Yes vs. King Crimson

akaBona wrote: there's only one band that can beat Yes and that's Magma. King Crimson comes third. by the way, Tales From Topographic Oceans is a masterpiece. only a person with earwax problem claims something else ...

like Mr Rick Wakeman for example... ?
He left   Yes just because he didn't find TFTO was that masterpiece (as Anderson believed).

BTW, between Yes and KC ...  KC has always kept a good average level throughout the decades, considering all the line up changes and has always had the improvisational side as a distinguishing trademark (with respect to other top bands in the prog-rock circuit, Yes, Genesis,....), but Yes has the highest peaks of all, as well as low moments that make forget what this band was originally... moreover, Yes was born as pop band, a vocal band, and only later they moved to extended songs making use of complex classic arrangements, vocal harmonies, hard rock rhythm section.
It's very easy to be complex and to be dull at the same time, while  it's very rare to be complex and to be pleasant instead. Yes is my favorite band


"Jon Anderson is the only guy who is trying to save this planet while living on another (Rick Wakeman)"

I like KC very much, it's my third favourite band so they get my vote

King Crimson, the pinnacle of prog. But Yes are Close to the Summit too.

I think Fripp would prefer Yes and Yes would prefer KC....... and not just out of politeness.

Crimson certainly influenced Yes, but by the time they made Heart of the Sunrise they were doing their own thing, and were doing far more complex numbers than any other band at that time ('cept maybe Gentle Giant). What Epignosis said rings true..... Yes were brilliant composers, creating pieces of music on a similar level to Stravinsky and Debussy, while KC relied on improvisation and expanding small pockets of genius into long, atmospheric mood pieces.

Neither band could do what the other one did best very well at all.

YES!!!! By a hundered thousand miles!

King Crimson.  Bolder, more emotional, more versatile (though the last is achieved by an ever changing line up, really) and more consistent.  But Yes is Yes.

I love both, of course, but Yes is almost unbeatable for me. Well, Fragile and CttE are just flawless, with a flawless line-up.

Difficult. In general, both bands aren't my first choice for anything. I would say Yes wins overall because they have more albums I enjoy (CTTE, Fragile, Relayer, Drama, Going for the One, Magnification, Tormato -yes, I said it-) though they also have the album that best defines all I don't like in them and in many prog bands (TFTO); King Crimson, on the other hand, almost always leaves me cold, I have gotten rid of many of their albums which bored me to death, but I like Red a lot and they have one album which is a real masterpiece and which I enjoy more than all the other albums by these two bands put together: ITCOTCK. 

Roland113 wrote: Gandalff wrote: adace1 wrote: What do you think? I think this topic isn´t original at all, even chest-nutty.    However, King Crimson anyway! I know a few others made vague references to this but you're known for inundating the polls with a slew of polls that could be considered variations on the same theme and unoriginal.  Yet, the majority of us simply let you do your polls without giving you grief because it's your right to create the polls that you want to see.  I think it's a fair request to ask you to be tolerant of others' polls. Remember, it's always easier to hit the back button than it is to detract from things that are important to other people.

Well said, saves me commenting!

Yes for me, by a tiny amount (they are my favourite two bands).

Yes has more great albums for me