Re: This book looks to be worth checking out

[www.popmatters.com]

A good read, thanks. Interesting to look at it from the industry side of things as opposed to the usual artist/fan side of the fence. Tho I don't quite get his clear-cut separation of the terms "New Wave" and "punk." As I recall back then, they were pretty interchangeable terms. It's just that New Wave became more the preferred industry term - it wasn't as scary. But maybe in an earlier chapter he makes that clarification.

"Yes replaced departed vocalist Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman with Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downes of the Buggles." - weren't they just producers? I didn't think they were considered actual Yes members.

"The Heatwave festival ended with substantial losses that guaranteed it would be the first and last such mass new wave gathering." - Not quite: the US Festival would happen a couple years later.

Horn & Downes were indeed actual members of Yes, with Downes sticking with Steve Howe to form Asia.

> "Yes replaced departed vocalist Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman with Trevor Horn
> and Geoffrey Downes of the Buggles." - weren't they just producers?

Nope. Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White actually invited Horn and Downes to join the band. Horn did the lead vocals and Downes played keyboards on Yes's 1980 album Drama, and subsequently toured as full-fledged members of Yes.

Depending who you ask, Drama either is one of Yes's finest albums, on which Horn and Downes acquit themselves very well ... or a disgraceful travesty that should never have borne the Yes name, because those guys from The Buggles couldn't possibly fill Anderson and Wakeman's shoes.

Since rejoining Yes in 1983, Anderson has steadfastly refused to sing songs from Drama. For the past three years, though, Yes has included a couple of Drama's songs in its setlist, sung by Benoit David, Anderson's stand-in/replacement (again, depending who you ask).

Not only that, but Downes rejoined Yes as keyboardist on their new album Fly From Here, which is produced by Horn and is largely build around a suite first begun by Downes and Horn during their Drama tenure.

I've heard only a couple of songs from Drama - not bad. Ditto FFH - no masterwork, but it's not an embarrassment, either. Unless, of course, you despise Yes on the face of it.

And David is Anderson's replacement - the latter has claimed to move on. He's working on a record with Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin.

Yes, I know way too much about Yes. I'm a fan; shoot me.

7/26/11 update: I've now listened to Drama in its entirety (thanks, MOG). I like it a lot - it's sort of a transition between 70s Yes and 80s Yes. I'm amazed at how much like Anderson Horn sounds, though I think a lot of that is due to the close harmonizing of Squire. The demos w/ Anderson on the remaster are quite good as well.



Post Edited (07-26-11 18:02)

Aaaaah, Yes. I saw the new one in the New Releases section of Newbury Comics today, next to Bon Iver (which I purchased). The artwork was as familiar and soothing as, say, an Iron Maiden album cover. Flipped over the disc, and sure enough: there were songs divided into parts with roman numerals and a track called "Overture". Some things never change.

p.s. Rob Sheffield gave it a 2 in this weeks Rolling Stone but what does he know?



Post Edited (07-23-11 09:57)

Although Horn and Downes didn't last long as members of Yes, their departure couldn't have been all that acrimonious. (Or at least the band members all have buried the hatchets.) Horn has produced at least three of Yes's post-Drama albums — 90125, Big Generator and the new one, Fly From Here.

Still pretty funny, IMO, that Yes got their current lead singer from a Yes tribute band. That approach didn't work too long for Judas Priest but it's currently working great for Journey, and pretty well for Kiss, too.

> Yes, I know way too much about Yes. I'm a fan; shoot me.

There are far worse musical acts to be a fan of. A few of them are mentioned above. And how about some of these guys ...

Sheffield thinks Sandinista is a better album than London Calling, so, yeah, what does he know?

My problem with Yes had always been Jon Anderson. I don't like his voice, and I think his lyrics are shite. However, you don't listen to Yes for their lyrical acuity, you listen for the music. I was waiting to hear some of this forum's opinions on the new Yes album. I heard it was pretty good, esp. on the music end.

And I needed something new to read. I wonder if they have it at Borders...

Anderson absolutely makes Yes a love it or hate it proposition. I like his silly lyrics with the band - it's his solo lyrics, where he tries to make sense and comes off as a pie-in-the-sky new age hippie, that drive me crazy. I'm not wild about his voice, but I can't imagine Yes without it.

The music on the new Yes record sounds to me like the 80s band with 70s flavorings. (Kind of the opposite of Yes' last great album The Ladder, which was the group's 70s sound with 80s flavorings). It's not a bad record at all, though it's no masterpiece. Benoit David's voice is more accessible than Anderson's, but it doesn't have as much character. Most of the music was written by Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, so it's almost like the band itself are session musicians to someone else's vision. But the music is very melodic and has the Horn production sparkle, so it's definitely easy on the ears.



Post Edited (07-25-11 07:27)

> Sheffield thinks Sandinista is a better album than London Calling, so, yeah, what does he know?

He does? Where did he say that?

The Spin Magazine Record Guide.

That 7 out of 10 for London Calling is one of the most dubious grades I have ever seen by any serious music critic in any semi-serious forum.

I have to pick between Sandinista and London Calling? Can I spray myself with Pam and slide naked down a field of razor blades instead?

I like precisely and only 3 Yes albums. But I like them enough to award annual play.

Just kidding, I'll take Sandinista FTW.



Post Edited (08-02-11 16:54)

Quote

I like precisely and only 2 Yes albums.

Tormato? Really?

I'm trying to figure out if you're being deeply sarcastic or have the kind of genuinely perverse streak that informs the urge to name Cut the Crap as one's favorite Clash album (as I've seen on Amazon.com).

I've actually never heard Relayer, minus whatever songs from it are on the box set.

"All someone has to do is make a Celtics (or, keeping with the season Yankees/Red Sox) comment and we can consider this thread to be officially 'jacked."

Funny you should say that. . . The only time I've ever sat through Relayer was while watching the latter half of Ken Burns' baseball documentary with the sound off. (Starting with the part that highlights the 1975 Red Sox.) To date, it's the only album I've ever listened to that starts with a 20+ minute song (gates of delirium).

This is a strange thread, with the interweaving of Yes and The Clash in the same posts.

I think '70s Yes are brilliant, but it's Steve Howe that kills it for me at times, not Jon Anderson. He's a great techinical player, but his tone at times is simply awful, and what's with that ghastly slide guitar on the Going for the One album?

I dont give a rats behind if 90125 is not considered real Yes. It's a very good album and Owner Of A Lonely Heart is a spanker of a single. Listen to those beautiful guitar textures.

90125 is, I think, a great intersection between Yes' classic strength (which is its way with melody, not its instrumental firepower) and 80s commercial new wave sensibilities. It's probably my second favorite Yes album.

Both it and Big Generator (which I'm also quite fond of) had difficult births and have left a sour taste in the mouths of many band members and fans. I think that's one reason why it's not usually considered one of the band's classics.

It's a pedal steel. zoo wrote:

> This is a strange thread, with the interweaving of Yes and The
> Clash in the same posts.
>
> I think '70s Yes are brilliant, but it's Steve Howe that kills
> it for me at times, not Jon Anderson. He's a great techinical
> player, but his tone at times is simply awful, and what's with
> that ghastly slide guitar on the Going for the One
> album?

>>This is a strange thread, with the interweaving of Yes and The Clash in the same posts.<<

All someone has to do is make a Celtics (or, keeping with the season Yankees/Red Sox) comment and we can consider this thread to be officially 'jacked.

Agree with Toland, both on 90125 and Big Generator. My wife's a big fan of 90125 as well. She has worked as a studio engineer, and has often wished she could've been in the studio during that album's recording.

As for the rest of Yes's output, a well-selected best-of does the job fine for me.

As for Sheffield, he flip-flopped his comparison of London Calling and Sandinista! a decade later, in the latest Rolling Stone Record Guide.

"As for Sheffield, he flip-flopped his comparison of London Calling and Sandinista! a decade later, in the latest Rolling Stone Record Guide."

Thanks for the update. I like Sheffield's points and ideas, but sometime his writing quirks can be a bit repetitive.

Well, screw it. If everyone else is going to hijack the thread, allow me to add this to the discussion: