The Best part of a Yes Concert is the crowd listening in silence once the music started. We wanted to hear every note, so cheering was saved for when it was over.
The next best album is Relayer. Topographic was not as exciting to me. Relayer is in a similar form like close to the edge but the album is very different because of the different keyboard player.
I never thought of Steve's playing as ever "sloppy", just reaching the "ragged edge" of timing. I love that Steve pushes his playing so hard, and love the unexpected phrasing changes. Every listener has there preferences, and I love complexity, and originality with intensity. Obviously I LOVE the beginning of CTTE.
Although Yes had gained a reputation in some quarters for being a studio band, anyone who had seen one of their live shows could testify that Yes were undoubtedly at their peak on stage and this ability to deliver the most brilliant of live performances was all the more laudable considering the complexity of the songs... The "Yessongs" era was a time when many bands had significant difficulty in successfully translating their studio sound to live performance because sound systems were still in the relatively early stages of development and so were many keyboard instruments. It was consequently mind boggling that Rick Wakeman would go on stage with Yes with a C3 Hammond organ, two mellotrons, two Minimoogs, a grand piano, an RMI electric piano and a custom-built mixing device designed by the band's own lighting engineer, Mike Tait... The other relevant factor is that the mobile analog recording technology of the day would have been tested to the limit in trying to successfully make a live recording of a band like Yes with its complex sound while retaining perfect clarity, balance and depth throughout. Nevertheless, "Yessongs" still makes for riveting listening. It is worth mentioning that the Japanese remastered high-definition edition of "Yessongs" in a miniature replica cardboard cover boasts a sound quality easily exceeding the standard 2CD release... - author Alan Farley
The definitive version of starship trooper! Wakeman's solo before Howes is fantastic, and so is Howe! Perfect version. No other one I've heard compares including the Yes Album. Cheers!
To expand my Alan White/Bruford last commentary here's a fun fact: White is the drummer on Lennon's Imagine ( go figure...) and a touring member of the Plastic Ono Band
“All we are saying is give peace a chance” - I’ve Seen All Good People in the pre-Alan Yes. Did he play drums on the Lennon original? I always forget to check.
I am lifelong Yes fan, who discovered them in my teens. I first saw them live in 87 on the Big Generator tour. Because of all the negative talk about Tales from Topographic Oceans, I didn't listen to it until I was in my 40s. I feel in love with the first song, the Revealing Science of God. Great writing, great singing, incredible riffs, just gorgeous.
Another great reaction, Justin! Thank you for giving this masterful live album a listen. And nice closing comments. I look forward to long form "America" tomorrow.👍
I prefer to listen to these versions any day over the studio versions. We can argue about the sound quality but theres an energy here that you just dont get from the studio versions.
I really like Tales - used to have it on while studying in high school all the time. Still listen to The Remembering quite often. Some great acoustic guitar in The Ancient. ... but Relayer and Going for the One are some of my favorite Yes albums, along with The Yes Album, Drama, and the band songs on Fragile.
Best version ever for this song ! Best guitar solo ever by Howe ! This is my favorite live album with Live in YYZ 1981 by Rush with the 40th anniversary of Moving Pictures.
There was something in the air in the early seventies. Not only was yes peaking, but it seemed everyone was peeking at the same time. If you really wanted to get pummeled, you should have seen the who during the same period. I entered high school in 72 and got spoiled. You should have seen Jethro Tull with Ian Anderson. Unbelievable. All these bands... I don't know how they found the energy every night. One of the other greatest live albums of all time, The Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East came out during that period. Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, all of them interestingly enough we're peeking at the same time. Then by 1977 it was over and Saturday night fever comes out.
The best live album to emerge from the entire early '70s art-rock scene, a compendium of blazing performances covering the previous three studio albums by the group and the accompanying solo career of Rick Wakeman. Some of the performances are superior to their studio originals... "Yessongs" became a model for progressive rock live albums. - Excerpts from All Music Guide Veteran rock journalist Chris Welch: “There probably isn’t another group in the world that could sustain such a high standard of variety and brilliance over six sides of one release, and yet leave [one] the feeling they have a lot more music to come.”
One more time - search Yessongs Movie. Hippish but you won't be sorry. Also. Long form America. Great reactions. Knowing you're a working musician gives you more cred. Thanks again. Audio quality - remember this was mid 70s. Groundbreaking in those years!
Having seen them a dozen or so times, I was never disappointed. They truly were amazing live. Its been great watching all your YES reactions, catch ya on the other side.
Hello Justin, Please don't be afraid of 'Tales from Topographic Oceans'! It's a absolute wonderful, breathtaking Album. All four Tracks on this Double Record from 1973 are absolute one of a kind, outstanding. All Members of Yes are in Top Form, for instance the guitarwork of Steve Howe hereis phenomenal, probably one of the best of his entire career, but also the other musicians played phantastic here, on this record. What is particularly noteworthy here, however here is Mr. Alan White on Drums & Percussion - what a dynamic, powerful performance on his debut Studio Album with the band - simple unbelieveable (!), as well as the performance of the whole bandmembers, whereby should be particularly emphasized here: Rick Wakeman's skills on Keyboards as well, very impressive: the wonderful vocals of, naturally, Jon, Chris & Steve (Chris Squire's bass playing doesn't need to be mentioned, it's legendary anyway, correct? ☺). To make it short: 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' is, with absolute certainty, One of the 10 Greatest Progressiv Records of all Time, in my humble opinion in any case. The Album is a great spiritual Journey. It is adventurous, extremely daring and - last...not least: of breathtaking complexity ('The Ancient - Giants under the Sun' and: 'Ritual' - Nous Sommes du Soleil') and beauty ('The Revealing Science of God - Dance of the Dawn' and: 'The Remembering - High the Memory'). Or, to put it this way: this album contains a hint of the divine! Have fun listening. (By the way: My other Favorites of the greatest Prog. Albums of all time, are: 1. 'RED' by King Crimson 2. 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' by Yes; 3. 'Foxtrot' by Genesis & 4. 'Selling England by the Pound' 5. U. K. (first Album 1978). 6. Emerson, Lake & Palmer: first Album 1970 and, very important: All Albums of Gentle Giant !!!). ☺ Kind Regards Heinz (Munich/Germany).
Watched part of Yessongs the movie. Holy S. Besides giving Justin stage wardrobe ideas 😂...it will provide a perspective of Yes greatness like nothing else. Yesterday, Laker great, Jerry West passed. He won his only championship as a player in 72'. I remember and realizing that's one year before this album came out is simply mind blowing. Btw...I caught mistakes Steve made, but that just proves he's not an alien!
Justin the Union album from 1991 has Bill Bruford, Allan White, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Trevor Rabin., Tony Kaye , Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson playing on the whole album. I saw this tour in Montreal in 1991 the stage looked crowded with all the musicians but was amazing.
the union tour was good, but the album was poor, because they brought in a lot of unheard of session musicians to fill in when real band members were unavailable...it was a bit of a mess
Yeah!... Differently from 'Yours is no disgrace', I prefer this live version of ST .... The final Rick's solo is priceless, and that Mellotron/Vocoder! .....
This song and "Close to the Edge" are the only ones from those December '72 Rainbow shows that match up with the concert film, and even then they only included the "Wurm" section over the closing credits. But I remember hearing this for the first time and thinking "What is Jon doing? He's getting the lyrics all wrong!" This was way before I knew anything about Bob Dylan. 😉 Surprisingly, "Starship Trooper" wasn't part of the previous tours in '72 -- with Alan OR Bill -- even though Yes knew it was a fan favorite, so this is actually one of the first times it was ever played live. And nice shilling there Justin. 😄 Hopefully some kind soul will come through with the full triple-vinyl, uber-gatefold package. It includes a nice booklet, plus the Roger Dean paintings on the interior are super cool (they lay out the whole mythology that Jon would later base his 'Olias of Sunhillow' solo album on). Back in the day, Tower Records would sell posters of many of those Roger Dean paintings, and I -- like many fans -- had them pinned to my bedroom wall in college. And I've never heard "Wurm" referred to as 'the Nirvana section'. 😄 BTW, re: 'Tales', if you want to stay with the flow after your break you might want to just do side 1 and 4 of 'Tales'. Those were the sides most played live, and were considered most 'consumer friendly' by Yes in later years. Thanks for the awesome reactions!
I’m a huge Yes fan but always listen to those who may kit be and their reasoning. Always give your honest opinion and don’t let those who disagree deter you. That will make more people respect your opinions and help your channel grow. Good luck.
It's the details, the intricate collection of cool sounds that I enjoy from listening to Yes music. So, I enjoy the studio recordings more. The pieces are more dramatic and intricate. I can hear a million different nooks and crannies in the soundscapes.
On the Close to the Edge tour, Yours is no Disgrace & Starship Trooper (from mid tour onwards) were the encore. Roundabout was the last song before the encore.
Starship Troopers is one of my favorite Yes songs. This live version is very good. But I like other live versions better. Still the album as a whole is one of my favorite live albums of all time.
P.S. Back in those days we didn't care about perfect sound quality. What sounds below par today was par for the course then (although the could do it even then e.g Fleetwood Mac Live in Boston 1970), it was good enough not to spoil brilliant performances. You want to hear history you have to dig out the kernels of live performances with lousy tape recordings because it's all that's left.
As a musician, you should note that this can sound quite different when played on a quad high end stereo system with some EQ tweaks. The intensity level is overwhelming. I would even say it is a disservice to this music to listen on headphones, the sounds need to propagate into the space, and for proper bass dynamics.
If any one saw when Rush Alex and Geddy induced Yes into the Rock and Roll hall of fame , Alex just gleamed about this song Star Ship Trooper and how he spent many hours learning this song
What a ride! I'm one of those people that is audio quality dependant, hence I guess, is why I never really bonded to Yessongs. But I appreciate your take on 'performance trumps all' mantra. I will be curious to hear your analysis of Relayer, cause musically it's my favourite Yes album, but I tend not to listen to it as much as it deserves cause of the way it was recorded - I would rather listen to CTTE just for that reason. Regarding band member changes, I agree that up until this point all the changes were a step up or a least, as in Whites case, for me, it was a sideways shift - a change of flavour, and well suited for the Relayer sessions. There'll be one more upward change with Moraz, (Wakeman fan will obviously disagree), then it goes downhill from there - and the revolving door really gets spinning. Anyways, enjoy your time off -- from Yes -- you'll need it for what comes next. Oh, and I do have a pristine copy of Yessongs that I could send you but shipping costs are so prohibitive (I'm in Canada)...let me think on it.
I think of Tales as one song, with four sections. My personal YES favorite. But, when I first heard it, I couldn't get through the first ten minutes. I hope you can find your way to it.
I do, too! And the thrills increased for me over the course of the first many listens. I'm just so glad that something about it grabbed my attention the first time I listened to it. Now it is my favorite record in the universe.
I AGREE with with my whole heart & album sleeve.. this came out after the Close tour, Buford had left & I believed they wanted to let us all know that Al White had the chops & you nailed it... Al was a rocker where Bill was jazz influenced with his time signatures & beat patterns AND we could care lass what those precious LA critiques had to say about the crappy hall recordings, as many a teenager wished to see that album under the tree that coming Christmas day... take your break & don`t give these intense reaction lovers give you static So Keep on Rockin & giddyup JUSTIN PANARIELLO
This album is not Yes at their live peak because they were still so early in their career and like all artists/ musicians, years of experience hone their skills so the live performances from 2003/2004 are my favourites, especially Montreux 2003.
I know that Tales has mixed reviews, but I really like it. I don't listen to it often, but when I do I set aside some time to listen to the entire album all at once at a time that I do nothing else but listen. Gates on Relayer is one of their most emotionally evocative songs and the whole album is great.
Then get on you tube and catch this track from Wembley 1978, this version rocks, that version aces this in my opinion. Wakeman's solo is longer and scorching, Howes is similar but has a killer run where Alan White double times, just fantastic.
I agree with you. Good audio quality is desired but the music is what we’re here for. Old blues records case in point. Great performances bad audio quality. I don’t like the audio quality of the early Zeppelin records, does that make the songs bad? Obviously no. Give me a live performance that even has some ‘mistakes’ in them but if the emotions there I’ll take it every time over great audio but sterile performance.
Ok I think I know the answer but gun to your head and you can only have one...Yessongs or All The World's A Stage? Pick one. I just want you to get to Tormato eventually. Honestly if you listened to Going For The One again I think your opinion would be different. It's my favorite of theirs but The Yes Album a close second...
YES were always slated in the music press....remember, everyone was bombarded with pop, 3 chord rock and disco at the time and could not understand the structure of their music......as for tales...its way better live , especially symphonic, because they dispense with the filler
I’d skip Tales and go straight to Relayer. Tales is fine but not my favorite Yes album. I rarely listen to it. I’m probably in the minority. Many people love it.
Not my favorite live version of this song. Sorry to be negative! I love Yes but can largely leave the whole album to be honest. Perpetual Change is the standout for me 😊
I prefer the studio recordings, too. But, yeah, Perpetual Change and Close to the Edge stood out to me during this foray through this album. I've only listened to this album about 4 times, but the studio ones about 200 times.
The Best part of a Yes Concert is the crowd listening in silence once the music started. We wanted to hear every note, so cheering was saved for when it was over.
In '73 I went on a cross country motorcycle trip with a friend and this album especially this song at 80 mph was the soundtrack in my mind.
Yessongs is my favourite live album of all time. Stunning performances. Of the highest quality.
The next best album is Relayer. Topographic was not as exciting to me. Relayer is in a similar form like close to the edge but the album is very different because of the different keyboard player.
I never thought of Steve's playing as ever "sloppy", just reaching the "ragged edge" of timing. I love that Steve pushes his playing so hard, and love the unexpected phrasing changes.
Every listener has there preferences, and I love complexity, and originality with intensity. Obviously I LOVE the beginning of CTTE.
Yes is special to me. Even after 50 years of listening
Glorious album. Overcoming limitations of live recordings in 70s. Band is glorious
The best live progressive rock album to come out of the '70s. Thanks for giving it its due.
Although Yes had gained a reputation in some quarters for being a studio band, anyone who had seen one of their live shows could testify that Yes were undoubtedly at their peak on stage and this ability to deliver the most brilliant of live performances was all the more laudable considering the complexity of the songs... The "Yessongs" era was a time when many bands had significant difficulty in successfully translating their studio sound to live performance because sound systems were still in the relatively early stages of development and so were many keyboard instruments.
It was consequently mind boggling that Rick Wakeman would go on stage with Yes with a C3 Hammond organ, two mellotrons, two Minimoogs, a grand piano, an RMI electric piano and a custom-built mixing device designed by the band's own lighting engineer, Mike Tait... The other relevant factor is that the mobile analog recording technology of the day would have been tested to the limit in trying to successfully make a live recording of a band like Yes with its complex sound while retaining perfect clarity, balance and depth throughout. Nevertheless, "Yessongs" still makes for riveting listening.
It is worth mentioning that the Japanese remastered high-definition edition of "Yessongs" in a miniature replica cardboard cover boasts a sound quality easily exceeding the standard 2CD release... - author Alan Farley
all yes songs were composed with live performance in mind....they were predominantly a live touring band
The definitive version of starship trooper! Wakeman's solo before Howes is fantastic, and so is Howe! Perfect version. No other one I've heard compares including the Yes Album. Cheers!
YESSONGS triple-album completed. You rock dude.
Gentle Giant is your next adventure - Freehand, The Power and the Glory, In a Glass House; I think you're ready…
I like what Alan did with this version. The 1984 version with Alan, Trevor and Tony is also good (directors cut of 9012Live video).
To expand my Alan White/Bruford last commentary here's a fun fact: White is the drummer on Lennon's Imagine ( go figure...) and a touring member of the Plastic Ono Band
“All we are saying is give peace a chance” - I’ve Seen All Good People in the pre-Alan Yes. Did he play drums on the Lennon original? I always forget to check.
I am lifelong Yes fan, who discovered them in my teens. I first saw them live in 87 on the Big Generator tour. Because of all the negative talk about Tales from Topographic Oceans, I didn't listen to it until I was in my 40s. I feel in love with the first song, the Revealing Science of God. Great writing, great singing, incredible riffs, just gorgeous.
Another great reaction, Justin! Thank you for giving this masterful live album a listen. And nice closing comments. I look forward to long form "America" tomorrow.👍
I prefer to listen to these versions any day over the studio versions. We can argue about the sound quality but theres an energy here that you just dont get from the studio versions.
Nice final conclusion Justin👍. We enjoyed it together, thank you😘
I really like Tales - used to have it on while studying in high school all the time. Still listen to The Remembering quite often. Some great acoustic guitar in The Ancient. ... but Relayer and Going for the One are some of my favorite Yes albums, along with The Yes Album, Drama, and the band songs on Fragile.
Best version ever for this song ! Best guitar solo ever by Howe ! This is my favorite live album with Live in YYZ 1981 by Rush with the 40th anniversary of Moving Pictures.
I've enjoyed the ride with Justin as a new listener to Yessongs. Awesome material I'll continue to listen to.
YES never sounds like Nirvana or anyone else for that matter, "they" all sound like YES! If you're doing 'Relayer' next Justin, hang on!🤩
There was something in the air in the early seventies. Not only was yes peaking, but it seemed everyone was peeking at the same time. If you really wanted to get pummeled, you should have seen the who during the same period. I entered high school in 72 and got spoiled. You should have seen Jethro Tull with Ian Anderson. Unbelievable. All these bands... I don't know how they found the energy every night. One of the other greatest live albums of all time, The Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East came out during that period. Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, all of them interestingly enough we're peeking at the same time. Then by 1977 it was over and Saturday night fever comes out.
The best live album to emerge from the entire early '70s art-rock scene, a compendium of blazing performances covering the previous three studio albums by the group and the accompanying solo career of Rick Wakeman. Some of the performances are superior to their studio originals... "Yessongs" became a model for progressive rock live albums. - Excerpts from All Music Guide
Veteran rock journalist Chris Welch: “There probably isn’t another group in the world that could sustain such a high standard of variety and brilliance over six sides of one release, and yet leave [one] the feeling they have a lot more music to come.”
Ending adapted from the song Nether Street when Steve was in Bodast before joining up with Yes. Worth an inquisitive look.
Thank you ✌️
Yes everybody has their off day.
One more time - search Yessongs Movie. Hippish but you won't be sorry. Also. Long form America. Great reactions. Knowing you're a working musician gives you more cred. Thanks again. Audio quality - remember this was mid 70s. Groundbreaking in those years!
It's always a great day beginning with Starship Trooper. That was a hilarious Nirvana comment
Really enjoyed your views on this album. Yeah I wish the audio quality was better but the feeling put into the songs was incredible!
Having seen them a dozen or so times, I was never disappointed. They truly were amazing live. Its been great watching all your YES reactions, catch ya on the other side.
Cool, the greatest show on earth 36 times from 1975 to 2015 ✨️👑✨️
Hello Justin, Please don't be afraid of 'Tales from Topographic Oceans'! It's a absolute wonderful, breathtaking Album. All four Tracks on this Double Record from 1973 are absolute one of a kind, outstanding. All Members of Yes are in Top Form, for instance the guitarwork of Steve Howe hereis phenomenal, probably one of the best of his entire career, but also the other musicians played phantastic here, on this record. What is particularly noteworthy here, however here is Mr. Alan White on Drums & Percussion - what a dynamic, powerful performance on his debut Studio Album with the band - simple unbelieveable (!), as well as the performance of the whole bandmembers, whereby should be particularly emphasized here: Rick Wakeman's skills on Keyboards as well, very impressive: the wonderful vocals of, naturally, Jon, Chris & Steve (Chris Squire's bass playing doesn't need to be mentioned, it's legendary anyway, correct? ☺).
To make it short: 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' is, with absolute certainty, One of the 10 Greatest Progressiv Records of all Time, in my humble opinion in any case. The Album is a great spiritual Journey. It is adventurous, extremely daring and - last...not least: of breathtaking complexity ('The Ancient - Giants under the Sun' and: 'Ritual' - Nous Sommes du Soleil') and beauty ('The Revealing Science of God - Dance of the Dawn' and: 'The Remembering - High the Memory'). Or, to put it this way: this album contains a hint of the divine! Have fun listening.
(By the way: My other Favorites of the greatest Prog. Albums of all time, are: 1. 'RED' by King Crimson 2. 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' by Yes; 3. 'Foxtrot' by Genesis & 4. 'Selling England by the Pound' 5. U. K. (first Album 1978). 6. Emerson, Lake & Palmer: first Album 1970 and, very important: All Albums of Gentle Giant !!!).
☺ Kind Regards Heinz (Munich/Germany).
Watched part of Yessongs the movie. Holy S. Besides giving Justin stage wardrobe ideas 😂...it will provide a perspective of Yes greatness like nothing else. Yesterday, Laker great, Jerry West passed. He won his only championship as a player in 72'. I remember and realizing that's one year before this album came out is simply mind blowing. Btw...I caught mistakes Steve made, but that just proves he's not an alien!
Justin the Union album from 1991 has Bill Bruford, Allan White, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Trevor Rabin., Tony Kaye , Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson playing on the whole album. I saw this tour in Montreal in 1991 the stage looked crowded with all the musicians but was amazing.
the union tour was good, but the album was poor, because they brought in a lot of unheard of session musicians to fill in when real band members were unavailable...it was a bit of a mess
Yeah!... Differently from 'Yours is no disgrace', I prefer this live version of ST .... The final Rick's solo is priceless, and that Mellotron/Vocoder! .....
This song and "Close to the Edge" are the only ones from those December '72 Rainbow shows that match up with the concert film, and even then they only included the "Wurm" section over the closing credits. But I remember hearing this for the first time and thinking "What is Jon doing? He's getting the lyrics all wrong!" This was way before I knew anything about Bob Dylan. 😉 Surprisingly, "Starship Trooper" wasn't part of the previous tours in '72 -- with Alan OR Bill -- even though Yes knew it was a fan favorite, so this is actually one of the first times it was ever played live.
And nice shilling there Justin. 😄 Hopefully some kind soul will come through with the full triple-vinyl, uber-gatefold package. It includes a nice booklet, plus the Roger Dean paintings on the interior are super cool (they lay out the whole mythology that Jon would later base his 'Olias of Sunhillow' solo album on). Back in the day, Tower Records would sell posters of many of those Roger Dean paintings, and I -- like many fans -- had them pinned to my bedroom wall in college. And I've never heard "Wurm" referred to as 'the Nirvana section'. 😄
BTW, re: 'Tales', if you want to stay with the flow after your break you might want to just do side 1 and 4 of 'Tales'. Those were the sides most played live, and were considered most 'consumer friendly' by Yes in later years. Thanks for the awesome reactions!
I’m a huge Yes fan but always listen to those who may kit be and their reasoning. Always give your honest opinion and don’t let those who disagree deter you. That will make more people respect your opinions and help your channel grow. Good luck.
It's the details, the intricate collection of cool sounds that I enjoy from listening to Yes music. So, I enjoy the studio recordings more. The pieces are more dramatic and intricate. I can hear a million different nooks and crannies in the soundscapes.
😎
On the Close to the Edge tour, Yours is no Disgrace & Starship Trooper (from mid tour onwards) were the encore. Roundabout was the last song before the encore.
Starship Troopers is one of my favorite Yes songs. This live version is very good. But I like other live versions better. Still the album as a whole is one of my favorite live albums of all time.
Favorite, Yes song even more fun live w/ the crowd. Great new digs by the way. Love the old console TV & stereo receiver.
the definitive version
P.S. Back in those days we didn't care about perfect sound quality. What sounds below par today was par for the course then (although the could do it even then e.g Fleetwood Mac Live in Boston 1970), it was good enough not to spoil brilliant performances. You want to hear history you have to dig out the kernels of live performances with lousy tape recordings because it's all that's left.
This wasn't the worst audio quality, some of it was actually great. Compared to 'Earthbound', King Crimson's first live album, this is amazing.
As a musician, you should note that this can sound quite different when played on a quad high end stereo system with some EQ tweaks. The intensity level is overwhelming.
I would even say it is a disservice to this music to listen on headphones, the sounds need to propagate into the space, and for proper bass dynamics.
If any one saw when Rush Alex and Geddy induced Yes into the Rock and Roll hall of fame , Alex just gleamed about this song Star Ship Trooper and how he spent many hours learning this song
What a ride! I'm one of those people that is audio quality dependant, hence I guess, is why I never really bonded to Yessongs. But I appreciate your take on 'performance trumps all' mantra. I will be curious to hear your analysis of Relayer, cause musically it's my favourite Yes album, but I tend not to listen to it as much as it deserves cause of the way it was recorded - I would rather listen to CTTE just for that reason. Regarding band member changes, I agree that up until this point all the changes were a step up or a least, as in Whites case, for me, it was a sideways shift - a change of flavour, and well suited for the Relayer sessions. There'll be one more upward change with Moraz, (Wakeman fan will obviously disagree), then it goes downhill from there - and the revolving door really gets spinning. Anyways, enjoy your time off -- from Yes -- you'll need it for what comes next. Oh, and I do have a pristine copy of Yessongs that I could send you but shipping costs are so prohibitive (I'm in Canada)...let me think on it.
I think of Tales as one song, with four sections. My personal YES favorite. But, when I first heard it, I couldn't get through the first ten minutes. I hope you can find your way to it.
I do, too! And the thrills increased for me over the course of the first many listens. I'm just so glad that something about it grabbed my attention the first time I listened to it. Now it is my favorite record in the universe.
I AGREE with with my whole heart & album sleeve.. this came out after the Close tour, Buford had left & I believed they wanted to let us all know that Al White had the chops & you nailed it... Al was a rocker where Bill was jazz influenced with his time signatures & beat patterns AND we could care lass what those precious LA critiques had to say about the crappy hall recordings, as many a teenager wished to see that album under the tree that coming Christmas day... take your break & don`t give these intense reaction lovers give you static So Keep on Rockin & giddyup JUSTIN PANARIELLO
This album is not Yes at their live peak because they were still so early in their career and like all artists/ musicians, years of experience hone their skills so the live performances from 2003/2004 are my favourites, especially Montreux 2003.
Gates Of Delirium rules! The live version does as well.
They are humans. But the other band performed at that level. This kind of complex music
Poor sound quality and sloppiness aside, this was still a great listen. Great songs, great performances.
I know that Tales has mixed reviews, but I really like it. I don't listen to it often, but when I do I set aside some time to listen to the entire album all at once at a time that I do nothing else but listen. Gates on Relayer is one of their most emotionally evocative songs and the whole album is great.
Then get on you tube and catch this track from Wembley 1978, this version rocks, that version aces this in my opinion. Wakeman's solo is longer and scorching, Howes is similar but has a killer run where Alan White double times, just fantastic.
Excellent overview. I’m so glad you finally got to experience this album. Nicely done!
I agree with you. Good audio quality is desired but the music is what we’re here for. Old blues records case in point. Great performances bad audio quality. I don’t like the audio quality of the early Zeppelin records, does that make the songs bad? Obviously no. Give me a live performance that even has some ‘mistakes’ in them but if the emotions there I’ll take it every time over great audio but sterile performance.
Ok I think I know the answer but gun to your head and you can only have one...Yessongs or All The World's A Stage? Pick one. I just want you to get to Tormato eventually. Honestly if you listened to Going For The One again I think your opinion would be different. It's my favorite of theirs but The Yes Album a close second...
Yessongs easily
YES were always slated in the music press....remember, everyone was bombarded with pop, 3 chord rock and disco at the time and could not understand the structure of their music......as for tales...its way better live , especially symphonic, because they dispense with the filler
YES SONGS! 😊 You can skip "Tales" and go right to "Relayer". Just sayin...😅
Steve Howe Cowboy playing? Ricks playing, ok, it's cool? They sound like Nirvana? If you haven't first listened Pink Floyd, or Genesis... please dont!
I’d skip Tales and go straight to Relayer. Tales is fine but not my favorite Yes album. I rarely listen to it. I’m probably in the minority. Many people love it.
Not my favorite live version of this song. Sorry to be negative! I love Yes but can largely leave the whole album to be honest. Perpetual Change is the standout for me 😊
I prefer the studio recordings, too. But, yeah, Perpetual Change and Close to the Edge stood out to me during this foray through this album. I've only listened to this album about 4 times, but the studio ones about 200 times.