"The Gates Of Delirium" Vs "Supper's Ready"

I love both of these epics, so I voted for Gates just because it is losing right now.
However, I can't really decide which one is better. "Supper" has the incredibly cathartic final section, and "Gates" has one of the most amazing instrumental sections I ever heard, and it doesn't just sound like a show off (to me at least). It blows my mind everytime I listen to it.

Edited by 'PiphanyRambler - December 29 2014 at 08:05

Dellinger wrote: I do love both, and for me Supper's Ready is a perfect song with perfect flow from start to finish. However, I can say the same about Gates of Delirium... and it's just got such energy that SR lacks, that I have to vote for it. And even better if I think about the Orchestral version on Yes's Symphonic Live album, with a real wonderful interplay between band and orchestra, such as I believe has hardly been heard when rock bands have gotten to play with orchestras.

Meltdowner wrote: ^ The main reason I don't like Gates much is because I'm always thinking: "Jon, shut the f**k up!" The instrumental is very nice but there are too much vocals for my taste. When I think about listening to Relayer I look at all the lyrics in the gatefold and then I pick something else

My beef with "Gates" comes four-fold:

Edited by Dayvenkirq - December 28 2014 at 23:04

Gates all the way through.  It is a more cohesive and dare I say organic whole.  It has a beginning, middle, and end, and even though they began performing Soon by itself, those performances never convinced me.  It has to work as a whole and only fails when it is cut up.  I love Supper's Ready but its more scattered nature comes in a clear second for me.  This is similar when we compare Supper's Ready to Close to the Edge.

Meltdowner wrote: ^ The main reason I don't like Gates much is because I'm always thinking: "Jon, shut the f**k up!" The instrumental is very nice but there are too much vocals for my taste. When I think about listening to Relayer I look at all the lyrics in the gatefold and then I pick something else

Meltdowner wrote: Dayvenkirq wrote: "Supper". I still don't get "Gates".

hah. Easy

take a collection of incredibly talented instrumentalists.... toss into the bowl.. an epic on a seminal piece of literature with very pertinent overall theme.

Let them blow your mind with 'god I wish I was that good' playing, in a nice tidy easy to follow arrangement. A free flowing piece that is not a collage of song tidbits.. but a complete whole of a composition with real structure.

A stirring and martial Prelude.. then battle..where they go apesh*t crazy...then a very touching and beautiful finale as one realizes that while battle is great and lets out the alpha male in all of us... it is all just a colossal waste.

and just what is Super's Ready...  a collage of song tidbits..what is the point and purpose of it. It is  more prone to put you to sleep than make you think and feel.. or simply to inspire you to grab yer geetar and play..






Edited by micky - December 28 2014 at 07:11

Dayvenkirq wrote: "Supper". I still don't get "Gates".

micky wrote: Imperial Zeppelin wrote: Gates Of Delirium by far. And it's not even my favorite Yes epic  yeah man. Nowhere near my favorite but Gates still towers above anything Genesis did. Gates of Delirium ROCKS!!! and yet ends with purpose and such beauty.. what does Supper's Ready do...  amuse you with a mildly clever section about Winston Churchill being in drag. pfff..  I really don't understand you Genesis bobbleheads

"Supper". I still don't get "Gates".

Almost nothing can beat Supper's Ready. So the winner picked by me is obvious.