Possibly "every early-70s dinosaur band still producing in 1987" would be more accurate.Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor
Possibly "every early-70s dinosaur band still producing in 1987" would be more accurate.
... “there’s a million ways to learn” (which there are, by the way), but ironically, there’s a million things to eat, I’m just not sure I want to eat them all. -- Jeff Berlin
Certainly wouldn't call it BG Power Pop & Hold your Fire isn't that great, didn't it also 'bomb'?
This was the worst of the Rabin years. Crappy recording, confused and meandering songs... there were a couple of good parts, but not enough to redeem the album. I thought _Talk_ was by far the best of the three.
Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.
After 30 years still this is an album that I can not digest.
not much to write home about. some snippets and morsels are quite nice.
If I remember rightly a remaster of the album with extra tracks appeared in that Studio Albums box Rhino put out a few years back. For some reason they stopped with 90125 on the separate releases.
As flawed as BG is, I would still take it over ABWH and Union, which both promised more and delivered less.
I don't understand your beef. Union promised too many people with too much ego, all playing over each other in a hastily composed mess. And that's precisely what it delivered.
... “there’s a million ways to learn” (which there are, by the way), but ironically, there’s a million things to eat, I’m just not sure I want to eat them all. -- Jeff Berlin
Last night I listened to BG from start to finish on YouTube. Probably the first time I've done that since Reagan was president. It is not as bad as I remember, frankly. Shoot High and I'm Running are very enjoyable songs. The two "hits" are decent 80s AOR. Even the title track isn't too bad. The only truly annoying thing on BG is Almost Like Love with that stupid thumping drumbeat throughout.
Based on last night's listen I would give BG **1/2.
As a comparison, I'm a big fan of 90125, which I would give ****1/2. Talk would probably be worth a ***.
I prefer more Union than BG, way more....
Not as good as brilliant 90125 but quite good pop/rock album anyway. Holy Lamb is the best song on this one. I Wish it was longer though.
My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/
Yeah, it is definitely a good start to something that could have been much better. Right when you think "OK this is getting interesting" it's over.
I was very confounded by the ABWH album when it came out. To my teenaged self, it seemed logical that Yes had been making the pop music that they were since Tormato, because the band lineup changed in the early '80s, and that if Bruford, Wakeman and Howe wanted to join Jon Anderson in making Yes music, that it would sound something like Fragile or Going for the One. It was, therefore, quite shocking to me when I heard ABWH - all airy synths, electronic drums and an overall pop approach to the music.
ya it was only dance mixes of rhythm of love and love will find a way. but this is a rare occasion where the dance mix for rhythm of love is far superior to the album version IMHO.
I do find this my least favorite of the rabin trilogy (leaving out union...) but it has grown on me some over the years.
The sounds may have had a pop approach, but the arrangements, for the most part, did not.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Bruford was very heavily into the electronic drums for a while. He eventually merged them well into a broader overall sound (e.g., "Deja Vrooom"), but there's a transitional period where the effect is sterile and bloodless. The studio version of "My Heart Declares a Holiday", for instance (live versions are much better). And I think ABWH came during that transition.
... “there’s a million ways to learn” (which there are, by the way), but ironically, there’s a million things to eat, I’m just not sure I want to eat them all. -- Jeff Berlin
BG was one of a handful of mid 80s albums which the vinyl sounds identical to the CD...with the addition of surface noise. The vinyl has none of the "warmth" or "fatness" one would expect from vinyl.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
I like it, but then I've been known to keep Shoot High, Aim Low on repeat from The Word Is Live.
Looks like I need to get hold of this Alternate Generator somehow too.
Damn record executives.
The original idea was to tie some of the songs together, sort of like side 2 of Abbey Road, you can hear it in part in the demos. The violins in the beginning of Love Will Find A Way were part of a segue.
I've never been able to make it through an entire track.
I've always liked this album, it remains a frequent flyer at chez moi. I have never understood what's considered so very wrong about it (other than : "it's not what Yes is supposed to be", etc). Oodles of interesting ideas, some innovative then (low-tuned guitars, exotic or unexpected sonorities) but, in hindsight, a generally 'congested' mix, with perhaps too much Queen 2-like whipped cream spread on top of everything. They got better at achieving a lush sound with "The more we live / Let go" on Union. But at the time of release, this type of "nouveau riche" production was the state of the art, and in that respect, it has aged better than, say, A momentary lapse of reason.
'Shoot high, aim low', 'Final eyes', 'I'm running' ? Good enough for me.
The production on AMLOR is indeed extremely dated but most of the songs still hold up for me (save a wobble on the first half with 'One Slip' and 'The Dogs Of War').
Yes I think there's a good half-album on Big Generator but that's it. The rest seems to be them thrashing around for some kind of hit. Something/Anything, as Todd Rundgren had it.
I like these mixes..
I think my problem with BG has always been that I was expecting something different with this one. To me 90125 was a project that only became a Yes album when Jon came on board, so I accepted the fact that it wasn't much in the style of classic Yes. If memory serves me I think it took them about 3 years to come out with BG and by that time I was expecting something more in a Yessish vein but got more of the same 90125 mode. It was very disappointing to wait 3 years for this. I listened back on it about 6 months ago with a different perspective and found that it's not a bad album at all, just not an album that I consider classic Yes. My one big concern is that this ARW project will put out something mostly on the lines of BG. Maybe with Waksman on board it will be a bit different. None the less I'm not holding my breath on whether they will release something new and whether it will be any good.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Always like Big Generator.
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks