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AFlowerKingCrimson View Drop Down

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Posted: June 15 2021 at 16:47

^ No love for Fragile, Tales from Topographic Oceans or Relayer? Wink

Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down

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Posted: June 15 2021 at 23:52

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

^ No love for Fragile, Tales from Topographic Oceans or Relayer? Wink

Yes, I like all three of those classic albums, but only one make it into my Top 10. Smile

1. The Ladder

2. Going for the One

3. Talk

4. Close to the Edge

5. The Yes Album

6. Fly from Here

7. Magnification

8. Heaven & Earth

9. Tales from Topographic Oceans

10. 90125

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Posted: April 21 2022 at 09:45

Talk is great, it's my fav from the 90s Yes era.

galeriaderaices.bandcamp.com/

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Posted: August 27 2022 at 17:44

Outside the run from TYA to GFTO, The Ladder, Keystudio, and Talk are my favorites.

Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down

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Posted: August 27 2022 at 23:49

YES, it's TIME AND A WORD of well-deserved praise now for THE YES ALBUM that often gets overlooked. YES, it is of course the TALK album. The recording of this album was relatively trouble-free and was recorded, mixed and produced by YES guitarist Trevor Rabin at his home studio in Hollywood, California. The recording of TALK had none of the tensions and surrounding DRAMA of recording the legendary TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS album twenty years earlier, where FRAGILE egos were at stake and a MAGNIFICATION of simmering tempers were often CLOSE TO THE EDGE of boiling over. In the constant RELAYER race of YES line-ups, the personnel for the TALK album were:- Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, Tony Kaye & Alan White. The album was to have featured Rick Wakeman, but he was unable to appear due to "contractual obligations" and he appeared in a re-UNION with his YES bandmates on the following album, KEYS TO ASCENSION in 1996. The TALK album was generally treated like a squashed TORMATO by the music press, but it was well-received by YES fans and was a BIG GENERATOR of album sales, climbing THE LADDER of success to reach No. 20 in the U.K albums chart. The album may not have moved HEAVEN AND EARTH, but if you haven't heard the TALK album before, it may just OPEN YOUR EYES and ears to the sound of one of the best YES albums since the release of GOING FOR THE ONE in 1977 and 90125 in 1983. The TALK album contains nine YESSONGS and I'm going to FLY FROM HERE now and give the album another listen.

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Posted: April 05 2024 at 12:42

My favorites from Union:

Shock to the System

Lift Me Up

Miracle of Life

My favorites from Talk:

Walls

Endless Dream

See ya,

I_Developer
Asia Superfan and Album Reviewer

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Posted: April 06 2024 at 01:52

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

YES, it's TIME AND A WORD of well-deserved praise now for THE YES ALBUM that often gets overlooked. YES, it is of course the TALK album. The recording of this album was relatively trouble-free and was recorded, mixed and produced by YES guitarist Trevor Rabin at his home studio in Hollywood, California. The recording of TALK had none of the tensions and surrounding DRAMA of recording the legendary TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS album twenty years earlier, where FRAGILE egos were at stake and a MAGNIFICATION of simmering tempers were often CLOSE TO THE EDGE of boiling over. In the constant RELAYER race of YES line-ups, the personnel for the TALK album were:- Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, Tony Kaye & Alan White. The album was to have featured Rick Wakeman, but he was unable to appear due to "contractual obligations" and he appeared in a re-UNION with his YES bandmates on the following album, KEYS TO ASCENSION in 1996. The TALK album was generally treated like a squashed TORMATO by the music press, but it was well-received by YES fans and was a BIG GENERATOR of album sales, climbing THE LADDER of success to reach No. 20 in the U.K albums chart. The album may not have moved HEAVEN AND EARTH, but if you haven't heard the TALK album before, it may just OPEN YOUR EYES and ears to the sound of one of the best YES albums since the release of GOING FOR THE ONE in 1977 and 90125 in 1983. The TALK album contains nine YESSONGS and I'm going to FLY FROM HERE now and give the album another listen.

That is brilliant. I don't know where you get the time to compose these monologues, they are all very entertaining! Clap

Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down

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Posted: April 06 2024 at 02:06

^ Thanks! It's just a Roundabout way of sharing my love for YES. Smile

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Posted: April 06 2024 at 06:26

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

For me personally, the 1990's is their most under rated and underappreciated decade. Sure, there were some albums that many people don't like and feel were poor but even on those albums there are a few gems. The decade started out with Union which, while a bit of a hodgepodge in terms of production especially considering the different musicians and lineups involved including ghost musicians, still has a few gems on it that wouldn't have sounded too out of place on the Anderson, Bruford Wakeman Howe album from 1989. Next up is Talk which in general is a very underrated album by the band. The production and engineering was handled by Trevor Rabin who wrote most of the music and as such some feel it is more of a Trevor Rabin solo album then a true Yes album. Nonetheless it is a very fine album and "Endless Dream" in particular is among the best epics they have ever done. Next up are the keys to ascension albums which saw a return to the classic lineup of Howe, Anderson, White, Squire and Wakeman. Unfortunately, that lineup didn't last that long and the band ultimately recorded the much poppier and less than stellar Open Your Eyes which still had a few good tunes on it although admittedly it is not the most representative of their career. Finally(no pun intended)we have the Ladder which was a bit of a return to Yes's roots and while not quite as progressive or retro sounding over all as the studio tracks to keys to ascension was certainly more of a bone thrown to their hardcore fans than Open Your Eyes.

This, in my opinion, is actually a very good assessment of that period of Yes - my compliments!

Of this decade I easily prefer Talk over the rest. It is today my preferred Rabin-era Yes album. It is maybe a bit more "restless" than 90125 or Big Generator, but to my ears it is very cohesive and of high rock standards.

The razamataz is a pain in the bum

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Posted: May 22 2024 at 09:13

Although uneven, I think the '90s has some of the best Yes music.

Union has some great songs and a few weak ones, and to me it's not very cohesive, which jibes with the way the album came together.

Talk is one of my favorites, with The Calling, I Am Waiting, and Endless Dream being absolutely stellar. The only problem with the album is that Squire gets lost in the mix. Trevor was great on the album. On another note, IMHO, ARW put on better shows than the other Yes, save for the Drama-Tales tour in 2017, which was the only concert by post-Jon Yes (including the Drama tour) that made me feel like I was at a real Yes show.

Keys is great, but the two releases combining the live and studio tracks was not a great idea, and the band didn't like that. If you combine the studio tracks into KeyStudio, you get a great album which approaches the great run from TYA through GFTO in quality. Combining the live tracks into a unified album also makes for a great live album that is well played and well produced. The live version of Onward is miles ahead of the original studio release, and I love that they included America along with two TFTO tracks. The interplay between Howe and Wakeman in Starship Trooper is just great and takes me back to the best Yes concerts I've seen.

Open Your Eyes is a real mixed bag. The band went for a more modern sound with an AOR groove, and the album is hampered by some obvious filler, including recycled material from Animation and that inexplicable thing at the end of The Solution with the forest sounds and snippets from the songs. Highlights for me are New State of Mind, Open Your Eyes, Fortune Seller, and Love Shine.

The Ladder is one of my favorite Yes albums. They played it kind of safe on that one, but the songs are so charming and well put together.

AFlowerKingCrimson View Drop Down

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Posted: May 22 2024 at 10:15

Imo, keystudio, while a good album on it's own terms, nonetheless seems like a deliberate attempt to recapture the bands glory days not to mention appease their longtime fans (who probably make up at least 70 percent of their fanbase). As such the album seems a bit contrived to me not to mention sounding totally out of place in the 1990s musical landscape. Still, I think it's a good tribute to days gone by. Of course that's all just my opinion.

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Posted: May 22 2024 at 11:11

I've given that decade a try, but I'm sticking with the 1969-1983 period for stronger and more-fulfilling music. It just wasn't the same - for me - afterwards. But the earlier period has plenty of great music to satisfy a Yes fix.

Edited by Boojieboy - May 22 2024 at 11:13

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Posted: May 22 2024 at 13:49

I obsessively listened to Yes' entire discography when Magnification was the newest album they had out. Until the last ten years, 90s was their weakest era imo. Ladder is ok, Talk is the best Rabin album thanks to Endless Dream, KeyStudio is quite good. Union and Open your Eyes did the least for me of all their albums at that time. Union I can't remember anything from despite listening to it over twenty times. Open Your Eyes I don't think I even bothered beyond a few listens, it just didn't have any of the magic.