Over the years I have noticed varying opinions here(shocker I know-) of Bill's solo at the end of Perpetual Change and I am wondering after 41 years what do you all think of it? Me, I admit I am not a drummer but I love drums,always wanted to be a drummer and can play Wipe Out with only my hands on any flat surface. lol Personally,I love his solo on this. I have never met or seen a drummer who could learn it. So,does Bill kill on P.C?
Very good!
Love it.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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Wow. People don't like that? I think it's awesome.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Great.
when was this solo ever discussed on PE and what kind of varying opinions were there of it? It's great, it's classic, the end.
I'll preface by saying I'm a drummer that has played in a Yes cover band and Bruford is one of my top influences. Having said that, my feeling (and most of my drummer buddies) is that the solo starts off really strong, meanders a bit in the middle, then finishes strong. All in all, very good - just doesn't quite hit it out of the park.
very musical and interesting. it took a few listens to appreciate... but worth it!
I've always loved it. Especially how it segues into the finale. That is probably the one Yes song I that I like the live version of just as much as the original.
G'day Rand,
I've always loved this version of Perpetual Change mainly because of Bill's drumming. And as much as I love Alan White's drumming there is a definitely something different in the drumming on Yes songs. Not bad, yet different.
Be a loyal plastic robot for a world that doesn't care... Frank Zappa
I remember the first time I was exposed to Yessongs. I was amazed to discover that Bill had left and all he played on were Perpetual Change and Long Distance Runaround/The Fish. His playing and his tone(that ever present rim shot snare) is so much more audible. It took me a long time to warm up to Alan White. In fact,in 1976,when all the solo albums had been out,I bought them all except for Ramshackled. To this day I have never owned it or even heard it all the way through. I missed out on White,but I love Levin,Torn,White.
Very concise, which is a good (very good) thing when it comes to drum solos, and "musicianly" as well - which is also a very good thing and rare when it comes to drum solos outside jazz IMO.
Does it matter that this waste of time is what makes a life for you?
Yeah I for one have always felt Bruford could have stood for more exposure on this release (for my money he could have stood for a bit more exposure on Seconds Out as well!). Fish and Perpetual Change are wonderful representations of his time with the band... and I realize Starship Trooper wasn't something they played much when he toured with them (not even sure if they even played it until the CTTE tour). Would have been nice to hear Bruford's HotS and of course Roundabout. Wonderful that years later the box set came out with the near perfect 1st disc which has tremendous performances from Bill. As for the question, yeah for a drum solo I guess it hits the mark. Of course I've never been big on drum solo's other than Carl Palmer's Karn Evil 9 solo which fits perfectly.Originally Posted by Rand Kelly
It's no "Indiscipline" solo, but I like it.
High Vibration Go On - R.I.P. Chris Squire
It's good, musical percussive improvisation.Fits in with it's surrounding musical context.
At the time it was not going to have Jon Hiseman or Billy Cobham sweating in terms of all-round technique, nor Ian Paice for sheer fluidity with the hands, but it's very good and was never trying to compete with anyone anyway.
Love it. Sounds like nobody but Bill, has his penchant for wrist-snapping precision with some rhythmic complexity in the middle for variety. It's dynamic, musical, not too long, not too short, and comes in from the song and goes back into it perfectly.
It's interesting that both Yes and Genesis put out live albums drawn from the tour that took place after Bruford was no longer playing with them, yet each chose to include some material that included Bruford. I guess it's mostly due to the fact that the chosen material wasn't in the set list any longer, and maybe they didn't want to overemphasize the most recent album's tracks in the live album, but interesting nonetheless. Genesis could have chosen to include Inside and Out instead of the earlier tour's Cinema Show.
It's like Peart's solo on All the World's a Stage. Not too long, not too short, it's entertaining and it gets the job done nicely.
High Vibration Go On - R.I.P. Chris Squire
They weren't very apt at jamming IMO, and there's something rather uncomfortably calculated about the solo and the way it appears contrived or even "mandatory" as ingredient to this specific version. It's swiftly played of course, but not too interesting to my ears.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Yes, although I also would imagine that he was considered worthy of a respectful nod on those live albums. In the case of Seconds Out, I would think Phil especially would want Bill to make at least an appearance (it's also a terrific performance). "Inside And Out", well, if it wasn't thought of by everybody as quite good enough for the studio album, chances are it was outvoted for the live one as well. That's my theory, anyway. As for Yessongs, I think it would have been frowned upon by the fans to not at least give a tip of the cap to the only drummer they'd known up to that point.
I've been to Massey Hall (where that album was recorded) many times and every single time, I imagine what it must have been like to see Rush in those days. Amazing, no doubt.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
While I think we can presume that their interest was hardly in being a "jam" band, their version of "America" would seem at odds with your view on this.
And there are also other examples of great, innovative "jamming" in their repertoire. The Yessongs (album) version of YinD also comes to mind.
I haven't heard it in a long time but I remember liking it. I mean it's Bruford how bad can it be?
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
Yeah, that was my first thought, too, Jeff. That version of YinD is just smokin'.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
They were way more "jammy" when Steve first joined (and I'm guessing they were also when Peter Banks was in the band). Besides The Yes Album tracks, older songs like "Everydays" and their cover of "It's Love" and "America" let Steve and Chris stretch out a bunch. It's a shame Tony never blossomed as a soloist. It might have helped his standing politically in the group. But the whole band had a more jamming vibe in those days. I always think it's a shame it didn't last long. Fragile pretty much put the kabosh on that era of the group.
Yeah. Except of course that a) I never insinuated that Yes were ever trying/aspiring to be a "jam band" - I wrote that their actual "jamming" wasn't very good (and you can give or take just any example of it, from Yessongs or Yesshows or whatever); b) their "America" rendition is not about improvisation, but carefully arranged (and partly spliced) guitars-vs--rhythm-section passages (and I love that one!); c) as for "YinD", while I'm well aware of your tendency to be "puzzled" when people hold other opinions than your own, my point was that in fact I do not think this particular version of the song is very impressive - mostly because of the daft attempts at "jamming".
There were loads of great improvisation going on with selected progressive acts in the 70s, but I'm not too convinced by Yes' attempts. I still love the band, though.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
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