why late at night in the u.s. does ilm get all yessed out

I thought "yessed out" was some sort of cockney slang for "sucking it's own dick" or somethin'.

Your mention of the "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" video reminded me there was one version that had a guy with maggots crawling around on top of his closed eyelids. Did "Fear Factor" rip off this idea? I think MTV stopped showing that version.

i love yes. sometimes i'll be walking around and suddenly a bass line from some yes song will pop into my head and i'll be all excited.

would that ilm actually were a bit more yessed out.

One of my (many) large gaps of musical knowledge is rock of any variety from 1970-1985 or so.

Wobbly, if you're out there, tell your Jon Anderson at NAMM story . . .

best

Drew

at a booth that sells vocoder software there is a man earnestly saying in a silvery, elven speaking voice reminiscent of Glinda the Good Witch "no, no, NO, you don't understand. I want to make my computer-" and here he erupts into a shivery high melodious flutter "s-i-i-iing!" and it's HIM and he's singing the word "sing" in THAT Yes voice.

What is NAMM, anyway?

I just watched some of that DVD "The Future Is Wild", the cheezy computer animated forecast of what freakish species will dominate this planet in 200 million years. It was very Yessed out too, CGI supercontinent-formation footage and giant global oceans (topographic tales of .. .)

http://stat.discogs.com/R/262506-1103102672.jpg

Olias of Sunhillow Critical Edition, with commentary track guest starring the 'scientists' from The Future Is Wild

maybe a little like the trevor horn yes (or maybe i just wish it sounded more like trevor horn yes).

it's basically arp-heavy metronomic 1978 eurosynth cheese.

I always see a Dean landscape, or some Art Nouveau P. Craig Russell planet landscape whenever I listen to Yes. Except for Yes mach-90125 and onward.

I guess the only interesting thing in them was that apparently Eddie Jobson was in the "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" video. They tried to edit him out when he ended up not being in the band, but couldn't do it completely. The edits are one reason why the "plot" is so hard to follow.

and yes, there ARE maggots on the dude's eyes.

BUT! just guess what my classic rock station is playing right now on their so-called DEEP CUT weekedn at this ungodly hour ...

yup, STARSHIP TROOPER!!

good god what a tune.

and i'm out

I found my mint LP copy of Relayer for a dollar in a used bin.

http://www.drjazz.ch/album/bilder/Moraz30.jpg

damn, and i'm not even close to being drunk tonight!!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y123/Eisbaer29/be70040c-9265-47c2-ab7b-0dc6abe418a.jpg

I'm yessed out on poppy pod tea and I just played guitar for an hour. Yes!

karaoke, yes-style!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwoE9r11a-c

Oh dear...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlgH7Oec__s

Nothing succeeds like excess: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMF1-OEZYBE

Watching Bruford in that clip makes me think of the story (perhaps apocryphal) of the Genesis tour he was on when he'd get bored and start playing different beats just to screw things up.

DIG IT! (the "it" being really bad stock footage, apparently)

as much shit as tormato gets, i do like squire's bass sound on that
and wtf with wakeman's synths? the birotron - cheesy to the max
xpost

LOL cheesy late 70s video effects -- also, it reminds me of the "i want candy" video.

"don't kill the whale" is actually an OK song, maybe the best thing on tormato. and the really painful wakeman synths are in the beginning of "arriving UFO" (maybe the worst yes song of all time?)

The Birotron was an ill-fated tape replay keyboard conceived by Dave Biro of Yalesville, Connecticut, USA, and funded by Rick Wakeman of the progressive-rock group Yes in the late 1970s.

The Birotron was a keyboard instrument that used 8-track cartridge tapes to play sounds whenever a key was pressed on the keyboard. It is similar in concept to the Chamberlin and Mellotron, and was a forerunner of digital sampling. Keyboards like the Mellotron and Birotron were mainly used for strings, choirs, brass, and flutes; sounds not easily reproduced on the synthesizers of that era. The major innovation of the Birotron was that it stored its sounds using 8-track tape loops, which allowed it to play the sounds indefinitely, a great improvement from the 8-second limit of the Mellotron.

History
Dave Biro invented this instrument and showed it to Rick Wakeman, who was so impressed by the idea that he offerred to fund its manufacture. It was developed by Birotronics, Ltd which was one of Wakeman's Complex 7 businesses. The Packhorse road case company was under this umbrella as well. Birotronics apparently made a very limited number of these instruments (David Biro says only 17 were made, including the original and 4 prototypes, while Rick Wakeman claims 35.) 4 of those were owned by Rick Wakeman, who noted in an interview in 1999 that 2 were stolen and 2 were damaged beyond repair. Only 5 or 6 Birotrons are accounted for today.

Two major factors led to the Birotron's demise. The most direct cause was a lack of necessary and consistent funding. The Birotron also suffered from poor timing, being introduced very shortly before the arrival of the digital sampling technology (such as the Fairlight_CMI) which would render it obsolete.

OOooooh the band Yes... I thought you meant high.

RAG I think you'll enjoy "Criminal Record".

And Gong, though nothing was ever released officially (there might be live boots).

― nickn

there are boots... he also played for national health! the thing is he did have a very distinctive style, i kinda understand why fripp came and and was like "ok you can be in the band again but NO CYMBALS got it?"

When I ask myself,
“how much yes is too much yes?”
I see that boxed set and think
“that’s too much yes.”

When it first came out I remember joking that since they'd already done Yessongs and Yesshows, this one should just be called Yessss.

haha

The hate for Tormato completely baffles me

it sounds like it was mastered on a coffee filter

I think the problems with it (aside from jon anderson's kid yammering about circuses) are almost all sonic and not related to the quality of the songs themselves. there was some mess up regarding dolby and I think that really impacted it. apparently the multis are missing so without some kind of 'get back' attempt at demixing it that's not going to ever be fixed (and no one is going to put that money forward for this album) unless they show up

never knew that! thx

I have sometimes wondered why I think GFTO and Yesshows both rule but I never clicked with Tormato, this may explain it

and I can also understand why someone loves it b/c of the weird sound

"records that are accidentally sui generis, for better or worse" RFD

Haven’t heard this tomato version that is lately spoken of

And I probably won’t, there’s been too much “yes” irl recently

I've only ever had the remaster and I never really noticed a problem with its sound.

When I ask myself,
“how much yes is too much yes?”
I see that boxed set and think
“that’s too much yes.”

But if you love YES this boxset is not nearly enough. Seriously, though, it's a great listen.

goldilocks option: thus entire box set except cut out all the wakeman solo spots = JUST RIGHT

the dolby issue: according to brian kehew (an actual genius) eddie offord recorded the original tormato sessions in dolby-A, they fired him and overdubbed the rest not in dolby-A cuz they are dumb. when brian went the tapes later on he knew eddie liked to record in dolby A and went to playback the tapes and they sounded WAY BETTER except for the over dubs which still sounded like shit. so there's no saving the sessions.

huh, maybe that explains it, I always thought Tormato sounded weird but could never articulate why. I knew Wakeman's Birotron had something to do with it (is this the only album that actually uses it?) but like what I got a vinyl copy and played it on a good system I remember thinking I needed a new stylus because something was just off about it. it's got such a narrow soundstage, everything is kind of in a line...when Wakeman is playing you can't really hear anything else, ditto for a lot of Anderson's vocals, while Howe and White just kinda languish in the background surrounded by pillows. I can't really remember a single Howe guitar line on the album, outside of the more straightforward rock n' roll ones.

but also the songs aren't quite as good as they were, I mean yeah it's kinda interesting to hear them try disco and power pop but it's not really their strong suit, also they don't really have any of the cool jam sections that Yes excelled at. they come close sometimes but you can tell "no epics" was sort of their M.O. here. it does have some tracks I like though - the opening and closing track are both great, and I'll defend "Arriving UFO" just on the grounds that its really odd, I just wish they had the courage to get even weirder with it

there's a demo of the Birotron here, if you're interested. apparently Wakeman financed the development of it and there were only ever 2 working units.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URR7l-uI6JA

I recommend reading the description, its pretty insane:

Life is short. The Birotron is in danger of disappearing and both positive vibes and hard work are now required to save it. 'Trolls' harassing anyone, 'internet beggars' demanding free sounds, 'sound poachers/criminals' sampling this video to exploit it, and pushers of any political agendas will be:
a) Permanently banned from this page / other related Birotron pages.
b) Permanently blacklisted from buying, owning or using these sounds if and when they become available commercially.
c) Prosecuted for any crimes or offenses committed in relation to the above. (This page is being monitored by a Private Investigation Agency 24/7)
Protecting this instrument, and all of you visiting here deeply matters to us, especially when this is your only source for it.

I think it's cool people are trying to 'restore' the sound of the thing, but it kinda sounds shitty doesn't it? my understanding with the mellotron is the machine itself is pretty faulty and doesn't really reproduce the sound of the tapes well but it distorts it in a way that gives it this ethereal and mystical quality. that's a pretty tricky thing to reproduce. the Birotron just sounds cheap to me.

leon theremin meet robert moog meet dave biro (actual name)

The version of "Days" on Tormato bonus tracks is really lovely, I prefer it to the version that ended up on Song Of Seven, it's just vocals and works really well

I could not take it oh so seriously really
When you called and said you'd seen a UFO

- noted skeptic and debunker Jon Anderson

Don't know Borstlap but nice to have these collections
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/bruford-borstlap-sheer-reckless-abandon-3cd1dvd-edition
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/patrick-moraz-bill-bruford-temples-of-joy-3cd-edition

https://shop.spotify.com/en/artist/7AC976RDJzL2asmZuz7qil/product/yes-incense

Along with several other Ilxors, I was born during the brief period known as the Gerald Ford era, meaning that nearly all of my memories of that decade are of the "Long '70s" variety that ran through '83 (wood-panel basements and weird swirly lights as room decor, leaded gas, classic rock's last stand on MTV before the Prince/Lauper/MJ era, malls with massive plants near the Miller's Outpost, you get the idea). Tormato, especially "On The Silent Wings of Freedom" (which might be the most 'Yes' song title ever), makes me 'remember' the late-70s, as if they are teleporting me to an era where I get to experience borrowed nostalgia, whether I actually experienced it or not.

Joni Mitchell played the Birotron on one of her best late songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOfJ7S9f2LM

That's a misnomer - the actual credit on Night Ride Home is "Billatron", which is a keyboard sample of the guitarist Bill Dillon.

The bonus tracks on Tormato show that they still had a lot of ideas, but no-one was capitulating to fit those ideas together. Anderson wants to get soft, Howe wants to get hard, Bootsy Squire's Mutron pedal whose sound doesn't fit in with what anyone else is doing, and Wakeman's assortment of shrill keyboards covering everything like a tinsel explosion. I like most of the record in spite of its flaws.

Waksman’s baroque solo on the Birotron on Don’t Kill the Whale rules so hard.