Prog World Cup-Final: Frank Zappa- Yes

Pick your favourite

Yes get my vote. Only Genesis or King Crimson could be their rivals in my case...


Edited by Libor10 - November 05 2018 at 03:35

Yep

Yes!

Very few other artists would stand a chance of beating them in my assessment.

Zappa isn't one of them

M27Barney wrote: Ridiculous final pairing...zappa isn't in the same class as the yes men...

Yes gets the nod.

tboyd1802 wrote: M27Barney wrote: Ridiculous final pairing...zappa isn't in the same class as the yes men... Agreed. That's why Zappa gets my vote...

Haha. Touché.

While I enjoy several Yes albums, Zappa also gets my vote. Yes' Fragile was one of the most important Prog albums to me in my teens, but hearing "Peaches en Regalia" on classic rock radio (what was called The Electric Lunch) was one of those experiences that led me to explore a lot of interesting music and played a part in me finding my way here years later (I found it so joyous). While Zappa is hit or miss for me, I posted this in another thread, and this is a good example of what I love about certain music by Zappa (generally I prefer his instrumentals).



As for the pairing being ridiculous, I disagree (but I try to keep an open mind as I could be convinced to change my mind with the right arguments -- I'm no musicologist). While I would have loved to see Can make it to the end, for this World Cup with one band/artist per country, I think having Zappa up against Yes is a very sensible pairing (that said, King Crimson would have been my choice for the British representative,or maybe Pink Floyd even if not so quintessentially Prog). Zappa is a legend in rock, has been very culturally significant I would argue, and I would think Zappa to be more historically significant to 20th Century music overall than Yes, and his contributions to progressive rock forms are very significant. I also would have thought that Zappa would have had the best chance of the choices to give Yes a run for its money.

I can't think of a better one from outside the UK to pair against Yes in the finals than Zappa. Out of curiosity, what would be the last (EDIT, I mean LEAST, not last) ridiculous pairing for the finals in people's minds where they think that the non-UK choice could potentially give the UK choice some decent competition (noting that only one of the finalists could come from the UK)? Some have said that Rush vs. Yes would have made the most sense, but I don't think that Rush would fare that well. Perhaps some other non-UK bands included in prog categories could be paired against Yes, and the one that does the best against Yes wins.

By the way, here's a BBC Radio 4 documentary available on BBC Sounds: Freak Out! The Frank Zappa Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00770gq

Listened to another the other day there on Kraftwerk: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00899w2

Not sure if they have one on Yes there.

Edited by Logan - November 05 2018 at 07:27

not surprised by the final poll, seeing the bands throughout the polls, it's kinda predictable

M27Barney wrote: Ridiculous final pairing...zappa isn't in the same class as the yes men...Howe a far superior string-smith for a start off...