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erik neuteboom 
Prog Reviewer 
Joined: July 27 2005 Location: Netherlands Status: Offline Points: 7659 |
 Topic: Yes Clones?Posted: July 17 2008 at 03:26 |
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For me bands like Druid (UK), Lift (USA) and Cherry Five (Italy) are more or less 'obviously Yes-inspired' but Starcastle is the ultimate Yes clone! I bought Starcastle their first album because of the 'typical symponic rock cover' when it was just released, I remember that I got irritated by the way this band sounded like Yes: the same bass sound, the same Minimoog flights, the same high pitched Jon Anderson vocals/vocal harmonies, only more polished and without the famous Yes virtuosity. Quickly I got rid of it, many years later I listened to it again at the home of a friend and now I had to laugh because of that obvious Yes cloning approach, is this a progress in appreciation
 ?!
In Holland the first Finch is Yes inspired and Taurus was close to a Yes clone, about the USA I would like to mention Relayer (what's in a name
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tszirmay
Special Collaborator 
Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 17 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 6673 |
Posted: July 16 2008 at 19:42 |
That sounds like the horrific "Reel to reel" album, a total piece of loathesome s**t , unworthy of even a pop collection YUCK!
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I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth.
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Luke. J
Forum Senior Member 
Joined: March 07 2008 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 380 |
Posted: July 16 2008 at 12:53 |
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I remember I listened to the progarchives mp3 streaming and some of the above mentioned bands came up. I did not know what band it was, but with one track I had a feeling like "Failed, Yes!". It was Starcastle. (this time I have to go with the crowd) |
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Roj
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 02 2008 Location: Manchester, UK Status: Offline Points: 3126 |
Posted: July 16 2008 at 08:59 |
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I agree with a few comments that Glass Hammer are a fine band with a Yes influence, but certainly not copyist.
I once bought a Starcastle album, must be 20 years ago, having heard of the very strong Yes influence. I got rid of it quickly though as it was an awful poppy effort, presumably one of their later albums. I think a Yes influence is a good thing though and I think I will have to invest in one of their earlier albums!!
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GentleGiant
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 09 2006 Location: PantagrueLand Status: Offline Points: 445 |
Posted: July 16 2008 at 05:48 |
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The swiss band WELCOME
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BeGiantForADay
"This British band is just the cup of tea for aficionados who demand virtuosity,progress and originality in their mix." http://rateyourmusic.com/~GentleG |
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b_olariu
Prog Reviewer
Joined: March 02 2007 Location: Romania Status: Offline Points: 5536 |
Posted: July 16 2008 at 04:54 |
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Are many bands influenced by Yes but the one i consider almost a clone is Albatross. They release a single album in 1976 with the same name. I don't see this band here, so no vote.
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Sacred 22
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 24 2006 Status: Offline Points: 1509 |
Posted: May 27 2008 at 03:33 |
Hell, even Dream Theater, Neil Morse, Rush to mention a few all admit openly to being heavily influenced by YES. There sound is unique in so many ways. They employ so many styles in their music all the way from clasical to pop, country and jazz and so on, where as bands like King Crimson who are tremendous in their own right tended to borrow more heavily from Jazz themes in much of their work. I think what YES brings to the table is a sound variety that few bands can match and so many bands love.
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65792 |
Posted: May 27 2008 at 03:14 |
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most of the important U.S. symph bands were heavily Yes influenced, Cathedral - Yezda Urfa, HtM - but still had distinct sounds
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Sacred 22
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 24 2006 Status: Offline Points: 1509 |
Posted: May 27 2008 at 03:04 |
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Let me see, bands that are influenced by YES but not really clones. I could say Queen, Boston, Supertramp, The Flower Kings, and I'm sure there are a lot of bands out there that adopted a part of the YES sound. Starcastle of course seemed to do the best mimic job though.
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Relayer09
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 31 2007 Location: Ohio Status: Offline Points: 314 |
Posted: May 26 2008 at 22:48 |
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Starcastle are great. I love their music. There are too many similar elements from their sound to Yes' sound not to consider them a clone. It is what it is and I like it, so what does it matter if they are a clone or not?
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If you lose your temper, you've lost the arguement. -Proverb
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peskypesky
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 25 2005 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 359 |
Posted: May 26 2008 at 22:20 |
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Starcastle were total Yes clones....but I love them anyway.
Magenta is pretty heavily "influenced" by Yes as well....and guess what? Love what I've heard from them too! :) |
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Draconis
Forum Groupie 
Joined: February 19 2008 Location: Clovis Status: Offline Points: 88 |
Posted: May 08 2008 at 02:07 |
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Starcastle certainly SOUNDS like a Yes clone to me. I never could get into Glass Hammer - some of their stuff sounds like a cross between Yes and ... Manhattan Transfer. Yikes!
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Dick Heath
Special Collaborator
Jazz-Rock Specialist Joined: April 19 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 12818 |
Posted: May 02 2008 at 12:22 |
Surely not Bernie Marsden's band?
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The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS.
CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php Host by PA's Dick Heath. |
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memowakeman
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 19 2005 Location: Mexico City Status: Offline Points: 13033 |
Posted: May 01 2008 at 13:23 |
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that band Druid are strongly influenced by Yes, they do sound like them, though i dont like to use that word "clone", they may be considered as a clone band... |
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Follow me on twitter @memowakeman |
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Dr. Prog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 29 2008 Status: Offline Points: 306 |
Posted: April 30 2008 at 19:27 |
uhh, see the last paragraph of the post before yours.......
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630 |
Posted: April 30 2008 at 16:46 |
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Yes clones? I say why not? As long as we can eat them.
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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tarkus2112
Forum Groupie
Joined: February 01 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 51 |
Posted: April 30 2008 at 08:43 |
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There is another band that sounds like Yes,they are called Alaska.
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Seasons change and so can I
Hold on Boy No time to cry Untie these strings I'm climbing down I won't let them push me away |
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Dr. Prog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 29 2008 Status: Offline Points: 306 |
Posted: April 29 2008 at 17:53 |
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I would say Starcastle were certainly a poor man's Yes. Even bands that are close enough to be called 'clones' don't try to mimic particular songs and lyrics. They try to create some self identity within the obvious style. The first two Starcastle albums especially sounded like Yes without being Yes---the high vocals, the somewhat lengthy songs, the time changes, the fantasy land subject matter, the prominent use of synths and keyboards. Lady of the Lake, their most well known song, could have easlily fit on a Yes album and sounded similar had Anderson sung it. They also sound close to Camel, who also was certainly influenced by Yes, but they sound closest to Yes, no doubt. As stated above, they had no great guitar player like Howe, so they relied more on the keyboards. The design of the album covers certainly had a certain Yes look to them also, but again, just different enough not be a complete ripoff. Musically, of course, while Starcastle was good, they were not as talented as the members of Yes, and consequently, never were as successful.
The Flower Kings certainly were heavily influenced by Yes, as well as Genesis, but have managed to forge their own unique identity without 'cloning'. They are more apt to "jam" and have more of a jazzy influence on their albums, but certainly the emphasis on positive spiritual uplifting themes is a Yes characteristic, the propensity for sometimes overly long and complex songs that in some places cry out for some self editing (sometimes it appears that the FK are trying to do Topographic Oceans on almost every double album) is also a Yes trait, as well as the keyboard/guitar chops and interplay. Stardust We Are and Awaken are remarkably parallel in theme, lyrics and structure in many ways.
Glass Hammer aren't as overtly Yes, but certainly carry their influences, especially on the propensity to create sometimes unwieldy thematic compositions to the brink of being somewhat overblown. They sound sometimes like they are trying too hard to recreate what had already been done in the 70s, which carried over to their live performance when I saw them a few years ago.
You don't have the band Alaska up there as a choice. They only released one or two albums. Clear attempt as a Yes virtual clone with the lead singer Al Lewis a very high pitched Anderson style vocal. Also some ELP influence---2 man band with no guitar, all synths and drums. Lewis as I understand is now Starcastle's lead singer. So the circle is complete. Edited by Dr. Prog - April 29 2008 at 18:00 |
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T.Rox
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 06 2004 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 9455 |
Posted: April 29 2008 at 17:40 |
Little known French outfit Atlantide may be the exception. Some of their work - especially the self-titled track from their lone eponymous album - is so Yes-like you may think they owe Yes some royalties! ...the French vocals do help them sound a little different, though. Edited by T.Rox - April 29 2008 at 17:42 |
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"Without prog, life would be a mistake."
...with apologies to Friedrich Nietzsche |
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rushfan4
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 22 2007 Location: Michigan, U.S. Status: Offline Points: 66755 |
Posted: April 29 2008 at 17:24 |
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I mentioned this in the Bruising Poll, but the band Blue Shift released 1 album, in which the singer sounds quite a lot like Jon Anderson (at least to my ears). I think that there is some similarities in music, but I kind of got more of an ELP vibe to their music. They also do a cover of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song, so if you ever wonder how that might have sound with Jon Anderson singing, you should check it out.
I also brought up Starcastle in a recent thread, wondering about how others have made the determination that they are influenced by or sound like Yes. As I mentioned in the other thread, there have been times when I was listening to my CD jukebox on random and a Starcastle song has started playing and I have had to stop and think which Yes song it was and off of which album before realizing that it was Starcastle. In my case though, I think it is as much about the Starcastle singer's voice sounding like Jon Anderson's voice as it is about the actual music. I feel that there are definitely similarities in some sounds, but not being a musician I can't tell if there is any actual "cloning" going on or not. Can anybody point out any particular Starcastle songs that sound exactly like a specific Yes song with the lyrics changed? I'm just kind of curious how this designation of Yes clone came about. Was it one particular song that sounded similar and now they are forever linked? Is it multiple songs? Or is it just because the voices sound similar? Any thoughts?
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Yes Clones?
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Roj M30 wrote: