Best Yes Epic?
 

Having a debate with some friends over at the Marillion chat room.

What is the best Yes epic song?

Close to the Edge?
Revealing Science?
Ritual?
The Ancient?
The Remembering?
Gates of Delirium?
Awaken?
That, That is?

Might have forgotten one, not sure.

I'm thinking a toss up between Close and Awaken.

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

now, that would be a fun show! rick? :D

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

I've not done a Yes show yet. Interesting. Although Awaken is considered THE Yes tune (It's my favorite), I'm partial to "The Remembering High the Memory".

On a smaller scale I like "South Side of the Sky" or the bad ass "Siberian Khatru".

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

As an Album Tales...... is THE EPIC to end all EPICS.

As a single track though I pick Awaken.

As Spaz said in another thread A lot of people, Rick Wakeman included, think that it epitomises Progressive Rock.

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

As a track, I'm another Awaken voter ..... for me an album is more difficult. Think I'd have to go for Fragile, close run thing with The Yes Album though .....

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

i think i must side w/Close to the Edge and Awaken, Turn of the Century very close to my heart also....and Awaken wins by a note and a lyric

and you're right too difficult to pick an album.

Soundchaser is my pic for most fun — very energetic, good epic
Siberian and South Side of the Sky good mentions rick but not epic enough IMO.

and yes you forgot Gates!!!!!=8^O

ahh too much to think about...i'll stick with AWAKEN...from start to fini

pod

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

yikes!!! Gates was listed...sorry about that:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Does this mean that when you see my Avatar you just skip over? This Parallel thread to Keithies is going in circles. I called Awaken my fav. Yes Tune But Gates My fav epic..........Turn of the Century my fav Harmonies.........Starship Trooper my fav down beat...etc. etc. etc.:dogpile: :dogpile: :dogpile:

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Close to the Edge....epic, for me..............Best overall album....TALES!!!

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

why sharc...i'd never skip over you :smile:...i meant i overlooked it from the initial posting....this would make a good rickter scale show too dont cha think...as voted by participating listerns...best of insert group name here.

just a thought

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

hey, I thought I said that! :LOL: :iheartyou poda

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Thanks for your interesting responses.

Awaken does seem to be the most favourite in this highly unscientific study. I guess a lot of it depends on mood as well.....hmmm, as I type this, I see Awaken is being played on Aural Moon this second....interesting coincidence (Monday Jan. 16,10:32 am ET)

And yes, an all epic-Yes show would be great.

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

co—in—sea—dents....i think not PFD....
and roger you did...just thought it was worth repeating

poda

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Hmmm....I realized I did forget to put one epic song in that list.

Endless Dream.

How quickly we forget the Rabin period.

I actually think Endless Dream is a pretty good song too; just skipped over the whole Rabin period when I made my list...

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Yesspaz and Sharc love that record. I don't mind 90125 and BG, but I can't get into a lot of Talk. "Real Love" is awesome (must be the Squire influence), but "Endless Dream" doesn't do it for me.

But as with a lot of things, I'm in the minority on this one.:-V

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

put me down for a "talk" fan also! i think it's terribly underrated.
it fits into the yes lexicon much better than "big generator" IMO.

for me, picking a fav yes epic is sort of like picking a favorite
brand of chocolate ..none of them are too bad.:yougo

this stuff went waaay beyond "music". it was a soundtrack to
our generation, an intrinsic part of an overall movement that's
been much maligned and misunderstood since.

at the risk of repeating myself, awaken takes the prize.
not only does it epitomize progressive rock imo, but it
may be the peak for what can be accomplished w/
guitars, keys, drums, bass, period.
the production is as stunning as the work.
i have my doubts that a "prog band" (i'm beginning to hate that term)
will ever come along and top it.

i've probably owned more copies of CTTE than any of the
others, albums, 8-tracks, cassettes, cds.
IIRC, the remastered cd makes 9.

that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

p e a c e

kirk

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

ok guys, I'm about to bare my soul, please be gentle with me.

which album is Awaken on? the only Yes album that I really know is Fragile. (which I love)

for some reason, after I bought Fragile, I just never bought anymore Yes. guess I shouldn't have wasted my money on that fourth Starcastle record... (I know I shouldn't have wasted my money on the fourth Starcastle record!!)

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

:jawdrop: WHAAAAAA??

bud, if you've never heard "going for the one" you're in for a treat!!!
the whole album's great.on AWAKEN, rick plays the great pipe organ
at vevay switzerland, backed by the choir.

k

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Must admit I'm not one of the fans of the more 'recent' Yes music. Tormato was the last good Yes album for me, although I do particularly like the ABWH albums, proper Yes to me in everything except name. I was quite disappointed with Drama and 90125 and don't think I own any studio album after that time under the official Yes banner.

Yes to me are, and always will be a 'Cosmic Prog' band, and although I've nothing against bands developing over time, for me the development of Yes was a negative rather than a positive progression.

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

hi richard- i think i enjoy DRAMA now, more than i did when it
was released. it's still tough to find a better mix than howe,
squire and white, although jon has always been the driving force,
the crucial element for me.
his "OLIAS..." and later work w/ vangelis...
Roger...don't tell me.:bang!: is outstanding.

actually, i enjoyed J&V's "private collection","friends of mr. cairo"
better than some of the Yes output from the same era.
i always list them as influences.

p e a c e

kirk

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

ok, thanks for the Tormato hit. I do have that one, too. "no clowns..."

I am a huge Jon Anderson fan, and really like his work with Vangelis, (after hearing "So Long, So Clear" on Heaven and Hell. stunning) especially "Short Stories". I also have "Olias", which is great. (but not as good as SS for me. timing, most likely.)

guess I'll hit up Amazon for GFTO!

:D

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

TORMATO did very badly sales wise, but like DRAMA, it's held up
over time.
those 2 cd releases came years after the "classic" material.
it was a time of infighting, much debate on direction, likely due to
the quality of the GFTO material (see ELP's "love beach");).

@roger- fyi- jon and rick left to be replaced by trevor horn and
geoff downes, AKA "the buggles" of "video killed the radio star" fame.

IMO the only Yes material not worth the plastic it's printed on
is "open your eyes". i don't think i've played it since the day of purchase.
i can't say that most of "Magnification" impressed me much, but
i did like some parts of "the ladder", esp. "9 voices".

if you haven't heard J&V's "private collection", it's well worth the $$,
my personal favorite. "he is sailing" (which, btw was the AM anniversary
party "name that tune in 1 note" contest answer..thank you davin)
is worth the price of the cd.

k

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

< Private Collection

I'll put it on my Wish List... :D

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Endless Dream IS a forgotten masterpiece!!!!! Jon's vocals in that song are amazing!!!!!!!

Good Call my friend.

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I always liked Jon's vocals on "Oh Holy Night" from 3 Ships. Actually it's one of my favorite Christmas Albums....and yes, it's vinyl8-q

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Funny you should say "bare your soul" when GFTO has a naked man on the cover:winkies:

Open Your Thighs is abysmal.

I love Tormato. The only issue I have with it is that it's very treble and tinny sounding. On The Silent Wings Of Freedom is awesome, Don't Kill the Whale, Onward. I've always been a Squire man.

Drama is excellent! Howe and Squire work magic on it.

So is Relayer...

And I have a soft spot for "Brother of Mine". A great tune.

Sorry about Endless Calling, I just think it has 7-8 minutes of unexciting music. Again, just me I'm sure...

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thank you...i felt a little ill when i got to "man in the moon".
comicbook guy voice- "worst Yes song ever"! ;)

my favorite cut on Talk is "where will you be.." hands down.
it was a highlight of that tour.
it was only jon, trevor and chris center stage w/ a white spot.
jon kept the beat w/ a handheld wooden instrument (beats me...) :blush:
jon and trevor sat, chris stood behind w/a white zeta upright bass.

trevor tore that acoustic guitar part in the middle up.
it was stunning.

ok, sounding like a fanboy...time to go. :alien:

k

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Tales and Close To The Edge whats was funny was i just got done Playing Revealing Science of God Not 5 mins ago :).I'll add Machine Messiah in there one of my favs from Drama if you can call it epic :)

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

The first Yes record I bought was CTTE, which remains "the epic" in my mind as it is a well contructed song while TFTO follow closely afterwards. Awaken however is far down the list for me.

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Hmm, gets more interesting, as more people add their thoughts.

I see a lot of people haven't paid too much attention to Yes of the last decade.

Open Your Eyes is garbage, that's a fact. But I recommend to anybody who doesn't have it, to pick up Keys to Ascension 1. It's a double CD containing some classic live Yes songs from the 70s period. Plus the second disc contains two pretty impressive studio songs, both lengthy and worthy of being epics (hence why I put That, That is on the list).

Picking my favourite Yes album is one of those tough things. It all depends on my....um....mood for a day (heh).

The Yes Album, of course, contains some of the classic songs Yes never seem to tire of performing (Disgrace, All Good People, Trooper). Fragile, of course, contains one of my favourite Yes tunes ever (Sunrise). And CTTE has And You and I.

But Going For The One, by far, as a whole album, seems to be the best. It also seems to be the favourite Yes album by Yes members, considering that as recently as their anniversary tour they played just about all of it except for Parallels.

My least favourite of the classic Yes period is Relayer. Not sure why, but that album never did anything for me. Gates is a good song, but those other two songs really grate my nerves. I find them way too noisy and that whole, "cha cha cha cha cha" bit on one of them drives me suicidal.

I have a soft spot for Drama as that was actually the first Yes album I bought.:)

I'm not averse to liking the Rabin period; good for them for building a nice little retirement fund from the 80s. And for once it did bring out some hot babes to the Yes shows of that period. Must be the whole Rabin in leather pants.

The KTA studio stuff was a return to form, I think, and it was good to see Mind Drive on the last tour. The Ladder and Magnification both leave me wanting. There's some good tracks on both, but none that make me rank them high on the alltime great Yes albums.

I hope there's at least one more good Yes album out there left in them before they pack up and call it a day.

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

I love the Ascension records. Some say the recording is crap, but I can't tell. The side with America is great.

Mind Drive is nice, but Footprints the song I dig.

I can see Sound Chaser doing it but To Be Over? That's a wonderful song.

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

LOL i like the development of this thread...i have most of the classics on vinly and sorry you cant get to the Rabin period...i actually thought i was going to hate that lp—but i don't it's one of my favorites start to finish (esp. Soundchaser, i see an entire animated film in with that score) it's also one of my favorite lp covers...Going for the One, Close to the Edge, the Yes Album...don't make me choose `-((

poda
:hooboy:

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

So I'll ask this do you guys think Trevor Horn did a good Job filling in for Jon?Really i would love to see em do another Album really i think horns pretty good.And what ever happend to Eddie Offord?

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

from 1999, courtesy of Google....

http://www.abrown.com/past.htm

Looks like Andy West from Dregs fame :)

Figured Offord's about 80 lol, but I couldn't find out exactly

Drama's a great record on it's own. I'm not into comparison like that....

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

I think Trevor Horn was, obviously, different than Jon...better, worse, who knows? Drama was a good album, in and of itself. I heard some of the live Drama tour material from the "word is live" CD, and it sounds pretty dreadful though.

Wasn't there talk of a "Drama" tour in the US last year that got cancelled due to Visa issues?

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Yes (pardon the pun). I had a ticket...

It was the Syn, Howe solo, Downes/White, then all together...

Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

"the more drama tour". the syn's playing a smaller venue in seattle
(the tractor in ballard for the seattlites on the list) w/ alan white
on drums through january. see www.yesworld.com for tour info.

i thought trevor did a great job. chris said they were booed off stage
when doing the old stuff live.

eddie offord produced a few pieces on Union.

k

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Re: Best Yes Epic?
 

Thanks Rick for the info:) I was't really comparing the 2.Was more like he sounded good doing the album.I think Chris and steve sang a bit with em here and there from what i hear on the album.But in no way was i saying he was better of worse than Jon IMHO is Yes.And yea Horn is a great producer.