Too rarely mentioned these days, but so great:
Legs Diamond
Head East
Type: Posts; User: Jacob Holm-Lupo
Too rarely mentioned these days, but so great:
Legs Diamond
Head East
I actually quite like that edit, it brings more focus to the best and most Yes-y parts.
If I’m to be honest about Hackett, as much as I admire him, the only albums since his first 4 that I have found worthwhile are acoustic ones, ie Bay of Kings and Momentum. I can’t stand all the...
My opinion hasn’t changed either. I feel like there are some interesting musical ideas there, attempts to revisit their past, but the production is just terrible. Harsh on top and bloated in the...
I can’t really trace any HtM DNA here. Kinda weird to release it as a HtM song.
Just put on the first Mahavishnu instead. Heavy, jammy, virtuosic.
Since it's not available on streaming services, I've only been able to hear the one track that's streaming on their bandcamp. I had high hopes, and I'm a huge Alan Reed fan. But the production is...
For a whole album of horror soundtrack-inspired instrumental stuff:
https://telepath1.bandcamp.com/album/mental-mutations
What's wrong with Alpha is the pacing and the abundance of slow, sentimental tunes. It does have two of my favorite Asia songs, though, the wonderful Midnight Sun, which could almost have fit on Yes'...
I think one of the most interesting questions that this thread raises, is why all these bands are more or less forgotten? There really was quite an underground scene in the pre-revival part of the...
Roger Waters brings us to the difficult question of weighing an artist’s art against their character and actions. Can art be divorced from the person who makes it? When he recently made the claim...
I’d argue Pallas was one of the less typical-sounding neo-bands. They were a lot less indebted to Genesis, and more «retro» in the keys department. There was also that slight influence of NWOBHM that...
For those geeky enough to be interested, Tusmørke is the Norwegian word for twilight. It's made up of mørke, meaning dark, and tuss or tusse, the name of a particular kind of subterranean being...
I think this remains an open and interesting question, that I’m actually researching right now for an article. Black music and Afro-futurism was an integral part of the 60s musical counter-culture,...
I'd argue that Sun Ra was not only the originator of spiritual jazz, but indirectly also possibly one of the earliest progenitors (pun intended) of prog, through his influence on the 60s psychedelic...
Great guitar playing, great orchestration from Kamen, but music that does little for me, and lyrics that just jar, now that I know what a hypocrite Waters is.
Agreed. This is not a composition. And Rick is not a fusion player. To think Chester used to play with Weather Report …
This is an interesting subject, and one I've thought of often. You mention Lukather, and I think the contrast between Toto's late-career tours and their last album, XIV, compared to Yes is quite...
Oh, I love AOR, the pompier the better, from Aviary to Zon. I just don’t think Yes really did that well. The «mainstreaming» of Yes worked better in the pop direction, imo. More room for quirk there.
Agreed. Fruup were not great, but at least quite different. More ornate and sort of fin-de-siecle, in a prog way. Very, very lightweight, instrumentally and compositionally, but a pleasing listen...
I totally agree that the guitarsolo is fantastic. There are parts of Hearts I like a lot - the section with the monkish choir for instance. The most AOR part for me is probably the "Who would believe...
Maybe not so far off :) I have contributed a chapter on Yes and Trevor Horn to an upcoming academic tome soon to be published. I think it will be called The Routledge Handbook to Progressive Rock.
...
I guess this has become a bit of a 90125 vs ABWH thread. That can be interesting, even though it's apples and oranges to some extent.
90125 is the more complete and cohesive record, with the larger...
Incidentally, here's a snippet from a long Alan White interview in Modern Drummer back in '85:
AW: Playing complex
rhythms and making them swing and sound funky
at the same time, and adding a...
We agree on the merits of ABWH, but certainly not on the perceived de-merits of 90125. I understand that for fans of 70s Yes it was a hard pill to swallow, and I've had some interesting conversations...
I think there’s tons of Yes DNA on 90125 - Squire’s driving bass lines, White’s distinctive swag, the Anderson/Squire harmonies, and a lot of the songwriting. I see Owner as a sort of 80s update of...
ABWH: Amazing tour, the best Yes concert I’ve seen. Too bad Tony Levin was sick when they taped the live album.
The album: Flawed, but I love it. It was an exciting time - Yes (ABWH) was probably...
Horrifying production, not a natural sound anywhere in sight. I think something serious happens to the ears of some of these old geezers - hope the same won’t happen to me.
That said, a shame,...
Thanks for kind words here.
I see the album is now available from The Laser’s Edge, among others.
Waters in his old age reminds me of Trump. He’s convinced himself he’s a (very stable) genius, and he’s obviously surrounded by people too scared to tell him the truth.
I strongly disagree with that. Unlike a lot of their subsequent albums, that were dragged down by hippy-dippy nonsense and lame attempts at «rocking», Days is a very consistent album where the actual...
Florian-Era Le Orme, Ragnarok, early Gryphon, Heresie-era Univers Zero, Philharmonie, too many German psych-folk-prog bands to mention…
Out today, our Solstein album features Steely Dan/Toto/Christopher Cross drummer Keith Carlock, myself, ex-White Willow keyboardist Brynjar Dambo, US progger Bill Bressler and up-and-coming Norwegian...
I am grateful for the fact that they include the original mix as well. I only hope that as these things trickle onto streaming services, it won't be just the remixed versions.
Ah, yes - I...
I don't really know why you're getting so much flack for saying something a lot of people have been aware of for a long time. Now, I should tread carefully saying this, since I've been known to be...
Well, I recognize that I am in a minority position, because I've discussed this on here before. My take is that a recording is a historical document. A snapshot of an artist's work and state of mind...
It absolutely hasn't. The music kids listen to today is a lot more oriented towards problematic social issues that affect their lives. 70s rock was relatively removed from regular teenagers' lives,...
Huh? I’m voicing my opinion that this album doesn’t need a remix. I think that’s allowed around here. Are we not supposed to question the workings of the industry, the necessity of ever-new...
Yet another great-sounding album that is in NO need of a remix. Just reissue it as is, maybe remastered from the original tapes, with original Hiphnosis art, and throw in some good liner notes. Stop...
The template for rock music was created when the first blues guitarist cranked his amp into overdrive. Considering how much mileage the world has gotten out of that, I don't see any reason why folks...
I really don't understand this sort of thing. I'm cool with using the Bible as inspiration for music - lots of good stories in that book. But there's a complete disconnect between the music and the...
What - they kept going without Fish??
Gauntlet thrown down. Power Windows is not only the best post-Grace album, but one of my all-time Rush faves.
I don’t get the love for this album. The production is unbearable, crushing compression and booming bass. I get exhausted after just a few minutes listening. They really lost the plot,...
On that we're 100% in agreement ;)
Well, don’t we all make value judgments on music and musicians every day on this forum? Right or wrong, we’re all entitled to our opinions on bad or good. As someone with 25+ years of experience as a...
Compared to Anderson he is not. He doesn’t project much, and at least the way he sounds on records, his voice is quite thin. I guess «assertive» might be a better word.
Fly From Here suite
Life on a Filmset
Subway Walls
The Ice Bridge
The Western Edge
A Living Island
Cut From the Stars
Mirror to the Sky
I agree with this, and I think it's one of the main stumbling blocks for the band now - in addition to a lack of self-editing in the songwriting department. As I have said elsewhere, these new,...
If you fancy a bit of chilled out prog-fusion, the first single off the forthcoming album with my new project Solstein is out today. Ft. Stian Larsen on lead guitar, myself on bass, rhythm guitar and...
Interesting, since I got some Chris Rea associations listening to it. And Chris Rea/Dire Straits is sort of same difference in my mind.
Incidentally, for those of similar tastes to mine (meaning...
This is true.
This is true, and I have thought about it. I think the sheer firepower on display from the band makes up for the poor production.
Well, as for Howe I was mostly talking about the amount of guitar...
Just to be clear, I have not assessed the album from a primarily technical perspective - I do listen simply as a Yes fan. But since my job is mixing and audio production, I see technical aspects as...
Having lived with the album a few more days, here are some very generalized thoughts - again, for a more full assessment, I did one on my FB page.
Cut From the Stars remains the best song, and is...
All of this is correct, and weirdly they’re kind of amateur mistakes to make, especially when working with a band that’s known for its midrange punch.
I agree that the praise for the production is unwarranted. «Hollow» is exactly the word I used to describe it in my FB rant too. Especially the drums and the vocals lack body and weight. Both vocals...
I've listened to it 6 times now, and I am sorry to say I like it less the more I listen. The title track is probably the best track, along with Cut From the Stars. But whereas Cut from the Stars is...
That review put me off with its very first sentence: "It can be really sad when bands change with the times." How on earth can that be sad? I personally think its sad when bands don't change. To me...
Just another reminder that taste remains 100% subjective. I think The More We Live is the second best Yes West tune on Union (after Miracle of Life), and I think Shoot High is probably the best tune...