Chris Squire

Yes,

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/alan-white-yes-chris-squire/

So now there's an official statement from the band. I guess this makes it a more adequate time to discuss what we think about the possible futures of Yes. To begin with, it seems Squire actually wanted things to go this way, which is rather nice. Still, indeed I feel the line-up is getting ever weaker... for the moment, Billy Sherwood might be good enough to take Yes out of their scheduled dates, and actually for what I've heard he seems to be a rather good bass player and a good disciple of Squire... but I don't think he could ever be at the same level, and his input to Yes has almost always been mediocre (except for "The More We Live", which I do like a lot), so having him in Yes writing music and having his touch on vocals and on the sound (just check out what happened to Heaven and Earth once he came on board... I believe his touch is in a good part responsible for such a weak sound on that album). His presence in the band helps make this line-up keep in touch with Yes, taking an alumni of the band in... however, I would much rather have someone like Tony Levin or Nick Beggs take the spot (Beggs would be wonderful, and it would mean Yes is back in track trying to seek the best of the best). Perhaps the best way to go now would be to make a new "Union" tour... though on a smaller scale, so that we could have Anderson and Wakeman reunite with the current line-up (the ABWH line-up just won't happen, no matter how much we would want that... Bruford is retired, and he seems adamant to remain that way), perhaps we could get Rabin back too (though I'm not particularly thrilled with that, but to complete a Union line-up), and Tonly Kaye would be nice too, since he's been in touch with Sherwood... but 3 keyboard players seems to be overkill.

Well I think if Chris wanted them to carry on then it would definitely be wrong to do anything else.  Perhaps he wanted the band to continue for the forseeable future, with the baton being handed on as the years pass, I think I remember reading something to that effect a few years back.

PrognosticMind wrote: I saw the news yesterday. I can't lie...I'm not looking forward to how this will look or sound.

Edited by twosteves - July 23 2015 at 08:37

Chris S wrote: So very apt this song, lovely harmony vocal by Chris. Great song!!!!!

Epignosis wrote: rushfan4 wrote: They have been saying for years that Yes is more than its' members and that they hope that it would be an ongoing concern even after they were all gone.  I suspect that they had hope that it would stay in the family and the membership would be filled out by the younger Andersons, Wakemans, Brufords, and Howes.  Which isn't their decision to make anyway. The younger ones should be making their own legacies, not playing "Siberian Khatru" on cruise ships.

I agree. It looks more like Chris Squire wanted the band to carry on even after his death to give some financial support for his family. And even Steve Howe said in 2008-2009 that they needed to work and that was the reason they did not wait anymore for Jon Anderson`s full recovery. It seems that they still need to work and so they still want to do it. But I think that despite these reasons I have lost the interest I had in the band since Anderson was forced to leave the band in 2008. The band should have stopped to work in 2008. They don`t sound very well as a band since then. Even in 2004 with Anderson and Rick Wakeman they started to show that they were not playing as good as in other years.

This was definitely some very sad news... Chris was one of my biggest influences on the bass guitar, along with Geddy Lee and Les Claypool. Also, I agree about Yes either disbanding or using a different name; Steve Howe is awesome and all, but it seems weird to continue with him being the only original member. 

Edited by Necrotica - July 28 2015 at 02:19

For sure, man. Scott was actually my first metal-oriented bass inspiration because The Sound of Perseverance was the very first metal album I listened to. Spirit Crusher and Scavenger of Human Sorrow still have some of my favorite basslines.