Are The Yes Album, CttE and GftO the best 3 of Yes |
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richardh
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I'm totally with you on the first statement, but the second less so as although I like the debut, Time and a Word just doesn't work for me. Many consider Drama a masterpiece and I might be tempted to put that on the second tier with GFTO and Fragile. Woud also include The Yes Album here. 3rd tier albums are maybe TFTO, Debut, 90125, The Ladder, Talk, Keys Studio, Magnification, Mirror To The Sky. After that I'm not bothering.. (although Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks would be 2nd tier if it were 'truly' Yes)
Edited by richardh - August 27 2024 at 19:49 |
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AFlowerKingCrimson
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Imo the only thing wrong with Drama is that it doesn't have Jon Anderson on it. Trevor Horn does a fine job with the vocals but without Jon it doesn't really sound like a classic Yes album to me (or at least I can't lump it in with the earlier stuff but that's how I feel about 90125 also). However, I grew up with it and so maybe I just got used to it. If you look at just the music on it and the playing it's probably one of their strongest ever.
Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 27 2024 at 21:38 |
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cstack3
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I'd vote CTTE, Tales and Relayer.
Tales continues to impress me, years after its release. I always seem to hear something new whenever I listen to it. Inconsistent, perhaps, but its best moments are Yes' best moments.
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Saperlipopette!
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Fragile, Close to the Edge and Relayer for me. Those are the only three Yes-albums I'd rate as high as four stars. So while I do acknowledge their greatness, skills and all of that, I'm not the biggest fan.
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Yesshead
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Hello! I just made an account because of this excellent thread.
Well, I agree with the OP's premises. As a long-term Yessfan, I, for
one, do consider The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Going for
the One to be truly the best three studio albums by the band. The
Yes Album really signalled a sea change in their sound, featuring amazing and
classic Yessongs like Yours Is No Disgrace and Starship Trooper, and Close to the Edge, with its grand structure and spiritual themes—not
just the title track but also other songs like it—is frequently regarded
as the peak of early 1970s prog-rock in general. Going for the
One, on which the real Yes-keyboardist returned to the band and the
jazz-rock tendencies showcased on the confused Relayer were abandoned
regarding new material, indeed successfully combines accessibility with
complexity, featuring standout "easy listening" songs such as the
beautiful Wonderous Stories and the drumless masterpiece Turn of the Century,
while on the other side, Yes was demonstrating their fully grown ability
to create a perfect intricate yet still pleasant long-form with Awaken,
featuring a church organ instead of jazz-rock bursts like on the side-long track from the previous studio album.
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essexboyinwales
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Drama, ABWH, Can’t Look Away😉
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Heaven is waiting but waiting is Hell
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richardh
Prog Reviewer Joined: February 18 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 27514 |
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That phrase 'the real Yes keyboardist' is very interesting! It seems that Rick seriously got the hump after TFTO so left. Relayer is then a fearless bold step into the future and everything that progressive rock should be. Fast forward a few years and the management are begging Wakeman to return. This can't possibly be for commercial reasons as Wakeman was shifting serious amounts of units with Six Wives, Journey, King Arthur and the White Rock albums all charting high? Perhaps I'm just a natural born cynic
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AFlowerKingCrimson
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Aren't you the one that posted a long time ago that Tales inspired you to become a forest ranger? Maybe I'm thinking of someone else though.
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verslibre
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Moraz would've left, anyway. The tense atmosphere (or maybe whatever tension was directed at him) wasn't conducive to his participation. He'd gone from a trio to a quintet, one ruled by much larger egos. Wakeman was initially supposed to be a session player, strictly for pay, not reinstated as a full-time member, though Yes' manager decided to go ahead and do it (without Rick's consent, though he didn't mind). Any which way we cut it, it was the right move. "Awaken" is my favorite Yes epic. |
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Mirakaze
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For me it's Fragile, Close To The Edge and Relayer, with Tales From Topographic Oceans following very closely behind.
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cstack3
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Close!! Inspired me to switch academic paths from medicine to environmental science. Interesting story....the Yes tour for TFTO was going to arrive in my university town (Champaign, Illinois USA), but the show was canceled because they said the tour buses & trucks didn't think they would find fuel on the way down (this was during the "Arab Oil Embargo" of that year). I was PISSED and decided to tackle the fuel crisis on my own. Since then, I have become a leading figure in generation of alternative fuels (mostly biofuels) that do not harm the environment. Awards from the UK, US and others. "Let them rape the forests?" Over my cold, dead body. http://www.neochloris.com is my consultancy. Look at "Projects." Edited by cstack3 - August 28 2024 at 15:44 |
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Logan
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"It's people. Environmentally green biofuel is made out of people. They're making our fuel out of people. Next thing they'll be breeding us like cattle for fuel. You've gotta tell them. You've gotta tell them!" (not quite Charlton Heston in Soylent Green) "I'll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands" (actual Charlton Heston quote). Sorry, compelled to post this. Not claiming the biofuel you present is made out of people, although bodies are an applicable source. |
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Two tracks per many of my fave acts: A Youtube Playlist
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AFlowerKingCrimson
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Very interesting. So was it the line "let them rape the forest" that made you change paths or the oil embargo? Or both?
Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 28 2024 at 20:02 |
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cstack3
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Both, and then some. The state of the US back then (1975-76) was very chaotic, with the collapse of the Viet Nam war, Nixon's Watergate problems, and environmental disasters like Love Canal etc. The oil embargo thing REALLY ticked me off though!! Now, the Yes vans could be filled with biogas from cow manure in some states. I really didn't want to go into medicine, but felt compelled to by my family. My transition to environmental scientist took years, but I've finally accomplished my dream. Still, the climate is a huge problem, and that is what I focus on these days. Damn depressing work it is.
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someone_else
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CttE, Fragile and TYA are my top three, Relayer and GftO are just behind.
Edited by someone_else - August 29 2024 at 00:50 |
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richardh
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I would still go Gates partly for reasons I stated in my post, it was bold and out there. GFTO is much more 'commercial' sounding for prog rock. It probably embodies the spirit of the band better and I suspect that Anderson and Squire were happy to rein it back in a bit. Awaken is very nice for the church organ and choir and structurally is very different to most prog epics so kudos to it. In general I did feel that Yes were beginning to repeat themselves a bit. It was already in danger of turning into the pastiche of Yes that it has now become.
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octopus-4
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Everything up to 90125 included
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Curiosity killed a cat, Schroedinger only half.
My poor home recorded stuff at https://yellingxoanon.bandcamp.com |
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Jared
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They'd have never gotten away with another Relayer in 1977, even if they'd wanted to; as we all know, there was a chasm in attitudes to prog and commerciality between 74 & 77; GfTO was, like Wind & Wuthering, an album for its times.
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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richardh
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^ commercially speaking I agree which was partly what I was saying in my earlier post. At least Pink Floyd understood what a prog album was
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Jared
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Yes, I have long been in awe of the bravery of 'Animals', and indeed it's acceptance by the musical press at a time when others were releasing 'Love Beach' but we digress...
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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