Who should have replaced Wakeman?

Yeah but who wins? The eater or non eater?

lostrom wrote: Progger wrote: lostrom wrote: Well, Moraz did a great job, but he's to loud, Jobson would have been great, but I voted for Vangelis..more melodic approach with him, I think. Well, it's been well documented that Vangelis was offered the job before Moraz but he declined. Obviously the band thought he would have been a good choice! Yeah, I know...do u know the reason why he didn't exept?...stagefright?

Yes, that has been documented well in Dan Hedges' biography of Yes. Vangelis couldn't play in a band setting, at that moment of time. I don't have Hedges book, but I'll tell it the way I remember it:

Vangelis auditioned with Yes, and played a bit on the drums like Animal from the Muppet Show, and shouted something like: " Ah, very good drums, hah?!" .  He tried some other instruments as well, and the rest of the band tried to come in between: "Uh, Vangelis, could we play this SONG now please?"  but it didn't work. Vangelis was too much of an individual, an entity, a sound. He just couldn't play in a band. So the band looked for an other keyboard player.

Who would eat a nun ???? 

Trouserpress wrote: Moraz brought an exciting new dynamic to the band, and Relayer demonstrates this perfectly. Relayer is far more "ambitious" than bloody Topographic ever was. In fact, it was probably Yes' finest album. I wish that Yes could have recorded another couple of albums with Moraz. Just imagine what they could have come up with instead of the damp squib that is Going For The One. Were it not for Awaken then NO ONE would give that album anywhere near the praise it recieves.

I disagree. Turn Of The Century is very good too. The rest of the album may not be so progressive, but I like Wonderous Stories a lot, and the other two songs are enjoyable too. The album has a great production and a lot of attention for little details. Going For The One is my favorite album of any artist anytime, and as much as I love Relayer, I prefer Going For The One.

Moogtron III wrote: Trouserpress wrote: Moraz brought an exciting new dynamic to the band, and Relayer demonstrates this perfectly. Relayer is far more "ambitious" than bloody Topographic ever was. In fact, it was probably Yes' finest album. I wish that Yes could have recorded another couple of albums with Moraz. Just imagine what they could have come up with instead of the damp squib that is Going For The One. Were it not for Awaken then NO ONE would give that album anywhere near the praise it recieves. I disagree. Turn Of The Century is very good too. The rest of the album may not be so progressive, but I like Wonderous Stories a lot, and the other two songs are enjoyable too. The album has a great production and a lot of attention for little details. Going For The One is my favorite album of any artist anytime, and as much as I love Relayer, I prefer Going For The One.

Well, that's fair enough I suppose. If you love it I can't stop you, but for me other than Awaken it's a pretty shabby affair. I'll explain:

Going For The One - A very bad start. That horrible USA Rock 'n Roll vibe really grates for me. This is NOT the same band who produced the work of art that is Gates of Delerium.

Turn of the Century - A lovely tune hampered by the fact that it's somehow drawn out over an astounding NINE MINUTES! There's just not enough in the tune to sustain it for that kind of length, if you ask me. Again, it's very commercial sounding and nowhere near as challenging or exciting as Relayer. I've never been one for "ballads". And You And I part 2 this is not. That's what it ought to be though.

Parallels - A missed opportunity. Though I'd agree that the production is generally quite good on the album, the levels on this song seem completely wrong. I can't say how it SHOULD be but it feels unbalanced to me. The performances seem pretty lacklustre too. The band were coasting when they cut this groove.

Wonderous Stories - As if nine minutes of Jon Anderson being sickly sweet weren't enough, here he is to treat us to another four! I don't want tender pop songs I WANT BIG, FAT PROG SONGS!

Awaken - And at last I get one! This is the album's saving grace and is one of my all time favourite Yes songs. However, this to my mind does not redeem the album. It still remains a confused, shabby mess of an LP and it's no surprise that Tormato was simply much of the same, minus any kind of enticing epic and even cheesier synths courtesy of the thankfull shortlived "Birotron".

Sorry to badmouth your favourite album but I can't see what there is to like about this after the allmighty Relayer other than Awaken.

Some clarification from some of the things that have been written here....

1. Rick Left after the Tales tour, because he didn't like Tales or the musical direction ogf the band...(the fact that he allso had a strong solo carreer at the time didn't hurt either...)

2. Jon wanted Vangelis, but the rest of the band didn't....

3. I believe Keith Emerson was talked about, but not sure if he was ever contacted...

4. Moraz' audition was during the recording of Relayer he was asked to play along og "Gates" (I think) and he impressed the band immediately, and was hired very quickly...Brian Lane (Yes' then manager) had invited Moraz.

5. Moraz was fired (According to the liner notes on the recent remaster of Going for the One) because, in effect, he felt he was a new star in the band and his ideas should be incorporated without question.

6. Wakeman came back after hearing some rough demos of some of the tunes to be recorded for GFTO, and liked the direction the band was now going in. He was initially hired as a session player, then invited back full time when things began going well. (The story is that Chris asked him to come back, and Rick accepted while recording in Switzerland...2 days later at a party Rick saw a copy of Melody Maker  with a Giant front page headline saying "WAKEMAN REJOINS YES"...but then realized that the paper was from 3 days earlier. When he asked Chris how that could be, he replied "Educated Guess...")

Moraz was right for the job. Relayer wouldn't have been such a jazzy album if not for Moraz (a jazz keyboardist). If Relayer had lost that jazz influence, it wouldn't have been Relayer.

Moraz was the best thing after Wakeman left!
Other listed here wouldn't fit well but I might be wrong. Vangelis was in a very good relation with Anderson. His music is often spacey but he can also be jazzy and avant. I wonder how a Yes album with him would sound...

My choice would've been Liberace.  The only pianist (no pun intended) more flashy than Wakeman.

I'll go with the majority, as Moraz really was a gifted keyboard player who brought a hint of jazz-rock to proceedings. In my opinion, 'Relayer' is actually a more ambitious album than 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' (though I love that album) regardless of length, as Yes explore totally new musical pastures on 'Relayer', which they never really explored again. To these ears, 'Relayer' is second only to 'Close To The Edge', and I would have found it very interesting if Patrick Moraz had stayed for another album- the results could have been stunning.