Okay, that's it, which one's Yes?

I saw the Steve Howe/ Alan White Yes shortly after Chris passed away. I just didn't feel the same . Too many key components missing.  You don't really realize what a force of nature Chris Squire was until he's not there. I don't think either can compare to the classic line up but if I had to pick one now I would have to go with ARW.  

Edited by Argo2112 - September 18 2018 at 08:15

There are so many bands doing this these days.......The problem is we as fans of the 70s-80s music that was put out, is nothing like it is today by these variants. And I am not saying it is bad, that is subjective, left to you to decide.

Dellinger wrote: Frenetic Zetetic wrote: There's no YES without Chris Squire. There is no Yes without Jon Anderson either.

ForestFriend wrote: Dellinger wrote: Frenetic Zetetic wrote: There's no YES without Chris Squire. There is no Yes without Jon Anderson either. I don't really agree with either of these statements, but if I did, I would have to add: There is no Yes without Steve Howe. I don't care that he wasn't on the first two albums. He was such a good fit for the band that the first album he was on was literally The Yes Album, despite the fact that there already was the Yes album. He co-wrote Roundabout, Close to the Edge, and Awaken. You think the nonsensical hippie lyrics were all Jon Anderson's? Nope, Howe and Anderson co-wrote the lyrics to Topographic Oceans (and I think a good portion of the music). Take that as you may, but Howe was an important part of the Yes attitude. I'm sure there are some differing opinions, but to me, the definitive Yes line-up is the one that did Fragile and Close To The Edge - must be a popular opinion in the prog community because those are their most highly rated albums here. I don't mean to discredit Bruford and Wakeman, but their 3rd highest rated album, Relayer, proves that there can be Yes with either of them.

Yeah, well. I'm not really all that serious about no Anderson no Yes (perhaps just a little bit), but it was mostly trying to make a point. Anderson is just as important for the band as Squire, if not even slightly more so, and yet Yes has been working without Anderson for almost a decade now. And yes, Steve Howe is just as important to THE sound of the band. As much as I love Bruford and Wakeman (Rick might just as well be my favourite of the bunch), they just left too soon (or too many times), so it was clear the band could keep their sound without them (if only Rick had remained consistently in the band, he would certainly be as important... for me he is the keyboardist who achieves that symphonic and versatile sound best for the band).

The last Yes album I bought was FFH, I don't play it. Magnification is good yup, albeit missing a keyboardist.......I struggle with Yes albums after Big Generator, the catalog just gets too big and the efforts are tough to understand.

Fischman wrote: Neither. There is no Yes without Squire and Bruford.

richardh wrote: So does anyone care whether Yes put out any decent new music? I presume the last decent album deserving of the YES name was probably was Magnification ( I'm not a fan of FFH) and that had both Howe and Anderson (Wakeman was cleverly replaced by an orchestra!) and they have been the creative hub of the band since 1971. So really neither as it stands.