Yes: Magnification (2001)

This time, I'm Going for the One Yes album with no keyboard player: Magnification is the 19th Yes studio album (excluding the ABWH album) and the final album with Jon Anderson. Magnification is also The Yes Album with the sole distinction of having a four-piece line-up with no keyboard player, with orchestral arrangements taking the place of the keyboard parts. This would mark the first time the band had worked with an orchestra since the Time and a Word album in 1970.  Igor Khoroshev was originally intended to play keyboards on the album, but he was involved in a backstage "incident" with two female security guards when he came Close to the Edge of being arrested during the non-stop Relayer race of the  U.S. Masterworks tour. There was Talk of recording another album after the tour, but to avoid any further Drama, Igor Khoroshev was dropped from the Yes line-up. The four-piece line-up for the Magnification album featured a re-Union of regular Yes members:- Jon Anderson; Chris Squire; Steve Howe & Alan White. The recording process went fairly smoothly, apart from Steve Howe's Fragile ego being slightly dented by having his guitar parts swamped by the orchestral arrangements. Magnification was released on September 10th 2001 in the U.K and was originally intended for release in North America on September 11th 2001, but Heaven & Earth was rocked by the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington DC, and the album was rescheduled for a later U.S release on December 4th 2001. The album barely made it onto the bottom rung of The Ladder in the album charts upon its release, only reaching No. 71 in the U.K, and No. 186 in the U.S Billboard 200, and only lasted one week in both charts. Magnification turned out to be one of the worst-selling Yes albums, in complete contrast to the best-selling 90125 and Tales from Topographic Ocean albums. Magnification has been a Big Generator of debate amongst Yes fans over the years, contrasting between those who love the album, and others who regard it as something of a bad Tormato in the Yes canon. I really like the Magnification album though, and if you Open Your Eyes and ears and give the album a listen, then maybe you'll gain the Keys to Ascension too, or maybe you won't, whichever the case may be. Anyway, before I Fly from Here tonight, I'll post the ten Yessongs from the album below so you can judge the album for yourselves.

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - August 26 2020 at 12:23

Psychedelic Paul wrote: ... I'll post the ten Yessongs from the album below so you can judge the album for yourselves.   All albums in Red Highlights by Yes

Are all of those officially sanctioned? Avoid posting full albums whether it be in one video or many. This is what I have been trying to say in the Krautrock thread and other topics. It also makes opening the page hard for people. I have hid the post with all of the tracks.

Like I explained in the Krautrock thread:

Logan wrote: It has been the expectation and request that people avoid posting full album videos (embeds) and significant material from albums (so not many tracks from an album) at the forums generally (not just this topic) without permission/allowance from the artists or labels. I would think that a hyperlink may be preferable (say to bandcamp, spotify or youtube) if wishing to exhibit more than a portion. This is partially out of respect for the artists, not just any risk of complaints, not all of which have approved of people sharing music this way. When it's come to formal evaluation for placement, full album embeds have been more common. People who want to check out the music probably wouldn't mind clicking on, say, a youtube link anyway. I for one would rather just check out someone's favoured track from an album, and If I like that, then I will listen to more. I don't think that many people bother checking out the music in many of these topics anyway. I wish people did more because I like that kind of interactivity and to hear people's impressions of music. Of course with some albums they can only be found in full (and some albums have but one piece of music)....

Give Love Each Day is the highlight for me, though the whole thing is quite strong even for a Yes album. I think I remember that the conceit for this album was a de-emphasis on keyboards, in favor of acoustic orchestral arrangements. Kinda ballsy, and it worked great.

Back to Give Love Each Day — I imagined it as my “wedding song” for a while (I wasn’t married yet), and never pursued the idea too far because 7+ minutes of unfamiliar music won’t win the crowd over at a wedding. Yet they wet their pants over “Copacabana” (yes, played at my wedding because I’m nice), which lasts for what feels like a small eternity. Go figure.

Yep its a good album and sparked an even better tour.

why post videos?  Everyone knows this album. 

Cristi wrote: why post videos?  Everyone knows this album.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Cristi wrote: why post videos?  Everyone knows this album.  I happen to love watching YouTube music videos on my big screen TV, which is something you can't do with a CD album, so there's your answer. If you don't like the videos I posted then that's Your Prerogative (minus the Britney Spears video).

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Cristi wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: Cristi wrote: why post videos?  Everyone knows this album.  I happen to love watching YouTube music videos on my big screen TV, which is something you can't do with a CD album, so there's your answer. If you don't like the videos I posted then that's Your Prerogative (minus the Britney Spears video). you can watch the videos on youtube, you do not have to post them here on PA. Who are you posting them for? Yourself?!  What would be the point in posting videos just for myself when the whole idea behind a music site such as this one is to *SHARE* music with friends.

Edited by Cristi - September 13 2020 at 12:29

I prophesy disaster wrote: Cristi wrote: you can watch the videos on youtube, you do not have to post them here on PA.   Actually, there is an advantage to watching videos on PA compared to watching videos on YouTube: ads... on PA, one only gets banner ads, in contrast to intrusive video ads on YouTube.

Edited by suitkees - September 13 2020 at 13:03