and the kinks' "phenomenal cat."
pretty sure that's just a stock loop that came with mellotrons
― We are Real solid sex doll AKA RSSD (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 15 June 2011 08:31 (thirteen years ago) link
if the classic lineup dudes manage to live for another 2-3 years i'm sure they'll get together for one more go and benoit david will go back to the tribute circuit
Ooh, I don't know about that. I interviewed Wakeman a couple of weeks ago, and he said that there was no way the classic line-up would ever reform now. He's still sore on Anderson's behalf, that Squire/Howe/White weren't prepared to hang fire while Anderson had his health problems. Wakeman's next project is a three-way with Anderson and Rabin, by the way.
― mike t-diva, Wednesday, 15 June 2011 08:58 (thirteen years ago) link
Then again, I pushed him a bit and he mumbled "never say never"...
― mike t-diva, Wednesday, 15 June 2011 09:00 (thirteen years ago) link
Wakeman's next project is a three-way with Anderson and Rabin, by the way.
UH-OH
― We are Real solid sex doll AKA RSSD (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 15 June 2011 09:08 (thirteen years ago) link
I saw the classic lineup play in '03 and they were on fire. One of the best shows -'ve ever seen. IMHO they should've bowed out after that tour. Gone out as champs.
― Vendo Caramelos A Veces Sin Dinero (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 15 June 2011 13:01 (thirteen years ago) link
I've listened to all the previews for this a number of times. I'm a big Drama fan. I don't think this is quite that calibre;
Really? I've been listening to them too and I think they suggest something with a wider scope than Drama. Hopeful.
― timellison, Friday, 17 June 2011 03:47 (thirteen years ago) link
the '07 tour was pretty good too.
when i first got dish installed there was this channel that broadcast recent concerts by bands like Rush, Yes, and the Moody Blues. The Yes one was particularly awesome, though Steve Howe's cadaver was kind of awkward. also, I don't think there was a single non-white person in the audience which struck me as pretty odd (but not really)
― frogbs, Friday, 17 June 2011 13:34 (thirteen years ago) link
was it the one with chris squire wearing spandex?
― akm, Friday, 17 June 2011 16:44 (thirteen years ago) link
I will listen to this where I listen to everything by the new Yes: in my friend's car.
We saw them about a year and a half ago with the new singer. It was a really good show -- but let's be clear:
Steve Howe can BRING IT. He may look cadaverous but the guy absolutely tears it up live.
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 17 June 2011 17:34 (thirteen years ago) link
when is this thing going to leak?
― akm, Friday, 17 June 2011 17:34 (thirteen years ago) link
don't remember the spandex but they were all dressed pretty ridiculously. I agree about Howe though. Seems like he does nothing but play guitar.
― frogbs, Friday, 17 June 2011 18:50 (thirteen years ago) link
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CtjAeK4GUvM/TZRzJ7n7zYI/AAAAAAAABGY/a1FgGGz9-Rg/s400/yesrobshanahan.jpg http://www.yesworld.com/images/yes2011-home.jpg
I can't work out which one is the 'shop
― We are Real solid sex doll AKA RSSD (Autumn Almanac), Saturday, 18 June 2011 01:45 (thirteen years ago) link
second one I think, I guess to make it seem less like horn is a member of the band this time out.
― akm, Saturday, 18 June 2011 05:54 (thirteen years ago) link
I wonder who farted btw
― We are Real solid sex doll AKA RSSD (Autumn Almanac), Saturday, 18 June 2011 06:20 (thirteen years ago) link
howe is a vegan, so him.
― akm, Saturday, 18 June 2011 06:21 (thirteen years ago) link
this has leaked btw (actually it's already out in japan).
certainly the best thing with the Yes name on it since 90125; you could say it's a bit too smooth, maybe, and the buggles demos and drama-era yes-castoff 'we can fly from here' are the best things on it by far, but it's better than it has any reason to be. new vocalist is completely fine and doesn't ape anderson through the whole album. doesn't really sound like 'drama' either.
― akm, Thursday, 23 June 2011 19:34 (thirteen years ago) link
Digging it, actually. Only a few songs in. Nice glossy spacious old school Horn production. : )
― Vendo Caramelos A Veces Sin Dinero (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 23 June 2011 22:04 (thirteen years ago) link
"i saw you at the air race yesterday, april showers. . . ."
this new one reminds me that rio came out a little while after drama
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 June 2011 22:44 (thirteen years ago) link
Alright - my opinion: It seems to lose its way after the "Fly From Here" suite (yep. With an "Overture" and everything.) though the Chris Squire-sung track is an enjoyable enough attempt at the "90125/Big Generator" vibe. The solo Steve Howe track is filler - why didn't that just end up on one of his own records? "Life On A Film Set" ( another Buggles leftover) has an odd early Crimson/ELP feel and it almost works. Overall it feels...lackluster, down to the playing. No amazing playing from Howe or Squire - more like they're filling space. Or they're thinking of lunch.
― Vendo Caramelos A Veces Sin Dinero (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 23 June 2011 22:45 (thirteen years ago) link
there's also a little too much asia going on and . . . yoso maybe?
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 June 2011 22:46 (thirteen years ago) link
and the buggles suite doesn't hang together all that well, on first listen, at least -- concept's alan parsons project loose, 'i robot' or 'turn of a friendly card' or one of those
but still i'm a sucker for these vibes. would love to smoke a bowl with j anderson the first time he hears this, to see the look on his face
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 June 2011 22:52 (thirteen years ago) link
"sailor, beware. there are storm clouds"
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 June 2011 22:56 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, I'm a sucker for it, too. Especially the Trevor Horn touch and those big synth parts (haha!). Kind of happy Jon wasn't part of this one, actually. He deserves better.
― Vendo Caramelos A Veces Sin Dinero (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 23 June 2011 23:01 (thirteen years ago) link
amen
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 June 2011 23:03 (thirteen years ago) link
squire's song doesn't sound too far off his solo album, or that syn reunion album from a couple years ago, at least for the first minute. then. . . .
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 June 2011 23:06 (thirteen years ago) link
okay, "life on a film set" could be a buggles reunion song. that's more like it
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 June 2011 23:10 (thirteen years ago) link
ween, "the hour of need," the mollusk or white pepper
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 June 2011 23:24 (thirteen years ago) link
gerard johnson (st. etienne and then a bunch of yes associated stuff) co-wrote 'man you always wanted me to be' which yeah, does sound like that Syn album, very poppy (so is hour of need. actually I could imagine Sarah Cracknell singing that one. can't you?)
― akm, Friday, 24 June 2011 20:21 (thirteen years ago) link
whoah. almost as hard for me to imagine sarah singing on a yes album as beth gibbons. lisa gerrard i could see. but i had no idea about gerard johnson's association with squire. that enough blows my mind
― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 25 June 2011 11:56 (thirteen years ago) link
The whole Fly from Here suite is not too bad but it sounds awfully like a pastiche. imo Bumpy Ride is Yes's way of saying "look we can do the trickier stuff, omg look an irregular time signature and now it's getting faster LOOK" and almost works despite sounding incredibly self-conscious.
In its entirety the album just washes over me. Sometimes I swear I can hear the arthritis grinding away at these old buggers.
― Leee Marcello's Putting Challenge (Schlafsack), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 03:06 (thirteen years ago) link
That's a pretty fair description--on the plus side, nothing on the record sounds godawful or even embarrassing-- on the whole it's a very inoffensive album, with no real high or low points to speak of. Production is clean but not rich, same synth sounds throughout. On first pass I guess the final track is the best, though I can't really remember how it goes.
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 05:19 (thirteen years ago) link
Same! I hear the end track with its On the Silent Wings of Freedom-style guitar work and think "oh yes this is that good track at the end" and then it ends and I instantly forget what it was.
That sums up the album for me — its middling inoffensiveness (p much as you said) is nice while it lasts but it doesn't leave an impression. I don't know whether I'd prefer them to have taken a few chances and risked producing a respectable turd.
― Gary Barlow syndrome (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 06:45 (thirteen years ago) link
Having said all that, it's most definitely a true Yes album in every way that matters.
― Gary Barlow syndrome (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 06:47 (thirteen years ago) link
album's growing on me, even the suite. took a few listens with 'the ladder' too. this is one of the few albums i'd endorse listening to on shuffle. i think the sequencing kind of sucks and the suite doesn't hold together well enough to work as one piece. taking it apart and letting "movements" shuffle in between "songs" has me enjoying the subtle "themes" common to each of the "movements" better than when i listen to it straight. man do i put in work for this band
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 09:00 (thirteen years ago) link
ahahahaha
― Gary Barlow syndrome (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 09:09 (thirteen years ago) link
Usually the work pays off, that's why we keep doing it. I'll keep your shuffle suggestion in mind btw; I can imagine how much better this album would work with the dull second half being spiced up by that recurring motif.
― Gary Barlow syndrome (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 09:10 (thirteen years ago) link
that's what happens, for me at least. plus, instead of one forced suite, and then a bunch of songs, the whole thing becomes one long interconnected listen
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 09:16 (thirteen years ago) link
Yes has never worked with running themes outside contiguous suites iirc, perhaps they should formally give it a go in their dotage.
― Gary Barlow syndrome (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 09:29 (thirteen years ago) link
there might be some recurring melodies etc scattered throughout 'topographic oceans,' not sure. that one's defeated me so far through the years. i'm all ears if they record more after this. i hope if t horn's not on board again, that at least they use a strong producer of his caliber; that's what seems to have worked best since way back with eddie offord. would love it if they gave it a go with like eno or fridmann (or albini or kanye) but somehow i doubt that's in the cards
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 09:48 (thirteen years ago) link
it does seem to be the beginning of a new era, although it probably depends on how much longer the dudes can hold up (unless they're gradually passing the baton to a whole new generation via oliver/benoit, like a cricket team or something)
― Gary Barlow syndrome (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 09:59 (thirteen years ago) link
(providing squire is prepared to let go even in death)
chris squire and keith richards will outlive us all
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 10:35 (thirteen years ago) link
The suite has really really grown on me. I must have played it about 15 times now. In terms of greatness it's better than Machine Messiah/In the Presence Of, but obv it's not up there with Awaken/Delirium/Close to the Edge. Squire's bass work is fantastic and David's voice really suits the material.
Also this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_from_Here
According to Squire, the title track is the band's eleventh epic piece
Only eleven?
― invite ← VERB (Schlafsack), Monday, 4 July 2011 02:54 (thirteen years ago) link
1. Close to the Edge2. Tales3. Tales4. Tales5. Tales6. Gates of Delirium7. Awaken8. Endless Dream9. Mind Drive10. In the Presence Of11. Fly from Here
^ my guess (based mainly on length)
― invite ← VERB (Schlafsack), Monday, 4 July 2011 03:12 (thirteen years ago) link
unless they're gradually passing the baton to a whole new generation via oliver/benoit, like a cricket team or something
kind of doubt this, since they already fired oliver.
― akm, Monday, 4 July 2011 06:59 (thirteen years ago) link
things aren't going so well
http://www.examiner.com/classic-hard-rock-in-national/yes-keyboardist-geoff-downes-responds-to-negative-fan-reviews
― buzza, Thursday, 7 July 2011 19:53 (thirteen years ago) link
"And oh yes – Downes broke out his keytar to kick it into full gear. It must have been nice to break out of that keyboard cage."
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 7 July 2011 20:16 (thirteen years ago) link
the reviews of the shows are incredibly bad and the bits I heard are embarrassing. makes me suspect that Horn played a much larger role in shaping this album than suspected. The setlists for this tour are terrible too; Yes makes their best album in many many years and only plays one song from it, instead pulling out all the aged warhorses everyone associates with Anderson?
It sounded to me like White's drinking might be an issue as well. Regardless, I'll be skipping this since I hate Styx. If they get it together and tour again next year and focus on this record I'll go, but they're kind of running out of time.
― akm, Thursday, 7 July 2011 20:48 (thirteen years ago) link
crosslinking in case some of you have missed it --> Yes solo albums S/D
― Gary Barlow syndrome (Autumn Almanac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 21:26 (thirteen years ago) link
(live performance recorded by an audience member this week)
― Gary Barlow syndrome (Autumn Almanac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 21:27 (thirteen years ago) link