Yes solo albums S/D

I've always been told that Fish Out of Water is great but am only listening now. Pretty good.

Has anyone heard Chris Squire's Swiss Choir?

Never knew about this thread.

Was talking recently about how great Fish Out Of Water is, but mostly the first 3 tracks.

I'd go as far to say that Anderson's Olias is one of the really essential prog records. I like Song Of Seven a lot but it isn't nearly as good.

Jon & Vangelis - Friends Of Mr Cairo has some great stuff, some less great. Private Collection is okay, "Italian Song" is lovely.

Wakeman's Six Wives is really great.

That's as far as I've got. Need more!

I'm still in awe of the first half of Fish Out Of Water, such a great album.

Really wish Squire had made more albums back then. Maybe that Swiss Quire album is worth a look.

Squire's album with Steve Hackett from a couple of years (?) back has its moments. Overall certainly better than the awful "Yes" album from this year.

'Swiss Quire' is mainly safe and pedestrian, like 90% of Christmas albums. One or two interesting arrangements plus an OK but unnecessary reboot of "Run With the Fox". Pay no more than $2 / £1.

it's no 'fish out of water' ii but the squackett album isn't horrible. neither is the syn reunion album from a couple years ago

I still get excited when a Fish Out Of Water song pops into my head.

I feel really sorry for Geir that he couldn't get into the solo albums. For a Yes fan, that's tragic.

Was quite excited to see a new edition of Jon Anderson's Animation in shops recently. The last CD version was said to be a bad vinyl rip and it was becoming rare.

It's really good so far, great bonus tracks. Can't believe "The Spell" was sitting on a shelf for 4 decades! Anderson said the label didn't care for it but it was a strange obsession for him, it's a beauty! It's one of those long storytelling tracks that he did solo or with Vangelis like "Friends Of Mr Cairo" and even "Animation".

Cherry Red/Esoteric have been reissuing Anderson's solo albums, so am I to assume that 3 Ships is coming in a matter of months? Please! (I haven't heard it yet)

As many have said above, Olias of Sunhillow rules. Fish Out of Water is really good, too.

Anderson did an album with Roine Stolt, Invention of Knowledge, in 2016 that I liked a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scVF-gF3pIM

yeah the Anderson/Stolt album is terrific, kind of a sequel to Olias moreso than any of his other solo material

I have the Jon & Vangelis Friends of Mr. Cairo LP - it's a fairly common one - the way both sides start you almost feel like you got the wrong record. I had no idea that Donna Summer covered a Jon & Vangelis song and would not have believed you had you told me

kind of interested in Howe's stuff - I liked Beginnings a lot, minus the singing of course. seems like a rabbit hole I don't necessarily want to go down. I also own like 6 Wakeman LPs, they're so cheap and plentiful, but outside of Six Wives I don't know if any of them are any good

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is great, that "save me"/"praise god" bit is just walloping great

Yeah that Donna Summer cover really surprised me. I seen Brian Eno really praise it and I was wondering if he just thought that particular version was genius

Really enjoying Wakeman's King Arthur. "Merlin" is a delight, hope he has more stuff like this.

Glad to see some love for that Anderson/Stolt album, I was really surprised by how much I liked it.

As far as Howe, I just picked up both of his Anthology collections which is probably more Steve than I need.

"Hold Out Your Hand" from Fish Out of Water is a standout for me

I'm not sure I'll like King Arthur as much as the previous two but the parts where it all starts sprinting are so exciting

Didn't realize that King Arthur and Journey To The Centre both have two vocalists, I thought it was all Ashley Holt, but the other guy is Gary Pickford-Hopkins. One of them seems like an odd fit to me, like maybe too traditionally hard rock or something? Seems like Holt stuck with Wakeman for longer.

Was pleased to find today there is a new version of Lisztomania soundtrack from original masters which were long thought to be lost, with unheard tracks. I didn't realize the 70s album release had a lot of music Wakeman wasn't involved with and didn't approve. Nice surprise.

Notes say that the record company hated his early albums and were very reluctant to release them. Demanded vocals on Six Wives.

I love what Anderson does with his voice when it sort of darts around in Animation. I'd strongly recommend getting this new reissue with the bonus tracks, because they're as good as anything else on it. Only 2 songs I don't have much enthusiasm for.
Going to wait a while and see if Esoteric reissues 3 Ships.

I've really grown to love King Arthur, lots of fun. I do think Wakeman could have done wonders with a more conventional combination of a singer like Annie Haslam than the hard rock styled vocalists he uses but I still dig it.

steve howe and rick wakeman have a ton of solo stuff i am sure is good and the rest i would not bother with!

I've had only good experiences so far but I'm still on the early days. Still haven't got around to Howe, Bruford, Moraz and White

I picked up Bruford's Feels Good To Me today, and there was something like 8 to 10 of his albums so I guess they've been reissued recently?

I believe he owns the rights to his solo/group albums and has re-released them himself?
Feels Good to Me must be the entry point for a lot of people who listen to Annette Peacock. I find it a lot more listenable than a lot of fusion from the era, partly because of her occasional singing, but also the dynamics and eclecticism of the tunes. Oddly, the opener "Beelzebub" is probably the weakest song.

He's got a new channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKwocCGTt-Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieR2JKShT_A

Wakeman's No Earthly Connection is really lovely

Feels like a more personal album than anything previous but I'm not sure what it's about and apparently he couldn't explain the album either.

Can't believe how much he did in the 90s. And there's an Ayreon guest appearance!

The centerfold with all of his guitars is pretty classic on the "Steve Howe Album". I'm sure it has inspired quite a bit of guitar gear lust over the decades.

Olias of Sunhillow's reputation as Anco-prescient seems to have really picked up in recent years I feel

On another thread, I was pondering listening to Ramshackled in honour of Alan White despite my expectations that it really couldn't be that great. I mostly wanted to have heard all five solo albums from the 1975-1976 "hiatus". Here's how I'd rank them:

Olias of Sunhillow - I'm so glad we got one album of unfiltered and unfettered Jon Anderson
Fish Out of Water - very good, but it loses me in the middle of the last, very long track
Ramshackled - better a competent R&B/fusion record than the overambitious efforts of Howe and Moraz below
Beginnings - appropriate title, because Howe always seems to be about to start doing something amazing before he takes a left turn into something frustrating. He can't project vocally, but the songs don't help either. Who would have thought that the most memorable bit on a Steve Howe solo record would be a sax section?!?
The Story of i - I bought this LP for a dollar and was still disappointed. Lots of stuff (prog, fusion, Brazilian music, AOR, dumb concept) blended into an unlistenable mess. Relayer is my favourite Yes album but this made me wonder whether Moraz has any musical taste at all

I just ordered Beginnings. I bought Story Of i not long ago so I should stick it on soon. I liked what I've heard so far from Bruford's Feels Good To Me.

There is actually some love for No Earthly Connection on the Wakeman thread, so it hasn't been ignored here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93T58NlLiEk

Absolutely love No Earthly Connection, might be my favorite Wakeman of the first 4, but the high points of King Arthur and Journey are so strong. I haven't heard Six Wives in a long time.

No Earthly Connection gets so funky

Digging Howe's debut, it sounds more Yes-like than any of the other solo albums I've heard. I think he has a basically pleasant voice that needed a bit of training, odd that he wasn't as perfectionist about his voice, did he keep on singing throughout his solo career?