|
Unsung Forum » God help me I bought a Yes LP...and I LIKED it!! |
Log In to post a reply
|
|
|
|
| Topic View: Flat | Threaded | |
Joe Kenney 169 posts |
Feb 24, 2021, 20:27
|
||
|
The other month I was listening to a radio broadcast from the '70s and they played "I've Seen All Good People" by Yes. I abruptly flashed back to when I was a kid and would listen to the local rock station in the mid-1980s. It was a rural station and it was actually pretty freeform for the era. Not that I even know what "freeform" was at the time. But they'd play a lot of long/early progressive tracks, etc. One of the songs they'd play often was this one, and I loved it as a kid, but had forgotten about it over the years, no doubt due to my general aversion to all things prog. But that aversion has been melting away the older I've gotten...in fact I've really gotten into that early "proto-prog" stuff, like the LP by Touch, and especially the one by Ram which was reviewed here on Unsung. So anyway I ordered a '77 US repress of "The Yes Album" which sounds phenomenal, other than a mysterious damn skip halfway through "A Venture" (one of those skips where you actually have to lift the tonearm, otherwise it's a stuck groove), and I am surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. Other standouts on the album would be "Starship Trooper" and "Yours Is No Disgrace." I also got a copy of "Yesterdays" from the same Discogs seller for fairly cheap, haven't played it yet. What Yes album would you all suggest I get next? I was thinking "Relayer" because I read it's kinda heavy, but skimming some tracks on Youtube it sounds a little too fusiony to me. What's drawing me to "The Yes Album" is how it almost sounds like a more proggy version of "Abbey Road."
|
|||
Fatalist 1123 posts |
Feb 25, 2021, 00:13
|
||
Fragile is definitely the one to try next, some of their best songs on that and a great sound. But definitely a group to tread carefully with - haven't heard it in a long time, but I remember hating Relayer (which means I'll probably love it now)
|
|||
Andfurthermoreagain 696 posts |
Feb 25, 2021, 18:02
|
||
|
Joe Kenney wrote: The other month I was listening to a radio broadcast from the '70s and they played "I've Seen All Good People" by Yes. I abruptly flashed back to when I was a kid and would listen to the local rock station in the mid-1980s. It was a rural station and it was actually pretty freeform for the era. Not that I even know what "freeform" was at the time. But they'd play a lot of long/early progressive tracks, etc. One of the songs they'd play often was this one, and I loved it as a kid, but had forgotten about it over the years, no doubt due to my general aversion to all things prog. But that aversion has been melting away the older I've gotten...in fact I've really gotten into that early "proto-prog" stuff, like the LP by Touch, and especially the one by Ram which was reviewed here on Unsung. So anyway I ordered a '77 US repress of "The Yes Album" which sounds phenomenal, other than a mysterious damn skip halfway through "A Venture" (one of those skips where you actually have to lift the tonearm, otherwise it's a stuck groove), and I am surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. Other standouts on the album would be "Starship Trooper" and "Yours Is No Disgrace." I also got a copy of "Yesterdays" from the same Discogs seller for fairly cheap, haven't played it yet. What Yes album would you all suggest I get next? I was thinking "Relayer" because I read it's kinda heavy, but skimming some tracks on Youtube it sounds a little too fusiony to me. What's drawing me to "The Yes Album" is how it almost sounds like a more proggy version of "Abbey Road." The Yes Album is a great starting point because it still has many crunchy psychedelic rock elements and really, argumentally isn't prog at all, but rather a continuation, albeit very late, of the British psych scene. Musically it has some astonishing moments and Wurm is spellbinding (and Kurt Cobain certainly thought so when he used the chords for Heart Shaped Box). Go with Fragile next and then you should enjoy Close To The Edge. But I haven't (ahem) ventured further than that myself.
|
|||
radagast 264 posts |
Feb 25, 2021, 18:23
|
||
|
After years of rabid campaigning against Yes diehards and Yes music in general (useless prog without balls at all played by arrogant guitar noodlers etc...) I came across a Yessongs LP a couple of years ago - and behold: I quite liked it! Probably helped along by my fafourite band Motorpsycho who had the Yessound incorporated into their heavy prog rock brand right away... But I digress - like to recommend Relayer (Gates of Delirium!) as the last essential Yes album for progheads. Go for it!
|
|||
|
The Seth Man 1242 posts |
Edited Feb 25, 2021, 18:27
Feb 25, 2021, 18:26
|
||
|
Joe Kenney, I second Fatalist's recommendation of FRAGILE (1972) as it's as much the gateway to Yes as HOT RATS (1969) is to Frank Zappa. It has elements that were later to become hallmarks of their respective works, yet stands alone on its own as -- in retrospect -- a consistent album that displayed multi-faceted talents. FRAGILE was the first Yes album I bought, and it consequently brought me a lot of joy as a fifteen year old. It's kind of a perfect record: all the players get to step out on separate tracks, then they come together on the two side closers ("South Side Of The Sky" and "Heart Of The Sunrise") that prove the whole of a group is generally greater than the sum of their solo album parts. When you mentioned ABBEY ROAD (1970), I immediately thought of the second Yes album, TIME AND A WORD (1970). Like pretty much everybody at that time, Yes were obviously influenced by The Beatles and TIME AND A WORD has some strong original material, especially side 2. It's *just* on the verge of cohesiveness; something that would only happen with the entry of Steve Howe on the following album, THE YES ALBUM (1971) up through CLOSE TO THE EDGE (1972). But nothing could prepare me (or anyone else) for RELAYER (1974), which I bought a month after FRAGILE and a week after a friend cranked it at top volume in his family den through his Dad's high end stereo. The song was "Sound Chaser" and my molecular structure was altered forever: the severity of pace, the clusters of notes and over-amplified bass caused all the huge, metal Moroccan plates mounted to walls on the first floor to rattle and reverberate like crazy. I distinctly remember sweating and laughing when it was over. I can see where this was probably the part of RELAYER that gave you fusion vibes, especially with its opening Zawinul-type keyboard runs. But it's only 1/4 of the entire album and the other side, "Gates Of Delirium," will banish all memory of Scientology keyboardisms and Son of BITCHES BREW devotion to the four winds. It's the most muscular piece Yes ever committed to LP, and possibly the most insane. Patrick Moraz has a lot to answer for, as I believe it was his influence that brought a far greater sense of both attack and delicacy to Yes. I think Steve Howe responded in kind, as it features some of some of his most aggressive and hectic playing, ever...(and that's not even the closing pedal steel I'm referring to...!) YESTERDAYS (1975) was the final Yes album I ever bought, bringing me up to speed with their entire back catalogue just prior to DRAMA (1980). I may respectfully suggest you save it for a rainy day when you're feeling adventurous. I always felt there was something wrong with YESTERDAYS. It didn't list the song titles on the back cover (which was suspect) but I had read years before that it was a compilation that also featured two previous unreleased songs ("Dear Father" and "America.") Maybe because there were only these two songs unique to album release with the rest of the album filling up the cracks with material off their first 2 albums. Also, the child pissing on the back cover seemed a little, er, outre. Maybe the band were pissed off they had to release it? Roger Dean didn't mention it anywhere in VIEWS (1975), but chose to mention nostalgia and deja vu as its main themes. After all these years, it's only now (well, an hour ago) I discovered that the B-side to their first single AND A-side to their recorded-in-1969-but-not-released-until-1972 single, "America" were both a 7-minute cover of..."Something's Coming" from WEST SIDE STORY (1961)(!!!) WHAT?!! I can see why they left "Something's Coming" off YESTERDAYS. It wasn't only too long, but was super heavy handed and sounds like The Vanilla Fudge shagging The Nice on a sound stage. Come to think of it, that latter-named band is probably why Yes covered "Something's Coming" in the first place -- seeing as Emerson & Co recorded Leonard Bernstein's (and not Simon's) "America" from the same production as their second single. The Paul Simon song "America" on YESTERDAYS was recorded by the band in all certainty because it was covered live by the nearly unrecorded Ur-Prog group, 1-2-3, who performed it live because they'd heard a demo recorded by Simon circulating in London at the time. Now, if Yes had only covered "Somewhere (There Is A Place For Us)" that would've probably been a bit more fitting to Jon Anderson's cosmic muse. (Oh, but what I'd pay to hear Anderson sing "Gee, Officer Krupke.") With that all said...best of luck. You're lucky to hear these records for the first time, just as I once was.
|
|||
|
keith a 9573 posts |
Feb 25, 2021, 19:59
|
||
I haven't heard Relayer since the 70's. I really didn't like it even though I did like some of their stuff back then. A long, long way from The Yes Album.
|
|||
|
Joe Kenney 169 posts |
Feb 25, 2021, 21:28
|
||
|
Thanks for the replies, everyone! Sounds like Fragile will be next. I was actually leaning toward that one or Close to The Edge. I was also curious about the first 2 LPs, but will probably just stick with Yesterdays for now. Seth Man thanks a lot for that writeup. Very cool you'd mention The Nice, as that's another new-to-me group. I'd heard of them over the years but just never sought them out, then this past summer I got a UK Charisma label pressing of "Autumn '67 - Spring '68." I just discovered it while shopping a seller's inventory on Discogs. I've played it a few times and like it a lot. I read the Allmusic review, which said this compilation is alternate mixes of the first Nice LP, and the reviewer said the mixes here were superior to the originally-released versions. "More playfully psychedelic." But then last night I finally checked out the actual "Davjack" album on Youtube...and actually liked those mixes better! They just sounded more psychedelic to me than the ones on Autumn '67, with a lot more sonic effects. Maybe I'll get that one on vinyl someday, too. I also didn't even realize that both Autumn '67 AND Yesterdays feature a "never-before-released" song titled America! Your description of "Something's Coming" also got my interest -- The Nice shagging the Vanilla Fudge ("the doyens of punk mysterioso!"). Bummer that track never appears to have made it onto a compilation in the day...looks like the only way you can get it on vinyl is the overpriced original single release or the 2013 Yes 2LP remaster by Music On Vinyl. Well, I guess that's why we have Youtube. BTW, Seth Man, speaking of Zawinul and fusion and etc, have you ever heard "Seeking Other Beauty," by Bayete? If not check it out. Features a fuzz-wah psych-jazz monster (complete with vocals) called "I Don't Need Nobody." Very heavy stuff for sure and psychedelic to boot...sort of like Funkadelic meets Agharta-era Miles. Thanks everyone!
|
|||
Zariadris 286 posts |
Edited Feb 26, 2021, 09:41
Feb 26, 2021, 08:40
|
||
|
I'm on the same page as everyone else...the Yes album, Fragile, Close to the Edge are terrific, hugely inventive albums - Relayer has its golden moments ('soon' is possibly the loveliest thing they've done, and atypical of the rest of the album): it's the LP that separates the hard-core Yesmen from the rest of us. 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' is fascinating in its sprawling ambition, but for me it's the moment they drank their own kool-aid and made an album of their reviews. Recommended for Roger Dean completists only - it is truly the Sistine Chapel of 70s rock art. My two cents for last great Yes album is 'Going for the One': Turn of the Century, Wondrous Stories, a nice return to form with a classic hipgnosis cover that objectifies the male for a change!
|
|||
|
The Seth Man 1242 posts |
Feb 26, 2021, 23:56
|
||
|
No problem, and weird you mention that album by Bayeté as I only knew his name, non-synth keyboards and a tiny photograph on the second Peter Gabriel album. Weird because the time it was released early autumn of 1978 I was listening to it as well as TORMATO (1978) on VERY heavy rotation, so they're always linked together in my mind. The Nice? Oh, brother: What an absolute quagmire of good intentions, classical gassing, half baked psychedelia, errant music hall offcuts...and Davy O'List(!) Back in the day, their discography was a disastrous minefield of $2.99 remaindered compilations, expensive European imports, and cheap used US Immediate pressings...even ELP fans didn't know their records, because they were all out of print (and seemingly half of them featured "Rondo") and the only available record was a budget 2LP set on Mercury called KEITH EMERSON WITH THE NICE (1972) that was released in the wake of his success with ELP. Best of luck with sallying forth into these sometimes grueling corners of Ur-progressive rock. But console yourself with the knowledge that the rewards will be that much sweeter for it. (Like when you realise that there is only one Yes solo album worth owning, and so forth...) "Doyens of punk mysterioso," truly, man HAHAHAHA
|
|||
Fitter Stoke 2611 posts |
Feb 27, 2021, 19:55
|
||
|
The Yes holy trinity is 'The Yes Album', 'Fragile' and 'Close To The Edge': respectively their third, fourth and fifth albums from 1971/72. They represent the band's artistic peak and contain most of their most lauded material. If you like those, venture back to 'Yes', 'Time And a Word' (both 1970) then forward to 'Relayer' (1974) and 'Going For The One' (1977). Their later albums are patchy at best and dreadful at worst. Avoid 'Toby's Graphic Go-cart' (1973) at all costs. There are loads of live albums, but 'Yessongs' (1973) is by far the best, I think. It's basically a live take on the three classic albums I mentioned at the start, with added energy and rawness. Enjoy the ride!
|
| Pages: 2 – [ 1 2 | Next ] | Add a reply to this topic |
|
|
|
| Unsung Forum Index | |
