Yes.....

[anotherfreak]

Oh boy,

I used to call myself educated and experienced

I just picked up Fragile with bonus tracks and it is INCREDIBLE!!!!!

I was totally blown away by the guitar parts, the bass is friggin' crazy, and the drum parts are all over the place. What kind of a rock have I been living under????

Now, I had worked on some Steve Howe before, but this is just great playing, and the vocal harmonies are tight. I am absolutely gushing, and this is early 70's stuff right???

OH MY

[polara]

Oh, goodness. I was a huge Yes fan when I was in my teens and while some of their stuff is a bit... over the top, they were brilliant. Dig up Close to the Edge, then just explore from there... pretty cool stuff! They did a live one.. Yesshows?... that is pretty cool.

[Trader Jim]

Welcome to the old days.

[mathman]

Oh, goodness. I was a huge Yes fan when I was in my teens and while some of their stuff is a bit... over the top, they were brilliant. Dig up Close to the Edge, then just explore from there... pretty cool stuff! They did a live one.. Yesshows?... that is pretty cool.

YesSongs

awesome live record. One of the few albums I kept from my collection.

[elduave]

I heard South Side Of The Sky on satellite radio about a year ago (after not hearing it forever) and about freaked out. Bought it on iTunes, cranked it repeatedly.

[Steve Haynie]

Steve Howe and Chris Squire were dominating the polls in Guitar Player Magazine until Steve Morse and Geddy Lee were gaining in popularity. I think that Howe and Morse both made it to the #1 spot five times and were taken out of the polls so other people could win.

[polara]

I just read the Wiki entry on Yes.

The drama and lineup changes make Spinal Tap seem sane.

[Trader Jim]

I saw them in Tampa, and the Eagles opened for them.....before anyone had heard of the Eagles. OK, I guess I'm showing my age.

[atquinn]

Oh boy,

I used to call myself educated and experienced

I just picked up Fragile with bonus tracks and it is INCREDIBLE!!!!!

I was totally blown away by the guitar parts, the bass is friggin' crazy, and the drum parts are all over the place. What kind of a rock have I been living under????

Now, I had worked on some Steve Howe before, but this is just great playing, and the vocal harmonies are tight. I am absolutely gushing, and this is early 70's stuff right???

OH MY

That's the reaction I had several years ago when I got Fragile. Now get The Yes Album and be stunned anew!

-Austin

[anotherfreak]

Hey Austin,

You gotta be my brotha' from anotha' motha'

We gotta get together sometime!

[Willie G. Moseley]

Curiously, while Fragile was considered to be Yes' breakthru album, I didn't like it; I didn't care for the tone/fidelity of the mix. Preferred The Yes Album, and even the first two albums had some interesting stuff. I thought there might have been a bit too much showing off on Fragile, but admittedly there's a fine line between showing off and demonstrating you're a master of your craft, as all of the members of Yes were.

That being said about Fragile, Yessongs is the definitive British progressive rock album, and arguably the best progressive rock album ever. So what if it's live, and the powerful way the stuff from Fragile comes off is mind-boggling; "Roundabout" is just one example.

I even liked a lot of the stuff from alternate line-ups; Drama was excellent, as was Talk (and Trevor Rabin is no slouch on guitar himself).

Got to see the classic Yes lineup in 2002 and got to interview Steve Howe afterwards. His dressing room smelled of patchouli incense---honest! I also have a not-released-as-a-commercial-CD live concert recording from that era courtesy of their management company; they still had the chops and their stuff still holds up (and always will).

Another jaw-dropper is the live Symphonic Yes album and DVD, recorded in Europe with an orchestra.

[gtone]

+1 to The Yes Album - it's their best work, IMHO.

[princeofdarkness56]

Never was a Yes fan, but they are playing in my town this Monday in one of those old turn of the century theater's that hold about 1500 seats with great acustics that you can hear a pin drop from the back row. I imagine it will be a very good show.

[maxschrek]

Yep, the Yes album is essential, as is Close to the Edge...

however, my favorite has always been between Going For the One

and Relayer.

+1 on Drama being a kick ass record.

Love Yes. I think they'll always be my fav.

T

[Joe G]

Growing up I was a big Yes fan. Close to the edge, Starship Trooper......... I remember seeing them at Nassau Coliseum and Madison Square Garden mostly in the late Seventies. Great concerts and if I remember correctly they were the first ones to start with the laser light shows. In concert, Steve Howe would start jumping when he got going. They used to play very loud in concert and definitely put a hurting on your ears. Big arena shaking bass lines and blistering guitar leads. I usually am not a fan of keyboards, but with Yes, they are great.

Every now and then I listen to Relayer, which is not a popular Yes album, and I also used to listen to a band called Starcastle, which is in that vein - so much so that they even put similar graphics on their album covers. I think I bought all of the Yes albums along with a couple of Starcastle's.

I saw Steve Howe with Azia about two years ago at Westbury Music Fair with Carl Palmer on drums, another great show with much more civil volume levels. I missed the Yes with Azia tour last year, but if they come around again, I'm in.

[Rusty Fingers]

Welcome to the old days.

Old Days???? That implies that there are "new days". Is there some new music trend that I've missed? LOL

Seriously, I love Yes, but hadn't listened to them in years....only had one on CD...The Yes Album, everything else was still on vinyl. Finally down loaded a bunch from iTunes in the past year or two. South Side of the Sky & And You and I make into my top rotation frequently.

Rusty

[GaryT]

I seen them play in the mid 70's. Good Band. Use to have the large Mushrooms on stage and what not. LSD oriented scene and music for sure

Yes-Songs covered most of their work pretty well. Even back then when it came out.

Haven't listened to them in ages though

Yes, Pink Floyd, Zappa..............And some Window Pain Acid. I remember thinking...that little thing is gonna get me high? 14hrs later you'd be praying to come down off that shit.

[jwhitcomb3]

I just saw Avatar this weekend and couldn't get over how much the Pandora landscape had been ripped off from old Yes album artwork.

Saw them in the round for the Tormato tour.

My favorites are still Close to the Edge and Going for the One.

-Jonathan

[Sentinel]

Fragile was my introduction to Yes. Bought it (on vinyl) when it was released. Since then I have bough ALL the other albums.

I love them. Haven't seen them live but I've got a bunch of live dvd's so that covers that, a bit.

[polara]

I sold a hard drive to Geoff Downes abut three years ago. My Yes connection I was surprised he had to scour Ebay for stuff... his handle rung a bell and so I emailed him "Are you THE Geoff Downes," and he seemed pleased.

[Hamerhack]

The first concert I went to was Yes in 1974.

The first thing I played on the 12 string DuoTone I got from Greg was the intro to "And You and I", and then a bit of "Starship Trooper".

"I've Seen All Good People" is also great.

[GaryT]

That 74 Tour was the same time I had seen them at the now destroyed New Haven Coliseum.

[GaryT]

That 74 Tour was the same time I had seen them at the now destroyed New Haven Coliseum.

They were the BOMB in the 70's with Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe. By the mid-late 80's? Totally different band with the Glam look and different line-up. I have a 80's VHS I should convert and post. You'll see a YES band that will give you a good laugh. Nothing like the earlys 70's YES.

[jwhitcomb3]

That 74 Tour was the same time I had seen them at the now destroyed New Haven Coliseum.

They were the BOMB in the 70's with Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe. By the mid-late 80's? Totally different band with the Glam look and different line-up. I have a 80's VHS I should convert and post. You'll see a YES band that will give you a good laugh. Nothing like the earlys 70's YES.

I saw them at the New Haven Coliseum in 1978...didn't know it had been destroyed

Jon Anderson seemed to think he was playing in Springfield MA.

Tormato was not a great album, but it was a great version of the band (Anderson, Wakeman, Howe, Squire, White) and they put on a great show. It was one of their "in the round" shows, where they set up on a revolving round stage in the center of the auditorium. Very cool!

-Jonathan