Do Yes get the respect that they deserve?

This might sound like a silly question to post on a forum such as this but I am being serious when I ask this. In my opinion I would say no they don't(not these days at least). And I don't just mean in general but in prog circles too. In fact one of the reasons why I ask this is because even many prog fans either don't like them or aren't that familiar with them. This is especially true for younger fans although most of them know who Pink Floyd, Genesis and Rush are(especially Rush)and countless prog metal bands). Outside of prog circles most people around my age(mid 40's) or older know who they are even if they aren't fans through classic rock and their popularity in the seventies and into the eighties. At some point though Yes lost the plot and I say that as a major fan. They never really transitioned into the kind of band that has respect on another level(like say Rush or Pink Floyd)and they don't even have the hipster approval of say King Crimson. It's a shame because there is something special about them and even lots of magical moments on their albums even after the so called main sequence of their catalog(71-77) which more or less parallels(no pun intended)Genesis' back catalog as far as prog respect goes. There could be many reasons for this and I'm not saying Yes are obscure or aren't a well known band but it just seems that most of their fan base are fans from the old days and that these days they are mostly remembered for a few hits. It used to be they were one of the first prog bands that those new to prog would discover. These days I'm not even so sure about that. I decided to post this topic after seeing that Yes came in at number six on an online poll of the top ten prog bands of all time by Rolling Stone. Ahead of Yes were(in order)King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Pink Floyd and Rush. They said Rush had the most votes by far. On the plus side Yes recently made it to number one on a list of top 100 prog bands in PROG magazine. However, my guess is those voting are more hardcore(and possibly much older)than those who voted in the Rolling Stone poll.

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - November 20 2016 at 18:40

Well, on the Rolling Stone poll ELP came in at number 7 just one slot behind Yes(Tool, Mars Volta and Dream Theater were the others but I don't remember the order). I agree that ELP are even less respected in prog circles than Yes these days though. Yes music has aged a bit better than ELP I suppose and as a result Yes are a bit more well known. I think if there's one band that even most prog fans seem to think has given prog a bad name it's ELP. However, I've always enjoyed ELP particularly the first few albums. 

I usually tend to forget the meaning of the lyrics when they are part of the score. Examples of brouhaha added to music are ageless and a lot of Yes lyrics make no sense at all, but then they make the song a solid piece of music (being owner of a lonely heart a solid piece of crap, tho.)

^When was Deep Purple ever "way ahead" of Led Zeppelin? My guess is if that was true it didn't last long. Maybe that changed after LZ 4?

I don't find Yes very good, but the band has been very important to Progressive Rock.

I know it's a strange opinion to be expressed (especially) in a prog rock forum. More or less I agree with Logan. Is he trolling though ?

A bit too much respect...imho.

Edited by dr wu23 - November 21 2016 at 14:05

I believe that Yes get the respect they deserve for a hand full of past albums that include a few masterpieces of prog. I also feel, like dr wu, that they get a bit too much considering the bulk of their work that succeeds "Going For The One". They have produced more than a hand full of turkeys too, including some of their bizarre collaborations like "ABWH", and especially the "Union" album debacle.  

Edited by SteveG - November 21 2016 at 14:30

Watchmaker wrote: I know it's a strange opinion to be expressed (especially) in a prog rock forum. More or less I agree with Logan. Is he trolling though ?

Logan wrote: Watchmaker wrote: Well, I still can't understand if you are serious or not lol. Anyway, my honest opinion is written above. Feel free to disagree with it. I was being completely serious, otherwise I would have used ;) instead of :). I knew someone who put Yes at the same level as Beethoven, Bach and Mozart.