I Talk To The Wind: Prog Blog and Reviews

Rob, I agree with the Mickster...and everyone else, those reviews are fantastic.  I just got done reading most of 'em on the homepage tonight, there was an absolute sh*tLOAD of quality reviews, so clappies to you for pulling off the always potentially redundant Yes review.  It will be interesting to see your take on "the big one"...sheesh it must be up in the 10,000s by now as far as reviews.

Anyway, micky, i'm off to go and huddle in fear after my dose of bedtime Opeth. Close To The Edge should be done tomorrow, as well as a mystery (1/3 chance...) RPI or non-RPI album. We'll see.

Also, if you and Mike get me in my sleep, I'll never write an Ys review 

@Mike, your opinion is sort of similar to mine. I saw Relayer (specifically Gates) as a bit pretentious and lacking in the ways the previous albums excelled. I now like it, after a bit of acclimatisation, but it's never going to be a masterpiece for me.

Note to self: More Opeth.

No sleep for me.

Nice review again (I don't know why I haven't yet)

To answer your question (the immortal "IMO" goes here) I think Wakeman had a great ear for classical compositions
as evident by his first works on Fragile. before then the band had experimented with the notions (likely thanks
to the addition of Howe the album before) and combined with the already exceptional powers of Squire they
where able to make something really awesome. I think it took an album to actually kick in (CTTE) but I think
that Wakeman was able to take a bunch of ideas and streamline them into something that could be a masterpiece
(CTTE again.). When he left the music took on a very cold feel (Relayer) which I feel did nothing for the band.
But his return on GFTO made for excellent results as the band headed for a harder edged direction (I love that
album too much). Hope that shows my opinion a bit!

@Micky - Should be get him in his sleep?


Edited by King By-Tor - May 23 2008 at 20:14

Review 41, Fragile, Yes, 1971

Usually I try to avoid the line of thinking that a band has a magnum opus period and everything before that is building up to it. However, I can't help it here. Cape-wearing keyboardist Rick Wakeman appears to have been the missing piece in the Yes puzzle. Not only are his distinctive, intelligently used and manifold keyboards perfect for the Squire-Howe-Bruford-Anderson sound in a way that Kaye's organ simply wasn't, but he also provides the compositional/arrangement edge that Yes desperately needed, adding flawless bridges and banishing any temptations to step down from a song's overall flow with a bit of TYA bombast. Now, onto the album, the group pieces are exceptional, intelligent, well-timed and absolutely wonderful. The solo pieces are a more mixed bag. This is more than essential, but not consistent enough for a masterpiece.

I'm going to start this review with South Side Of The Sky, because it is, in my humble opinion, the best thing that Yes have ever done, and one of the greatest ever progressive pieces. A biting, suicidal energy, a bleak, tragic beauty, incredible playing and atmosphere, fantastic lyrics from Jon Anderson and a sense of deeper connection that I have had with only a very few other pieces.

During a walk earlier this year, I was walking on Kinder Downfall or some other such 600M+ near-mini-mountain in the lovely Peak or Lake District (my memory is vague). There were substantial windspeeds (50-60 mph, could well have been less, if I remember), I was poorly waterproofed, rain soaked me to the skin, jumper, three shirts, coat, hat, coat hood, gloves all drenched. Even changes of gloves, hat and jumper weren't a big help. Hail and sleet followed the rain as I got progressively more tired, and eventually we were on the exposed part of the rocky near-mountain, with a sheer slope on one side. Every bone in my body was freezing, I felt a need to carry on, manically, and place one foot in front of the other, interspersed with moments of resignation. It is easily the most uncomfortable I have ever been in my life (sheltered though it's been). An unforgettable experience.

What Yes have done in South Side Of The Sky is unwittingly convert that experience into music. Every note of that song conveys something to me, as does every lyrical line and repeat. For music as a form of pure expression and imagery, it does not get better for me, and I'm certain that the experience of discomfort in the, at that time, less-than-entirely-delightful British countryside of February or March 2008 is something to do with that.

Whirling winds open the song, and Bruford explodes in with a percussion solo. Howe appears similarly out of nowhere as Wakeman's synth oscillates. An organ comes in, accompanied by Squire's throbbing bass, and Howe gives the song a number of edges that reflect the adrenaline as well as the desperation. Bruford continues to crash intelligently throughout the piece, providing metallic clashes and a number of drum choices. Wakeman leaps around keyboards throughout the piece, providing several atmospheric touches as well as his more conventional organ. Throughout, Anderson gives us brilliant, descriptive and narrative lyrics, telling the story of doomed polar expedition. His vocals do not disappoint, only concentrate the atmosphere that everyone else has been building.

We get one of my all-time favourite piano solos (I have a lot of them) from Wakeman, who gives us a haunting edge, a feeling of the real cold of the place and the descent into death as well as a contrast to the density of the rest of the piece. He is gradually joined by Bruford and Squire as well as multiple clever individual vocals. It returns to the piano solo, and a humming synth meets it. Bruford bursts in with monstrous timing, Howe provides several guitar parts with the feel of death and loss of control very much in there and Anderson's sustained vocals are simply perfect. Another wuthering synth ends the piece. The piece is perfect. The rest of the album is not South Side Of The Sky, unfortunately.

Roundabout was initially a bit of an enigma for me. I can appreciate all the components and the arrangement is superbly done. A haunting synth and Steve Howe's gorgeous, dark classical guitar give way to Squire's lightning-fast leading bass. Bruford thuds on behind with a rock beat contrasted with some clever variation, and Howe moves between the background and the foreground flawlessly. Wakeman provides excellent organ, and the Anderson-Squire-Howe harmony vocals come into their own. Bruford provides some hollower and unusual percussion in a darker, more packed section with a clever Howe-Wakeman duet. We get a superb organ solo from the Caped One, and Howe also gives us a couple of brief ideas. The band are able to repeat the same basic ideas with a completely altered feel, creating a masterful song, as well as providing us with a superb range of ideas in the eight minute or so period of time. An incredible song, but one that didn't originally grab me on an emotional level. I've since revised this opinion.

The cheerful Long Distance Run-Around, with its bouncy feel, basic-riff-reliance and multiple clever parts, is very much the successor of A Venture. It is, however, miles better than its predecessor, with Wakeman's spinning Moog providing some variety, and the opportunities for the band to burst out a little much welcomed. Squire is a standout throughout, with his bass suddenly providing a texture or a brief spray of notes.

Heart Of The Sunrise, as a contrast to the preceding Mood For A Day, begins with a surprisingly savage burst of energy from Bruford, Wakeman and Howe. Squire and Bruford work around each other masterfully in a darker, slower, more haunting piece, with a lead bass part, amazing drumming and a haunting mellotron from The Caped One. Howe again brings the piece into its frenzied, heavy section with Moog and later organ additions used brilliantly, and then back down into a gentle echo of the earlier haunting section and a soft electric with Anderson's vocals. After these three minutes of absolutely brilliant sonic battery, Anderson's voice with its beauty, but yet rather careful edge and lyrical hooks and ideas, is even better placed. Squire provides some lead bass, Bruford plays around with his drumkit, and Wakeman's set of Moog and piano provide a lot of different ideas. Howe is able to return to the mix effortlessly, and leave it with just as little fuss. Wakeman, Squire and Howe exchange ideas in a cooler, less manic variation on the opening chaos and a careful piano leads us down into another jumpy vocal with a bass humming along behind. The majestic conclusion, with a mock-triumphant, yet lost vocal from Anderson leads up to a squirreling Howe disappearing. Up 'til now, a perfect piece, with ideas oozing from every corner, versatility, clever essential repeats. The door creaks open and suddenly we get a repeat of ****ing We Have Heaven. The song was perfect. Why did they have to go and butcher it with that ending?

I doubt that Yes would have been create any one of these pieces without Rick Wakeman. Much as more than a few people worship the jazzy overtones of Moraz (who is, I admit an excellent player) or the blocky organ of Tony Kaye (which is basically the same on half of The Yes Album), but I cannot see either of them ever creating these amazing pieces. The Caped One deserves all the fawning worship-threads he gets, in my opinion.

Onto the solo pieces:

Rick Wakeman's Cans And Brahms is essentially playing Brahms ' on all sorts of keyboardy instruments. The sleeve notes say exactly which. I don't particularly care either way about it. It's good enough, not particularly annoying in the contest, and has a good whimsical feel.

We Have Heaven is not so neutral. It features multiple Anderson vocals over a consistent guitar riff and some other additions from various features. It's amazing how annoying the merge of Anderson-related noises gets after a minute or so. The lyrics are pretty mindless. The door shutting followed by running is a precursor to the end of Heart Of The Sunrise.

5% for Nothing is a forgettable piece of nonsense from Bruford. Don't really object to it, but it says something that I didn't remember to include this when I wrote the review...

Squire's Schindleria Praematurus (The Fish) is a little more substantial than the previous solo pieces, with a number of bizarre bass parts merging into each other very well and Bruford trundling along behind with tappings on various things. A harmony accompanies the piece as it fades. I'm not mad about this one, since I feel the individual parts are rather too repeated. It feels more like overdubbed bass parts than an actual arranged and clever multiple-bass piece. The other thing is, as a bass performance, it's seriously over-rated. The idea is innovative and does spotlight the bass, but the playing and thought behind the piece isn't even in the same league as Heart Of The Sunrise, America or Roundabout, in my opinion.

Mood For A Day is the reason the solo pieces were worth including. Howe provides a gorgeous, emotional classicaly-inspired solo guitar, with a combination of lead melodies, backing notes throughout and some intelligently-used strumming. Uplifting and beautiful, as well as being wonderfully titled.

Onto the bonus material:

The longer Yes version of Simon And Garfunkel's America was a great choice with Squire's throbbing bass, Wakeman's multiplicity of keyboards and Bruford's innovations and general crashing showing off themselves nicely. Anderson provides his own feel for the lyrics. The combination of softer and louder sections works very neatly, and it gives Howe the opportunities to chord out a lot as well as handle some brief and extended soloing with great relish. A great cover. I didn't really need the extra version of Roundabout, but it's a nice conclusion for the album as a whole, so I can live with it. Jon Anderson forgets some of the lyrics, it seems (or decides not to add them in), which is quite funny, and Bruford provides a more rocking performance, which is interesting. In brief, not a terrible pick as a bonus track.

This album, even if I could have done without some parts of it and don't really care for the conclusion to Heart Of The Sunrise myself, is absolutely essential to any fan of progressive rock. This is an incredible step forwards from The Yes Album, and at its high points a match for Close To The Edge. It is a shame that a few choices in the solo ideas, and that damnable end to Heart Of The Sunrise make the album less fun to listen to as a whole.

Rating: Four Stars. The group ideas are brilliant, the solo ideas don't convince me.

Favourite Track: South Side Of The Sky

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Avant-garde arrangement, AND you get a personal anecdote at no extra cost (and I attacked Schindleria Praematurus). There's a first time for everything, right. Naturally, opinions welcome, and I'm interested in anyone else's contrary thoughts.

General Yes discussion now (general guidelines, any discussion beats no discussion):
Does anyone believe that Yes with Kaye had anywhere near such a potent future or could have done some form of those longer pieces (and why)? When do Yes take off for you? What effect did Capeman's leaving/arrival have on the band? Are there any reviews of specific Yes albums that you think are *just* perfect? etc. Anything goes. I'm going to be continuing the series up until Relayer, I think, though I might try to make some sense of GFTO as well.

--
New listen: If I Could Do It All Over Again was very good. No idea what I'd rate it at, or really about specific tracks other than thingummy with the name in it.

Edit: Argh. Extra star syndrome.

Forgot 5% for nothing. heh. Fixed.


Edited by TGM: Orb - May 23 2008 at 13:52

Sorry Mike.

Me and Rob basically agrees on this one, but as he accepts it, I openly dislike most of it. Gave it two stars.

Review 40, The Yes Album, Yes, 1971

No disgrace.

The Yes Album is where my current Yes collection begins (never really had the inclination to try the debut), and was one of the two Yes albums I started with (along with Close To The Edge). There are plenty of people who consider it a masterpiece, and I'm not among them. We can see some of the superb musicianship and composition that we will see in later Yes, even if Wakeman really completes the set for me and Bruford really comes into his own on Fragile. There is a lot of energy on the album, and that's certainly good for it. However, the problem is the arrangement, which sometimes falls down into a bombastic and bouncy section that has basically no relation to the song it's in, and the vocal repetition is often rather excessive. This is certainly a good album, and a nice, relatively accessible introduction to Yes, but they've yet to reach the stellar heights of things like South Side Of The Sky or Siberian Khatru.

The cheerful chords of Yours Is No Disgrace (even if repeated for rather longer than I think is necessary) introduce us to the style of the album, with Tony Kaye's blocky organ. A whirl of guitar from Howe leads us impressively to the initial heavily harmonised vocals with an organ background, and we move on through a few mostly un-necessary instrumental sections with repeats abounding to a vocal-bass section to a great biting Howe solo (and a couple of additions from Kaye and Bruford). From then on, the song is a little more satisfying: Howe's melodic acoustic and electric guitars over some superb organ from Kaye and a typically excellent Squire-Bruford duo delights every time, while all the vocals feel well-placed and the pompous 'bam-babam-bam' theme does seem appropriate. Howe and Squire both throw in some soloing. On the plus side, some very nicely done lyrics and essentially good playing throughout, but the flow is lacking in the first half.

The Clap is an acoustic delight from Howe, with a cheerful feel, superb moments, extremely good flow and never dull. A very mobile, original and enjoyable piece.

Starship Trooper is probably going to be the highlight for most progressive-ly interested people, being around ten minutes long and featuring an expanding theme. On Anderson's Life Seeker, Bruford provides some superb style, Squire provides strong bass and the swelling organ is appropriate for the song. Jon Anderson's vocal is relaxed, yet assertive and strong enough to handle the stripped back spots rather well. There are a couple of places where I think the bombast inserted compromises the piece's flow. Squire's section, Disillusion, features some unsurprisingly excellent bass playing, even if the vocals on 'loneliness is a pow'r that we possess' don't do much for me. The flow up to Howe's excellent entrance to the final instrumental section (Wurm, written by Howe) is perfectly handled, and that section is certainly worthy of Yes's efforts, with an excellent build-up, careful additions from Kaye and Bruford, and Howe gets to handle an electric guitar solo, which is suitably awesome. It is very well concluded, but the first two parts of Starship Trooper don't really satisfy me.

The following 'I've Seen All Good People' is a mixed piece, with an annoying opening, some beautiful vocals from Anderson, but some terrible harmonies. Howe provides an acoustic background to the vocals, with an occasional thump in the background from Bruford. A flutey sound, probably from Kaye's direction is present throughout until the large organ bursts in. The more cheerful All Good People proper features a more bouncy rhythm created by Squire and Howe, while Kaye and Bruford add in a little bounce with some piano and excellent drumming. Unfortunately, the repeats from Anderson don't really help the song a lot, and the massively blocky organ doesn't really do the end much. One of those ones I don't really like, even if I admire the components.

I actually like the maligned and folky 'A Venture', which contains a delicious piano opening, followed by a rather consistent bass part, Anderson contributes to some great moments as everyone else drops out, and everyone gets to do a bit of jumping out of the piece's mould. Again, the problem is flow, with a couple of 'just to hide away' sections feeling awkward, but the ending is actually very good, with a bizarrely chosen guitar solo when the piece has already basically faded.

Perpetual Change, the albums third longer piece, begins with the bombast that the other two have already seen, and the Howe guitar and Squire bass feels a little powerless on the opening. Again, we have the flow not complimented by feeble bridging efforts. A brief Squire bass solo features before another repeat of the chorus and the bombast. The verse proper, however, is wonderful, with Anderson's high vocal contrasting with the harmonies, and we get some more rocking moment from the band with Anderson's powerful 'You'll see perpetual change' blasting out from the speakers with a couple of taps on piano not too dissimilar to something on Aqualung. The piece takes off into an excellent instrumental section which bridges properly, instead opting to move into a repeated riff. A moog hum brings us onto the final vocal section with a very satisfying conclusion created by the vocals and the wordless harmony, and the bombastic throbs of the earlier song being repeated, but feeling appropriate. Everyone takes a brief solo and the piece comes down to a calm end.

The bonus material isn't great. A single version of I've Seen All Good People and Life Seeker is pretty unnecessary. The start of Your Move is very jarring after the album proper's conclusion. However, the studio version of The Clap, which does vary enough from the one included to be of interest, is worthy of inclusion on the remaster.

All in all, lots of potential, and some great sections scattered about the place. However, the overall flow of lots of the pieces is lacking, and Kaye's rather simplistic organ as well as the arrangement-shaped hole and bombastic (I'm sorry for horribly overusing this word. Allegorical in the extreme) guitar-chords become quite annoying at times. A nice album. One I like. There are some bits of this that every Yes fan must hear, and everyone else will certainly like, but only with Wakeman do Yes become an essential band.

Rating: Three Stars (but a good three stars)
Favourite Track: Perpetual Change or Starship Trooper, but I don't particularly prefer any of the individual tracks to the others.

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Now I need to hide from Micky

Impressions from the albums I've listened to:

In The Land Of Grey And Pink - Caravan

Liked it all, but really, really loved that concluding Dissociation/100% Proof section of Nine Feet Underground. Wonderful. 4ish stars.

Clutching At Straws - Marillion

What struck me about this album was that it felt a bit like an extension of Script, only with every single kink ironed out. Amazing vocals, including female ones on the final track. Incredible stuff. Really enjoyable, even if I think it's ruined Script for me forever. Cheerful lyrics. 5ish Stars.

McDonald & Giles - s/t

I did really enjoy this one. Cheerful, good fun, good music throughout. I wasn't initially convinced by bits of the Birdman suite, but the twist on Cadence And Cascade in Flight Of The Ibis is wonderful. 3/4ish stars.

Apocalypse - The Mahavishnu Orchestra

I don't feel comfortable rating their style of music, that much, but I can say that the orchestra on this one was used very well, McLaughlin and Jean Luc-Ponty excelled as soloists, and the rest was pretty good, even without Billy Cobham. 4ish stars.

Scheherazade and Other Stories - Renaissance

Wow. Just wow. Superb throughout. I love the hell out of The Vultures Fly High (I swear, there is a pop demon inside of me rearing to burst out). 5ish stars.

The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage - Peter Hammill

I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. It is very poetic and well-written, but I need to accept that outside Van Der Graaf Generator this music is going to sound different. Loved A Louse Is Not A Home and Forsaken Gardens (as well as liking The Lie) but I need to relisten to this now my preconceptions of Peter Hammill have been demolished appropriately. Don'tknowish stars.

Three Of A Perfect Pair - King Crimson

As always with Crimson so far, very good. I liked the style and Levin's bass was excellent throughout. Not sure that having four versions of Sleepless total on the remaster was a great idea. Larks' Tongues In Aspic pt. 3 didn't disappoint at all. True to the feel of the first two, but accomplished it in a different way.

And a recap

Three Friends - Gentle Giant

Loved it. Relevant lyrics, great music throughout, and wonderfully handled vocals. Don't have the intelligence to analyse it, but Man Of Class And Quality is an instant favourite. 4/5ish stars.

Exiles - David Cross

A very good album. There are a couple of modern choices that I'm gradually getting used to (I'm just *used* to hating the trancey style of the start of the Exiles version, so I'm having a difficult time dealing with it). The version of Exiles is wonderful, even with my acclimatising, and the rest of the album is pretty good. Not the best conclusion, I feel, though I've warmed to it a little. Peter Hammill provides some great vocals on Troppo (IIRC) and the violin throughout is wonderful. 4ish stars.

Camel - Camel

Very enjoyable, and the blues throughout makes it more bearable than later efforts like Moonmadness. Solid solos, no pretense whatsoever, tolerable vocals, and a relaxing feel, as well as some psychedelic edges. The Mystic Queen is simply amazing. 4ish stars.

All things are first impressions, or very nearly first impressions.

Haha, I couldn't even be bothered to finish the introduction, apparently. That's how annoyed I was at the album. Maybe I was just enthusiastic about following in Lappy's footsteps

Anyway, many things have arrived. I'll try to get some reviews done anyway, but they might be less frequent.