Yes- OYE (what happened ?)

[Guess Who]

Definitely, THE WORST album Yes have ever released. I fully agree with those prog-reviewers who describe this effort as 'Close Your Ears'.

[Forester1]

Well, count me among those who see it as a half-decent effort - I prefer it to Generator, Union & Ladder. Never heard Talk, but it seems to have its fair share of fans.

[avalanche]

I remember liking the first few songs on OYE, but the album itself has lost its luster. It was a big comedown from Talk, one of my personal favorite Yes albums.

[Kim Olesen]

It's not a YES album. It's the Billy Sherwood Explosion with special guests appearances by "some of the blokes from the band YES".

It says YES on the cover. It's a YES album. The same way ABWH is not a YES album ;-)

[Scott Bails]

Haven't listened to this one in a long, long time, but I remember that there wasn't much that warranted attention.

Like others, however, I flat-out love the title track. Great energy in that song.

[Rickenbacker]

The title track *does* rock. Liked that one from 1st listen & still revisit from time to time.

[Progbear]

So basically...it was a Squire/Sherwood project that had the Yes name slapped on because it would sell more discs? Hardly the first time that’s happened.

-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

‘“What blow, Goblin?” said Corinius.’ --E. R. Eddison

N.P.:“Algos”-Finisterre/In limine

[nearfest]

I listened to it today, and it was pretty top heavy. The first third was a lot better than I remembered it being. The middle third was ok, kind of meh. The last third, especially the execrable "Somehow, Someday", was pretty dire. Perhaps with more time, they could have composed some stronger tracks, with these weaker tracks hitting the cutting room floor.

[Progatron]

I understand the like for the uplifting/positive/happy vibe to this album - some days I just want to hear that kind of stuff, especially when the first nice spring day hits and the sun is out. But I really do prefer the Conspiracy albums to this. I should make a playlist (if spring ever f***ing shows up!) consisting of the best tracks from 90125, BG, Union, Talk, and the two Conspiracy albums. None of this stuff will ever compare to my favourite Yes obviously - but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it now and then.

[Ken Baird]

I'd put the first three tracks on OYE up with the very best of the Rabin tracks. Pop music with a very Yes-like quality. The album does fizzle afterward, though.

Yup, I like the first 3 tracks too and then the album fizzles as you say. The tour was really cool, I saw the Massey Hall show in Toronto---Great to hear RSOG from Tales

[Garden Dreamer]

Some tracks I like, some make me ill. But it still sounds like a Sherwood/Squire album.

They did "From The Balcony" live also. There's a video of it on Youtube.

[ItalProgRules]

Uncyclopedia explains it all
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Yes_(band):

Open Your Fucking Eyes: We're Not Making Any Money!

1. New State Of Mind / 2. Open Your Fucking Eyes / 3. Universal Garden / 4. No Game We Can Lose / 5. Fortune Teller / 6. Man In The Moon/ 7. Wonderlove / 8. From The Falconry / 9. Love Shine / 10. Reptilian Marmaduke / 11.The Solution (inc. extended "nature" solos)

Billy, a 12 year old boy from Mexico, joined Yes in 1997 to contribute a more “down with the kids" sound (Spice Girls take note). The new album was as youthful as it was catchy. The presence of a 23 minute epic, inordinate swearing content, and a paedophile keyboardist just proves how child-friendly Open Your Fucking Eyes was. And as the title suggests, the band made a huge loss from its release. By this point the 90125 Vault was empty of cash, and Yes was becoming less of an asset and more of a hindrance. New recruit Igor Khoroshev helped out by financing his own keyboards (hence the use of the Stylophone) and Alan White agreed to fire himself for a couple of months to save more money; the cost of the album was ultimately totalled at around £1.20.


Fueled by his annoyance at the ametuer cover artwork on the previous album, Roger Dean smattered his artistic influences all over OYE's cover. His design was a simple Yes logo, but he enforced that the size of each jewel case should be 10 metres squared at minimum, in order to hammer home the fact that he was the band's primary artist. In the following months, every record shop in the world was clogged up with giant CDs that weren't selling, and that took up lots of room. At the next G8 summit, it was agreed to launch millions of these records into outer space; the huge Yes logos have since been adopted as currency in surrounding solar systems.
The

[Mister Triscuits]

Billy, a 12 year old boy from Mexico

Where the title of this thread might be "OYE: ¿Como Va?"

[nearfest]

^^^ LOL!!! Oy Vey Como Va

[Scott Bails]

Where the title of this thread might be "OYE: ¿Como Va?"

Awesome.

[rcarlberg]

OYE is what happens when folks whose concept of what "hit music" sounds like ends around 1986 try to make "hit music."

You forgot a couple of s's.

[Vic2012]

Oy Vey Co Mo Vah!!!!!!........

It sounds Jewban.........ha ha

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

Couldn't believe how my favourite band could release an album of such poor quality!

Yes went Pop after GFTO. OYE isnt any worse than the stuff from Tormato onward really

[Scott Bails]

Yes went Pop after GFTO. OYE isnt any worse than the stuff from Tormato onward really

No.

OYE is the worst album ever recorded by the band, before or after GFTO.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

No.

OYE is the worst album ever recorded by the band, before or after GFTO.

I find it hard to believe it's worse than Onion... but I aint buyin it to find out. I'll take your word for it. Suffice to say that the 5 or 6 albums I own after GFTO dont even come close in quality to that album and I find them all to be pretty intolerable Pop fluff.

[Rufus]

No.

OYE is the worst album ever recorded by the band, before or after GFTO.

Korrekt

[bondegezou]

So basically...it was a Squire/Sherwood project that had the Yes name slapped on because it would sell more discs?

No. See description above.

Henry

[Rand Kelly]

I never got all the dislike for it. I've always enjoyed it. Quirky for them, as Batts says above, but catchy, positive, punchy, psychedelic-ish proggy pop. A fun, uplifting album to me.

BINGO! I even splurged for the Surround Sound version as well as the orig. cd.

[Rand Kelly]

It must have been just "Nous Sommes Du Soleil" because Masterworks was the first time the full version of "Ritual" had been performed since Moraz was in the band.

This is true,I remember seeing them do this in SF. It was just that chorus sung over and over-the whole thing lasted about 2 min. I also remember seeing them do From The Balcony and either Jon or Steve was actually in the balcony of The Warfield with a bright spotlight on them. I think it was Jon and Steve was sitting down playing the Guitar on the stage.

[Rand Kelly]

So,unbeknownst to me,they have been doing this at least 20 yrs. earlier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=PI9N36WPcyc