Was Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe a Failure?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=107650
Printed Date: November 25 2024 at 21:12
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Was Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe a Failure?
Posted By: aglasshouse
Subject: Was Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe a Failure?
Date Posted: August 27 2016 at 16:50
|
Jon Anderson is said to have felt strained by the restrictions of the pop-oriented rock Yes was playing at the time, and wanted to go back to basics. He pulled on board old Yes members to create a wonderful lineup with fantastic musicians. So, what I (perhaps naively) expected was something along the lines of a classic Yes revival. But it turns out it was quite different. It didn't quite shake off the Yes sound of that time like on albums 90125 and Big Generator. Much of it features the same things people criticize 80's Yes for, except this time old members of the band are playing it (and Tony Levin). But, this could also be forgiven for either a laidback attitude or age. It featured multi-movement suites which were very unlike the then-Yes and very much like your stereotypical prog band. So, I ask, did Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe turn out to be just like Jon Anderson's vision of a revival of classic Yes' sound or was it just another 80's Yes album disguised as a complex prog album? This question extends to the band as well as their only album, seeing as that's where most if not all of their original material came from.
------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Replies:
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: August 27 2016 at 17:03
Only Teakbois was a failure  - but there was an amusing story behind that slab of Caribbean noodling.........I think Anderson would sign the hotel guest-book as Bobby Dread.......
|
Posted By: Neu!mann
Date Posted: August 27 2016 at 17:08
|
Here's Bill Bruford, quoted from the book The Music's All That Matters: "Anderson-Wakeman-Bruford-Howe was first and foremost a business thing. I still wasn't crazy about the music, but there were some interesting bits... If we could have developed the group over a very long period of time instead of, say, over five minutes, I believe the band could have been very interesting, but that wasn't the way Arista wanted it." Quite a change from the spirit of early Yes, I would say. But the music business was very different in 1989 than it was in 1969. No wonder the band could only manage one studio album... ------------- "we can change the world without anyone noticing the difference" - Franco Falsini |
Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: August 27 2016 at 18:09
|
Failure? Not in my social circle. ABW&H has been a hit with every lady friend I've had since 89'. Ignorant of YES they request ABW&H more than any YESish album. Go figure...Not a failure. Me? I love that album. Majestically resplendent music! Failure? Around the same time a little album called Union stunk up the place. That's failure!
|
Posted By: Clepsydra
Date Posted: August 27 2016 at 19:50
|
Absolutely not! What WAS a failure (BUT a good one for me!) was Fish leaving Marillion (what a damn fool he was) Although I LOVE h!  |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: August 27 2016 at 20:58
| It certainly does't have the same feel as 70's classic Yes, but it's got some nice or even wonderful music. "Birthright" in particular is amazing for me, as well as the first two parts of "Brother of Mine" (the last one doesn't do much for me, unfortunatley). "Fist of Fire" is nice too. And from the Union album, I do love "Shock to the System" from the ABWH songs, and like "I Would Have Waited Forever" a lot too. Too bad we can't really know how much of the songs were actually played by the band or how much was played by session musicians. And lately I read that this first album also had it's share of session musicians getting in the way. |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: August 27 2016 at 22:32
|
I saw ABWH in concert, they were sublime! It was especially fun to see Tony Levin in Squire's spot, and he seemed to enjoy himself immensely. However, the "Yes" brand is probably too compelling to abandon completely, so it always goes back to Yes(registered trademark). < ="cosymantecnisbfw" co="cs" id="SILOBFWID" style="width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block;"> |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 08:41
|
Live they were sublime^---so true. I loved the album with a few exceptions like Tealkbois which was horrible----and still love to listen to it. And I am probably the only one that loves the ABWH songs on Union(not the cheesy yeswest stuff) too---listen to them in my car last week.  Of course like Howe and Bruford wished they would have continured. |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 09:50
|
Failure for who? The band? I wouldn't say so. Regardless of whether you like the style or not it's a solid album. Their performance on tour was excellent (saw them in Toronto). It's still an album I give a lot of attention to even today. The fans? I'd say no. This was the first gathering of Anderson, Wakeman and Howe since Tormato and they showed they could still function as a tight and coherent unit. The critics? In all honesty...who gives f#@k about the critics anyway! The demo material for the never released second album doesn't sound as strong to me as the first, but with development in the studio, who knows? ------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: maryes
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 10:11
| In my humble opinion, although ABWH ( with the remarkable exception of "The Birg Dream" ) stayed far from my expectations ...the album have another problem ... the quality of sound is pitiful : Tony Levin / Bass and Stick is almost inaudible and Wakeman's Keyboards suffocates Howe's guitars ( it's enough listen the first track "Themes" ) ! |
Posted By: anotherscott
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 10:42
| "Miracle of Life" and "Silent Talking" are strong too. |
Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 15:30
|
Absolutely not a failure in my opinion. The band gave us a pretty beautiful album, inspired. The style isn't exactly the seventies Yes one of course. I would say the sound is more modern. But very good. One of my fave "Yes" albums for sure! -------------  One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: emigre80
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 15:53
|
No. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlGHklW_ZII" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlGHklW_ZII Next question.
|
Posted By: akaBona
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 16:06
|
A very good album. I still listen it quite often ... |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 17:08
I'm Alive is so good---and so was the video mix of the song.
|
emigre80 wrote:Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 18:11
|
"Birthright" and "Brother Of Mine" were terrific. Everything else on that LP was disappointing. At least it was better than Union.
|
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 18:36
Exactly my opinion. ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: delrussisam
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 18:42
|
As mentioned above the tour performances were excellent and the album itself is wonderful in this die-hard Yes fan's humble opinion. I would have loved to have seen them continue for a bit. Also agree that we could have done without Teakbois. |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 20:46
Well, I do love "Shock to the System", and "I would have waited forever" isn't bad either. Too bad they might not actually have been played by ABWH, but some obscure session musicians. I believe most of the guitars on "Shock to the System" were actually played by... I think it was Jimmy Haun... they guy that has played with Billy Sherwood in several projects, including the first CIRCA albums, if I didn't mix everything up. |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: August 28 2016 at 21:56
|
I like most of the ABWH songs on Union---I don't know who played what but many of the songs like I would have waited forever----have guitar parts that can be found on Howe solo work---also like Shock to the SYstem, Howes guitar solo---Ankor Wot----Silent Talking----Holding on Evensong and Take the River---are all good songs. If there was a problem with it ---it's Jon let Elias have too much power.
|
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 04:41
True, but what really annoys me is Bruford's drum sounds. Let's just say its "of its time". |
Posted By: Flight123
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 05:20
|
I agree with an earlier poster that this material was great live - AWBH were closer to Yes than the 90125 incarnation earlier in the decade. |
Posted By: Mormegil
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 05:50
|
No. "New" music from the "old guard" was refreshing back in '89. ------------- Welcome to the middle of the film. |
Posted By: emigre80
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 06:56
I also like Brother of Mine, Birthright, Order of the Universe (it's a bit cheesy but a lot of fun) and Quartet (if you take out the incredibly foolish second part). I listen to both the studio and live ABWH albums a lot, actually. There are also a bunch of live videos on youtube, although I have to say everyone - and I do mean everyone - was obviously having a bad hair AND a bad clothes year, so be warned.
|
Posted By: Jeffro
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 08:00
I remember being excited about ABWH when first hearing about the project. Went out and bought it on cassette!  Never could get into it. I think I, like others, thought erroneously that it would sound like early Yes. I have recently tried to get back into it and am having little success. Oh well, can't like everything I guess
|
Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 08:14
| I've always liked this album, regardless of the fact that it's always been compared to the rest of the classic yes catalog (something inevitable I guess). I love the music and the concept of reviving somehow the classic yes sound, away from the 80's Trebor Rabin's influence that yes was running on at the time. |
Posted By: maryes
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 18:33
Posted By: maryes
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 18:37
It's also true, I don't understand what the recording engineers thought when making this !!!
|
Posted By: Intruder
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 19:09
|
Wow! People have a much higher opinion of the AWBH album than when it came out. At the time, it was considered a travesty of near GTR proportions, another nail in the band's coffin......80s dreck dressed up as Yessongs. I bought a one dollar copy from the bins a while back and gave it a few spins and now I'd consider it one of the better post-Drama Yes albums. Not saying much, I know, but it's an album with a reputation that has improved over time. ------------- I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there..... |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 20:35
Yeah, I can stomach it much better now. At the time, the guys I know hated it....in fact it may have been one of those discs that sailed high over a local parking lot. I can still remember one of my friends launching Oldfield's "Earth Moving" airborn with disgust. We didn't do one star ratings then....it was more personal . Now we're a bit more diplomatic.  |
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: August 29 2016 at 22:56
|
It does seem like an album that given time would grow on you, but unfortunately for me that sort of epiphany hasn't come. I do love Brother of Mine and Birthright though. Those are on my must-listen Yes (related) list. ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 00:29
|
It was a relatively fine offering of Prog as it existed in 1989. At the time, I was totally blown away by this album (except for Teakbois) - nowadays, I still admire it (think I'll give it a spin after The Moodies) but not as much as back then. And, get this - I enjoy Union a notch more !!! There, I said it, even with its dozen or so session keyboardists alone. .........just spinning ABWH now. Definitely has its Pop-music elements but still sounding really good. And for those who think Levin is buried in the mix - he sounds in fine form - just remove the cottonwool from your ears..... Birthright (my favourite tune from day one back in 1989) is superb. Kevin's (f**king iPod won't allow me to type Tony's surname...)  Stick just growls during the intro......
|
Posted By: emigre80
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 07:00
the old way of reviewing albums sounds like more fun
|
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 08:26
|
It certainly did afford a degree of cleansing release that clicking a star does not... We didn't do it all that often, usually we just sold the stuff we didn't like. But I can recall a few times when more drastic measures were employed.  |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 08:50
|
Sounds like micky's CD toss out the car window subsequently reviewed by the tires of multiple trucks and cars. ------------- 
|
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 08:55
Did that once or twice with CDs and cassettes, but it lacks the wondrous sound of satisfaction that only vinyl splattering on asphalt can provide. |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 08:56
|
I am kind of imagining a session of skeet shooting. -------------
|
Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 09:47
| I really liked the album when it came out - haven't listened to it in years - the one thing I remember is that I used to wish that the "long lost - brother of mine" chorus was in 15 - one measure of 8 and one measure of 7 - just take out that one beat and it could have been pop-prog genius! |
Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 14:40
Tormato suffered that fate at my hands the day it came out. By the time AWBH came out I was more or less immured.
|
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: August 30 2016 at 14:43
It's fun, isn't it? Did you get it up there pretty high? |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: August 31 2016 at 18:36
|
No, it was a respite. And it gave those involved a chance to bring a memorable concert experience displaying the goodness that had transpired. A little sugary in places but still a solid effort. ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: August 31 2016 at 21:11
| It certainly didn't sound like early 70s Yes, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I love Yes through all of their transitions. All Yes albums, as well as the ABWH albums, are a 10/10 in my book. |
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: August 31 2016 at 21:20
|
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 04:04
|
ABWH was pretty good. Fun to mess with people and tell them the Order Of The Universe is about promoting a far right wing supremacist movement. It's not... is it? ;) Thought it needed some toughening up, I prefer the live release (autographed too!). As for Union and the ABWH parts (most of 'em) I thought that was a pretty good album. Most people seem to get overly close to what they perceive as the the politics of Yes at the time. Who says it's the music that counts? Side one some terrific songs, side 2 is the epic suite. They gave pretty good concert too. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 04:23
| Top notch musicians will give a top-notch live performance. If you don't dig it, bad luck..... |
Posted By: Ghost Whistler
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 04:56
Except that the songs weren't quite wrritten that way. Look at all the sessions musicians and people involved. Some of the same culprits that screwed up the songs that became Onion. I like ABWH, except for Quartet. Jon's problem is that he's too flighty. He's like a lot of these lead singers who think they have musical chops they really don't. In the right band he's fantastic and I love his ideas, but he just doesn't have the chops to do it all himself. Even Olias struggles with this fact. But i really like the vibe of ABWH, Vultures should have been on the album from the get go. Brother of Mine, Second Attention and Fist of Fire and the one about Australian nuclear testing are excellent tracks. Order of the universe is pure cheese but fun enough. Teakbois i've never understood what that word means but I like the music - pure Anderson. |
Posted By: Ghost Whistler
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 04:59
|
Posted By: Ghost Whistler
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 05:00
FFS Jon! |
Posted By: Ghost Whistler
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 05:06
|
Posted By: Ghost Whistler
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 05:10
|
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 10:16
| I love Union, too, by the way. |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: September 01 2016 at 10:21
|
I love ABWH, and the live show I saw in Birmingham, subsequently released as a live cd, was incredibly good. Definitely one of the highlights of later Yes related material. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: September 02 2016 at 18:18
------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: September 04 2016 at 00:23
I had a copy. The art work superb but what was so fantastic about the album? Really needed input from his band to lift it up. To me the Yes solo albums indicated a whole is the sum of the parts. They would have been better off making four or five Yes albums. Or even one. Even many Jon fans say Olias is his solo album peak. I've heard one or two since and ... he needs yes or ABWH or RAW... WAR? Well, something... Heh, I wonder if we'll get a new 90125? (Ducks...) |
Posted By: geekfreak
Date Posted: September 04 2016 at 04:09
|
hmmm one its the same old same...one mans pleasure is an other mans pain. ------------- Friedrich Nietzsche: "Without music, life would be a mistake." Music Is Live Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Keep Calm And Listen To The Music < |
Posted By: Ghost Whistler
Date Posted: September 04 2016 at 09:07
And then he got wind of Cinema...and 90125. The stuff he did with Vangelis is excellent (for the most part). |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: September 05 2016 at 14:02
|
I've bought it twice on cd....both in used bins.....and sold it twice to the used bins. 'Nuff said...? ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: September 05 2016 at 14:30
|
^That's too cruel. I see your point, though. ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: September 05 2016 at 14:57
|
I wasn't trying to be cruel......just could never get into that one.....but really I don't play any Yes after GFTO. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: lostrom
Date Posted: September 06 2016 at 03:28
|
I see it as a Yes album that couldn't be called Yes for legal reasons. ------------- lostrom |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: September 06 2016 at 13:56
------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: September 07 2016 at 06:03
|
Four pages in so the album must've been a partial success I've always loved side 1 and Quartet, then it weakens a bit, but I will never, and, for the life of me, can never, get into Teakbois. Utter rubbish, would love the album lots more without that try-hard Caribbean cacophony......... |
Posted By: emigre80
Date Posted: September 07 2016 at 06:37
| I think that, while there may be differing opinions on the album as a whole, we can all unite behind the idea that Teakbois is just appalling. |
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: September 07 2016 at 12:25
| The only thing I can say about you folks who don't love "Teakbois" is that some of ya didn't get it. |
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: September 07 2016 at 15:58
If by "didn't get it" you mean not getting how it was a good idea to publish such a travesty, then you'd be right. ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: September 07 2016 at 21:09
------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: WeepingElf
Date Posted: September 08 2016 at 10:22
|
I wouldn't say ABWH was a failure. It may be one of the weaker Yes albums, but still a good and appreciable work. Perhaps a bit too 80s-ish and synthy in sound, especially due to those Simmons hexagons which just don't sound like a real drum kit. Especially "Teakbois" is some sort of plastic Latin pop - the weakest piece of the whole album together with the piano ballad "The Meeting" which I never got into. ------------- ... brought to you by the Weeping Elf "What does Elvish rock music sound like?" - "Yes." |
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: September 08 2016 at 11:49
|
(Hoping some people other than Bobby Dread got the joke) Not that I don't love "Teakbois" though. |
Posted By: emigre80
Date Posted: September 08 2016 at 13:25
I do hate Teakbois but love The Meeting. It's simple and peaceful. Nice piano.
|
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: September 08 2016 at 13:37
|
Just curious about this because I can't really begin to guess: can anyone specify what they hate about "Teakbois", preferably from a music-theoretical standpoint? |
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: September 08 2016 at 14:09
Warm and cuddly I admit it is. I do put it on frequently even if critically I'm not a fan. ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: September 08 2016 at 23:37
|
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: September 09 2016 at 06:08
For me, it's Jon Anderson trying to sound like he can sing Caribbean music when he's from Accrington.
|
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: September 09 2016 at 06:13
|
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: September 09 2016 at 06:16
|
Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: September 09 2016 at 06:27
|
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe was more Yes than Yes at the time. Union was more of a failure. I remember playing Union going WTF this? And I had a double live cd from ABWH wich was refreshing, sounding good and wouldn't consider it to be a failure. Altough the name was commercial suicide. But a lot of 90's names were awful (Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash, Barclay James Harvest through the eyes of John Lees, etc. etc.) |
Posted By: emigre80
Date Posted: September 09 2016 at 06:35
There's always one.
|
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: September 09 2016 at 06:44
Besides, I don't skip it - I don't (usually) skip any track on an album, no matter how lame it is, and I can hear the guys had some fun with it, but it really sticks out like a sore thumb, and somewhat awkward. And in this case, it's too long. |
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: September 09 2016 at 18:55
|
Teakbois is bad for the same reason Illegal Alien is. ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: Terrapin Station
Date Posted: September 10 2016 at 12:54
|
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: September 10 2016 at 14:58
| ^ I prefer Illegal Alien to Teakbois........ |
Posted By: SquonkHunter
Date Posted: September 10 2016 at 20:13
|
Failure? Not in the least. While parts of it were not exactly the best, I found it refreshing overall. At the time, I had pretty much written off Yes. ABWH went a long way to restoring my faith in them and reviving my interest in Prog in general. ------------- "You never had the things you thought you should have had and you'll not get them now..." |
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: September 10 2016 at 20:18
I can't say I agree with that. ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: Son.of.Tiresias
Date Posted: September 15 2016 at 07:39
|
Missing Chris Squire was a failure. I just bought the ABWH album (and a couple of others) īcos I had extra money at the time. Actually I was expecting something different than old Yes style material, maybe something fresh stuff... But I didnīt like at all, sold it and never looked back. Keys to Ascension in 1996 was a relief, a very nice surprise. There are many songs performed better than in studio albums. Superb albums (on two CDs).
------------- You may see a smile on Tony Banksī face but thatīs unlikely. |
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: September 15 2016 at 13:22
|
Wow, this thread is still going? ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: September 15 2016 at 15:53
|
^Why not? We're talking about four prog legends. ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: September 16 2016 at 13:36
|
I suppose seeing as it turned into an appreciation thread as opposed to a lounge topic, I shouldn't be surprised. ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: Tapfret
Date Posted: September 18 2016 at 10:25
|
Ultimately the ABWH-Union phase was more about the live performances anyway. The albums were nowhere near the worst of the Yes legacy, but pretty sub-mediocre. ------------- https://www.last.fm/user/Tapfret" rel="nofollow">  https://bandcamp.com/tapfret" rel="nofollow - Bandcamp |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 18 2016 at 10:59
ABWH was an alright album (better than Union, in my estimation), but you are right about the touring. I saw Yes in-the-round for the Union tour and it was fantastic. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: auxfnx
Date Posted: September 19 2016 at 08:14
|
I wasn't there at the time, but listening to it as part of my exploration of the Yes catalog, it is very very bad. One of the only prog things about this album is that it has longform tunes. But the songs themselves are the standard lame ballady things that were happening all over the Yes camp at the time, or otherwise a mix of bad sounds and attempted dance vibes. There are some nice moments on the record but they are far and few between! Yes were no better at the time really. Something like Keys To Ascension is a lot stronger. Like I assume everyone here must be catergorising this entirely seperately from the 70s stuff as it is nowhere near the same quality of songwriting.
|
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: September 22 2016 at 03:35
Are we? An interesting idea here. The product of a band or the result of 4 individuals pretending to be a band or an actual 4 headed single entity. I'm thinking of Bruford's comments in his auto biog where he felt some what misled by the intentions of his then, and subsequent former colleagues. Were expectations by the many headed (us) too much for Yes east (them)? But yes, (!) the concert performances are best. They really should have utilized Tony Levin and his sound a lot more on the record - the absence of Squire and his bass drive does give ABWH a Yes-lite feel. If I had to choose between this and the later Talk it would be chatterbox every time. Maybe Jon knew best. After all he said about having to do actual songs that's where he decided to go after ABWH. Anyway nothing here to make one put this on over The Yes Album. Which makes me wonder, is this progressive music or now a style of music called prog? |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: October 02 2016 at 02:49
|
As a bonus what about a little album that seems to fall between the cracks. I refer to Symphonic Yes. Anderson, Bruford and Howe with some rearrangements of Yes music. Last I read we fans have kicked this to the touchline and been given a new ball. Two balls really, if you'll pardon the expression. Keys to Ascension. And the sequel. But Symphonic Yes... part of the ABWH ...legacy? or that of Yes? |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: October 02 2016 at 22:07
| I haven't got that album yet... though I have been curious about it. However, for the time I had forgotten about it. Still, I love the Symphinic live album/DVD, though it's got just about no relation to this one. |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: October 02 2016 at 22:23
|
No it's more or less quite informal really. It doesn't even have a proper band name and will most likely slip through the cracks. I can't see it being given the Steven Wilson surround / blu ray 2 CD expanded version box set mega treatment but it might turn up as a bonus CD of an ABWH / Union box set spectacular. (Idle thoughts there, the whole lot might get itself swept away and forgotten). But worth picking up if it's around. Probably won't do a Close To Edge thing but it's Yes (more or less) doing something a little different. But I think part of the ABWH thing courtesy of Billy B being there. And David Palmer was still a man then. |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: October 21 2016 at 03:41
|
Oh and speaking of a boxed set version I forgot to mention there was supposed to be an album following. perhaps those tracks will one day be officially released. They're not bad. Of course I'm not supposed to know that. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 22 2016 at 05:54
|
To be honest it hasn't aged that well for me and Union wasn't that bad. I regard Union as being similar. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
|
Posted By: SeventhOne
Date Posted: October 23 2016 at 05:26
| I've always liked it. We had 'The Meeting' playing in the theater when my first little angel was born. Like others, I disliked 'Teakbois' but apart from that great. |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: October 29 2016 at 15:55
| I don't think so. I think they tried to capture the classic Yes sound and I think they achieved that to a great extent while also bringing in some fresh new ideas. I think the only thing that was missing was the YES name. I saw the tour as a 19 year old and to me it's almost like it was all just yesterday. Fond memories for me. |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: November 08 2016 at 01:01
That and the bass. Not only was Squire's playing distinctive, forthright and prealent. It was also missing. Instead they toned Ton-Y Levin down and made a Yes-Lite album. Of course compared to Heaven And Earth it's more like CTTE, Relayer , Fragile and Tales. The live thing is good though. Unsurprisingly. |
Posted By: Kimdino
Date Posted: November 18 2016 at 21:25
Arghhh, NOOooo..... Now you tell me after I've binned my copy. |