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DDPascalDD 
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 Topic: What makes Yes music so good?
Posted: May 12 2016 at 11:44 |
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Not that I don't like it, but I'm very interested in hearing why people like them. Can you name specific aspects or examples?
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Catcher10
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 11:55 |
Because of Roger Dean's album cover designs...He made those nutso lyrics sound intelligent 
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Icarium
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 12:05 |
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the shimmering effect that happens when the musos in the band, collectivly. reach the astral plane and lingers ther as they do in. songs lik 'and You and I'
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octopus-4
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 14:16 |
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Each seem to play on his own but it results in armonies. They are unique in this sense.
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I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution
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Magnum Vaeltaja
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 14:42 |
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They really have a sound and aesthetic that, for the time especially but even still now, is very unique. They weren't so melancholy like King Crimson and Pink Floyd, weren't so "quaint" like Genesis, weren't so grounded in classical music like ELP; they had a diverse range of influences, from Bruford's occasional jazzy musings to Howe's country and western picking. Basically, their sound offered something very different from what everyone else was creating, something a lot more spiritual, other-worldly. And I feel like the pairing between Jon Anderson's lyrics and Roger Dean' fantasy art really sold that home for a lot of people, too.
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when i was a kid a doller was worth ten dollers - now a doller couldnt even buy you fifty cents
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micky
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 14:49 |
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good question actually... they definitely had that something special that set them over and above all others.
I would take a stab at one thing they did better than anyone.. not that was too hard.. for few ever really tried it...
yeah the site has them listed as symphonic... but outside of Tales that really is a load of bull.. part of their key to success and longevity was they were able to appeal to a wide audience outside of elitists and social outcasts. They did so by fusing complex music with popular music.. and showed that both are not poles apart. This is not the same as groups like ELP that became popular even if they were complex. I'm talking a band that had as its primary influences.. pop groups. As some have noted... Close to the Edge.. is nothing but a 19 minute long pop song. Whereas in standard pop songs the standard pop song format are kept short and compact.. Yes showed the standard pop song format could be expanded upon and highly developed.
Most listeners probably never consciously realized that but subconsioucly you damn well better believe they did. While some here are adverse to pop music.. some are not and what seperates pop and prog in many parts are the hooks that are part and parcel of good pop. Few prog bands really went that route because.. well... that is not what they were trying to do.. I think really only Yes (among the major bands at least) were able to fuse the blazing instrumental virtuosity and complex music with the killer hooks and awesome melodies that make great pop great.
Is that why Yes is pretty much considered the definitive prog band.. perhaps.. perhaps not.. but it may go a long way to explaining why so many SO love this group. They did have that something special.
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Modrigue
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 15:16 |
I would like to hear a track as progressive and mindblowing as "The Gates of Delirium"
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Quinino
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 15:22 |
^^ Good analysis, and certainly one that gains my support Very well, Michael, very well... that long stay behind bars made you a better Progson, I mean, person 
Edited by Quinino - May 12 2016 at 15:23
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dr wu23
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 15:32 |
The 'whole is greater than the sum of its parts '.... Aristotle.
Edited by dr wu23 - May 12 2016 at 15:33
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One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin
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The.Crimson.King
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 17:49 |
...because no one else could have pulled off CTTE, Relayer & Tales 
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emigre80
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 19:20 |
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^ all of the above, particularly Micky's sound analysis, plus: I dunno, they're just kind of brilliant.
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Bucklebutt
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 21:07 |
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Originality. They were one of the firsts and inspired a generation of bands that I love.
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Dellinger
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 21:52 |
 Icarium wrote:
the shimmering effect that happens when the musos in the band, collectivly. reach the astral plane and lingers ther as they do in. songs lik 'and You and I' |
I tried to put words to what I feel about Yes music, but I can't find any better suited than this. However, of course, it's not only "And You And I", it's so many other moments in other songs, specially between "The Yes Album" and "Going for the One".
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siLLy puPPy
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 22:07 |
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Because they didn't name the band NO
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cstack3
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Posted: May 12 2016 at 23:37 |
The vocal harmonies are ear candy! Anderson and Squire were partially inspired by great vocal bands such as The Association from the USA (Anderson did a single of theirs, "Never My Love," which is fantastic!
King Crimson certainly had the instrumental chops, as did ELP and Genesis, but Yes smokes all of them with their lush vocals.
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chopper
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Posted: May 13 2016 at 06:51 |
No other prog band has that mixture of power and melody that produced such moments as - - the instrumental section of "And You And I" - the crashing drums into the keyboard section near the end of "Gates of Delirium" - the ending of "The Remembering" - the ending of "Heart of the Sunrise" to name but a few
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Lewian
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Posted: May 13 2016 at 08:17 |
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"Mixture of power and melody" - that's well put. Apart from their skills and competence, they express quite an emotional range, meditative, pastoral, romantic, happy, sad, at times ambiguous between the two, but then also very powerful and energetic, and at times mysterious, tension, threat and relief. And they can switch from one to the other very suddenly but with musicality and taste. It feels natural when they do that, at least in their best moments. They have both the skill and the feeling to pull it off.
Another thing that distinguishes them from many prog and other bands is that overall the mood of their music feels more positive. It's not that being sad, angry, grumpy or depressive is beyond their range but many other music that is emotionally deep tends to be more on the negative pessimistic side overall in one way or another.
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someone_else
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Posted: May 13 2016 at 08:41 |
dr wu23 wrote:
The 'whole is greater than the sum of its parts '....Aristotle.
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That is exactly the added value within Yes music. Close to the Edge has this more than any other album that I know.
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DDPascalDD
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Posted: May 13 2016 at 09:01 |
Lewian wrote:
Another thing that distinguishes them from many prog and other bands is that overall the mood of their music feels more positive. It's not that being sad, angry, grumpy or depressive is beyond their range but many other music that is emotionally deep tends to be more on the negative pessimistic side overall in one way or another.
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That's it exactly for me too, there is so much complexity and feeling for (the) music but at the same time it's so happy and gives so much positive energy. It doesn't sound like a contradiction of any kind but that part does it for me.
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Manuel
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Posted: May 13 2016 at 09:18 |
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I guess would be the uniqueness of the music, specially during the classic period. A great combination of composition, orchestration and performance.
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What makes Yes music so good?
