First time listening to YES - "FRAGILE" (Part.2)
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- This is VERDY CHANNEL. Today I react to yes - fragile - for the first time.
*GENESIS - Foxtrot album pt.1 & pt.2 (early access Patreon)
On UA-cam part 1 June 3th 10PM (est time) and part 2 June 5th 11AM (est time)
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*GENESIS - Foxtrot album pt.1 & pt.2 (early access Patreon) www.patreon.com/VERDY_channel
On UA-cam part 1 June 3th 10PM (est time) and part 2 June 5th 11AM (est time)
You didn't miss out on anything really, because the music of "Yes" has been waiting for you for 50 years. My guess is there will be young people discovering this in another 50, probably with your help. Beautiful, complex and timeless, I was lucky enough to hear this when I was 17, during an era in England of amazing musical expression.
I advise you to listen to the following albums:
Camel - The Snow Goose & Moonmadness
Genesis - Foxtrot & Selling England By The Pound
Yes - Close To the Edge & The Yes Album
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
Renaissance - Scheherazade and Other Stories & Turn of the Cards
Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine . 😁
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed .
*Miss Verdy....* I suggest that: Yes (1969), Time and a Word (1970), The Yes Album (1971) then 'america' (1972) should be tackled first, before embarking on Close to the Edge...
And after Close to the edge, at a later stage, try the Going For The One. Beautiful songs on there too.
@@andythecrimson8877 You’ve been looking through my vinyl collection it seems…
I have all of those albums since the 70s and 80s. I just found Verdy, and it’s great to see someone young appreciates Fragile and have a true reaction unlike many others on UA-cam.
Funny thing, I woke up yesterday with The Snow Goose in my head. I’m going to listen to it now. Enjoy your listening and post a few more albums. I suggest you listen to Happy the Man 1st 2 albums, or anything by National Health.
Enjoy.
Gentle Giant is another band of superb musicians with awe inspiring skills.
I saw Gentle giant at the Aquarious theater in LAin 1972 for free!they switched instruments as the songs progressed and every member played all instruments!it blew my mind!
Nobody is ready for Heart of the Sunrise the first time. After thousands of times it is still just as enthralling as it was 50 yrs ago. Jons' vocals are some of the finest.
After 1001 times, you start to know where you are when the main rift repeats itself, and you really wish you could still be fooled with the false stop. That's the whole problem with aging. Nobody makes sounds, like this, any more, and even if they did, they keep pop and fine art separated, like they were metallic Sodium and pure spring water.
The ominous-sounding bass and drums part in "Heart of the Sunrise" (following the vigorous introduction) was used in the movie "Buffalo 66" as background for the climactic scene in which the protagonist had resolved to murder a football player who had inadvertently ruined his life by deliberately fouling up a play in order to loose a championship game.
Bruford's drumming at the beginning of "Heart of the Sunrise" is just about the best drumming I've ever heard.
I thought this was my comment and I'd forgotten about it.
A real influence on me - stamping complex jazz sensibility on each bar. I used to think the timing of his fills was random, I found it so inexplicable.
Bravo!! Exactly! I was listening to Heart of the Sunrise recently and was totally focusing on Bruford. If there is any song in Prog Rock history that demonstrates awesome progressive rock drumming…so dynamic, so technical…just beautiful
all the way through..his drumming with Yes is just master class other worldly
@@michaelbeerbados3291 It is, but quite honestly after Yes, I never got into his drumming nearly as much. I think maybe it was the way it was recorded within Yes. Great recordings for the early 70s.
It really is just perfect. So much of his work with Yes was ridiculously good, but this bit just really speaks to me. I really like that kind of light, expressive playing. Another example that comes to mind is ELP Lucky Man. And another I really love is "New York on my Mind" by John MacLaughlin. It's a real skill to play that active a part while still providing a solid rhythmic foundation. You wouldn't want to do it all the time; but, when it works, it's so good.
James Jamerson was sort of the bass version of that, able to play very active parts that just fit perfectly and complimented the song. Of course Chris was no slouch at that either.
I would LOVE to see you react to "Close to the Edge".....That is Yes' biggest Masterpiece!!!
You will be blown away!!.....I was the first time I heard it!!!
I agree with your assessment of what we thought about Yes in 1971......My ears were never the same....LOL....Their live shows were KILLER!!
@Matt Leppard I remember seeing both this....and Close to the Edge live as a teenager in high school.......It was mind boggling!!!
‘Close to the edge’ please!
"Relayer".
@Matt Leppard "To Be Over" shouldn't be forgotten. Just correcting my spelling!
In "The Fish", all of those instruments that gradually built up the soundscape, one by one, were all bass guitar. Chris Squire overdubbed a total of _eight_ bass tracks to construct the song and it's unique sound and feel. Truly a brilliant musician and a master of his instrument. (RIP)
That's what I thought! Thanks for confirming. It's such an amazing piece coming right off of Long Distance Runaround. It's amazing...
LOL! "It's like a battle to see who is the best!" You have no idea how true that was. They were all so incredibly talented it's one of the miracles of the last 50 years that they did so music much together. I have so many stories about this band. I saw them in the pouring rain in the early 1970s. Probably 50,000 people just stayed in the rain to watch the magic. Perhaps my favourite memory is when I took my kids to see them. My daughter was probably 10 years old (she's about your age now). The next morning we were in our hotel restaurant and the guitar player was at a table eating his breakfast. She so desperately wanted to talk to him, so we stood outside the restaurant for half an hour waiting for him to come out. Finally he came out and looked at this little girl standing there with a pen and paper. He said, "Have you been waiting all this time for me?" and she just nodded...she was speechless. He signed her program for her. Maybe 20 minutes later we walked through the lobby and the keyboard player was there. I stopped him and he stood and talked to her for 10 minutes about how to play the piano and then took a picture with her. She's never forgotten it. My generation maybe takes for granted just how lucky we were to grow up with this music. Seeing you experience it all for the first time always reminds me of the look on my daughter's face as I introduced her to it over the last 20 years. Listen to their next album Close to the Edge. It is their masterpiece. Keep it up. Music is life.
❤
Bill Bruford is amazing on drums on this album! legend!
Every YES song needs to be listened to more than once to get it. Especially the 20 min masterpieces that followed this album. Hold on to your hat, you have heard nothing yet!! This band can change your music life forever.
It has been a few decades since I've heard this album in it's entirety. I was a young teen when it came out. Via my older brother, I had recently graduated from pop music to AOR -- Album Oriented Radio R&R. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, etc. Still liked the pop music. Good music is good music. I began buying albums every payday. This was one that was on my regular rotation of nightly full-album listenings. Believe me -- us kids back then were just as blown away by this astounding music as you are. I remember thinking sometimes as I was listening to Wish You Were Here and The Dark Side Of The Moon and Aqualung if there were other people experiencing what I was. It seemed unreal almost. It was so good. The 70's were an amazing decade of music.
Technology was improving by leaps and bounds, so production values kept improving. But it came down to an explosion of simply gifted musical geniuses. The 60's had it's share of great talent and songs, but the 70's was crazy. Genre after genre popped up. But it was all about the wonderful writing -- music and lyrics.
Listening to Fragile again brought in a rush of memories. Recalling the awe that I was feeling when I first listened to it. First by laying between my stereo speakers on the floor, then with Bose headphones. Saturdays went by in a blur sometimes as I spent the entire day listening to my albums. Sundays were for football -- on TV and on the field. You are a delight to listen to. Us classic rock guys who were around when this music first came out enjoy watching today's youth experience what we did. Keep it going. You are doing a great job.
If you we're impressed by Fragile, wait until you get to the next album, Close to the Edge, widely considered the greatest prog rock album ever made!
Not by me. (And that's b.s. I've never seen that cited as "greatest prog album ever"). (As if those lists mean anything, anyways). I"ll take "Fragile" any day over "Close To The Edge". The only prog rock album I see consistently listed as "greatest prog album" is "In The Court Of The Crimson King", which I wouldn't argue with, certainly not in comparison to "Close To The Edge".
Far & away the greatest of all time
@@TTM9691 multiple lists have it as the greatest ever along with Dark Side & Court (Lists don't mean anything though so why do you care?)
@@TTM9691 You are, of course, free to have your own opinions. But in prog circles, "Close to the Edge" is generally respected as one of the greatest, if not _the_ greatest, prog album of all time, and most ranked lists online will reflect that (as if they mean anything).
As a lifelong Yes fan, I love the "Fragile" album, but as a musician, composer and a prog fan in general, I cannot deny that "Close to the Edge" is superior by just about every conceivable metric.
Funny... When all these albums were new, all MY prog friends would swear by Larks Tongues in Aspic or Nursery Cryme.... Me? I'll stick with Fragile, Wish You Were Here, Minstrel in the Gallery, Brain Salad Surgery and "Heroes" (I tend to avoid absolutes so I deal in Top 5 lists). These kind of things are purely subjective anyway, so qualifiers like best or greatest mean nothing to me.... If you're talking about favorites, however, then everyone's opinion is valid.
So cool to see you having fun with YES….and why not eh!!!
MUST listen epics are “Close to the Edge” (song and album)…”Awaken” & “Gate
Sometimes you forget just how incredible this album is until you watch others react to it. While my favorite song is Close to the Edge, this is likely the most complete album Yes created.
I've listened to Yes music consistently for 35 years. Your last point is the most salient. Every time I listen to a song like Close to the Edge, or South Side of the Sky, I pick up something new. That is the beauty of their music. You always hear something new.
Let’s not forget that they could play all this intricate stuff live! Their live albums are excellent.
It's wonderful to see younger people get into music that I grew up with! And you are correct when I Forst heard YES in 1974 or so (I was 14) it was amazing! Later in life I did some work for Jon Anderson (the lead singer who has an amazingly beautiful voice)... he invited me back stage to many shows all over the US. He's a very spiritual person and can write beautiful lyrics and melodies etc... I will see him again when he sings in my area... hopefully later this year. Listen to "Awaken" "Parallels", "Turn of the Century", Wonderous Stories"... those are all on the Going For The One album. The Relayer album also has some very nice stuff on it... as does The YES Album - "Perpetual Change"," I've seen all good people", 'Starship Trooper" etc...
Basically this album includes "solo" efforts for some of the members:
"Cans and Brahms" - Rick Wakeman
"We Have Heaven" - Jon Anderson
"Five Percent For Nothing" - Bill Bruford
"The Fish" - Chris Squire
"Mood for A Day" - Steve Howe
Yes, that's important and all the instruments you wonder coming in at the end of Long Distance Runaround, are in fact the Fish and are bass lines played by Chris Squire, who also sings in the end of that part.
@@Rowenband Yes, I think I count 8 ultimately. The mix on that is astounding. It could have been mud so easily.
I think Tony Kaye was the keyboardist for this album
@@derekd.4156 No it was Rick Wakemen. Rick also nudged the band to use certain classical techniques , expanding their palette.
@@derekd.4156 Tony Kaye left after The Yes Album, because the band was pushing for more synths, which Kaye didn't like.
On "Five per Cent for Nothing" Bruford plays an intricate line on snare, hi-hat and bass drum in 4
4 time at a tempo of approximately 116 beats per minute. Howe and Squire play short staccato ascending and descending syncopated three-note lines on overdriven electric guitar and bass, while Wakeman plays a similarly staccato organ part of suspended chords that slowly descend until they start being held and resolve to an E♭ major 7th after 12 bars. The 16 bars are then repeated.
amazing that you can explain that. thx.
exactly what i was going to say....yeah right!
Wow !
At 35 seconds in length, it is the shortest song Yes has ever recorded and their only song credited solely to Bruford.
@@DannyD714 lol 😆!
I heard this album when it first came out. Keep in mind, Led Zeppelin IV was also out that year. And two years later, Dark Side of the Moon. A great time to be alive as a teenage rock n' roller. You will absolutely love Close to the Edge, and will probably need a sedative for Relayer.
Awesome to hear younger folks rediscovering such great music. John Anderson (yes vocals) did a few solo albums I think you would enjoy, Olias of Sunhillow being my favourite. Thanks 😊
On this album, each musician was allowed his own track to play solo on. "Mood For A Day" being my favorite! All instruments on "The Fish" are the bass.
It took me a while after many listenings, to also understand "Five Per Cent...". At 35 seconds, it was one of, if not the shortest track ever recorded by Yes, and it was composed by the drummer, Bill Bruford. Guitarist Steve Howe, also said that despite how short it was, it was one of the most challenging of their pieces, to play live.
That was so much fun watching you get into this album, especially my favorite song of theirs, “Heart of the Sunrise”… everything about it, but, especially Chris’ amazing bass line. It took me back to when I heard it, in complete awe, for the first time, 50 years ago. Looking forward to more of your reactions. 🤘
The door opening at the end of Heart of the Sunrise ushers in a reprise of We Have Heaven. This is my favourite Yes album. It has EVERYTHING. So beautiful!!
Totally their best album. I laugh at the people who put "Close To The Edge" (or any other Yes album) over this one. A real achievement, on multiple levels.
@@TTM9691 Agreed. I even put The Yes Album above Close to the Edge. Having said that, Fragile, The Yes Album and Close to the Edge are 1-2-3 in my list of favourite Yes albums. Nothing else comes close in my view.
@@frankpentangeli7945 Agreed 100%.
Mellotron Chorus Strings on Heart Of Sunrise 🌅♥
The Percussion and Bass together on 5 %4Nothing is perfection!!!
Heart of the Sunrise is their greatest most hearts paced song and the musicians go off!!!!!!!always touches me!!!!
This is slowly blooming into a great channel. Very rare to see someone who not only picks good music but has the energy and enthusiasm to go with it.
Some other classic albums where literally every song is great:
The Clash - London Calling
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
The first 5 or 6 albums by Black Sabbath are flawless.
Just off the top of my head.
Salut de Montréal! J'ai 62 ans et j'ai passé une partie de mon adolescence à écouter cet album dans mon sous-sol. J'ai aussi eu la chance et le bonheur de voir un concert de Yes au Forum de Montréal lorsque j'avais environ 20 ans. Nous étions à la 5e ou 6e rangée au parterre. Le concept du spectacle consistait en une scène circulaire située au milieu de l'aréna et cette scène pouvait tourner, parfois durant les pièces ou encore entre les pièces, de façon à ce que toute la foule puisse bien voir et apprécier les musiciens. Lorsque le groupe a débuté la pièce Heart of the Sunrise, la scène s'était arrêtée et j'avais le bassiste Chris Squire directement devant moi! Un moment inoubliable... J'en ai encore la chaire de poule plus de 40 ans après!
J'adore tes réactions et tes choix musicaux. Continue comme ça!
Hello from Montreal! I'm 62 and spent part of my teenage years listening to this album in my basement. I also had the chance and happiness to see a Yes concert at the Montreal Forum when I was about 20 years old. We were in the 5th or 6th row on the floor. The concept of the show consisted of a circular stage located in the middle of the arena and this stage could rotate, sometimes during the songs or between songs, so that the whole crowd could see and appreciate the musicians. When the band started Heart of the Sunrise, the stage had stopped and I had bassist Chris Squire directly in front of me! An unforgettable moment... I still have goosebumps over 40 years later!
I love your reactions and your musical choices. Keep it up!
You can TRULY tell this is a REAL first listening! Thank you!
When you said you're going into The Fish and Mood for a Day, The Fish had just finished playing. The Fish is essentially the last part of Long Distance Runaround, and it's in large part just really cool bass techniques, as Chris Squire wrote it. Mood for a Day is the entire classical guitar track following The Fish, and was written by Steve Howe, the guitarist.
That was Baby Fish. It grew bigger and bigger on stage.
I discovered this album over 40 years ago, summer 1978 to be exact and it remains one of my favorites to this day.
I love this girl, the way she reacts is priceless!! The magic of Yes in full display!! :)
On first listen these songs sound chaotic but after a few listens you catch the recurring themes, just changed up a little each time around. It’s almost like listening to classical music in that way. South Side of the Sky is my favorite on this album and is a perfect example of this technique.
"Heart of the Sunrise" and "Starship Trooper," are my two favorite YES songs! "Mood for a Day" is an excellent instrumental. Steve Howe is one of the great guitarists from the 1970s-80s You should check out his acoustic instrumental song, " The Clap."
Don't let Howe hear you call it that. 😁
The song is just called "Clap" and Howe wrote it to celebrate the birth of his son. He was pissed at Anderson for months over that little gaffe.
I was so lucky and blessed with the music classic rock, it was classic when it first came out. I loved other bands as well but for their different sounds, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Heart .. to name just a few.
At the beginning of the first track, "Five Per Cent for Nothing", the time signature is pretty much a straight 4, and the odd sounding rhythm is due to the guitar on the left simply playing a syncopated lick. If you count sixteenth notes as follows - 1-2-3 / 1-2-3 / 1-2-3 / 1-2-3 / 1-2 / 1-2 for each pattern, you can then hear the guitar's rhythm more clearly, while it plays on each of the 1's in that aforementioned pattern. The other instruments, then play around within the empty spaces left by the guitar.
I've always loved how Bruford hits the snare on every 5th beat in the verses of LONG DISTANCE RUNAROUND. In effect, in the first measure he hits on the 1st beat, in the 2nd measure he hits on the 2nd beat, 3rd m. the 3rd beat, 4th m. the 4th beat, then in the 5th measure there's no snare because it's EVERY 5TH BEAT. The song is in 4/4, except for the snare, which is in 5/4. And Wakeman is accenting the keys every time Bruford hits the snare.
Thanks for pointing this out. It is just one of many reasons that Bill Bruford is my drum playing GOD! There are more flashy and faster players but Bill is just nuts and very original.
The entire album is a masterpiece. Five masters using their musical mastery in the service of music, not their personal brilliance.
The instrument in Heart of the Sunrise that your struggling with is called a Mellotron. Still one of my favorite haunting music appliances ever.
"Five per Cent for Nothing" was basically to show everyone that while you're in 4/4, this is what's going on in Bruford's brain : )
brilliant comment haha :)
@@TheJoaquimdossantos 🙂
Spot on … one of the greats … Gavin Harrison another one - check out his work with Porcupine Tree, King Crimson
Best "Drummer God" post EVER! 😁
I discovered Yes and many other Progressive Rock bands during my university years in the mid '80s. It was the multiple transitions, unique instrumentation, the propensity for fusion of genres and styles within a single song, long "improvizational jazz" inspired instrumental sections that first attracted me to bands like Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Frank Zappa, Phish, The Dave Matthews Band, etc. I love watching your full-album reactions of "album-oriented" progressive fusion bands.
You are soooooo right wondering what it must have been like for us hearing this album for the first time back in the 70's. It literally blew our minds.
As for...Yes....
Whoa your journey is just getting started. Close to the Edge is mind bending.
Oh final note: remember whatever you hear... they pull it off live.
My mind was blown for sure.
I’m glad you love yes it’s a great album and I’ve been years fan for 50 years
the constant shifting of Bill Bruford's drumming in the intro of heart of the sunrise is mesmerizing
Mood For A Day is one of the greatest acoustic instrumentals in music history.
It's actually pretty easy to play.
Heart of the sunrise that background instrument is the mellotron used by many bands - yes genesis moody blues king crimson - but first use I believe of a mellotron in rock was on Strawberry Fields Forever BEATLES
In the 70's. This. Among other Albums was amazing. It was euphoric.
Glad your enjoying one of the greatest albums by the excellent yes Steve Howe is an incredible guitarist 🎸.Just listen to that bass on heart of the sunrise rip Chris and Alan you both be sadly missed.Love all your doing to keep our music 🎶 alive verdy take care my love see you on the road bye 👋
Brought tears to my eyes.
I think "5 Percent of Nothing" is an example of "syncopation". Another less technical and more common term for that is being "off-beat". There's a lot of it in jazz. It was one of the prominent features of the ragtime variety of jazz from the 1910's.
If you like instrumentals (I do), you'll love "YYZ" by Rush, "Outta Space" by Billy Preston, "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group and "Hocus Pocus" by Focus (there _ARE_ vocals in it, but not lyrics).
Chameleon. Yes. Always surprising the listener with changes just around the corners. Yes. Roller coaster of rhythms, dynamics, emotions. Yes. Like being "Lost in the City"! Heart of the Sunrise is all of that. Not suitable for a single casual listener. Just like a busy city is not suitable for a person only used to the country. Yet there is still beauty to be found in the chaos of the city and of Yes music. Great reaction!
In the early part of the last track, the the instrument that was playing the long sustained chords sounded like the Mellotron, using the strings setting, or possibly a combination of strings and vocals. The Mellotron was an early electro-mechanical keyboard that used physical magnetic tapes that were played when you pressed each key. It was developed in the early 60's and started making its way into music in the mid-late 60's and into the 70's, especially in prog rock. It was used on occasion by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Moody Blues, and it started to become very common with prog rock groups like Genesis, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Yes.
@26:31 it's now 50+ years and the hair on my arms still stands tall when I hear this part of Heart of the Sunrise
I was 14 when this album came out and it was like where did these guys come from. Have seen them 3 times in concert and every time was amazing. Each musician is a virtuoso on their own, but together, magic occurs. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to your reaction to Going for the one.
Bill Bruford the drummer for Yes went on to join King Crimson for the albums "Lark's Tongues in Aspic", "Starless and Bible Black", and "Red". Any of those King Crimson albums will bend your expectations for what progressive rock music is, they were avant garde in 1973 to 74, and remain out at the musical edge to this day. 😵💫🥴 It is such fun to watch someone young experience music of my teen age years for the first time.
It will take a number of listens but at some point you will feel easy in the chair that really fits you....
Mood for a Day inspired me to take up classical guitar and there are plenty of professional classical guitar players for whom this was the entry point. Howe used a flamenco guitar, hence the bright sound. Technically it isn't a hard piece to play (unlike Clap) but getting the feel is another matter. There is an alternative cut on one of the many re issued/ remastered CDs which is really worth checking out.
Steve Morse has done a great cover version.
This album is really something else. Each musician showing their skills, one song for each to give us a sample of their inspirations and inclinations. The group songs are killer. Their next album is a must too, very well regarded as a milestone in prog rock, although my favourite Yes albums would be Going For the One and Relayer.
I can see the drumming caught your attention. Yeah, it's Bill Brufford, considered the best drummer in prog rock rock tied with Neil Peart from Rush, but you can tell immediately Brufford plays like no other drummer in rock. He's more jazz oriented. Less pyrotechnics but lots of intricacies and peculiarities. While other drummer would be pounding merciless to a certain passage of the song, he would do something else completely.
You might want to hear his work in King Crimson, a band he joined after leaving Yes after Close To The Edge. His drumming is revolutionary.
Btw, UA-cam recommended me your channel and this is the first video I watch of you. I see you have K-pop posters on your wall and you react to prog rock classics. That's cool! And odd at the same time XD
Very different musical genres and so incompatible too. You have tons of great music to discover.
Subscribed.
P. S.
Alan White, recently departed, would fill in after Brufford. A more traditional kind of a drummer but great too. His playing is out of this world in Relayer.
I love your analysis and appreciation of each song. I hope you react to many more Yes albums. Also should listen to Jethro Tull (Aqualung and Thick as a Brick) and ELP.
I hope you will also listen to the albums "The Yes Album" and "Close to the Edge". The late 60's and 70's was the era of "album rock". They were meant to be listened to as an album and not just individual songs. Some songs are just intros for the following song. Although Yes did have radio hits, listening to the entire album is the way to go. Keep up the good work.
My thoughts exactly, the best experience with this music is by listening to the entire album. Close to the Edge had us speechless when we first heard it.
Not the album myth again. Those that were meant as a whole were also played that way on stage, as Pink Floyd did with theirs. Yes never did that with Fragile.
@@Leo_ofRedKeep When I first saw them in the 70s YES played all of Tales From the Topographic Oceans, then came back for all the Close to the Edge album with an encore of Roundabout. One of the best shows I ever saw, rivals the Floyd tours I saw in 1975 & 1977. Great tours by great bands.
@@vicprovost2561 Tales was a concept album, meant to be taken in its entirety but Close To The Edge was played out of order, usually spread over the whole set with tracks in between, as were most albums of the time. As usual, idiots invent what they want to believe in.
@@Leo_ofRedKeep To each his own dude, I know what I saw. Enjoy life and worry about something that really matters...
For the piece "The Fish" , Chris Squire plays all the parts except percussions by using bass with various effects such as leslie speaker which gives the wobbly sound by using rotating cones on instead of normal cones. It alters both the volume and the tone of the sound randomly. The rotating speed is variable. He also used wah pedal and volume control pedals. The wah pedal cuts and highlights the tone along the movement of the control pedal up and down by foot, giving the wah-wah to the sound.
If you want more for Steve Howe's acoustic playing in band context, do search for "Ancient" which contains a beautiful solo part, unofficially called "Leaves Of Green" with vocal parts.
Thank you for this reaction to my favourite band of all time!
It's so nice to people react to those 50 years old Album's and enjoying it 🥰
Continue the YES journey, you will be not disappointed.....
Close to the edge, Going for the one [with the most beautiful Yes epic "Awaken"
"Awaken" on the "Going for the One"-album is the peak of Yes.
What I love about you Verdy.. is that you are so musically perceptive and descriptive (: Love your channel
The musical changes is one of the main features of progressive rock. As you enjoy these changes, I strongly recommend you, again, to listen at least one of these two albuns by Gentle Giant: " In a glass house" or "Octopus". Start with Octopus. I think it will blow your mind.
I totally agree about Gentle Giant but I think Power and Glory might be a better introduction to their body of work as it is quite a bit more accessible for the new listener.
"Five Percent for Nothing" was written by the drummer. I think it was meant to be rhythmically confusing. Drummer's jokes are usually that sort of things. No, I'm not saying this as a bass player…
The title refers to someone in the Yes management who got " Five percent for Nothing"
Turn, look around. Here is heaven.
The Fish...bass, percussion, vocals. Thats it. No other instruments. Crazy!
Girl, you are in for a fantastic journey! You're just at the beginning.
To me the best music is the music that keeps on giving you more with every listen. I was listening along o headphones with you Verdy - probably hearing the album for the 500th time, and I still heard something I'd never noticed before.
You are A JOY TO REACT WITH!!! I love when people really "GET" music 🎶... Your Zeppelin, and now YES full album reviews are outstanding. (I aint into Floyd)... You are my new favorite. 🤘🤘
The first instrumental piece... the guitar and bass notes were basically in between the drum beats, just having fun with the mathematical side of music. YES, as a group, love playing with the math of music, time signatures, syncopation, off beats. As you dig deeper into the lyrics you will find that Jon tends to write along "theological", mythological or religious themes and uses his vocals as an instrument, and a beautiful instrument it is.
Mr. Howe is an exceptionally talented guitarist and got a chance to shine on that instrumental. Perfect.
Then BOOM.
Chris's bass.... Killer.
Buford's drums.... On pointe
Emmerson's keyboards...
I spent six years of my youth studying music and piano.....
I heard this when it came out at the age of 15.... Think about that...
Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy to YES
A whole new world.
And that bit at the end ... It's the encore.
Bonjour mon petit ami et bon voyage avec YES....
{An old Canuck hiding out in Portugal)
Oops, Wakeman on keyboards :). Emerson was in ELP. This small correction is for her benefit, hopefully she will get to ELP as well.
Yes pretty much did a lot of chaos followed by complex and engaging music. Probably for you I would recommend; Machine Messiah, from Drama, or maybe Awaken from Going for the One. Yes did change so much over the years, but were I think were always worth the listen. I love your reactions, so passionate, I can tell you really do listen, you show your love for music. Thank you for doing this for us...
Now, pick an hour, clear, sit back and play it through without pausing, the chaos turns to magic and be warned…. it will never leave you..and you will want more, and more..
Takes your breath away doesn’t it? I was about 14 when I first heard this. Still remember being completely overwhelmed by it.
Verdy, ALL the Yes albums from 1970 through 1977 are worth listening to at least three or four times. I was in high school when this came out. I played The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge so often, my parents would leave the house when I cranked it up. I saw Yes live, in 1974, playing all of Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographic Oceans, plus tracks from earlier albums. What I could not believe is that they sounded good in a domed coliseum! Eddie Offord, their producer, engineer, and advisor, was behind the sound board. Yes is a band that exemplifies the best of progressive rock. Cryptic lyrics, complex and layered melodies, lush and thick syncopated rhythms, surprising transitions, and superb artistry and musicianship at every turn... Where is that sort of creativity in 2023?
The Mellotron used by Wakeman provides the choral, string pad sounds in the background. HOS is a powerful trip. Enjoy your Yes Journey! Great review!
you are unique in that you listen to whole albums like we did back in the day, great stuff
Regarding "Five Per Cent for Nothing" (drummer Bill Bruford's first composition), guitarist Steve Howe said that it was the most challenging Yes song to perform from the Fragile album.
Wikipedia has a good description of what it is.
"On "Five per Cent for Nothing" Bruford plays an intricate line on snare, hi-hat and bass drum in 4/4 time at a tempo of approximately 116 beats per minute. Howe and Squire play short staccato ascending and descending syncopated three-note lines on overdriven electric guitar and bass, while Wakeman plays a similarly staccato organ part of suspended chords that slowly descend until they start being held and resolve to an E♭ major 7th after 12 bars. The 16 bars are then repeated".
1971 and it's never been topped!
These guys were out there and so talented
Ladies and gentlemen Chris Squire and Yes the greatest show on earth. Brilliant reaction Verdy, come on. Your insightful comments pleased my old heart. I've seen Chris Squire,the bass player and his band 36 times over forty yrs I'm sure you'll love your Yes journey into the divine.
Close to the Edge is something that will astound you. I can't wait to see what you think of it. It's an absolute must to listen to. Sublime!
I really enjoy your reaction vids. I'm a big prog nerd from the 70's and your Yes and Genesis reactions really get to me. They seem very sincere.. "Come on". 😅
Really enjoyed seeing your reaction to this album. I can tell you really appreciate the artistry of YES music. There is a lot going on and usually you need to listen to their songs several times over to hear it all and appreciate it. Can't wait to see you react to "Close to the Edge", "The Yes Album", "Going for the One" & " Relayer". Your mind is going to explode! 😆
Jon Anderson what a voice.
"The fish" was actually the ending to "Long Distance Runaround".
"The Fish" was all done on bass guitar. Chris Squire wrote and recorded all the parts with loopers. He just kept adding melody on top melody with a D-tuned sub line pulsing throughout the song.
Mood for a Day into the Fish, but we'll let you slide cause we dig you digging it so much💚🎶
It was SUCH a Joy watching your mannerisms and seeing how you connected with this masterpiece. Exactly how I reacted when first hearing it around 75' . . . . . Please continue experiencing YES and Welcome . . . .
Heart of the Sunrise is my alltime favourite song. Ah, and did you hear the door again? :-D
Please let me speak for all Prog rock fans when I sya....
We Love your air guitar!!!
💚🎶✌️🤟🌍🎸
Back in the '70s, when two amateur, teenaged guitar players met and would start sizing each other up, the inevitable question one would ask the other was, "Do you know 'Mood for a Day'?"
The fish song, is all Chris Squires bass, with Bill Bruffords drums. Amazing.
I enjoy your reactions to Yes music. Looking forward to you exploring more of their music.
Don't miss out on The Yes Album. Some really good songs on their you'll want to hear. "Yours Is No Disgrace", "Perpetual Change " and one of their all time best ""Starship Trooper". They closed many concerts with that tune.
So interesting to watch young people's reactions to music from the 1970s. Coming as they do from an era of music that is so rhythm-centred, listening to music that is so melody and harmony centred. It must be quite bewildering.
Love your reactions Verdy.
Imagine a shower with gentle rainfall and the distant rumblings of thunder. Then suddenly the gust front roars through with gale force winds. A lightning bolt flashes nearby with a palpable clap of thunder that shakes you to your core. The gentle rainfall increases to a deluge. Things begin to taper off for a while only to ratchet back up with renewed fury. Lightning continues to arc across the sky with barrages of thunder as the dark clouds seem to boil above you. Then, again, the maelstrom eases its intensity, The sky lightens and the rain transitions back to a gentle shower, then to sprinkles, then it stops. The sun reappears as the line of storm clouds recede into the distance; perhaps a rainbow appears. The once dry and thirsty earth rejoices with the renewal of life as valleys receive the runoff and the brooks laugh softly.
That's progressive rock, baby.
Awesome, Stephen! I like the term "musical landscapes". I've been exploring Yes songs for 50 years like they are intricate landscapes I can wander around in. You're weather analogy is perfect, too!
The best final song on Any album, Ever!!!
Absolutely love your reactions, Verdy. You really help the viewer to seriously rediscover the material.
The greatest songs do have to be heard many times to appreciated. More the songs of the past. It seems now the music is made to be heard once and then forgotten.