Crimson Kings, Agriculturists, and Lightsabers - The Prog Thread

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JAMOOOL: Oct 18, 2004; I LOVE TWO AND HALF MEN!! YOU 20 SOMETHINGS ARE JUST TOO CYNICAL TO UNDERSTAND IT!!

I really wish Moraz would've been able to stick around. Relayer is IMO as good as any Yes album and I think he really breathes some fresh air into it. He definitely had the talent. Check out the Refugee album, which was basically The Nice with Moraz instead of Emerson - he fills that role quite well which is no small statement.

# ? Apr 3, 2014 14:23

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# ? May 12, 2024 20:03

Declan MacManus: Sep 1, 2011; damn i'm really in this bitch

Moraz's fills at the beginning of Sound Chaser are just as memorable as anything Wakeman ever recorded imo

# ? Apr 3, 2014 16:22

JAMOOOL: Oct 18, 2004; I LOVE TWO AND HALF MEN!! YOU 20 SOMETHINGS ARE JUST TOO CYNICAL TO UNDERSTAND IT!!

For sure, but as a whole Relayer strikes me as the album where Howe finally went nuts, in a good way. The last track is quite tame but nearly everything else is downright crazy in a way you wouldn't associate with Yes.

# ? Apr 3, 2014 16:34

FrankenVader: Sep 12, 2004; Polymer Records

Henchman of Santa posted:

Are there any great American prog rock bands? It just dawned on me that I can't think of any.

It's been mentioned already, but MOTHER loving KANSAS...they put the rock in prog rock, but could prog out with the best of them back in the day.

Here's the Pinnacle...from Masque, my fav Kansas record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bexLEIiXZo

# ? Apr 5, 2014 16:36

A human heart: Oct 10, 2012

Henchman of Santa posted:

Are there any great American prog rock bands? It just dawned on me that I can't think of any. The genre's heyday was almost entirely British. Canada has Rush. Germany and Italy have some stuff. We have progressive metal down pretty well, but besides like, Tool (who aren't really the same style), are there any notable bands to come out of the States? Just curious.

Italian prog is a bit more than 'some stuff', there were tons of bands there(still quite a few) and the best ones were easily as good if not better than what the british were doing. Saying the genre was almost entirely british is reductive when you had things like the french zeuhl bands or quite a few scandinavian groups as well.

# ? Apr 6, 2014 00:30

Gimmedaroot: Aug 10, 2006; America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama

Since I earlier posted what Patrick Moraz had to say, I thought I would post an open letter from Eddie Jobson about his very brief time in Yes as well as his interaction with the prog rock scene. Again, its not a happy story, and Eddie dodged the bullet that later hit Moraz (at least the first time). However it does offer a glimpse behind the curtain and the personalities of rock stars. This is from Jobson's website:

Eddie Jobson posted:

OK folks... you asked:

I have been thinking about my hesitation in answering in detail about my time with Yes, and have concluded that a full explanation would be incomplete without some understanding of the social background of the London music scene in the �70s and �80s. To give a thorough and honest answer, I would have to get into some very personal recollections and history� and I have decided that too many personal details, especially of others, would serve nobody well. So, after 23 years of silence on the matter, here is a somewhat abridged version:

I remember, around 1974 and still a fairly fresh teenage transplant to �the South,� observing there to be quite a self-congratulatory social club (of which I was not a member) of successful musicians, moneyed hoorays and fashionistas occupying the trendy upper-end London social tier. They drove Bentleys and Aston Martins, lived in very large houses in Surrey (or trendy apartments within a stone�s throw of Knightsbridge or Chelsea), belonged to the same charities, and met one another for lengthy alcohol-soaked lunches and dinners at London�s most tony restaurants and private clubs. A small subset of this crowd was a sorority of �group wives� who spent large amounts of their husbands� money shopping on the Kings Road and who effervesced at sharing a charity event with Princess Fergie or being invited to a garden party at McCartney�s mansion.

As a young musician, this social environment formed much of the elite backdrop to the world of the successful �art� bands (Roxy, Genesis, Floyd, Yes, etc�) and I remember vividly�even as Roxy were at the top of their game and at the top of the charts�a strong sense of estrangement from this self-impressed and moneyed social clique. As na�ve as it may have been, I really was in it for the music.

However, my Roxy association did allow me some lesser place in the club, and my talent gave rise to many requests for my musical participation, including one call, in 1974, to assess my interest in replacing the newly departed Rick Wakeman in Yes. My impression of Yes was that they were a musically very impressive (and of course, extremely successful) band, but that they, too, were hugely impressed with their own status and were living on a lavishly grand scale. There also was that hippie/cosmic/druggie side that I knew would likely make it even harder for me to connect with them socially. For several years, I had seen Chris Squire showily driving around town in his huge and very distinctive maroon Bentley like some aristocratic Lord, and it seemed obvious that, as dismissively as Roxy and their camarilla were treating me, the Yes milieu would be even more unfriendly to this Northern teenager � so I boldly conveyed my �lack of interest� in the Yes gig (in actual fact, I was somewhat excited by the concept of playing with Yes at their peak, but my instincts told me this would be an unwelcoming situation).

Fast forward almost six years� I had extricated myself from that disturbingly self-important London scene completely, from EG Management and Sun Artists (Yes� management�who co-managed �UK�) and had happily relocated to the U.S., permanently removing myself from what I found to be an uncharitable world of supercilious people and expensive drug habits. Around the same time, I also disbanded U.K.�as part of the same purge. It was a fresh start, and the Green Album would be my solo venture as an independent free-spirit, surrounded by new friends�dare I say �all good people,� with similar values to mine.

However, in early 1983, toward the end of the Green Album period, I received a call from an executive with Atlantic Records who was with Chris Squire and his new band �Cinema� in London. Despite my complete lack of interest in joining Squire�s new band, the phone conversation went on for several hours as he virtually begged me to participate on their new album (the record that would become �90215�) . This time my �lack of interest� was real, I literally had zero enthusiasm for being in Squire�s band back in London. So original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye was invited in for the album recording (which also apparently didn�t work out either, as he departed at the producer�s request after a very short period, leaving the keyboard duties to the production team.)

Later that year, with the Green Album finally completed, I happened to be visiting London as part of a promotional tour when I received a message (in the U.S.) that �Cinema� was now �Yes,� Jon Anderson had joined the band again, and that the album had come out really well. Oh, and they still needed a keyboard player... When they found out I was actually in London, new boy Trevor Rabin arranged to come round to play me the finished album. Trevor Horn (my favourite producer at the time) had done a fantastic job. All in all, though musically a little superficial, it was a fresh and contemporary recording, and with the �Yes� name, a potential hit song (�Owner of a Lonely Heart�), Atlantic Records, and a well-funded support team behind it, it was clearly destined for considerably more commercial success than my struggling Green Album. With unlimited amounts of money flying around, my living in Connecticut was no problem; Jon was living in France, and Rabin and the new manager were living in Los Angeles. After all these years, maybe it was time for me to finally join Yes?

A couple of days later, we got together in a rehearsal room and thrashed through a few tunes, including �Roundabout� (actually not knowing the song too well, I had to figure out Rick�s tricky keyboard parts on the spot � no easy task). But everyone seemed happy, so I returned to the U.S. as a full member of Yes and with a world tour only two or three months away. There was virtually no contact with anyone for several weeks as I learned all the Yes material in my home studio, although I did attend the mastering of the album with Rabin in New York. In fact, now I think about it, not one single band member ever called me, for any reason, during my entire stint with the group (or since).

The illusion of �equal membership� soon became apparently false, especially once the filming of the �Owner of a Lonely Heart� video took place. Lord Squire�s indulgences (and the ubiquitous Bentley) were back in my face, and money was being squandered at an alarming rate. It was time-warp back to the 1970s. Roadies followed you around making sure you never had to lift even the smallest bag, and Chris was insisting on a private Boeing 707 for the tour! The grand lifestyle was being funded once again and egos were newly inflated. Despite my considerable experiences with Roxy, Zappa, UK, and Tull (a wonderful group of guys who treated me with considerable respect), and with more than 30 albums and a self-managed solo career under my belt, no one was interested in any wisdom I may have been able to impart, on any subject� even on the keyboard rig design which had already been decided upon. It was an inflated �Spinal Tap� on so many levels, and I had unwittingly been sucked back into almost the same world of disregard that I had rejected so many years earlier. But I had made a commitment and I wanted to see it through.

Several weeks later, back in the U.S. where I continued to work on the considerable Yes repertoire, I did finally receive a phone call from someone�it was the manager who had been given the unceremonious task of informing me that Tony Kaye was re-joining the group and would be sharing keyboard duties with me. No discussion, no conferring� a done deal. And the reason? They needed three original members to put to rest a dispute with Brian Lane (their old manager), Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman regarding the legitimacy of the new band using the �Yes� name. My youthful instincts were reawakened, there were red flags waving, and sirens going off... why was I doing this exactly? Still no call from anyone in the band, no discussions of alternate remedies, no apologies, just take it or leave it� so I hearkened to the words of their own song and chose to �leave it.�

Of course, the album and world tour went on to enormous success; Tony Kaye�s playing was supplemented by another player hidden off-stage; and the embarrassingly lame video had to be edited at the insistence of the BBC (to remove the disgusting �maggot� scene), during which time they also removed as many of my scenes as possible.

Thanks, guys. All in all, the most disrespectful and unpleasant of all my band experiences (as brief as it was), and, with the occasional derisive remark from Squire or Allan White still showing up on the internet, one that still causes me undeserved anguish, embarrassment, and regret.

Post-script 1: The above description of the smug coterie that made up much of the British music-business elite in the �70s and �80s also serves the purpose of explaining much of the ill-feeling left percolating in the memories of more than a few of us more music-focused professionals. It also explains, in some part, the continuingly rude behaviour of some of that scene�s most indulgent subscribers (not mentioning any particular Arschlock by name, of course). It is ironic that those most included in that most exclusionary clique, now seem to be the most embittered and malicious.

Post-script 2: Some might ask why I would have a Yes page on the website. My answer is that I don�t have a category for �Bands I Didn�t Join and Should Have� or for �Bands I Did Join and Shouldn�t Have.� It was not a Guest Appearance; I was a member; there is a long history of connectivity (from Bruford to Asia); I am still in the video; I have pictures; it is part of my story.

Post-script 3: Jon Anderson has always been friendly, welcoming and respectful. His only culpability in this hurtful episode was in being so passive.

http://www.eddiejobson.com/forum/read.php?f=1&i=3826&t=3826

There you have it. I have one more interview to post once I find it concerning the period of the Union album.

# ? Apr 6, 2014 19:00

Gimmedaroot: Aug 10, 2006; America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama

We've heard sides of the story particularly from Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman, but here is a very different side of the story from the producer of Union: Jonathan Elias. His story is just as hosed up, but for totally different reasons.

Jonathan Elias interview posted:

The making of Union is shrouded in mystery: perhaps you can shed some light on its proceedings. You seem to have written a number of the songs for Union with Jon Anderson in the studio. Was that because of a shortage of good enough material or a planned collaboration?

JE: There was no material. Basically, what there was was Steve [Howe] was working on a solo album [later released as Turbulence] and he brought in some things. Jon [Anderson] brought in one or two faint ideas. The problem is they hated each other so much at that point. I couldn't get Jon and Steve to sit down in a room together without me and the only way that Steve would do anything is to wake up and get very stoned and he was no good for the whole day after that. So we would sit down and try to write a few chords and here are my sort of kid pop idols and they couldn't string three chords together without fighting about what they were. And that was just putting Jon and Steve together, and constantly Steve would be badgering me about how he hated Jon's lyrics and how Jon had no good ideas. And Jon would say to me, 'Oh, Steve's just so washed out and Asia was such a horrible thing�look what it did to him.' You had Rick Wakeman who� all he wanted to do was get out there in the mix. And Rick had three or four parts that he would play, the same thing on everything. I would bring a Hammond organ in�he wouldn't touch the Hammond. He said, 'That's old-fashioned.' Not realising� well, he's so out of touch�what good would it have done had he played? I couldn't get these guys to sit down and write material without other people being in the room because of the social reasons. They had just been on the road for so many years and they probably had so many episodes with each other. Half of them couldn't really play any more. I mean, it was really sad. They were just sloppy and tired and old.

How much time pressure was there?

JE: There was a lot of time pressure because, really, these guys were just doing it for the money, because they couldn't do anything else. They all tried solo careers and nothing really happened with any of the solo careers, so they realized that they were forced to be together. And the only way they could really make money was touring. They couldn't make money on an album unless it had a pop sensibility and they were so far removed from what a pop sensibility was at that point without Trevor [Rabin]. There were times I tried to push them into that, but they would just bad mouth Trevor, particularly Steve. Ooof, boy, did he hate Trevor! I thought that the stuff that he [Rabin] had done was very fresh, but both Rick, AT THAT POINT, and Steve would just really nail me because they wanted to have nothing to do with him.

So what happened was we would start writing and they would stop writing. Steve wouldn't listen to one of Rick's parts, Rick wouldn't listen to one of Steve's parts. And all Bill Bruford wanted to know is, 'Is it coming in on budget?'. They didn't care about a note of music. They all thought that Jon was stealing money from them. I guess they had a manager who used to steal money from them or... who knows what creative accounting they had ever done on each other, but none of them ever trusted each other.

In the end, you are credited with co-writing nearly every ABWH song. Were you ever writing with the other ABWH members, or does this reflect your subsequent work on their initial ideas?

JE: They didn't have any initial ideas. I'd say Steve had a couple. Rick didn't have anything.

Didn't you take Steve Howe's solo album...

JE: Yeah, we took a couple of licks off of Steve's solo album and I would encourage Jon to develop them. And he would say, 'This piece of trash,' and I'd say, 'Jon, this is all that we have and let's make the best of it.' So, there wasn't really this spirit of this magical, wonderful, open-hearted feeling of the word Yes that I expected, which sort of devastated me at first. It took me a couple of weeks to really understand that. I had just worked with Duran Duran and we'd had several number one songs. These [Duran Duran] were guys who could not play their instruments all that great, but they had a good taste level. Then here I was, working with a band [Yes] that I thought technically were good, but they had no taste.

They could not write without someone there as a buffer, so I guess I ended up being a buffer. I'm not particularly proud of some of the chords, some of the melodies, that came out of it, but it was a miracle that it was ever even recorded.

How did the whole situation on Union, with Wakeman's and Howe's parts being largely replaced, come about? Was that a decision in which you were involved, or did it come from above?

JE: Well, if anyone knows anything about this band, Jon rules it like an iron hand. It came from Jon. Jon was the associate producer on the album. It came from him when Steve's parts were obviously not what they should have been. Jon said let's go to California and let's work with someone there.

And when we had our Paris experience with Rick, which was a fiasco because we couldn't get him off of the TV... I still think that's why he hates me because I made him stop watching TV, more than even his parts were being replaced, because he certainly didn't care about the project. He was just doing this to bide time until his next solo album was coming out. I guess then he realised that his fan base had really gone and then he started to care a little bit more.

So what happened was, Jon and I were searching for a guitar player and a bunch of people brought up this name Jimmy Haun. We ended up meeting Jimmy. Jimmy's the best thing that happened to me out of the album. We became best friends and I have nothing but wonderful things from that experience. Jon ended up using Jimmy on all his solo stuff that he was doing around then. If he really didn't like Jimmy, he wouldn't be on the album.

As far as the keyboards, it was Jon's call. Jon said let's work with Steve Porcaro. Hence we worked with Steve Porcaro. If anyone ever thinks it was me who brought in any other keyboard player, all you have to do is scratch the surface�you know that Jon runs that band.

What of the keyboard parts on the ABWH songs did you play; and who were the other main keys players you employed?

JE: I didn't really play that many keyboard parts. I played several, but they were really just the parts that I had played with Jon and Steve in the writing process and Jon wanted those exact parts on there. He didn't want them to be clouded with some of the other parts that Rick had played, because it was pretty obvious when we got the tapes back that Rick hadn't listened to Steve's parts. We started out working with Steve and then we went and worked with Rick in Paris and Rick didn't want to hear Steve's parts. So that gives you a window into how this band is really not a band. They were really just there to put something out so they could tour. And some of the other players that we ended up using really cared more about the project than the players that were in the band. Tony Levin (bass) was a lifesaver for me. He was the only person who had any rationale in the whole project.

What did the session percussionists add to the music?

JE: Well, the session percussionists, they really added the same thing that all the extra musicians added. They cared about the project. No-one in the band cared about the project, with the exception perhaps of Jon, and Steve, to a certain extent. It's just that Jon's vision, Steve's vision were two totally different things. There were a lot of personality conflicts there. Steve and Rick just would bad mouth each other all the time and it was really difficult to be stuck in the middle of Jon not really putting his foot down and telling them, 'This is what I want.' This is Jon's band and I certainly feel that Trevor [Rabin] and Chris Squire did a lot better job than these guys ever did.

� and Billy Sherwood?

JE: And Billy Sherwood is another example. There's someone who really cared about the band, tried to revive it, and got backstabbed by the whole band.

It's sad, because I once thought that these guys were great players, but they can barely play their instruments and they play too many notes. [laughs] Look, it's ten years later, twelve years later, something like that. I've done very well for myself with many, many things. I've worked with Alanis Morissette, James Taylor, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and had some great collaborations. So, looking back on the whole experience, it really was a good thing for me because it got me off producing records and it got me into other things, where I really could do what I wanted. The whole experience was kinda sad. It was a babysitting experiment... And you really saw that, if it wasn't for Trevor [Rabin] in the mid-eighties, they would have disbanded a long time ago.

Most Yes fans have very negative feelings towards Union and you would agree with them on that. However, many Yes fans blame you and the extra musicians for what happened with the project�how does that make you feel?

JE: I don't really care about having Yes fans not like me. That's water under the bridge. What I care more about is the concept that the negative feelings towards Union were because of the extra musicians. The truth is it wouldn't have been done without the extra musicians. Because the level of distrust between Steve and Jon and Rick again, they just wouldn't work with each other, so we had to put up a guitar track that Steve had done and get a musician to play along with it. It was constant situation with that�their parts had nothing to do with each other, so we really had to bring in the players in order just to get the project physically done.

What do you think of the other tracks on Union and about Yes's work since Union?

JE: I have a lot of respect for Billy Sherwood and for Trevor Rabin�always have, always will. I don't know how Trevor did it. I assume that Trevor sort of just went off and did most of his writing and production by himself and then brought the guys in, because that's how the tracks sound. I can't imagine it being any other way and the same really is true with Billy. Billy's a wonderful musician and I was able to see how they shafted him along the way.

I don't think much of Yes any more. I don't listen to them. I don't think anything about it, to be honest. I've moved on to working with people like Alanis Morissette and James Taylor and people that I think have a little bit more of a meaningful statement and have an impact on the year 2000. Yes is stuck in 1980 with Asia... and that's really where Steve [Howe] is just locked up and he can't play guitar any more.

Music is fun. It's hard work and interesting and it's always been fun for me, whether I was working with Grace Jones or Yes or Duran Duran. It was fun [with Union], it was just the politics of Yes that weren't fun and how much they hate each other and I know for a fact that they still do. They revolve, there's a level of distrust with Jon�they think Jon's stealing all their money. And they're all scared of him. And so they blame the manager, blame the producer, blame the extra guitar player, but the truth is they just don't like each other. The shame of it all, and the truth is, I still like Jon. He's a character.

I think that my voice comes through whatever I work on... except for Union. [laughs]

The Prayer Cycle seems to have received better reviews than Requiem for the Americas. Having done the former, how do you now look back upon the latter?

JE: Requiem was fifteen years ago, so I don't really remember much of the reviews. I think, if it didn't receive good reviews, it was probably because people didn't like the combination of people on there. Prayer Cycle received wonderful reviews and probably sold twice as many albums as the last Yes album and I think it received great reviews because it was very genuine. And I think that early Yes was genuine.

There you have it. Drama indeed! And the album sold as many copies as the ABWH album: about 750,000. Gold, just 250k short of a platinum album.

# ? Apr 6, 2014 19:30

BigFactory: Sep 17, 2002

What an amazing interview.

# ? Apr 6, 2014 19:45

Declan MacManus: Sep 1, 2011; damn i'm really in this bitch

I've never read what Bruford and Wakeman have had to say, does anyone have a link to that stuff?

# ? Apr 7, 2014 14:14

Gimmedaroot: Aug 10, 2006; America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama

Declan MacManus posted:

I've never read what Bruford and Wakeman have had to say, does anyone have a link to that stuff?

Well, there was the Classic Artists interview dvd taken after the 2004 tour but before Jon got sick, as well as Bruford's autobiography.

Bruford and Wakeman in the both said said that the Union album was a horrible mishmash where all of the original members' parts were taken off and overdubbed. Wakeman threw his copy of Union out of his car while on a Florida highway. He said he doesn't even classify it as a Yes album. He seemed excited to work with Trevor Rabin, especially since neither of them were getting along with Steve Howe. That is pretty funny considering Wakeman was just as much against Rabin as the rest back in 1983, according to the letter from Eddie Jobson.

Bruford also talks about it in his biography. When it was going to be ABWH II, Bruford for together with Steve Howe and Tony Levin for some jam sessions that looked really promising. Suddenly Jon and Rick come in with Brian Lane to announce that they are now part of Yes again as a huge supergroup. Bill was upset from the get go, because he still had problems with Squire (the only reason he agreed to do ABWH was if Levin took Squire's place). THen the money starts REALLY pouring in, and there were loads of expensive dinners in the French countryside with no ideas. This is what worried Bruford about the budget so much. "He who pays the piper calls the tune", Bruford states. He says the record company got VERY involved with the making of the record because of the large budget. Therefore they could dictate how the record would sound with Jon going along with them.

I never caught any interviews with comments from Jon Anderson or Steve Howe about the making of the Union record. Now the tour is a different soap opera, mainly issues between Howe and Rabin. Wakeman was upstaging Tony Kaye, Bruford seemed like he was just collecting a paycheck since Alan White didn't want to give up the drums as much (pretty much Rabin's attitude as well). Bruford would play trickier songs like Heart of the Sunrise (which he co-wrote) but otherwise played electronic percussion effects, except for the one Madison Square Garden show where it shut down. There's a lot to it.

# ? Apr 7, 2014 16:14

Neurosis: Jun 10, 2003; Fallen Rib

This is quite out of date, but I just listened to the new Fate's Warning. Probably the best FW album I've heard since A Pleasant Shade of Grey, and I encourage anyone who hasn't listened to them but liked "Disconnected" and "FWX" to check it out.

# ? Apr 8, 2014 18:06

Gianthogweed: Jun 3, 2004; "And then I see the disinfectant...where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that. Uhh, by injection inside..." - a Very Stable Genius.

Declan MacManus posted:

I've never read what Bruford and Wakeman have had to say, does anyone have a link to that stuff?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPsGfhQpUWg

Also, from the book "Yesstory" Bruford stated that it was the only recording he ever worked that he actually hated. Wakeman calls it the onion album because it makes him cry. He had to get several copies of the tape because every time he tried listening to it in his car he wound up throwing it out the window. He hated "%100 of the keyboard work on the album". Howe really only liked masquerade and felt like the the other ABWH songs could have been much better if they were given time to work together on it.

Steve Howe was always a hero of mine, and I met him in person once, a really nice guy, very grateful to his fans and not above spending time to talk with them. But then there was this incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WCkoRmcXH8

It's kind of sad that there's so much negativity from a lot of the ex-yes members. That Jobson story was pretty brutal. Jonathan Elias seems a little suspect though. I never got the sense that Jon, Rick and Steve couldn't get along. It seemed like ABWH, at least, was a very successful project and that the stuff they were working on for the second album (that was later turned into Union) was very promising. And him saying that they couldn't play their instruments anymore? They had just come off of that enormously successful ABWH tour where all the members were arguably at their peak performance-wise. More likely is that the album was just being rushed and they weren't too thrilled with it becoming "Yes" all of a sudden.

Gianthogweed fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Apr 8, 2014

# ? Apr 8, 2014 21:48

FrankenVader: Sep 12, 2004; Polymer Records

In defense of Yes "Union" , The more we live Let go" was a pretty loving fantastic piece of work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ajxABx3Zn8

I can't believe I just defended that record....I did see the tour though

# ? Apr 9, 2014 06:25

Rollersnake: May 9, 2005; Please, please don't let me end up in a threesome with the lunch lady and a gay pirate. That would hit a little too close to home.; Unlockable Ben

I was relistening to Sing to God on the way to and from work today (this commute is going to kill me), and Dirty Boy is still one of the best things I've ever heard. You'd think a 9-minute song couldn't effectively build to a climax when it pretty much starts at climax intensity, but then the coda hits, and Jesus Christ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-dd4fMUhAY

# ? Apr 9, 2014 23:51

tankadillo: Aug 15, 2006

I just want to say that all of the music that iTunes radio plays when you give it Porcupine Tree is the best.

# ? Apr 10, 2014 19:30

Gimmedaroot: Aug 10, 2006; America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama

FrankenVader posted:

In defense of Yes "Union" , The more we live Let go" was a pretty loving fantastic piece of work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ajxABx3Zn8

I can't believe I just defended that record....I did see the tour though

I understand. I love that song too. As much of an ABWH Yes-East, Trooper, etc fan I am, I think that is probably my favorite song on that album.
I also think Angkor Wat, Evensong, and Take the Water to the Mountain are great. All four of those songs are ambient and spacey, which is how I like my Yes.

I saw the tour as well, on my birthday. It was anything but boring, I can say that!

# ? Apr 10, 2014 20:32

JAMOOOL: Oct 18, 2004; I LOVE TWO AND HALF MEN!! YOU 20 SOMETHINGS ARE JUST TOO CYNICAL TO UNDERSTAND IT!!

I'd love to hear some boots of the ABWH period. The album itself sounds way too light to my ears. Like as lightweight as Tormato was, ABWH seems even lighter, 4-part suites or no. On the other hand I really do enjoy Big Generator quite a bit, more than 90125 at least; it's big blocky AOR pop but it's a million times better than the junk that Asia were pumping out.

# ? Apr 10, 2014 21:08

Rollersnake: May 9, 2005; Please, please don't let me end up in a threesome with the lunch lady and a gay pirate. That would hit a little too close to home.; Unlockable Ben

Gimmedaroot posted:

I understand. I love that song too. As much of an ABWH Yes-East, Trooper, etc fan I am, I think that is probably my favorite song on that album.
I also think Angkor Wat, Evensong, and Take the Water to the Mountain are great. All four of those songs are ambient and spacey, which is how I like my Yes.

I saw the tour as well, on my birthday. It was anything but boring, I can say that!

I also really like that third of Union, plus I Would Have Waited Forever, which is at least as strong as anything on 90125.

Evensong was a Tony Levin / Bill Bruford composition, and there's a very similar piece (practically an extended version of Evensong) called Jewels on Levin's album World Diary.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 01:01

Olibu: Feb 24, 2008

I was quite disappointed to find out that Run Through the Light is the only song from Drama that hasn't been played live. I need more of it in my life.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 02:11

Rust Martialis: May 8, 2007; Can't post for 3 hours!

From the discussion, I'd suggest people check out Bruford Levin Upper Extremities, which was Bill and Tony plus David Torn and Chris Botti (or now smooth jazz fame).

Also Theo Travis posted from 'Cruise to the Edge' that wireless on the boat is $300 for 24h... lol.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 14:11

Noise Machine: Dec 3, 2005; Today is a good day to save.

Rust Martialis posted:

Also Theo Travis posted from 'Cruise to the Edge' that wireless on the boat is $300 for 24h... lol.

holy gently caress, I hope performers are exempt from that.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 17:57

Gimmedaroot: Aug 10, 2006; America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama

Olibu posted:

I was quite disappointed to find out that Run Through the Light is the only song from Drama that hasn't been played live. I need more of it in my life.

Agreed! after ABWHS, my fav Yes lineup is the Drama team, I have no idea why. maybe because its such a different band.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 22:37

MegaZeroX: Dec 11, 2013; "I'm Jack Frost, ho! Nice to meet ya, hee ho!"

Ian Anderson's Homo Erraticus is now out! You can get it on iTunes, but it isn't available anywhere else yet, as far as I know.

# ? Apr 14, 2014 16:31

Gimmedaroot: Aug 10, 2006; America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama

MegaZeroX posted:

Ian Anderson's Homo Erraticus is now out! You can get it on iTunes, but it isn't available anywhere else yet, as far as I know.

I am waiting for mine to arrive from Burning Shed, which was shipped last week. It is coming with the new 5.1 mix of The Yes Album by Steve Wilson. It should be any day now!

# ? Apr 14, 2014 20:44

Iucounu: May 12, 2007

Oh poo poo, I didn't realize Steven Wilson was remixing The Yes Album!

# ? Apr 15, 2014 02:57

Rust Martialis: May 8, 2007; Can't post for 3 hours!

Iucounu posted:

Oh poo poo, I didn't realize Steven Wilson was remixing The Yes Album!

I'm irked they're remixing it but not doing a vinyl edition.

# ? Apr 15, 2014 13:10

Nobody Interesting: Mar 29, 2013; One way, dead end... Street signs are such fitting metaphors for the human condition.

Is Steven Wilson doing a whole remaster series or is it just The Yes Album in the immediate term? I haven't even finished getting all the 2003 remasters yet :smith:

# ? Apr 15, 2014 13:25

BigFactory: Sep 17, 2002

Rust Martialis posted:

I'm irked they're remixing it but not doing a vinyl edition.

Am I an idiot, or wouldn't an LP version defeat the point of a 5.1 mix?

# ? Apr 15, 2014 14:23

Attitude Indicator: Apr 3, 2009

BigFactory posted:

Am I an idiot, or wouldn't an LP version defeat the point of a 5.1 mix?

You can't have 5.1 on an LP, no. But since they're already remastering and reissuing stuff, a new mastered LP release would be nice. They did it for King Crimson with 5.1 mixes on Blu-ray and new stereo mixes for vinyl.

# ? Apr 15, 2014 14:38

Iucounu: May 12, 2007

I wish he would do Going For The One. That's the classic album most in need of a good remix.

# ? Apr 16, 2014 02:49

Declan MacManus: Sep 1, 2011; damn i'm really in this bitch

Is the Peter Banks stuff getting remastered? I can't find any information on it and that's always the most overlooked period of Yes.

Also I went back and listened to ABWH and while they're better than the Rabin incarnation of Yes, it's not... great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUjsSgIUoHQ

Rick Wakeman is using default patches on that keyboard or something because it sounds dated as hell and Howe has like zero energy. Jeff Berlin and Bill Bruford kill it, and Jon Anderson and his voice are ageless. So I'd listen to 60% of this band I guess? (I absolutely would have listened to a Jeff Berlin/Bill Bruford/Jon Anderson supergroup)

# ? Apr 16, 2014 15:40

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

Declan MacManus posted:

Is the Peter Banks stuff getting remastered? I can't find any information on it and that's always the most overlooked period of Yes.

Also I went back and listened to ABWH and while they're better than the Rabin incarnation of Yes, it's not... great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUjsSgIUoHQ

Rick Wakeman is using default patches on that keyboard or something because it sounds dated as hell and Howe has like zero energy. Jeff Berlin and Bill Bruford kill it, and Jon Anderson and his voice are ageless. So I'd listen to 60% of this band I guess? (I absolutely would have listened to a Jeff Berlin/Bill Bruford/Jon Anderson supergroup)

I love how at about the 6:30 mark Bill Bruford even looks at Steve Howe like "that all you got?"

# ? Apr 16, 2014 15:53

Seventh Arrow: Jan 26, 2005

Bruford/Berlin/Anderson would have been great, but at least we got two albums of Bruford/Berlin/Holdsworth.

# ? Apr 16, 2014 16:04

Gimmedaroot: Aug 10, 2006; America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama

Iucounu posted:

I wish he would do Going For The One. That's the classic album most in need of a good remix.

That is actually next on his list since they have been performing it lately...

Regarding the ABWH performance, it didn't help that just like the Yes Union dvd, they filmed it towards the end of the tour. I've heard better boots, but when I saw it live on Pay Per View at the time, it was my first exposure to Yes and I was impressed.

Gimmedaroot fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Apr 16, 2014

# ? Apr 16, 2014 23:28

Nobody Interesting: Mar 29, 2013; One way, dead end... Street signs are such fitting metaphors for the human condition.

Gimmedaroot posted:

That is actually next on his list since they have been performing it lately...

This definitely does sound like it's going to become a full series.

# ? Apr 16, 2014 23:30

Octy: Apr 1, 2010

Iucounu posted:

Oh poo poo, I didn't realize Steven Wilson was remixing The Yes Album!

Steven Wilson is also apparently remixing Gentle Giant's 'The Power & the Glory'.

# ? Apr 17, 2014 07:30

luchadornado: Oct 7, 2004; A boombox is not a toy!

Octy posted:

Steven Wilson is also apparently remixing Gentle Giant's 'The Power & the Glory'.

Stop remixing everything under the sun and either get back in the studio solo or as Porcupine Tree already.

# ? Apr 17, 2014 12:25

JAMOOOL: Oct 18, 2004; I LOVE TWO AND HALF MEN!! YOU 20 SOMETHINGS ARE JUST TOO CYNICAL TO UNDERSTAND IT!!

I mean he's still doing new albums on a yearly basis. I just wonder where he finds the time.

# ? Apr 17, 2014 16:16

muike: Mar 16, 2011; ガチムチ　セブン

Helicity posted:

Stop remixing everything under the sun and either get back in the studio solo or as Porcupine Tree already.

The Incident was really dull so he either needs to time travel and spend more time with mikael akerfeldt circa 2004 or w/e or make another voyage 34

# ? Apr 17, 2014 18:11

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# ? May 12, 2024 20:03

Vulture Culture: Jul 14, 2003; I was never enjoying it. I only eat it for the nutrients.

Helicity posted:

Stop remixing everything under the sun and either get back in the studio solo or as Porcupine Tree already.

He's already doing another solo album this year.

http://www.prog-sphere.com/news/steven-wilson-announces-new-solo-album/

# ? Apr 17, 2014 18:49

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No More Drake > Crimson Kings, Agriculturists, and Lightsabers - The Prog Thread

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