Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
Forum Description: Make or seek recommendations and discuss specific prog albums
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132361 Printed Date: November 26 2024 at 19:40 Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: YES - Going for the One (1977)Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Subject: YES - Going for the One (1977)
Date Posted: January 07 2024 at 05:37
YES, today we're Going for the One album that's arguably the most approachable YES album to date - at least until 90125 came along in 1983 - when many new fans would Awaken to the new sound of YES. Undoubtedly, Going for the One was a Big Generator of new interest in YES, and to reflect the change of sound, there was a Dramatic change of album artwork too (from Roger Dean to Hipgnosis), represented by a naked man looking up at the the twin towers of Century City in California, which closely Parallels the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City that stood for just 28 years, up until the terrible events of 9/11 at the Turn of the Century. Going for the One featured the Dramatic re-Union of the line-up from Tales from Topographic Oceans, when Patrick Moraz was "let go" after the recording of the previous Relayer album, and when Heaven & Earth had to be moved to persuade Rick Wakeman to return after the torturous recording of the Topographic Oceans album, when there was Talk of Rick being driven Close to the Edge of breaking point. Going for the One features the most successful YESsong so far: Wonderous Stories, which climbed to #7 in the UK singles chart. Surprisingly though, Going for the One is only the 9th best-selling YES album of all time, despite ascending The Ladder of success to reach #1 in the UK album charts for two weeks back in 1977. Going for the One also includes one of YES' best-loved songs: Awaken, with Rick Wakeman's magnificent church organ solo rocking the aisles at St. Martin's church, near to where the album was recorded at Mountain Studios in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux. Going for the One features just five songs, but after the side-long epics of the last three albums, five songs seems like a relative abundance of Yessongs.
1977: YES - Going for the One - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo
YES line-up:- Jon Anderson; Steve Howe; Chris Squire; Rick Wakeman; & Alan White
Track Listing
1. Going for the One (5:30)
2. Turn of the Century (7:58)
3. Parallels (5:52)
4. Wonderous Stories (3:47)
5. Awaken (15:38)
Top 10 Best-Selling YES Albums
01. 90125 (Sales: 4,128,370)
02. Fragile (Sales: 2,300,00)
03. Close to the Edge (Sales: 1,475,687)
04. Yessongs (Sales: 1,327,480)
05. Tormato (Sales: 1,115,380)
06. Classic Yes (Sales: 1,060,000)
06. The Yes Album (Sales: 1,060,000)
08. Big Generator (Sales: 1,022,910)
09. Going for the One (Sales: 726,380)
10. Tales from Topographic Oceans (Sales: 672,680)
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Why am I not surprised.
Replies: Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: January 07 2024 at 05:49
I only like the last 3 songs, I guess this makes it a 3 star album.
Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: January 07 2024 at 06:09
I used to have issues with the title song. Rael's documentary gave me deeper insights into "Going For The One". Paul posted the documentary video below. Highly recommended.
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 07 2024 at 07:39
YES - The Story of Going for the One
Posted By: Frets N Worries
Date Posted: January 07 2024 at 08:38
Rael NYC, great channel.
For me, in my top 3 Yes albums, behind 1) TFTO, and 2) CTTE, I really like the production on this album. I've heard it described at Going For the One Side 2 is the best side in Prog Rock history, as it contains the greatest short prog song (Wonderous Stories) and the Greatest long song, (Awaken)
------------- The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 07 2024 at 17:41
It's a bit of a dog's dinner of an album, no direction and I don't like the tinny sounding production. Highlights for me are anywhere Rick plays pipe organ (Parallels and Awaken) plus Steve Howe's stunning acoustic guitar work on Turn Of The Century. The title track doesn't appeal to me, I especially don't like the steel guitar in the mix (just grates). Wonderous Stories is just okay but a bit 'lite' when you compare it to the similar And You And I while Awaken is a strange epic. Starts with intent but goes nowhere until Wakeman rescues it. Essentially it's a hymn like ELP's Endless Enigma but I prefer ELP's.
Posted By: Magog2112
Date Posted: January 07 2024 at 21:40
'Going for the One' is my favorite Yes album. The only weak track is "Parallels," which isn't even bad. It just pales in comparison to the greatness that surrounds it. "Awaken" is my favorite Yes song. "Turn of the Century" is one of the most beautiful Yes songs that I have a personal connection with. I can't praise 'Going for the One' enough. Absolute masterpiece.
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 00:21
richardh wrote:
It's a bit of a dog's dinner of an album, no direction and I don't like the tinny sounding production. Highlights for me are anywhere Rick plays pipe organ (Parallels and Awaken) plus Steve Howe's stunning acoustic guitar work on Turn Of The Century. The title track doesn't appeal to me, I especially don't like the steel guitar in the mix (just grates). Wonderous Stories is just okay but a bit 'lite' when you compare it to the similar And You And I while Awaken is a strange epic. Starts with intent but goes nowhere until Wakeman rescues it. Essentially it's a hymn like ELP's Endless Enigma but I prefer ELP's.
I agree.
Howe ruins the title song which could have been good, it's like Yes wanted to do a hard rock song, but Howe did not know how to do it.
Parallels is one of my favorite Yes songs. Is that a hot take?
Posted By: Octopus II
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 01:49
I got this album for Christmas in 1977 and have loved it ever since.
I thoroughly enjoyed that documentary on the making of the album.
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 02:35
Saw the tour for that album (first time seeing Yes)
richardh wrote:
It's a bit of a dog's dinner of an album, no direction and I don't like the tinny sounding production. Highlights for me are anywhere Rick plays pipe organ (Parallels and Awaken) plus Steve Howe's stunning acoustic guitar work on Turn Of The Century. The title track doesn't appeal to me, I especially don't like the steel guitar in the mix (just grates). Wonderous Stories is just okay but a bit 'lite' when you compare it to the similar And You And I while Awaken is a strange epic. Starts with intent but goes nowhere until Wakeman rescues it. Essentially it's a hymn like ELP's Endless Enigma but I prefer ELP's.
Agreed on these points, especially the guitar tones of Howe (not that I'm feeling better when Gilmour toys with the same instrument) and it's a very average album for the band back then - nowadays, it's a top 10, though). If there wasn't Awaken, I wouldn't like it at all.
Awaken (and not Awakeman, like Rael says - never thought of that one myself ) is definitely my fave post-75 Yesssss track with Mind Drive.
------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword
Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 04:22
Octopus II wrote:
I got this album for Christmas in 1977 and have loved it ever since.
I thoroughly enjoyed that documentary on the making of the album.
Cherished, happy, Christmas memory.
Posted By: progaardvark
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 04:46
I actually like the title track, and if it wasn't for that and Awaken, this would be a 3-star album for me. Totally agree on the production being off. Still, it's a 4-star effort that I would rate as their sixth best release. All it's missing is some pew-pew sounds and some crooked window blinds.
------------- ---------- i'm shopping for a new oil-cured sinus bag that's a happy bag of lettuce this car smells like cartilage nothing beats a good video about fractions
Posted By: Frets N Worries
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 09:25
I seem to be the only one who loves the production on this album
------------- The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 10:04
Have you ever wondered what happened to the lost YES album that should've been released a year prior to Going for the One? Well, wonder no more, because here it is, exclusive to ProgArchives and 100 gazillion listeners on YouTube.
1976: YES - The Lost Album - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbOcLOCLE" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbOcLOCLE
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 11:08
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 13:04
My favorite Yes album with Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman.
No problems with the production/album cover: risks were taken, and I find them successful.
There's just something so energetic, so visceral about these songs, even during the quieter moments, that I never tire of hearing it. It fully lives up to, and even exceeds, the power and majesty of the pre-TFTO albums.
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 16:01
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
YES, today we're Going for the One album that's arguably the most approachable YES album to date - at least until 90125 came along in 1983 - when many new fans would Awaken to the new sound of YES. Undoubtedly, Going for the One was a Big Generator of new interest in YES, and to reflect the change of sound, there was a Dramatic change of album artwork too (from Roger Dean to Hipgnosis), represented by a naked man looking up at the the twin towers of Century City in California, which closely Parallels the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City that stood for just 28 years, up until the terrible events of 9/11 at the Turn of the Century. Going for the One featured the Dramatic re-Union of the line-up from Tales from Topographic Oceans, when Patrick Moraz was "let go" after the recording of the previous Relayer album, and when Heaven & Earth had to be moved to persuade Rick Wakeman to return after the torturous recording of the Topographic Oceans album, when there was Talk of Rick being driven Close to the Edge of breaking point. Going for the One features the most successful YESsong so far: Wonderous Stories, which climbed to #7 in the UK singles chart. Surprisingly though, Going for the One is only the 9th best-selling YES album of all time, despite ascending The Ladder of success to reach #1 in the UK album charts for two weeks back in 1977. Going for the One also includes one of YES' best-loved songs: Awaken, with Rick Wakeman's magnificent church organ solo rocking the aisles at St. Martin's church, near to where the album was recorded at Mountain Studios in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux. Going for the One features just five songs, but after the side-long epics of the last three albums, five songs seems like a relative abundance of Yessongs.
1977: YES - Close to the Edge - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo
YES line-up:- Jon Anderson; Steve Howe; Chris Squire; Rick Wakeman; & Alan White
Track Listing
1. Going for the One (5:30)
2. Turn of the Century (7:58)
3. Parallels (5:52)
4. Wonderous Stories (3:47)
5. Awaken (15:38)
Top 10 Best-Selling YES Albums
01. 90125 (Sales: 4,128,370)
02. Fragile (Sales: 2,300,00)
03. Close to the Edge (Sales: 1,475,687)
04. Yessongs (Sales: 1,327,480)
05. Tormato (Sales: 1,115,380)
06. Classic Yes (Sales: 1,060,000)
06. The Yes Album (Sales: 1,060,000)
08. Big Generator (Sales: 1,022,910)
09. Going for the One (Sales: 726,380)
10. Tales from Topographic Oceans (Sales: 672,680)
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Why am I not surprised.
Paul,
Those sale figures are no doubt inaccurate. The Yes Album you have listed as having 1,060,000 sales. The Yes Album went Platinum in the US (1,000,000) and Silver in the UK (60,000). If what you have listed about the Yes Album is correct that would mean Yes did not sell one single album more from the date it was certified Platinum by the RIAA or Silver by the BPI or one copy in any other country.The Dutch Charts show that the Yes Album charted as high as #7 in that country and year end was the 52nd best selling album in that country. So, it appears there were some copies of that album sold in that country.
Close to the Edge is listed as having 1,475,687 copies sold. CTTE went Platinum in the US (1,000,000), Britain (300,000) and Canada (100,000). That is 1,400,000 copies sold. The RIAA last certified CTTE on April 10, 1998. The BPI certified CTTE Platinum on May 12, 1984. If you look at the BPI chart, it shows not one single copy sold since that date as it is just a flat line since that date. You can see that here:
https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/1381-1295-2
CTTE charted #1 in the Dutch Charts, #16 in Japan, #14 in Italy, #36 in Germany and #21 in Australia.
I would suspect that the figures you have listed are probably far lower than what the real figures would be.
Another example is the Kansas albums Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Best Of are listed by the RIAA as going 4x Platinum respectively. Howeve, Kansas has stated those albums sold each more than 6,000,000 copies in the US.
My understanding is that the certification process is expensive and bands feel like it is not worth the cost. Some labels don't want to do the certification process not only because of cost but, want to keep the actual real sales figures hidden from the band.
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 16:08
My main issue is the album cover. Why is a naked man staring at buildings?
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 16:11
^^ It looks like my album sales figures have turned out to be as dodgy as one of Arthur Daley's motors.
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 16:16
Big Sky wrote:
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
YES, today we're Going for the One album that's arguably the most approachable YES album to date - at least until 90125 came along in 1983 - when many new fans would Awaken to the new sound of YES. Undoubtedly, Going for the One was a Big Generator of new interest in YES, and to reflect the change of sound, there was a Dramatic change of album artwork too (from Roger Dean to Hipgnosis), represented by a naked man looking up at the the twin towers of Century City in California, which closely Parallels the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City that stood for just 28 years, up until the terrible events of 9/11 at the Turn of the Century. Going for the One featured the Dramatic re-Union of the line-up from Tales from Topographic Oceans, when Patrick Moraz was "let go" after the recording of the previous Relayer album, and when Heaven & Earth had to be moved to persuade Rick Wakeman to return after the torturous recording of the Topographic Oceans album, when there was Talk of Rick being driven Close to the Edge of breaking point. Going for the One features the most successful YESsong so far: Wonderous Stories, which climbed to #7 in the UK singles chart. Surprisingly though, Going for the One is only the 9th best-selling YES album of all time, despite ascending The Ladder of success to reach #1 in the UK album charts for two weeks back in 1977. Going for the One also includes one of YES' best-loved songs: Awaken, with Rick Wakeman's magnificent church organ solo rocking the aisles at St. Martin's church, near to where the album was recorded at Mountain Studios in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux. Going for the One features just five songs, but after the side-long epics of the last three albums, five songs seems like a relative abundance of Yessongs.
1977: YES - Close to the Edge - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo
YES line-up:- Jon Anderson; Steve Howe; Chris Squire; Rick Wakeman; & Alan White
Track Listing
1. Going for the One (5:30)
2. Turn of the Century (7:58)
3. Parallels (5:52)
4. Wonderous Stories (3:47)
5. Awaken (15:38)
Top 10 Best-Selling YES Albums
01. 90125 (Sales: 4,128,370)
02. Fragile (Sales: 2,300,00)
03. Close to the Edge (Sales: 1,475,687)
04. Yessongs (Sales: 1,327,480)
05. Tormato (Sales: 1,115,380)
06. Classic Yes (Sales: 1,060,000)
06. The Yes Album (Sales: 1,060,000)
08. Big Generator (Sales: 1,022,910)
09. Going for the One (Sales: 726,380)
10. Tales from Topographic Oceans (Sales: 672,680)
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Why am I not surprised.
Paul,
Those sale figures are no doubt inaccurate. The Yes Album you have listed as having 1,060,000 sales. The Yes Album went Platinum in the US (1,000,000) and Silver in the UK (60,000). If what you have listed about the Yes Album is correct that would mean Yes did not sell one single album more from the date it was certified Platinum by the RIAA or Silver by the BPI or one copy in any other country.The Dutch Charts show that the Yes Album charted as high as #7 in that country and year end was the 52nd best selling album in that country. So, it appears there were some copies of that album sold in that country.
Close to the Edge is listed as having 1,475,687 copies sold. CTTE went Platinum in the US (1,000,000), Britain (300,000) and Canada (100,000). That is 1,400,000 copies sold. The RIAA last certified CTTE on April 10, 1998. The BPI certified CTTE Platinum on May 12, 1984. If you look at the BPI chart, it shows not one single copy sold since that date as it is just a flat line since that date. You can see that here:
https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/1381-1295-2
CTTE charted #1 in the Dutch Charts, #16 in Japan, #14 in Italy, #36 in Germany and #21 in Australia.
I would suspect that the figures you have listed are probably far lower than what the real figures would be.
Another example is the Kansas albums Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Best Of are listed by the RIAA as going 4x Platinum respectively. Howeve, Kansas has stated those albums sold each more than 6,000,000 copies in the US.
My understanding is that the certification process is expensive and bands feel like it is not worth the cost. Some labels don't want to do the certification process not only because of cost but, want to keep the actual real sales figures hidden from the band.
Well, it's certainly possible that the two best selling Kansas albums have sold 2 million more copies each of those two albums since 1995 but how would the band know that if they haven't consulted the RIAA? The answer is probably dust in the wind. Yes has probably sold more than what is listed also. All we can really do is guess.
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 19:05
I mostly love Turn of the Century and very specially Awaken from this album. Still, I think the most perfect version of Awaken is the Keys to Ascension one. Though I miss it having a real church organ, it rather makes up with the updated piano intro and extended middle section.
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 20:52
AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:
Big Sky wrote:
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
YES, today we're Going for the One album that's arguably the most approachable YES album to date - at least until 90125 came along in 1983 - when many new fans would Awaken to the new sound of YES. Undoubtedly, Going for the One was a Big Generator of new interest in YES, and to reflect the change of sound, there was a Dramatic change of album artwork too (from Roger Dean to Hipgnosis), represented by a naked man looking up at the the twin towers of Century City in California, which closely Parallels the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City that stood for just 28 years, up until the terrible events of 9/11 at the Turn of the Century. Going for the One featured the Dramatic re-Union of the line-up from Tales from Topographic Oceans, when Patrick Moraz was "let go" after the recording of the previous Relayer album, and when Heaven & Earth had to be moved to persuade Rick Wakeman to return after the torturous recording of the Topographic Oceans album, when there was Talk of Rick being driven Close to the Edge of breaking point. Going for the One features the most successful YESsong so far: Wonderous Stories, which climbed to #7 in the UK singles chart. Surprisingly though, Going for the One is only the 9th best-selling YES album of all time, despite ascending The Ladder of success to reach #1 in the UK album charts for two weeks back in 1977. Going for the One also includes one of YES' best-loved songs: Awaken, with Rick Wakeman's magnificent church organ solo rocking the aisles at St. Martin's church, near to where the album was recorded at Mountain Studios in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux. Going for the One features just five songs, but after the side-long epics of the last three albums, five songs seems like a relative abundance of Yessongs.
1977: YES - Close to the Edge - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo
YES line-up:- Jon Anderson; Steve Howe; Chris Squire; Rick Wakeman; & Alan White
Track Listing
1. Going for the One (5:30)
2. Turn of the Century (7:58)
3. Parallels (5:52)
4. Wonderous Stories (3:47)
5. Awaken (15:38)
Top 10 Best-Selling YES Albums
01. 90125 (Sales: 4,128,370)
02. Fragile (Sales: 2,300,00)
03. Close to the Edge (Sales: 1,475,687)
04. Yessongs (Sales: 1,327,480)
05. Tormato (Sales: 1,115,380)
06. Classic Yes (Sales: 1,060,000)
06. The Yes Album (Sales: 1,060,000)
08. Big Generator (Sales: 1,022,910)
09. Going for the One (Sales: 726,380)
10. Tales from Topographic Oceans (Sales: 672,680)
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Why am I not surprised.
Paul,
Those sale figures are no doubt inaccurate. The Yes Album you have listed as having 1,060,000 sales. The Yes Album went Platinum in the US (1,000,000) and Silver in the UK (60,000). If what you have listed about the Yes Album is correct that would mean Yes did not sell one single album more from the date it was certified Platinum by the RIAA or Silver by the BPI or one copy in any other country.The Dutch Charts show that the Yes Album charted as high as #7 in that country and year end was the 52nd best selling album in that country. So, it appears there were some copies of that album sold in that country.
Close to the Edge is listed as having 1,475,687 copies sold. CTTE went Platinum in the US (1,000,000), Britain (300,000) and Canada (100,000). That is 1,400,000 copies sold. The RIAA last certified CTTE on April 10, 1998. The BPI certified CTTE Platinum on May 12, 1984. If you look at the BPI chart, it shows not one single copy sold since that date as it is just a flat line since that date. You can see that here:
https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/1381-1295-2
CTTE charted #1 in the Dutch Charts, #16 in Japan, #14 in Italy, #36 in Germany and #21 in Australia.
I would suspect that the figures you have listed are probably far lower than what the real figures would be.
Another example is the Kansas albums Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Best Of are listed by the RIAA as going 4x Platinum respectively. Howeve, Kansas has stated those albums sold each more than 6,000,000 copies in the US.
My understanding is that the certification process is expensive and bands feel like it is not worth the cost. Some labels don't want to do the certification process not only because of cost but, want to keep the actual real sales figures hidden from the band.
Well, it's certainly possible that the two best selling Kansas albums have sold 2 million more copies each of those two albums since 1995 but how would the band know that if they haven't consulted the RIAA? The answer is probably dust in the wind. Yes has probably sold more than what is listed also. All we can really do is guess.
Aflowerkingcrimson,
Since royalties paid to the band are based on the tracking of what is sold I'm sure the label, band management, accountants, etc are getting these figures. It is certainly in the interest of these bands to stay involved in the business side so they are getting the money they have earned.
One way is through Nielsen SoundScan. They track sales through the various merchants, retail and online stores by the UPC bar code when it is scanned for a sale. Billboard uses this data for their music charts. Of course, this doesn't account for all sales.
As for the various certifications from the RIAA, BPI, etc, I don't think it carries the same weight as it use to due to the way music is consumed by the public today. I believe that it was Martin Popoff who commented that some of the bands, especially back in the day when physical sales were the way you purchased music, would want to know if the album went gold or platinum upon its initial release and when sales were at their highest and there was evidence of physical copies of albums, CDs and tapes being moved. RIAA, for example coming in and doing its certification process that the album went gold or platinum gave the album and the artist the stamp of approval of their success.
Some artists and bands, just don't think it's worth the cost of a recertification process that now shows the album is now 6x Platinum instead of 4x Platinum by the RIAA as is the case with the aforementioned Kansas albums. The numbers that the band Kansas quotes is probably more accurate than what the RIAA lists. As long as the members continue to get their royalty checks, they probably don't care.
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 08 2024 at 23:35
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
Have you ever wondered what happened to the lost YES album that should've been released a year prior to Going for the One? Well, wonder no more, because here it is, exclusive to ProgArchives and 100 gazillion listeners on YouTube.
1976: YES - The Lost Album - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbOcLOCLE" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbOcLOCLE
apparrently there was also a lost Genesis album from around the same time.
I tried listening to both but got very bored very quickly.
Posted By: progaardvark
Date Posted: January 09 2024 at 05:39
AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:
My main issue is the album cover. Why is a naked man staring at buildings?
Isn't that what naked men usually do?
------------- ---------- i'm shopping for a new oil-cured sinus bag that's a happy bag of lettuce this car smells like cartilage nothing beats a good video about fractions
Posted By: Heart of the Matter
Date Posted: January 09 2024 at 14:28
progaardvark wrote:
AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:
My main issue is the album cover. Why is a naked man staring at buildings?
Isn't that what naked men usually do?
Maybe for the same reason there's a naked indian in Wayne's dream?
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 11:35
Big Sky wrote:
AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:
Big Sky wrote:
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
YES, today we're Going for the One album that's arguably the most approachable YES album to date - at least until 90125 came along in 1983 - when many new fans would Awaken to the new sound of YES. Undoubtedly, Going for the One was a Big Generator of new interest in YES, and to reflect the change of sound, there was a Dramatic change of album artwork too (from Roger Dean to Hipgnosis), represented by a naked man looking up at the the twin towers of Century City in California, which closely Parallels the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City that stood for just 28 years, up until the terrible events of 9/11 at the Turn of the Century. Going for the One featured the Dramatic re-Union of the line-up from Tales from Topographic Oceans, when Patrick Moraz was "let go" after the recording of the previous Relayer album, and when Heaven & Earth had to be moved to persuade Rick Wakeman to return after the torturous recording of the Topographic Oceans album, when there was Talk of Rick being driven Close to the Edge of breaking point. Going for the One features the most successful YESsong so far: Wonderous Stories, which climbed to #7 in the UK singles chart. Surprisingly though, Going for the One is only the 9th best-selling YES album of all time, despite ascending The Ladder of success to reach #1 in the UK album charts for two weeks back in 1977. Going for the One also includes one of YES' best-loved songs: Awaken, with Rick Wakeman's magnificent church organ solo rocking the aisles at St. Martin's church, near to where the album was recorded at Mountain Studios in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux. Going for the One features just five songs, but after the side-long epics of the last three albums, five songs seems like a relative abundance of Yessongs.
1977: YES - Close to the Edge - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo
YES line-up:- Jon Anderson; Steve Howe; Chris Squire; Rick Wakeman; & Alan White
Track Listing
1. Going for the One (5:30)
2. Turn of the Century (7:58)
3. Parallels (5:52)
4. Wonderous Stories (3:47)
5. Awaken (15:38)
Top 10 Best-Selling YES Albums
01. 90125 (Sales: 4,128,370)
02. Fragile (Sales: 2,300,00)
03. Close to the Edge (Sales: 1,475,687)
04. Yessongs (Sales: 1,327,480)
05. Tormato (Sales: 1,115,380)
06. Classic Yes (Sales: 1,060,000)
06. The Yes Album (Sales: 1,060,000)
08. Big Generator (Sales: 1,022,910)
09. Going for the One (Sales: 726,380)
10. Tales from Topographic Oceans (Sales: 672,680)
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Why am I not surprised.
Paul,
Those sale figures are no doubt inaccurate. The Yes Album you have listed as having 1,060,000 sales. The Yes Album went Platinum in the US (1,000,000) and Silver in the UK (60,000). If what you have listed about the Yes Album is correct that would mean Yes did not sell one single album more from the date it was certified Platinum by the RIAA or Silver by the BPI or one copy in any other country.The Dutch Charts show that the Yes Album charted as high as #7 in that country and year end was the 52nd best selling album in that country. So, it appears there were some copies of that album sold in that country.
Close to the Edge is listed as having 1,475,687 copies sold. CTTE went Platinum in the US (1,000,000), Britain (300,000) and Canada (100,000). That is 1,400,000 copies sold. The RIAA last certified CTTE on April 10, 1998. The BPI certified CTTE Platinum on May 12, 1984. If you look at the BPI chart, it shows not one single copy sold since that date as it is just a flat line since that date. You can see that here:
https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/1381-1295-2
CTTE charted #1 in the Dutch Charts, #16 in Japan, #14 in Italy, #36 in Germany and #21 in Australia.
I would suspect that the figures you have listed are probably far lower than what the real figures would be.
Another example is the Kansas albums Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Best Of are listed by the RIAA as going 4x Platinum respectively. Howeve, Kansas has stated those albums sold each more than 6,000,000 copies in the US.
My understanding is that the certification process is expensive and bands feel like it is not worth the cost. Some labels don't want to do the certification process not only because of cost but, want to keep the actual real sales figures hidden from the band.
Well, it's certainly possible that the two best selling Kansas albums have sold 2 million more copies each of those two albums since 1995 but how would the band know that if they haven't consulted the RIAA? The answer is probably dust in the wind. Yes has probably sold more than what is listed also. All we can really do is guess.
Aflowerkingcrimson,
Since royalties paid to the band are based on the tracking of what is sold I'm sure the label, band management, accountants, etc are getting these figures. It is certainly in the interest of these bands to stay involved in the business side so they are getting the money they have earned.
One way is through Nielsen SoundScan. They track sales through the various merchants, retail and online stores by the UPC bar code when it is scanned for a sale. Billboard uses this data for their music charts. Of course, this doesn't account for all sales.
As for the various certifications from the RIAA, BPI, etc, I don't think it carries the same weight as it use to due to the way music is consumed by the public today. I believe that it was Martin Popoff who commented that some of the bands, especially back in the day when physical sales were the way you purchased music, would want to know if the album went gold or platinum upon its initial release and when sales were at their highest and there was evidence of physical copies of albums, CDs and tapes being moved. RIAA, for example coming in and doing its certification process that the album went gold or platinum gave the album and the artist the stamp of approval of their success.
Some artists and bands, just don't think it's worth the cost of a recertification process that now shows the album is now 6x Platinum instead of 4x Platinum by the RIAA as is the case with the aforementioned Kansas albums. The numbers that the band Kansas quotes is probably more accurate than what the RIAA lists. As long as the members continue to get their royalty checks, they probably don't care.
Where exactly did you read that Kansas said their albums have sold more than what the RIAA has? I'm sure that's the case with a lot of albums. For example, does anyone really think David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust album has only gone gold after over 50 years after it's release? Yet that's all it is listed as on the RIAA site which I visit frequently. A lot of bands and labels don't care much about sales only money and don't want to pay to see the actual sales or certification (if there even is one) like you said. I find it interesting and frustrating at the same time.
Posted By: AlanB
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 12:07
I would say the three Yes albums that I really love are The Yes Album, Close To The Edge and Going For The One. The rest I could happily leave.
Posted By: Frets N Worries
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 12:15
Anderson's Lyrics are great here, I especially love the verse in the title track
"Now the verses I've sang don't add much weight to the story in my head
So I'm thinking I should go and write a punchline
But they're so hard to find in my cosmic mind
So I think I'll take a look out of the window"
------------- The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 13:59
AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:
Big Sky wrote:
AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:
Big Sky wrote:
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
YES, today we're Going for the One album that's arguably the most approachable YES album to date - at least until 90125 came along in 1983 - when many new fans would Awaken to the new sound of YES. Undoubtedly, Going for the One was a Big Generator of new interest in YES, and to reflect the change of sound, there was a Dramatic change of album artwork too (from Roger Dean to Hipgnosis), represented by a naked man looking up at the the twin towers of Century City in California, which closely Parallels the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City that stood for just 28 years, up until the terrible events of 9/11 at the Turn of the Century. Going for the One featured the Dramatic re-Union of the line-up from Tales from Topographic Oceans, when Patrick Moraz was "let go" after the recording of the previous Relayer album, and when Heaven & Earth had to be moved to persuade Rick Wakeman to return after the torturous recording of the Topographic Oceans album, when there was Talk of Rick being driven Close to the Edge of breaking point. Going for the One features the most successful YESsong so far: Wonderous Stories, which climbed to #7 in the UK singles chart. Surprisingly though, Going for the One is only the 9th best-selling YES album of all time, despite ascending The Ladder of success to reach #1 in the UK album charts for two weeks back in 1977. Going for the One also includes one of YES' best-loved songs: Awaken, with Rick Wakeman's magnificent church organ solo rocking the aisles at St. Martin's church, near to where the album was recorded at Mountain Studios in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux. Going for the One features just five songs, but after the side-long epics of the last three albums, five songs seems like a relative abundance of Yessongs.
1977: YES - Close to the Edge - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo
YES line-up:- Jon Anderson; Steve Howe; Chris Squire; Rick Wakeman; & Alan White
Track Listing
1. Going for the One (5:30)
2. Turn of the Century (7:58)
3. Parallels (5:52)
4. Wonderous Stories (3:47)
5. Awaken (15:38)
Top 10 Best-Selling YES Albums
01. 90125 (Sales: 4,128,370)
02. Fragile (Sales: 2,300,00)
03. Close to the Edge (Sales: 1,475,687)
04. Yessongs (Sales: 1,327,480)
05. Tormato (Sales: 1,115,380)
06. Classic Yes (Sales: 1,060,000)
06. The Yes Album (Sales: 1,060,000)
08. Big Generator (Sales: 1,022,910)
09. Going for the One (Sales: 726,380)
10. Tales from Topographic Oceans (Sales: 672,680)
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Why am I not surprised.
Paul,
Those sale figures are no doubt inaccurate. The Yes Album you have listed as having 1,060,000 sales. The Yes Album went Platinum in the US (1,000,000) and Silver in the UK (60,000). If what you have listed about the Yes Album is correct that would mean Yes did not sell one single album more from the date it was certified Platinum by the RIAA or Silver by the BPI or one copy in any other country.The Dutch Charts show that the Yes Album charted as high as #7 in that country and year end was the 52nd best selling album in that country. So, it appears there were some copies of that album sold in that country.
Close to the Edge is listed as having 1,475,687 copies sold. CTTE went Platinum in the US (1,000,000), Britain (300,000) and Canada (100,000). That is 1,400,000 copies sold. The RIAA last certified CTTE on April 10, 1998. The BPI certified CTTE Platinum on May 12, 1984. If you look at the BPI chart, it shows not one single copy sold since that date as it is just a flat line since that date. You can see that here:
https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/1381-1295-2
CTTE charted #1 in the Dutch Charts, #16 in Japan, #14 in Italy, #36 in Germany and #21 in Australia.
I would suspect that the figures you have listed are probably far lower than what the real figures would be.
Another example is the Kansas albums Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Best Of are listed by the RIAA as going 4x Platinum respectively. Howeve, Kansas has stated those albums sold each more than 6,000,000 copies in the US.
My understanding is that the certification process is expensive and bands feel like it is not worth the cost. Some labels don't want to do the certification process not only because of cost but, want to keep the actual real sales figures hidden from the band.
Well, it's certainly possible that the two best selling Kansas albums have sold 2 million more copies each of those two albums since 1995 but how would the band know that if they haven't consulted the RIAA? The answer is probably dust in the wind. Yes has probably sold more than what is listed also. All we can really do is guess.
Aflowerkingcrimson,
Since royalties paid to the band are based on the tracking of what is sold I'm sure the label, band management, accountants, etc are getting these figures. It is certainly in the interest of these bands to stay involved in the business side so they are getting the money they have earned.
One way is through Nielsen SoundScan. They track sales through the various merchants, retail and online stores by the UPC bar code when it is scanned for a sale. Billboard uses this data for their music charts. Of course, this doesn't account for all sales.
As for the various certifications from the RIAA, BPI, etc, I don't think it carries the same weight as it use to due to the way music is consumed by the public today. I believe that it was Martin Popoff who commented that some of the bands, especially back in the day when physical sales were the way you purchased music, would want to know if the album went gold or platinum upon its initial release and when sales were at their highest and there was evidence of physical copies of albums, CDs and tapes being moved. RIAA, for example coming in and doing its certification process that the album went gold or platinum gave the album and the artist the stamp of approval of their success.
Some artists and bands, just don't think it's worth the cost of a recertification process that now shows the album is now 6x Platinum instead of 4x Platinum by the RIAA as is the case with the aforementioned Kansas albums. The numbers that the band Kansas quotes is probably more accurate than what the RIAA lists. As long as the members continue to get their royalty checks, they probably don't care.
Where exactly did you read that Kansas said their albums have sold more than what the RIAA has? I'm sure that's the case with a lot of albums. For example, does anyone really think David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust album has only gone gold after over 50 years after it's release? Yet that's all it is listed as on the RIAA site which I visit frequently. A lot of bands and labels don't care much about sales only money and don't want to pay to see the actual sales or certification (if there even is one) like you said. I find it interesting and frustrating at the same time.
Aflowerkingcrimson,
It's on the Kansas official website. According to them they have 8 gold records, 3 sextuple platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Best Of), and a platinum selling live album.
I think it's interesting that you bring up Bowie. 8 RIAA Gold certifications and 5 RIAA Platinum certifications. By the RIAA standards that's 9 million albums sold in the US. If you want to say round up those certifications just being one sale shy of 8 gold albums being platinum and the platinum albums being 2x platinum, that brings Bowie up to just shy of 18 million albums sold in the US (However, that's not how the RIAA calculates albums sold).
Yet, worldwide Bowie sold 140 million albums. Granted, Bowie was an international artist, but there is no way that the biggest market by far, the US, accounts for just 9 million of those 140 million album sales.
Another example is ELP. 9 albums certified gold by the RIAA. 4.5 million albums sold in the US according to the RIAA. Worldwide they sold 48 million albums. During the 70s, ELP was massive and played before huge crowds, selling out arenas wherever they went. There is no way that less than a tenth on their albums were sold in the US. Also, to show how depending on the certification process is questionable in determining albums sold, ELP's Brain Salad Surgery album has been certified Gold by the BPI (100,000) in Britain. The last time BSS was certified by the BPI was January 3, 1974.
At the end of the day, certifications may mean something to some artists and bands, but to others, apparently Bowie and ELP for example, it's not worth the expense. The accountants know how many albums were sold and as far as Carl Palmer and the families of Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and David Bowie are concerned as long as those royalty checks come in that's all that matters.
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 16:02
Yes sold more than ELP by quite a long way so if ELP were at 48 million ( their record company said they sold over 40 million) then Yes must be up around 60-70 million sales worlwide at least. Open Your Eyes never sold just 3,450 copies worldwide, possibly the most hilarious 'inaccurate' fact by a long way. You are talking countless 1000's of Yes fans in their 40's and 50's with plenty of disposable income deciding not to purchase their latest album, it's not even if Anderson had left or streaming was such a big thing at the time.
Posted By: Frets N Worries
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 19:33
^Now, you might say Open Your Eyes deserved that many sales, but that isn't the question, besides, this topic is Going for the One, which DID sell pretty well.
I've never understood why Wonderous Stories gets hate, I think it's a fine track
------------- The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 21:24
richardh wrote:
Yes sold more than ELP by quite a long way so if ELP were at 48 million ( their record company said they sold over 40 million) then Yes must be up around 60-70 million sales worlwide at least. Open Your Eyes never sold just 3,450 copies worldwide, possibly the most hilarious 'inaccurate' fact by a long way. You are talking countless 1000's of Yes fans in their 40's and 50's with plenty of disposable income deciding not to purchase their latest album, it's not even if Anderson had left or streaming was such a big thing at the time.
Richardh,
I agree. The artist, band, label, etc, has to request the RIAA to do a certification. If they don't, there will not be a certification of whether the album went gold, platinum, multi-platinum or diamond no matter how fast the records are flying off the shelves. The date listed by the RIAA is also the last date the album was requested to be certified.
With ELP, all the certifications were done in the 1970s. There has not been a recertification since then. Yes's Going For The one was certified Gold on August 2, 1977. Another example is Deep Purple. The RIAA has Deep Purple selling 7.5 million records. Yet, Deep Purple is credited with selling more than 100 million records worldwide. No way the US only accounts for 7.5 ℅ of the total number of albums Purple sold.
The firm that does the audit for the RIAA for certifications is Gelfand, Rennert and Feldman. They have offices in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Boston and London. I would imagine that the cost is expensive for that type of audit.
As for the Open Your Eyes album, the 3,450 copies quoted as sold is no doubt inaccurate. If true, a label would not have given Yes the budget to work on their next album, The Ladder with a major producer, Bruce Fairbairn (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Cranberries, Kiss, Chicago) at a major studio, Armoury (AC/DC, REM, Seal, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones to name a few who recorded at Armoury) that took 3 months to record.
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 21:47
Frets N Worries wrote:
^Now, you might say Open Your Eyes deserved that many sales, but that isn't the question, besides, this topic is Going for the One, which DID sell pretty well.
I've never understood why Wonderous Stories gets hate, I think it's a fine track
Although Wonderous Stories would be my last choice to hear from the album, it is still a good track. GFTO is an excellent album. Depending on the day either 5 or 6 on my Yes album rankings. Some days it's ahead of Tales and some days I have it behind TFTO.
I have two complaints about GFTO. Production and the album cover. I wish the master tapes could be found so the album could be remixed and the cover would have been done by someone other than Hipgnosis. Hipgnosis may have served Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin well, but they did a disservice to Yes, especially the Tormato album cover. Personally, I find Hipgnosis to be overrated.
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 10 2024 at 23:08
^I'm guessing that Yes did have some say in the album cover. Punk was looming large and loud and Roger Dean fantasy covers were not cutting it anymore even if they went back to him for Drama for reasons of presumably trying to placate a fan base that was not happy with the Buggles invasion. GFTO is certainly a good album but they bottled it by not continuing with Moraz IMO. Relayer was a proper progressive rock album in old money while GFTO was a collection of Yes songs that showed little appetite for change. I quite like it but it seems largely irrelevant in their catalogue. TYA, CTTE and Fragile made Yes the behemoth of prog they were to become and maybe the quintessential English symphonic prog band. Relayer was an important album but personally then I would put Drama next. Never been a great fan of TFTO but even non prog fans are aware of it due to it's notoriety! GFTO just seems a band not all on the same page and is not that different to ELP Works Volume One in those terms. Yes were maybe disguising it better though.
Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: January 11 2024 at 10:46
I really like GFTO. I was very young when it came out and I don't remember clearly the first time I listened to it, but obviously after Tales and Relayer it was a significant shift to more accessible music and more song oriented. It's understandable that for some at the time it may have been perceived as a step down, but we must remember that those were the times when Prog had been strongly accused of being too pretentious. Considering everything, it was a shift, yes, but one which attempted to make more focused music without losing actual quality.
The title song was Yes attempt at making a rock song, and personally I like Howe's steel playing and for being a rock song it's much better than the average rock song released by most bands. And live it provided a lot of positive energy.
Turn Of The Century, what can we say? Surely one of the most beautiful songs ever by Yes. Parallels is quite good too, with the majesty of the pipe organ and great bass by Chris.
Wonderous Stories is also beautiful and Awaken one of the great epics of all times.
So, where's the problem really, in the album cover? I may agree that the production is not one of their best, but not IMHO reason enough to critizise much the album.
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 11 2024 at 10:55
Steve Howe & Annie Haslam - Turn of the Century
Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: January 11 2024 at 15:46
We must also consider Rick Wakeman's situation at the time. After the quite successful The Six Wives, his solo projects became more and more ambitious, opulent and expensive. In particular the tour for The Myths and Legends of King Arthur caused him serious financial losses. He had to sell several of his cars including the Rolls Royce.
His Birotron project at that time was also draining his finances, the instrument's mass production was being delayed more and more due to quality problems and the recording of all the samples with real musicians was costing a lot of money. By 1976-77 it was becoming clear that the new electronic string machines and synths were leaving the mechanical Birotron as an obsolete thing, and the project agonized until it was definitely aborted in 1979, surely much too late and having costed too much money.
It is only logical that when he returned to Yes he did not want to take too many risks anymore and he preferred to take a safer approach to the album. The most ambitious Prog was being critizised and censored by the media and press of the time and GFTO was a more than decent reaction to the whole situation by Yes.
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 11 2024 at 18:40
^ GFTO was certainly a triumph of pragmatism and good sense over having an actual vision. It played firmly into the idea that prog was done and had nothing new to say IMO. Also Wakeman would likely have not rejoined without the financial issues which you document perfectly. What they didn't lose at all though was being a great live band, I well remember a BBC broadcast of them playing at Wembley Arena on the Tormato tour (Tourmato) and it was excellent.
Posted By: Frets N Worries
Date Posted: January 11 2024 at 19:41
They realized that progs time in the sun had come to an end. But they had one more epic, a swan song if you will. Marking the end of the era. Yes knew they wouldn't return to really long form songs, so they made Awaken, and the rest is history
------------- The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 12 2024 at 11:00
Thus, Rick's return yielded "Parallels" and (especially) "Awaken," and I wouldn't change a thing in hindsight!
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: January 12 2024 at 12:06
verslibre wrote:
No way is "Parallels" at the bottom of any list.
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 12 2024 at 12:22
Big Sky wrote:
Top 10 Best-Selling YES Albums
01. 90125 (Sales: 4,128,370)
02. Fragile (Sales: 2,300,00)
03. Close to the Edge (Sales: 1,475,687)
04. Yessongs (Sales: 1,327,480)
05. Tormato (Sales: 1,115,380)
06. Classic Yes (Sales: 1,060,000)
06. The Yes Album (Sales: 1,060,000)
08. Big Generator (Sales: 1,022,910)
09. Going for the One (Sales: 726,380)
10. Tales from Topographic Oceans (Sales: 672,680)
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Why am I not surprised.
Paul,
Those sale figures are no doubt inaccurate. The Yes Album you have listed as having 1,060,000 sales. The Yes Album went Platinum in the US (1,000,000) and Silver in the UK (60,000). If what you have listed about the Yes Album is correct that would mean Yes did not sell one single album more from the date it was certified Platinum by the RIAA or Silver by the BPI or one copy in any other country.The Dutch Charts show that the Yes Album charted as high as #7 in that country and year end was the 52nd best selling album in that country. So, it appears there were some copies of that album sold in that country.
Close to the Edge is listed as having 1,475,687 copies sold. CTTE went Platinum in the US (1,000,000), Britain (300,000) and Canada (100,000). That is 1,400,000 copies sold. The RIAA last certified CTTE on April 10, 1998. The BPI certified CTTE Platinum on May 12, 1984. If you look at the BPI chart, it shows not one single copy sold since that date as it is just a flat line since that date. You can see that here:
https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/1381-1295-2
CTTE charted #1 in the Dutch Charts, #16 in Japan, #14 in Italy, #36 in Germany and #21 in Australia.
I would suspect that the figures you have listed are probably far lower than what the real figures would be.
Another example is the Kansas albums Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Best Of are listed by the RIAA as going 4x Platinum respectively. Howeve, Kansas has stated those albums sold each more than 6,000,000 copies in the US.
My understanding is that the certification process is expensive and bands feel like it is not worth the cost. Some labels don't want to do the certification process not only because of cost but, want to keep the actual real sales figures hidden from the band.
[/QUOTE]
Although my quoted sales figures may not be entirely accurate (understatement!), I don't find it hard to believe that Topographic Oceans sold roughly 200 times more copies than Open Your Eyes, given that Billy Sherwood's album is bottom of nearly every YES fan's list.
Posted By: AlanB
Date Posted: January 12 2024 at 12:41
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
Steve Howe & Annie Haslam - Turn of the Century
That is a beautiful rendition of the song.
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: January 13 2024 at 00:12
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
Big Sky wrote:
Top 10 Best-Selling YES Albums
01. 90125 (Sales: 4,128,370)
02. Fragile (Sales: 2,300,00)
03. Close to the Edge (Sales: 1,475,687)
04. Yessongs (Sales: 1,327,480)
05. Tormato (Sales: 1,115,380)
06. Classic Yes (Sales: 1,060,000)
06. The Yes Album (Sales: 1,060,000)
08. Big Generator (Sales: 1,022,910)
09. Going for the One (Sales: 726,380)
10. Tales from Topographic Oceans (Sales: 672,680)
And the worst-selling YES album of all time?
Open Your Eyes, with total worldwide album sales of just 3,450
Why am I not surprised.
Paul,
Those sale figures are no doubt inaccurate. The Yes Album you have listed as having 1,060,000 sales. The Yes Album went Platinum in the US (1,000,000) and Silver in the UK (60,000). If what you have listed about the Yes Album is correct that would mean Yes did not sell one single album more from the date it was certified Platinum by the RIAA or Silver by the BPI or one copy in any other country.The Dutch Charts show that the Yes Album charted as high as #7 in that country and year end was the 52nd best selling album in that country. So, it appears there were some copies of that album sold in that country.
Close to the Edge is listed as having 1,475,687 copies sold. CTTE went Platinum in the US (1,000,000), Britain (300,000) and Canada (100,000). That is 1,400,000 copies sold. The RIAA last certified CTTE on April 10, 1998. The BPI certified CTTE Platinum on May 12, 1984. If you look at the BPI chart, it shows not one single copy sold since that date as it is just a flat line since that date. You can see that here:
https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/1381-1295-2
CTTE charted #1 in the Dutch Charts, #16 in Japan, #14 in Italy, #36 in Germany and #21 in Australia.
I would suspect that the figures you have listed are probably far lower than what the real figures would be.
Another example is the Kansas albums Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Best Of are listed by the RIAA as going 4x Platinum respectively. Howeve, Kansas has stated those albums sold each more than 6,000,000 copies in the US.
My understanding is that the certification process is expensive and bands feel like it is not worth the cost. Some labels don't want to do the certification process not only because of cost but, want to keep the actual real sales figures hidden from the band.
Although my quoted sales figures may not be entirely accurate (understatement!), I don't find it hard to believe that Topographic Oceans sold roughly 200 times more copies than Open Your Eyes, given that Billy Sherwood's album is bottom of nearly every YES fan's list.
[/QUOTE]
Paul,
According to Billy Sherwood in an interview back in 2017, He stated Open Your Eyes sold about 200,000 copies worldwide. The album was a Sherwood and Squire project with songs written originally for the Conspiracy band. Stop me if you have heard this before with a non-Yes project becoming a Yes album. It was Yes's new management (Left Bank) that pushed for these songs to be reworked into a Yes album.
Steve Howe was reluctant to join the project and felt the material was to pop oriented. Furthermore, the Keys to Ascension 2 had already been recorded with the studio material on that album having the classic Yes sound. In fact, Keys to Ascension 2 was released on November 3, 1997 and Open Your Eyes three weeks later on November 25, 1997. Originally, Open Your Eyes was supposed to be released in 1998, but Left Bank wanted Yes to get back on the road in 1997 and pushed the release date up. Now, if you guessed that Keys of Ascension 2 was recorded under a different label (Castle Communications) you would be correct. They found out Yes was going to tour and were recording a new album and got Keys into the record stores. Howe has stated that neither he or Anderson had much input in the song writing process for Open Your Eyes as they arrived toward the end of the project.
Open Your Eyes is indeed not rated highly by Yes fans and is one of the poorest selling Yes albums.
Posted By: suitkees
Date Posted: January 13 2024 at 07:05
Psychedelic Paul wrote:
Have you ever wondered what happened to the lost YES album that should've been released a year prior to Going for the One? Well, wonder no more, because here it is, exclusive to ProgArchives and 100 gazillion listeners on YouTube.
1976: YES - The Lost Album - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbOcLOCLE" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbOcLOCLE
I prefer Telloplanic Views as "lost" album :
-------------
The razamataz is a pain in the bum
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 13 2024 at 17:09
Big Sky wrote:
According to Billy Sherwood in an interview back in 2017, He stated Open Your Eyes sold about 200,000 copies worldwide. The album was a Sherwood and Squire project with songs written originally for the Conspiracy band. Stop me if you have heard this before with a non-Yes project becoming a Yes album. It was Yes's new management (Left Bank) that pushed for these songs to be reworked into a Yes album.
Steve Howe was reluctant to join the project and felt the material was to pop oriented. Furthermore, the Keys to Ascension 2 had already been recorded with the studio material on that album having the classic Yes sound. In fact, Keys to Ascension 2 was released on November 3, 1997 and Open Your Eyes three weeks later on November 25, 1997. Originally, Open Your Eyes was supposed to be released in 1998, but Left Bank wanted Yes to get back on the road in 1997 and pushed the release date up. Now, if you guessed that Keys of Ascension 2 was recorded under a different label (Castle Communications) you would be correct. They found out Yes was going to tour and were recording a new album and got Keys into the record stores. Howe has stated that neither he or Anderson had much input in the song writing process for Open Your Eyes as they arrived toward the end of the project.
Open Your Eyes is indeed not rated highly by Yes fans and is one of the poorest selling Yes albums.
that makes a lot more sense!
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: January 13 2024 at 17:12
BTW the title Keystudio I find kinda lame. xD Sounds more like a name for a MIDI controller rather than a Yes album. :P
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 13 2024 at 20:33
Gerinski wrote:
I really like GFTO. I was very young when it came out and I don't remember clearly the first time I listened to it, but obviously after Tales and Relayer it was a significant shift to more accessible music and more song oriented. It's understandable that for some at the time it may have been perceived as a step down, but we must remember that those were the times when Prog had been strongly accused of being too pretentious. Considering everything, it was a shift, yes, but one which attempted to make more focused music without losing actual quality.
The title song was Yes attempt at making a rock song, and personally I like Howe's steel playing and for being a rock song it's much better than the average rock song released by most bands. And live it provided a lot of positive energy.
Turn Of The Century, what can we say? Surely one of the most beautiful songs ever by Yes. Parallels is quite good too, with the majesty of the pipe organ and great bass by Chris.
Wonderous Stories is also beautiful and Awaken one of the great epics of all times.
So, where's the problem really, in the album cover? I may agree that the production is not one of their best, but not IMHO reason enough to critizise much the album.
I don't know what Moraz could have done for Yes if they had kept him, but Awaken is one of the best songs Yes has recorded, and it would certainly have sounded very different if Moraz had stayed with the band, so I can't really say I'm sorry for the way things turned out.
1977: YES - Going for the One - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIFWHKVs0t-mEq-GZ3xEVE1kqqYiV4wZo 
richardh wrote:
1976: YES - The Lost Album - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbOcLOCLE" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbOcLOCLE 
