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

why not, i'm in

this LP is VG with some surface noise, I foresee a 4th copy in my future someday

i'm just streaming it on youtube

miss my yes albums tho. i don't think any of em were as clean as your 3rd copy of drama but they were good yes albums

this album def has a 'i can't tell if i'm listening to yes or the buggles' thing goin on, it's the battletoads/double dragon of rock.

i find myself playing "which band am i listening to?", for this reason i'm only somewhat yessed out.

I remember hearing Tempus Fugit as a child and thinking it was the coolest song ever. At 15 I was convinced it was Styx and downloaded a bunch of their albums trying to find it. Little did I know it was a band I was already getting into! It was so awesome to get to the end of this record and be like…holy shit it’s THAT song

One of the guys from Glass Hammer is on a sword and sorcery discord I go to, he writes fantasy books too (shocking, I know).

I don't see myself getting around to all the later Yes albums for a long time because the solo albums are so much more exciting.

well right now it's Drama, god I still remember every fuckin word of this record from 9th grade

― broken breakbeat (sleeve), Wednesday, May 24, 2023 4:43 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh you're doing Yuggles!

― No, 𝘐'𝘮 Breathless! (Deflatormouse), Wednesday, May 24, 2023 4:45 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

why not, i'm in

― No, 𝘐'𝘮 Breathless! (Deflatormouse), Wednesday, May 24, 2023

I've probably mentioned this before, but it's still amazing that the now-closed Grumpy's Bar in downtown Minneapolis (the Northeast outpost is still standing, thankfully) featured "Machine Messiah" on its karaoke list. How does that (really) happen? Who signed off on that?

I was really tempted to try it, but the prospect of standing on stage under the lights for 10 minutes, with maybe half of that featuring any vocals whatsoever, with everyone waiting and watching, seemed way too daunting.

I've learned the hard way (doing Deacon Blues) that karaoke tracks with lengthy instrumental sections don't work well.

Haha, shades of SCTV's Dave Thomas as Richard Harris doing MacArthur Park

standing on stage under the lights for 10 minutes, with maybe half of that featuring any vocals whatsoever, with everyone waiting and watching

This karaoke option was a means to get you to empathize with 1980 Trevor Horn.

I've learned the hard way (doing Deacon Blues) that karaoke tracks with lengthy instrumental sections don't work well.

That's why you've got to bring your tenor sax with you to karaoke.

shades of SCTV's Dave Thomas as Richard Harris doing MacArthur Park

"Who threw that brick?!?"

Will admit to feeling anxious about the consequences of playing just what I feel.

finally getting around to the new one. despite the glaring missteps that frogbs totally calls upthread, the high points are good enough to make this easily my favorite of the David/Davison era. the title track is really good and I totally agree that cutting the awful "Luminosity"/"Living Out the Dream" pairing and shifting the "bonus tracks" to the main album would have made this even better.

I am not listening to Yes tonight I am listening to STARCASTLE which I'll be honest is so much more fun and direct than most Yes music, plus the album I'm listening to (Fountains of Light) is produced by Roy Thomas Baker so it's got this real punchy sound to it. Plus the keyboards sound like casino slot machines! what's not to like?

Ha! Fun band! Never heard them before. Thanks for the recommendation.

I like Starcastle, and long for a world where I can start a band that sort of sounds like Yes and score a record deal, was not aware that the lead singer also sang lead on the first REO Speedwagon record!

It's ok, it's no Starcastle

seems to be very little footage of them in their heyday but here's a minute and a half from 1977 which is pretty hilarious. fits the description I heard from a guy who'd actually seen them around this time - "felt like I was seeing Spinal Tap"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AbIyP7xmVE

cut to the crowd is kinda sad, nobody seems to be paying attention to the band at all. maybe they weren't loud enough??

that's a big crowd! love that footage, thx

Looks like that clip of the crowd is either before or after the concert, probably after, given its chronology.

hmmm yeah you're probably right, I mean the footage doesn't sync up with the music anyway. I mean you see Luttrell strut (??) up to the mic at :54 although in the audio he's clearly singing already

I like Starcastle, and long for a world where I can start a band that sort of sounds like Yes and score a record deal

the funny thing is their first record was released in 1976 which implies that this band was signed to fill the void from Yes breaking up. now that I mention it what this band really reminds me of are those reviews of Olias of Sunhillow where the author clearly hates the album but writes about it in a way that makes it sound awesome

also I just found out they made a comeback record in 2007 which I'm listening to now - it's pretty good! it's a bit Pro Tooled up and I'm pretty sure this isn't their original singer but it kinda sounds to me like "what if Heaven and Earth didn't suck"

I now realize I get Starcastle and Fireballet confused.

author clearly hates the album but writes about it in a way that makes it sound awesome

― frogbs, Wednesday, 5 July 2023 16:03 (three hours ago

Love reviews like that, jerky sounding music journalists being scathing about something great yet they describe it fairly well

all-time classic in that genre:

The Cardiacs didn't make it easy to like their second album, too happy to let their whirligig of shattered atonal pop come apart at its seams. The band's technique for hoisting a radical thrill out of audience discomfort was pushed to extremes ("Fast Robert," "Baby Heart Dirt") and it suddenly felt forced and phony, like a poor Dadaist trying to make do in a world of Starter jackets and Technotronic. Great for those who liked staticy hip-hop, piercing keyboards, Long Ranger harmonicas, and the sound of a tape deck being clicked off, less so for those who didn't.

I like Starcastle, and long for a world where I can start a band that sort of sounds like Yes and score a record deal

as hard as it is to believe, such a world once existed

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/ashratom/usa-midwest-ontario-progressive-rock-1970s_early-80s/

where's happy the man on that list? i guess virginia isn't midwest. i saw happy the man once in college.

ashratom is pretty topographically strict in that list

there's no reason not to mention finch for instance besides land mass restrictions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hglwpSuRDo

xxp amazing list tyvm

was thinking about this when I put on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway yesterday, like back in 1974 there must've been a very real feeling of "hey, the people want rock operas"

i first heard "lamb" in the room of a friend who went on to be a super big honcho at universal music group, so i guess he knew what the people wanted.

https://eventcalendar.adelphi.edu/live/image/gid/2/width/609/height/406/263_Mike_Sammis_Headshot.jpg

I now realize I get Starcastle and Fireballet confused.

Such beauty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeWH7xd5ZS8

wha-haaaa???

Wow

once again reminded that the middle section of Gates of Delirium is the most thrilling passage in prog history

have often wondered what the world might be like if yes had kept patrick moraz on for a couple more records, not that I mind wakeman but moraz brought a certain flavor, and was fresh and excited, then again if that had worked out we probably wouldn't have drama and I love drama

also just watched an interview with keith emerson and in addition to trying to poach chris squire and then steve howe at various points, was asked to join yes circa relayer, to which he replied "lol no why would I do that" could have been interesting though

a Moraz-led Yes album in 1975 would've really been something. he cranked out some really exciting music with Refugee despite his band being the not-particularly-skilled other two guys from The Nice. can only imagine what he would have been able to do with guys like Squire and Howe. they'd never let it happen though

yeah god those poor two dudes from nice/refugee, they're really pretty great players but just massively overshadowed by these incredible writers/keyboardists that they couldn't get to stick around, really like that one refugee album though

in that interview emerson says he wanted squire for a nascent elp but squire wasn't comfortable singing lead vocals, but had a singer in mind, emerson wasn't into it, wanted to keep it a three piece

singer in question was not named, who could it be? this is after yes was already a thing so presumably squire was prepared to leave yes and start this other band with emerson and a mystery singer

will never not be fascinated by these old school music biz stories where all of these desperately talented people all somehow lived in the same area and knew of one another, how exciting

i mind wakeman, for sucking

time to crowbar the hallelujah chorus into my "solo" so the oaves can hoot and holler

Ranking the keyboardists from the three times I've seen Yes live:
1. Geoff Downes (2022 - superb)
2. Oliver Wakeman (2001 - solid)
3. Rick Wakeman (2003 - clunky, corny, overly florid in a way that didn't mesh with the other performers)

singer in question was not named, who could it be?

okay I vaguely remember this story and think it might actually have been Randy Bachman?

will never not be fascinated by these old school music biz stories where all of these desperately talented people all somehow lived in the same area and knew of one another, how exciting

yeah I love this shit, super cool to see all those 70s German records with appearances by Klaus Schulze or Roedelius or Harold Grosskopf. and of course Connie Plank being the go-to guy to produce all of it (was Eddy Offord that sort of figure in the prog scene?). and of course the entire YEN Records scene in Japan where seemingly every single LP would have an appearance by a YMO member (or a songwriting credit!). nothing like that currently I think, though I think vaporwave is sort of an online version of this

Emerson Squire Bachman Palmer would have been very interesting, though I've read that Mitch Mitchell was in talks at some point and that would have been even more interestinger, also wonder why weird combos of established musicians don't happen much anymore, probably something to do with money

this is why I like boygenius, it harkens, harkens back, way back, back into time

and I understand the wakeman hate but the clips I've seen of ARW are pretty great, shame they never tried a record

though they did record a single and it is not very good

Again I think Wakeman was incredible in the 70s based on his Yes album and several great solo albums and no amount of folly since then is going to wipe that away, but I haven't heard much from later and its hard to take other's opinions seriously about his later music when even Yes fans are frequently wrong about his 70s work.

With Yes on record: great. Live with Yes in 2003: wrong-sounding outlier who just didn’t gel with the rest of the Topgraphic-era line-up.

with yes on record and on-stage in all eras: didn't gel and also sucked

In 1970, days out of the Guess Who, Randy Bachman met an "orchestrator from Britain" who had done some arrangement work on an album by the Nice (presumably Joseph Eger). He had heard Bachman's instrumental solo album Axe and offered to put in a good word with Emerson, who was looking for a guitarist for his new group. Bachman "didn't want to join another band" at that point and so declined, but Emerson may never have known about this offer.
Also I don't believe he had even recorded a single lead vocal by that point, so I doubt he would have wound up singing.

me requesting songs at prog night yesterday

https://media.tenor.com/AhE2BNYK_8YAAAAC/yes-danielbryan.gif

i had no idea this had ever been condensed and released as a single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Kqt0XznuI