Yes Fans?

One hour and no respone? Maybe Yes are a "west midlands thing"? I spent many a happy day in Coventry listening to


and then I noticed:
Saturday 17th June
Return Of The Crazy But Very Talented 2-hit Wonder - damn tomorrow, wonder if our visitors would notice if I wasn't around????

Steve (maybe Yes is a Steve thing??)

I've still got a soft spot for them and have actually listened to both Yessongs and Yesshows within the past couple of weeks. I long ago realised that the lyrics that as a student I thought were "deep and meaningful" are actually a load of pretentious gobbledygook.

They were awesome live, possibly the loudest band I ever heard.

May be pouring petrol on the West Midlands idea that all YES fans are from this part of the world - Albums in the 70's - close to the edge - Tales....... Tomato - however they do stand the test of time - With Wakeman being a grumpy Old man - I feel quite at home!

I thought their first three albums were quite good - particularly like Yours is no disgrace and Survival

Hello I'm a Big Yes fan. I would love to go see Mr. Howe. I listen to Yes all the time. I have almost all of their albums on vinyl; even have a MFSL copy of Close to the Edge. I have seen Yes live once in New Orleans, Louisiana on July 4th 1970 opening up for Jethro Tull's Aqualung Tour. The album “Time and a Word” had just been released. They also played most of the songs from the unreleased “Yes Album”. The very first time I heard "Starship Trooper" was live. It was absolutely brilliant. Cheers

I was awestruck when I first heard 'Soon' from 'Relayer' as a teenager and 'wonderous stories'. Good memories. I know little of their other stuff so perhaps I should explore.

Yes have special place in my live-gig memories. It was 1976 and I was 16 and wanted to go up to the Glasgow Apollo with three mates to see them. But we lived in Greenock, a 45 min train ride away and since the gig was on a Sunday evening 'before School' I was told I couldn't go.

Being 16, I figured they'd never find out if I just claimed to be out at a friend's house and we bought tickets and went anyhow. However on the night there was a powercut in the Apollo just before the gig was due to start and we sat in the darkness for 90 mins before they got the lights back on. This meant we missed the last train and I had the fun of calling my Dad to see if he would come and pick us up in Glasgow from this gig I'd been forbidden to go to.

Large quantities of child labour was needed before I worked that one off I can assure you.

Still it was worth it - awesome show.


Ian

While not a 'huge' Yes fan, I do love most of their output. It all gets an airing every now and again, upon which I am reminded just how much they shaped my musical tastes.
In September '78 I passed my driving test, and in November we drove in a marina van the huge distance (then) to Stafford - the cow shed - to see them live.I will never forget them coming on stage and starting with Parallels -mind blowing at that volume, it was my first experience of a concert! The support had been Donovan. Second half, and wow... lasers, again a first for me, a bit of an electronics geek at the time. Lasers + the whole of close to the edge did it. I had to get a proper HiFi. So this is where it all started for me.

Used to be a huge Yes fan when in my teens and I still play the albums sometimes - mostly Yessongs.
I can find sometimes that I just have to switch them off though.
I think you are right about the West Midlands thing too from my experience, my buddies who were Yes fans were from exactly there (3 of them. Oh hang on - there's Oldie too - that's 4 (maybe not West, but midlands anyway)). Saw them in 1975 at Reading Festival where they played the best gig of their lives. I'm not sure I told my mother where I was going.

More proof of this Midlands thing - even Bishopla lives near to a Birmingham!

I'd suggest that four albums showed Yes at their absolute best: The Yes Album, Fragile, Close To The Edge and Relayer.

During that period we also got Yessongs (a competent live album, but nowhere near the studio efforts) and the quite dreadful and incomprehensible Tales From Topograhic Oceans which caused Rick Wakeman to leave the group.

But those four albums, brilliantly remastered for CD in the late 90s (and far superior to the current versions), show a group in their pomp.

Graham (a Scot and a London resident, so no Midlander)

This has caused me to play some of those old Yes albums.

Was there anyone to match Chris Squire on bass? - listen to those amazingly fat notes on Roundabout and Starship Trooper!

Was there ever a rhythm section to equal Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire and Bill Bruford? I think not!

Graham

Excellent band. I Concur that the first four albums are the best and that Tales...is best left untouched.

Saw them in concert back in the mid eighties - very good show.

quote:

Originally posted by graham55:
I'd suggest that four albums showed Yes at their absolute best: The Yes Album, Fragile, Close To The Edge and Relayer.

During that period we also got Yessongs (a competent live album, but nowhere near the studio efforts) and the quite dreadful and incomprehensible Tales From Topograhic Oceans which caused Rick Wakeman to leave the group.

But those four albums, brilliantly remastered for CD in the late 90s (and far superior to the current versions), show a group in their pomp.

Graham (a Scot and a London resident, so no Midlander)

The first time I saw them was when they were doing Topographic Oceans but its release had been delayed so nobody had heard it. It was hard to take two hours of brand new music. Next time, a couple of years later, they played everything I wanted to hear and it was completely mind bogglingly good.

I've got a few of their albums: does anyone rate "Time and a Word"?

Have to disagree here; I think Topographic is their best after CTTE.

What about that one with the Buggles?

Hmm... that was a bit like Page & Plant doing an album with The Wombles.

For me "The Yes Album" was their zenith, before Rick Wakeman replaced Tony Kay. Saw them live at Guidford Civic hall in the '70/'71 period when they were touring the Yes Album and it was far and away the best show I'd seen up to that point. That album still works for me today, especially the Rhino HDCD version.

I saw them in Las Vegas at the Aladdin theater about 10 years later and they were ear-splittingly loud, to the point that my ex-wife asked if we could leave as it was physicaly hurting her.

I’d place Topographic Oceans second after Relayer. Unlike some 70s Prog Rock mammoths (Genesis being a case in point) I think they have stood the test of time remarkably well and are still worth seeing live, in whatever configuration. It was fashionable to sneer at Drama but TBH I’ve never understood why, When you consider the ingredients the end result was high calibre, albeit very much of its time. On HDCD it remains IMO the best recorded and produced Yes album – which I guess is not surprising. But each to our own.

When Howe joined up with Hackett for the GTR project they did one (not too brilliant) album and one tour. The show was good and of particular delight was the first half where the two Steves did short solo sets. I can never watch Hackett without being awe struck but the Howe set really was something to behold. I count myself lucky to have been there.

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by graham55:
This has caused me to play some of those old Yes albums.

Was there anyone to match Chris Squire on bass? - listen to those amazingly fat notes on Roundabout and Starship Trooper!

Was there ever a rhythm section to equal Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire and Bill Bruford? I think not!

Graham

I second that.

From Bruford's website:

Why did you leave Yes?

If memory serves, several reasons.

a) I wasn’t about to go through "Close to the Edge" again. It had taken three months of all-nighters, and if I knew one thing at the end, it was that I wouldn’t be able to improve on that effort with that group of people, so no point in hanging around.

b) I’d only played with those four musicians for the majority of my short musical career, four and a half years at that point, and I was becoming desperate to hear myself in some other context. I never subscribed to the notion that after a few hit records rock musicians were supposed to atrophy, become a laughing stock, and then just stop.

c) King Crimson beckoned.

d) I couldn’t wait for Chris Squire any more. The grossest form of insult any musician can bestow upon a colleague is to keep him waiting.

I was fed up with him waiting for Chris Squire too! That was the problem with his drumming.

Cheers

I like Patrick Moraz's reply when asked by the other members of Yes if he was a vegetarian: 'If necessary'.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Al:
I've got a few of their albums: does anyone rate "Time and a Word"?

I do, although it's a relatively recent acquisition of mine. My all-time favourites are Close To The Edge and The Yes Album, have been so for years, and remain so today.

quote:

Originally posted by JonR:

quote:

Originally posted by Big Al:
I've got a few of their albums: does anyone rate "Time and a Word"?

My all-time favourites are Close To The Edge and The Yes Album, have been so for years, and remain so today.

They suffered badly when transferred to CD as did most of the catalogue but Rhino got it right with the remasters. I think these are the two albums that sound worst on HDCD for some reason.

Cheers