Banks' Flash album (above), before forming his own band Badger and releasing two albums, One Live Badger (1973), and White Lady (1974), both of them quite soulful, and at times funky. He toured with Bowie in 1975-1976, joined Badfinger for the Say No More (1981) album where he played piano and organ, before re-joining Yes, via Chris Squire's Cinema band, just in time to record the 90125 album, with the big hit "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", though his continuing insistence on only playing Hammond organ and piano led to frictions with producer Trevor Horn, and the need for others to play most of the keyboards. He temporarily left the band, his place being taken by Eddie Jobson who appears in the "Lonely Heart" video. He returned for the tour of the album, and the next two albums, before going into semi-retirement. He currently plays in Circa, a Yes side-project formed in 2006.
* Wikipedia
* Alchetron
* MySpace
Drummer since 1972. Still with the band, which makes him the longest serving member.
Alchetron
Wikipedia
Trevor Horn
Jon Anderson has a distinctive voice. It is pleasant enough, and its fey nature seems suitable to the slightly nerdy anti-rock approach of much prog-rock. I quite like it, but it is fairly limited. Steve Howe's guitar work is fluid and professional, though the keyboards tend to dominate most views of the band. The keyboards have tended to be flamboyant rather than elegant.
* Wikipedia
* Alchetron
* Website
Tony Kaye
The original Yes keyboard player, Tony Kaye had played with the Federals, recording several singles including "In A Persian Market" (1963) which is drenched in Kaye's lush Hammond organ, and several other bands before he joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop just as that group became Yes. Kaye's playing is OK, but Anderson had visions of something grander and more orchestral than the Hammond alone could offer, but Kaye had no interest in expanding, so he was dropped after The Yes Album, and Wakeman brought in because he was both willing and able to play a range of keyboards, thus expanding Yes' sound. Kaye played on Peter Banks' Flash album (above), before forming his own band Badger and releasing two albums, One Live Badger (1973), and White Lady (1974), both of them quite soulful, and at times funky. He toured with Bowie in 1975-1976, joined Badfinger for the Say No More (1981) album where he played piano and organ, before re-joining Yes, via Chris Squire's Cinema band, just in time to record the 90125 album, with the big hit "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", though his continuing insistence on only playing Hammond organ and piano led to frictions with producer Trevor Horn, and the need for others to play most of the keyboards. He temporarily left the band, his place being taken by Eddie Jobson who appears in the "Lonely Heart" video. He returned for the tour of the album, and the next two albums, before going into semi-retirement. He currently plays in Circa, a Yes side-project formed in 2006.
* Wikipedia
* Alchetron
* MySpace
Alan White
Drummer since 1972. Still with the band, which makes him the longest serving member.
Alchetron
Wikipedia
Trevor Horn
Summary
Voice / MusicianshipJon Anderson has a distinctive voice. It is pleasant enough, and its fey nature seems suitable to the slightly nerdy anti-rock approach of much prog-rock. I quite like it, but it is fairly limited. Steve Howe's guitar work is fluid and professional, though the keyboards tend to dominate most views of the band. The keyboards have tended to be flamboyant rather than elegant.
Score: 9/15
Image / Star quality
The band are prog-rock so their image is going to be somewhat tarnished by that. Added to which they are the most notable for being somewhat overblown, partly/largely due to Rick Wakeman, and introspective thanks to Anderson's lyrics, and the excess of Tales of Topographical Oceans, which even Wakeman thought was a little too much. On the plus side, they are probably the most respected of the formative prog-rock bands, and their development of a symphonic approach to rock music is much lauded. Rick Wakeman became a star, but the rest of the band are known only by their fans, despite a few successful singles in their later period. The band itself doesn't attract public attention, and they still haven't been accepted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
The band are prog-rock so their image is going to be somewhat tarnished by that. Added to which they are the most notable for being somewhat overblown, partly/largely due to Rick Wakeman, and introspective thanks to Anderson's lyrics, and the excess of Tales of Topographical Oceans, which even Wakeman thought was a little too much. On the plus side, they are probably the most respected of the formative prog-rock bands, and their development of a symphonic approach to rock music is much lauded. Rick Wakeman became a star, but the rest of the band are known only by their fans, despite a few successful singles in their later period. The band itself doesn't attract public attention, and they still haven't been accepted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
Score: 3/5
Lyrics/Music
Famously meaningless, and probably held up more often as examples of daftness, and the pointlessness of prog-rock than any other act. Having said that, the lyrics seem suited to Anderson's voice, and the band's music, and they do seem to work on a certain level, so I'm not that negative. As regards the music, as with Genesis, there is a little too much intellectualising and shaping of what to many rock bands is an instinctive process. The band perhaps approached music in a clinical mathematical way like Classical composers, and this doesn't seem to work as well for rock music, which is more instinctive and emotional. The band, unlike Genesis, didn't successfully develop on from their prog-rock origins, and so produced little of worth outside their classic period. However, the body of work they did produce in that period is possibly slightly better and more important than that of Genesis, who tended to seem to be a step behind Yes. Taken as a whole, the lyrics and music work on their own terms.
Lyrics/Music
Famously meaningless, and probably held up more often as examples of daftness, and the pointlessness of prog-rock than any other act. Having said that, the lyrics seem suited to Anderson's voice, and the band's music, and they do seem to work on a certain level, so I'm not that negative. As regards the music, as with Genesis, there is a little too much intellectualising and shaping of what to many rock bands is an instinctive process. The band perhaps approached music in a clinical mathematical way like Classical composers, and this doesn't seem to work as well for rock music, which is more instinctive and emotional. The band, unlike Genesis, didn't successfully develop on from their prog-rock origins, and so produced little of worth outside their classic period. However, the body of work they did produce in that period is possibly slightly better and more important than that of Genesis, who tended to seem to be a step behind Yes. Taken as a whole, the lyrics and music work on their own terms.
Score: 12/20
Impact/Influence
While Yes were just a fraction ahead of Genesis in terms of developing symphonic/prog-rock, they did not go on to gather the same level of attention, and so would ultimately have less impact and influence. Music critics tended to see Genesis as the more arty and worthwhile band partly to do with Gabriel's theatrics.
Score: 6/10
Popularity
They have a loyal following, but they didn't catch the public attention in the way that Genesis did.
Score: 2/5
Emotional appeal
The music is prog. Little emotional appeal, though there are moments when Anderson can create a mood.
Score: 3/5
Impact/Influence
While Yes were just a fraction ahead of Genesis in terms of developing symphonic/prog-rock, they did not go on to gather the same level of attention, and so would ultimately have less impact and influence. Music critics tended to see Genesis as the more arty and worthwhile band partly to do with Gabriel's theatrics.
Score: 6/10
Popularity
They have a loyal following, but they didn't catch the public attention in the way that Genesis did.
Score: 2/5
Emotional appeal
The music is prog. Little emotional appeal, though there are moments when Anderson can create a mood.
Score: 3/5
While the band in its later formations did seem to drift into making albums under superficial exterior motives, the early albums, and in particular those made during the classic period (whether successful or not), were made from internal compulsions. There appears to have been an ambition and enthusiasm for a symphonic and ethereal form of music, largely driven by Anderson, and to a lesser extent by Squire, which the other band members either bought into and helped to build, or didn't, and left. That vision and commitment is compelling, and helps to make the classic albums stand out as their best work. Even if one feels that Fragile is an overblown piece of work, as I do and Rick Wakeman did, one can still admire its authenticity.
Score: 12/15
Art
Art
Not quite as arty as Genesis.
Score: 3/5
Classic albums/songs
Classic albums/songs
The Yes Album and Close To The Edge are virtual classic albums.
Score: 2/5
Originality/Innovation
As a key part of the development of both prog and symphonic rock.
Score: 4/5
Legacy (Importance)
I am going to say the same thing about Yes, as about Genesis: Some fans feel that they were cutting edge, though they seem to be lacking and somewhat trivial when compared to some of their livelier and more interesting contemporaries such as Tangerine Dream (Alpha Centauri 1971 - Phaedra 1974), Can (Tago Mago 1971, Spoon 1972), Brian Eno (Here Come The Warm Jets 1974), Kraftwerk (Kraftwerk 1970, Autobahn 1974), Faust (The Faust Tapes 1973), Pink Floyd (Dark Side Of The Moon 1973), Todd Rundgren (A Wizard, A True Star 1973), etc. The early Seventies was a fertile period, so there was a lot of playing around with music structure, time sequences, etc. The band's experiments were tame compared to some of their contemporaries, and rarely were they that effective. I'm not seeing that they did anything new or unusual or particularly attention grabbing. As a significant part of the prog-rock movement they deserve some credit, and while the jury is still out on prog-rock, it is getting more serious attention these days. While the band mostly followed the prevalent music trend; they are considered one of the pioneering prog-rock bands, especially of symphonic-prog. Their classic period was short, and they tended to simply repeat themselves, but their three core albums are attractive and fairly representative of what was good about symphonic/prog-rock, while their worse albums epitomised what was bad about it. They will always be a significant part of any study of prog and symphonic rock.
Score: 2/5
Originality/Innovation
As a key part of the development of both prog and symphonic rock.
Score: 4/5
Legacy (Importance)
I am going to say the same thing about Yes, as about Genesis: Some fans feel that they were cutting edge, though they seem to be lacking and somewhat trivial when compared to some of their livelier and more interesting contemporaries such as Tangerine Dream (Alpha Centauri 1971 - Phaedra 1974), Can (Tago Mago 1971, Spoon 1972), Brian Eno (Here Come The Warm Jets 1974), Kraftwerk (Kraftwerk 1970, Autobahn 1974), Faust (The Faust Tapes 1973), Pink Floyd (Dark Side Of The Moon 1973), Todd Rundgren (A Wizard, A True Star 1973), etc. The early Seventies was a fertile period, so there was a lot of playing around with music structure, time sequences, etc. The band's experiments were tame compared to some of their contemporaries, and rarely were they that effective. I'm not seeing that they did anything new or unusual or particularly attention grabbing. As a significant part of the prog-rock movement they deserve some credit, and while the jury is still out on prog-rock, it is getting more serious attention these days. While the band mostly followed the prevalent music trend; they are considered one of the pioneering prog-rock bands, especially of symphonic-prog. Their classic period was short, and they tended to simply repeat themselves, but their three core albums are attractive and fairly representative of what was good about symphonic/prog-rock, while their worse albums epitomised what was bad about it. They will always be a significant part of any study of prog and symphonic rock.
Score: 7/10
Total: 63/100
Total: 63/100
Conclusion
I've enjoyed doing this study. I have liked Yes since first hearing them, but stopped listening after Tales of a Topographic Ocean, so it was interesting to discover their later albums, and to become more familiar with their early and classic albums. The Yes Album is an album I've always liked, but that has gone up in my estimation since paying closer attention to it. It is a classic album. I don't think I appreciate Close To The Edge as an album as I once did. The title track I still find impressive and enjoyable, but the other two tracks seem less interesting on reflection.Links
* Yesworld.com* Wikipedia
* Notes from the edge
* ProgArchives
* Early TV appearances (1969-1971)
* SetLists Statistics
*BBC documentary Sounding Out shown in 1972. The film concentrates on the band setting up for a concert at Hemel Hempstead Pavilion in Oct 1971 shortly after Rick Wakeman joined them. I think I saw the concert, as I used to go to the Pavilion regularly, but I can't actually remember. Sounds odd, but I hadn't at that time met the girl who got me into The Yes Album, and I did at that time see a lot of bands I didn't know, because concerts were cheap and easy to get into. It was cheaper to go to a concert than to buy an album. The 3 day Weeley Festival, for example, which I went to in Aug of that year, cost £1.50, while an album cost around £2.
Best albums
*BBC documentary Sounding Out shown in 1972. The film concentrates on the band setting up for a concert at Hemel Hempstead Pavilion in Oct 1971 shortly after Rick Wakeman joined them. I think I saw the concert, as I used to go to the Pavilion regularly, but I can't actually remember. Sounds odd, but I hadn't at that time met the girl who got me into The Yes Album, and I did at that time see a lot of bands I didn't know, because concerts were cheap and easy to get into. It was cheaper to go to a concert than to buy an album. The 3 day Weeley Festival, for example, which I went to in Aug of that year, cost £1.50, while an album cost around £2.
Best albums
Close To The Edge (1972) xxxxx xxxxx
The Yes Album (1971) xxxxx xxxx
The Yes Album (1971) xxxxx xxxx
Relayer (1974) xxxxx xxxxx
Fragile (1971) xxxxx xxxx
Going For The One (1977) xxxxx xx
Tales From Topographic Oceans (1973) x
Yessongs (1973)
Yes (1969)
Magnification (2001)
* Close To The Edge (1972)
* Yessongs (1973)
* Yessongs (1973)
* Tormato (1978)
* The Yes Album (1971)
* The Yes Album (1971)
* Classic Yes (1981)
* Big Generator (1987)
* Big Generator (1987)
* Going For The One (1977)
* Tales From Topographic Oceans (1973)
* Tales From Topographic Oceans (1973)
* TopTens
* Chaospin
Best songs:
* UltimateClassicRock
* TopTens
* Guardian
* Ranker
* RateYourMusic
Readers:
0576 Sept 2019
2641 Jan 2020
Best songs:
* UltimateClassicRock
* TopTens
* Guardian
* Ranker
* RateYourMusic
***
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Readers:
0576 Sept 2019
2641 Jan 2020
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