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Hold Your Fire vs. Big Generator - The Battle of 1987


x1yyz
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Battle of 1987  

34 members have voted

  1. 1. Battle of 1987

    • Rush - Hold Your Fire
    • Yes - Big Generator


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In the battle of Permanent Waves vs. Drama, Rush has blown Yes out of the water. As another poster mentioned, it's hard for one of Rush's most beloved albums to lose a contest against anything else on this forum. But what about a not-so-beloved album?

 

Imagine it's 1987. The face of music has changed, new wave and synthesizers have been ruling the airways, and 'prog rock' is now a dirty word that is only whispered in the backs of record stores. You love both Yes and Rush so you pick up both of their new releases. These albums are different from what either band released a decade ago.

 

Who comes out on top?

 

61OteTYL-xL.jpg

 

or

 

http://forgotten-yesterdays.com/_graphics/release/release_17.jpg

Edited by x1yyz
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I love both...but Hold Your Fire is a masterpiece and moves me and BG is cheesy and enjoyable in a "oh dear they lost it but I can't help but enjoy it" kinda way
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(Oops, just edited post to add the poll!)

 

I'm actually not going to vote here. I don't like HYF and I've never actually heard BG so I will instead step back and see what you all think.

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Hold Your Fire, by a hundred million miles!

 

Not to slate Big Generator...it's okay. Yes had definitely lost their way by 1987, in my opinion. But Rush was firing on all cylinders- songwriting, musicianship, and execution.

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Hey, I'm that "another poster". Also, I'm not complaining or anything but where's the poll?

 

Cool that these albums were released less than two weeks from one another, HYF being first.

 

I'm going with HYF here.

 

For me, it'd be a closer matchup of HYF vs Momentary Lapse of Reason...which was also released in September '87.

 

How's that for rock releases?: Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd all in September '87!!!!

 

One album that would absolutely beat HYF & the others AND was released around that time (just 8 months later matter of fact) and isn't a complete switch in genre ---> Vivid by Living Colour. It'd be an outright K.O. imho too.

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I think Hold Your Fire is magnificent. Rush stepped out of the box with Hold Your Fire. Yes stayed in the box with Big Generator.

 

:yes:

My choice is HYF too.

The album is a Headlong Flight over a lot of music in this world. :)

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I think Hold Your Fire is magnificent. Rush stepped out of the box with Hold Your Fire. Yes stayed in the box with Big Generator.

 

Agreed. It's the same as 90125 or whatever that was called.

 

Although I think the songs are a bit better in BG...

 

But these albums sound more like Air Supply than the band that gave us Close To The Edge. Sad.

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I think Hold Your Fire is magnificent. Rush stepped out of the box with Hold Your Fire. Yes stayed in the box with Big Generator.

 

Agreed. It's the same as 90125 or whatever that was called.

 

Although I think the songs are a bit better in BG...

 

But these albums sound more like Air Supply than the band that gave us Close To The Edge. Sad.

 

Segue, what happened, why are you suddenly all out of love ??

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I think if the Rush, Yes and Genesis members of the 70´s heard what they´d put out ten years later, and how they´d look, they´d have retired from the music business before that happened. But to each its own - my choice between the two is HYF.
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I think Hold Your Fire is magnificent. Rush stepped out of the box with Hold Your Fire. Yes stayed in the box with Big Generator.

 

Agreed. It's the same as 90125 or whatever that was called.

 

Although I think the songs are a bit better in BG...

 

But these albums sound more like Air Supply than the band that gave us Close To The Edge. Sad.

 

Segue, what happened, why are you suddenly all out of love ??

 

I love a bit of Air Supply! I just don't think Yes should have channeled that inspiration...it sounds messy haha!

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I think if the Rush, Yes and Genesis members of the 70´s heard what they´d put out ten years later, and how they´d look, they´d have retired from the music business before that happened. But to each its own - my choice between the two is HYF.

They were keenly compromised with their music, with eyes and ears wide open to anything around the music industry and some other bands.

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I think if the Rush, Yes and Genesis members of the 70´s heard what they´d put out ten years later, and how they´d look, they´d have retired from the music business before that happened. But to each its own - my choice between the two is HYF.

They were keenly compromised with their music, with eyes and ears wide open to anything around the music industry and some other bands.

 

Agreed! It worked for Rush better than any of the other prog giants. But I think that's because right from the start they already had a real knack for writing short, sharp catchy songs. By the time they were done with epics, they had the other songwriting form down perfectly.

 

 

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I think if the Rush, Yes and Genesis members of the 70´s heard what they´d put out ten years later, and how they´d look, they´d have retired from the music business before that happened. But to each its own - my choice between the two is HYF.

They were keenly compromised with their music, with eyes and ears wide open to anything around the music industry and some other bands.

 

Agreed! It worked for Rush better than any of the other prog giants. But I think that's because right from the start they already had a real knack for writing short, sharp catchy songs. By the time they were done with epics, they had the other songwriting form down perfectly.

It's all about the zeitgeist.

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As much as I love Drama, I don't even own 90125 or Big Generator ... or Hold Your Fire for that matter .

 

It wasn't a change in style, it was an abandonment of sincerity IMHO

 

I find this sad. I sort of here it on Signals but HYF is an especially well crafted, genuinely beautiful and cathartic.

 

It is layered and just sublime...the peak of all their eighties experimentation post-MP.

 

Yes...I agree with. They weren't even going to release these two albums under the Yes banner, but obviously they chose too as it would be too much of a commercial risk to start out with a new name. They sold out big time.

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I have never actually heard all of Big Generator but what I have heard I like even though it's not nearly my favorite Yes stylistically or otherwise. I had already given up on both bands a few years before these came out. I'll call it a tie...
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I think Hold Your Fire is magnificent. Rush stepped out of the box with Hold Your Fire. Yes stayed in the box with Big Generator.

 

Agreed. It's the same as 90125 or whatever that was called.

 

Although I think the songs are a bit better in BG...

 

But these albums sound more like Air Supply than the band that gave us Close To The Edge. Sad.

 

The thing is, HYF sounds like Air Supply to me.

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