Yes, an open discussion-how not to do it!

Norbert wrote: Musicians of the Buena Vista Social Club are/were in their eigties.  20 years from now Jon anderson will be only 82, so nothing is impossible.

The man pretty much defies age. At 82 he will probably give us Close to the Edge II

Norbert wrote: Winter Wine wrote: Norbert wrote: Musicians of the Buena Vista Social Club are/were in their eigties.  20 years from now Jon anderson will be only 82, so nothing is impossible. The man pretty much defies age. At 82 he will probably give us Close to the Edge II Yes, he really defies age. A wonderful person from every aspect.

 I agree, and his voice has remained firmly intact down through the years

I wish I didn't have to go back to school I could talk about Jon all day

GPFR wrote: Anderson? What about Howe? That guys sooooooooooooo amazing.

What about White? or Wakeman? or Squire? they're ALL amazing

I've enjoyed them since they "came on line", and have always favored the
Yes Album, Fragile, CTTE the most. Appreciate Topographic Oceans but
it's not the kind of stuff I can put on and enjoy anytime; gotta be in a
mood for more experimental stuff for that one. Enjoy some of the tracks
from their first two, also (mostly the ones that made the old "Yesterdays"
compilation). From Relayer and on, just haven't related to their stuff - in
the mid-70s I discovered bands like Gentle Giant, Soft Machine, Gong,
"Krautrock" bands, etc, a LOT of good stuff that I'd been missing, and my
tastes went in a different direction - decidedly to more jazz-based stuff.
So I keep the first three cited above, and flush the rest. (Actually my shelf
contains several others, but they collect dust.)

Anybody have the dvd "YesYears" it's very interesting. Especially seeing them play the Topographic Oceans material live, it sounds great!

I like Yes but I dont hold them with the same level of reverence that many others have on this site, the main reasons, I'd guess, are Jon Anderson (I cant stand his lyrics and his vocals arnt the best) and the sound Chris Squire makes with his bass ( I cant spell the makers name) witch really puts me off as I'm a bassist, even though I can here his great technicall proficiancy.

Mind you, I have only heard CTTE (dull except for SK) and The Yes Album (damn good piece of work).

sbrushfan wrote: Sticky topic...I haven't heard anything from the "classic" era.  What I DO like is 90125 and Big Generator.  I thougt they were written and produced well.  (Well...I know I'm gonna get bitched at for that!)

Not by me, I reviewed 90125 lately, have a look

sleeper wrote: I like Yes but I dont hold them with the same level of reverence that many others have on this site, the main reasons, I'd guess, are Jon Anderson (I cant stand his lyrics and his vocals arnt the best) and the sound Chris Squire makes with his bass ( I cant spell the makers name) witch really puts me off as I'm a bassist, even though I can here his great technicall proficiancy. Mind you, I have only heard CTTE (dull except for SK) and The Yes Album (damn good piece of work).

I don't know why people bother to say such blatantly stupid things sometimes, I know it's down to opinion but I really can't understand when people can't see such obviously silly things, CttE - 'dull', not in a billion years, amazing stuff, a pure adrenaline rush!

But maybe, one sunny day, you'll hear it again and say 'wow'. As for The Yes album, couldn't agree more

Edited by Winter Wine

sbrushfan wrote: Winter Wine wrote: sbrushfan wrote: Sticky topic...I haven't heard anything from the "classic" era.  What I DO like is 90125 and Big Generator.  I thougt they were written and produced well.  (Well...I know I'm gonna get bitched at for that!) Not by me, I reviewed 90125 lately, have a look   I had to laugh at your comment about them "not winning any beauty contests".  That was funny.

Heh, thanks  What did you think about what I said about the music? and my rating?

It's late at night, I'm listening to 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' and i'm in the humour to talk about it, So i'll post here because noone will bother looking at it  

Here's my breakdown of the album (In edited form)

• The Revealing Science of God - One of the best songs to just chill out to. There are very strong melodies here, A spacey spoken word intro which leads to a some great keyboard and guitar work. There is a lot of great ideas in this track, and even though overall Wakeman seems to be less involved on this album than the albums beforehand, He still gives us one of his best, Most aggressive synth solos on any Yes record. Truly amazing. Steve seems to be using a very odd selection of chords throughout the track, but it sounds great, I think some of his best guitar work is on this album, As a lot of it is wildly different than anything that came before.
• The Remembering - The overlooked one. Lots of very distinct, Interesting sections, Based on a few very great ideas, Great mood again (Especially the meandering guitar at the beginning) One of my favourite moments is the acoustic section before the 'Relayeeeer' section that really gives the track a boost. Great stuff.
• The Ancient - The difficult one. Even though I have got into this one over the months I bothered to start listening to side 2, I still find it the weakest. It has great ideas too of course but the intro feels too dragged out and if your not prepared for it, Steve's guitar can tear your head apart. When Jon enters on vocals he sounds very odd to me, but the final 8 or so minutes have some excellent vocals, And the acoustic section as a whole is one of the best parts in any Yes song. Also i'd like to add, The percussion experiment reminds of something that Jamie Muir would try, And for that, I find it great, Even if it is madness.
• Ritual - The easier track to get into. Combining lots of ideas from the last three and adding in some more, The track seems to be brimming with creativity. Wakeman sounds more, For want of a better word, 'Awake' here, There's excellent keyboard and his piano touches in the last few minutes are quite beautiful, There must have been some moments when he thought it wasn't purely crap. The song has a much livelier rhythm and drive to it than most of the other songs, So Chris and Alan play a key role in this one. Jon sounds very emotional here, He sings some lines that can be very touching because they are almost melancholy, The lyrics are quite nice too. Perfect way to end the album.

To me, 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' had the potential to be Yes' finest hour (And 20 minutes) The ideas may not have been as developed as they could have been, there is a certain amount of padding, And sometimes it sounds a little discordant as a result. But I feel this is pure HEAVEN when you finally become accustomed to it. I think it has become something like the 'Die hard Yes fan favourite', So if you pass the Topographic Oceans test you're a true fan of their music. It has a very special atmosphere and mood that Yes fans go crazy for. It is one of my favourite Yes albums, As it offers a LOT to those who like to delve a little further into Yes music, Complicated, Ambitious, Off the wall and even pretentious, it deserves the title 'Flawed Masterpiece'.

I'll end up posting everything I feel about Yes on this thread  Thank God I started it myself.

I should really do my feckin review of Topographic Oceans, If I only I could decide on what to award it! Suggestions would be helpful