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The Owl
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Should be a good tour, buying tickets for the DC show today. Saw Jon Davison a few years back and thought he was very good - far better range then Benoit David. Also like that Geoff Downes is in the fold (huge Drama fan here).

 

Will be interesting to see how they pull of the instrumental interludes of Fragile, and who can argue with CTTE in its entirety. Hoping the new album cuts will be interesting.

 

As for the question of which albums to start with, agree with whats been said:

 

Yes Album

Fragile

Close to the Edge

Going for the One.

 

...then explore the more challenging stuff....and I am unashamed to say I like Tormato!

Edited by greg2112
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I'm just discovering this amazing band!Can anyone suggest the best album,or albums to start with?
Close To The Edge

The Yes Album

Going For The One

Tormato

are my favorite 70's Yes studio recordings. Outstanding all of them. Yessongs is an awesome live recording that covers their very early stuff. There are other members here that are more expert on their post 1980 stuff. I know some of it and like some but I wouldn't consider myself expert on it. Hope this helps some.... :)

 

Those are all excellent albums. I'd suggest getting them in the following order:

 

1. The Yes Album & Fragile - Two early classics, together they include most of the band's classic 10-minute-ish long songs. And Fragile has "Roundabout," which admittedly I've heard a lot in my many decades of Yesfandom, but I still remember the first time I heard the organ arpeggios over the chorus, and it still sends chills up my spine to think of it. :)

2. Close To The Edge - Possibly their greatest album. My favourite. Their first excursion into a side length song.

3. Going For The One - Skips over two mid-70's albums, Tales From Topographic Oceans and Relayer. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, and they are among my favourite work by the band, but compared to the albums on this list they are pretty challenging. It took me a long time to deeply appreciate both, let alone even understand them. GFTO is a lot easier to digest, with a number of concise (for them) songs and the awe-inspiring 17 minute classic, "Awaken."

 

Enjoy! They are an exciting band to discover.

Well said. I guess a lot of folks just don't love Tormato like I do.... :)

 

Tormato is magnificent, barking mad, and all the better for it.

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I'm just discovering this amazing band!Can anyone suggest the best album,or albums to start with?
Close To The Edge

The Yes Album

Going For The One

Tormato

are my favorite 70's Yes studio recordings. Outstanding all of them. Yessongs is an awesome live recording that covers their very early stuff. There are other members here that are more expert on their post 1980 stuff. I know some of it and like some but I wouldn't consider myself expert on it. Hope this helps some.... :)

 

Those are all excellent albums. I'd suggest getting them in the following order:

 

1. The Yes Album & Fragile - Two early classics, together they include most of the band's classic 10-minute-ish long songs. And Fragile has "Roundabout," which admittedly I've heard a lot in my many decades of Yesfandom, but I still remember the first time I heard the organ arpeggios over the chorus, and it still sends chills up my spine to think of it. :)

2. Close To The Edge - Possibly their greatest album. My favourite. Their first excursion into a side length song.

3. Going For The One - Skips over two mid-70's albums, Tales From Topographic Oceans and Relayer. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, and they are among my favourite work by the band, but compared to the albums on this list they are pretty challenging. It took me a long time to deeply appreciate both, let alone even understand them. GFTO is a lot easier to digest, with a number of concise (for them) songs and the awe-inspiring 17 minute classic, "Awaken."

 

Enjoy! They are an exciting band to discover.

Well said. I guess a lot of folks just don't love Tormato like I do.... :)

Listened to it today!

Solid, not great (IMO).

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I'm just discovering this amazing band!Can anyone suggest the best album,or albums to start with?
Close To The Edge

The Yes Album

Going For The One

Tormato

are my favorite 70's Yes studio recordings. Outstanding all of them. Yessongs is an awesome live recording that covers their very early stuff. There are other members here that are more expert on their post 1980 stuff. I know some of it and like some but I wouldn't consider myself expert on it. Hope this helps some.... :)

 

Those are all excellent albums. I'd suggest getting them in the following order:

 

1. The Yes Album & Fragile - Two early classics, together they include most of the band's classic 10-minute-ish long songs. And Fragile has "Roundabout," which admittedly I've heard a lot in my many decades of Yesfandom, but I still remember the first time I heard the organ arpeggios over the chorus, and it still sends chills up my spine to think of it. :)

2. Close To The Edge - Possibly their greatest album. My favourite. Their first excursion into a side length song.

3. Going For The One - Skips over two mid-70's albums, Tales From Topographic Oceans and Relayer. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, and they are among my favourite work by the band, but compared to the albums on this list they are pretty challenging. It took me a long time to deeply appreciate both, let alone even understand them. GFTO is a lot easier to digest, with a number of concise (for them) songs and the awe-inspiring 17 minute classic, "Awaken."

 

Enjoy! They are an exciting band to discover.

Well said. I guess a lot of folks just don't love Tormato like I do.... :)

Listened to it today!

Solid, not great (IMO).

 

Agreed, solid as a rock but...

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I'm listening to Close To The Edge and am tempted to think that this song might just be the best song ever. I'm wondering how it was even written? The beginning of the song appears to sound like a cacophony of instruments playing independently in opposite directions from the others, but it all comes together. Actually, I am in awe of what the human mind and a musical gift can produce.

How I would have loved to be in the studio with them when they were recording it. Where I really would have liked to have been was in the control room with their engineer.

 

That pipe organ! If that doesn't give everyone the chills, nothing ever will.

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They're playing at a casino nearby. Are they even worth it without Wakeman & Anderson?

 

NO :finbar:

 

YES!

 

What else are you going to do? Sit home and watch TV? The ticket prices aren't bad. Go see Yes!

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They're playing at a casino nearby. Are they even worth it without Wakeman & Anderson?

 

NO :finbar:

 

YES!

 

What else are you going to do? Sit home and watch TV? The ticket prices aren't bad. Go see Yes!

Nah, I decided against it. They're 100 miles away, cost $70 and don't even have Jon Anderson. I'll pass for now.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_%26_Earth_%28Yes_album%29

 

I was reluctant, but this band could be over any day now so I got tickets and preordered the album. I may be the only one willing to admit I liked Fly From Here so l don't care, bring on the Yes.

 

I really hope they get Jon Anderson back for a final tour, but I'll go see Howe, Squire and White play with whomever as long as they want to tour.

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The Drama cover is a big winner. The last few Asia covers just plain suck, but Gravitas is really nice. The music...? Naw.

 

The new Yes cover is fine, but a step down from Fly From Here. The snow (or is it frost?) on one side of the tree looks like a poorly executed afterthought. I do like the background as it harkens back to Fragile, Close To The Edge and Yessongs.

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I'm just discovering this amazing band!Can anyone suggest the best album,or albums to start with?

 

The studio albums that people have been listing are all great. But if you can, get their triple live album Yessongs. It has all of the essential songs from The Yes Album, Fragile (except for South Side of the Sky,) and Close to the Edge.

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I'm listening to Close To The Edge and am tempted to think that this song might just be the best song ever. I'm wondering how it was even written? The beginning of the song appears to sound like a cacophony of instruments playing independently in opposite directions from the others, but it all comes together. Actually, I am in awe of what the human mind and a musical gift can produce.

How I would have loved to be in the studio with them when they were recording it. Where I really would have liked to have been was in the control room with their engineer.

 

That pipe organ! If that doesn't give everyone the chills, nothing ever will.

 

The opening montage of sound was Jon's idea, and it consisted of many, many overdubbed sounds. The song was essentially written in the studio, in their painfully diplomatic style. Their drummer, Bill Bruford, said they had heard that it took Simon and Garfunkel three months to record the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, so they were determined that this album would take three months and a day.

 

Anderson said of the pipe organ sequence and what followed was that the organ represented the Church. The Moog then came in and destroyed the Church, and then the Hammond organ solo that followed was the foundation of a new Church.

 

I also read that they had to keep breaking down their gear to go do gigs all over England. So they'd record a few bars, go play a gig, and then have to set their gear up all over again. This led to slight differences in how the instruments sounded throughout the song. You can hear it on Squire's bass part during the two choruses. Listen to it when when Jon is singing "Crossed the line around the changes of the summer, and then again during the, "Sudden cause shouldn't take away the startled memory." Its the same bass line, same key, but the bass sound in the first chorus is deeper, fatter, rounder. On the second chorus, it doesn't have nearly the punch or depth.

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I'm listening to Close To The Edge and am tempted to think that this song might just be the best song ever. I'm wondering how it was even written? The beginning of the song appears to sound like a cacophony of instruments playing independently in opposite directions from the others, but it all comes together. Actually, I am in awe of what the human mind and a musical gift can produce.

How I would have loved to be in the studio with them when they were recording it. Where I really would have liked to have been was in the control room with their engineer.

 

That pipe organ! If that doesn't give everyone the chills, nothing ever will.

 

The opening montage of sound was Jon's idea, and it consisted of many, many overdubbed sounds. The song was essentially written in the studio, in their painfully diplomatic style. Their drummer, Bill Bruford, said they had heard that it took Simon and Garfunkel three months to record the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, so they were determined that this album would take three months and a day.

 

Anderson said of the pipe organ sequence and what followed was that the organ represented the Church. The Moog then came in and destroyed the Church, and then the Hammond organ solo that followed was the foundation of a new Church.

 

I also read that they had to keep breaking down their gear to go do gigs all over England. So they'd record a few bars, go play a gig, and then have to set their gear up all over again. This led to slight differences in how the instruments sounded throughout the song. You can hear it on Squire's bass part during the two choruses. Listen to it when when Jon is singing "Crossed the line around the changes of the summer, and then again during the, "Sudden cause shouldn't take away the startled memory." Its the same bass line, same key, but the bass sound in the first chorus is deeper, fatter, rounder. On the second chorus, it doesn't have nearly the punch or depth.

 

Thanks, Sheldon. I love reading stuff like this, and I will give the song a listen to see if I can tell what you are talking about.

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I'm listening to Close To The Edge and am tempted to think that this song might just be the best song ever. I'm wondering how it was even written? The beginning of the song appears to sound like a cacophony of instruments playing independently in opposite directions from the others, but it all comes together. Actually, I am in awe of what the human mind and a musical gift can produce.

How I would have loved to be in the studio with them when they were recording it. Where I really would have liked to have been was in the control room with their engineer.

 

That pipe organ! If that doesn't give everyone the chills, nothing ever will.

 

The opening montage of sound was Jon's idea, and it consisted of many, many overdubbed sounds. The song was essentially written in the studio, in their painfully diplomatic style. Their drummer, Bill Bruford, said they had heard that it took Simon and Garfunkel three months to record the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, so they were determined that this album would take three months and a day.

 

Anderson said of the pipe organ sequence and what followed was that the organ represented the Church. The Moog then came in and destroyed the Church, and then the Hammond organ solo that followed was the foundation of a new Church.

 

I also read that they had to keep breaking down their gear to go do gigs all over England. So they'd record a few bars, go play a gig, and then have to set their gear up all over again. This led to slight differences in how the instruments sounded throughout the song. You can hear it on Squire's bass part during the two choruses. Listen to it when when Jon is singing "Crossed the line around the changes of the summer, and then again during the, "Sudden cause shouldn't take away the startled memory." Its the same bass line, same key, but the bass sound in the first chorus is deeper, fatter, rounder. On the second chorus, it doesn't have nearly the punch or depth.

 

Thanks, Sheldon. I love reading stuff like this, and I will give the song a listen to see if I can tell what you are talking about.

 

Also, that Hammond organ solo was originally supposed to bea guit ar solo. But they liked the way it sounded when Rick played it, so it became his. Listen to it and imagine it is Steve playing his guitar. To me, I can really hear how it was written on a guitar.

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I read that at one point they were ending the song on the quiet part where they sing they "two million people barely satisfied" and it would fade out with the "I get up, I get down" phrase, but the song was way too short to fill an album side so the bombastic part towards the end that does ultimately end the song was from an earlier version. They thought that when they spliced the new ending on that it was so obvious the record company would know and complain, but no one ever noticed. It blows my mind that they did it all while touring and with analog tape and God knows how many drugs. Producer and engineer Eddy Offord was on heroin. They had talent and ambitious ideas, but the vision came from Jon Anderson and that is what they could still benefit from.

 

I'm still a fan of Fly From Here and the new album sounds promising, but I hope Jon Anderson returns after these 60ish and 70ish grown flipping men bury the hatchet and get it together.

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Fly From Here certainly wasn't on the level of the run of TYA-GFTO, but I'd still take it over dredge like Tormato, Union or Open Your Eyes.

 

FFH is essentially Drama 2. And I really, really like Drama despite not having Jon in it. Machine Messiah and Tempus Fugit are two of Yes' best songs as far as I'm concerned.

 

What makes me excite for the new album is that we're going to have some new blood in regards to songwriting. A fresh voice! I don't expect Yes to reinvent the wheel here but I do somewhat expect this album to take a different tone than FFH (otherwise we'd just have Drama 3).

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They're playing at a casino nearby. Are they even worth it without Wakeman & Anderson?

 

NO :finbar:

 

YES!

 

What else are you going to do? Sit home and watch TV? The ticket prices aren't bad. Go see Yes!

Nah, I decided against it. They're 100 miles away, cost $70 and don't even have Jon Anderson. I'll pass for now.

 

I saw them live with Benoit and it was a major disappointment. Didnt even stay for roundabout (not that that's one of my faves anyway, but if Jon was there id def stay)

 

The only reason why i dont regret going entirely is because steve howe's playing in "And You and I" did reach me, and that was a good moment.

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http://en.wikipedia....rth_(Yes_album)

 

I was reluctant, but this band could be over any day now so I got tickets and preordered the album. I may be the only one willing to admit I liked Fly From Here so l don't care, bring on the Yes.

 

I really hope they get Jon Anderson back for a final tour, but I'll go see Howe, Squire and White play with whomever as long as they want to tour.

 

Good news, I guess? After wrongly being hyped for Fly From Here, I can safely keep my expectations low for this next album. Maybe in consequence I'll actually end up liking this one.

 

Tracklist looks uncertain. I do love the artwork, but once you see a few of Dean's works you've seen them all, I'll admit that.

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I read that at one point they were ending the song on the quiet part where they sing they "two million people barely satisfied" and it would fade out with the "I get up, I get down" phrase, but the song was way too short to fill an album side so the bombastic part towards the end that does ultimately end the song was from an earlier version. They thought that when they spliced the new ending on that it was so obvious the record company would know and complain, but no one ever noticed. It blows my mind that they did it all while touring and with analog tape and God knows how many drugs. Producer and engineer Eddy Offord was on heroin. They had talent and ambitious ideas, but the vision came from Jon Anderson and that is what they could still benefit from.

 

I'm still a fan of Fly From Here and the new album sounds promising, but I hope Jon Anderson returns after these 60ish and 70ish grown flipping men bury the hatchet and get it together.

 

I'm so glad they didn't end the song like that. The song only gets even better from there on, and I'm playing the beginning bits in my head right now to determine whether I really think that, and while I do it's really hard to believe!

 

Close to the Edge is the perfect song.

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