I want to get into YES' Live performances on Blu-Ray. I know they are available online but I am more of a physical media person, especially since I have dolby audio at home. Which one is a good place to start/best to watch? Live at the Apollo, Montreux, Bristol, Philadelphia, House of the Blues or 90125 (Canada I think)? Or are there any others that are work buying? Thanks

I’m my opinion, everything from their first album to Relayer is absolutely amazing, with my personal favourite album being Fragile. After that I’m not a fan of it at all. The albums ‘Going For One’, ‘Drama’ and ‘90125’ definitely have their moments for me, but I don’t think I’d jam out to the whole album like I would say Close to The Edge or something.
What’s your opinions?

The concept is that it would be like the current Fragile tour, but with the Fly From Here album. Here's a hypothetical set.

Set 1 (Approx. 51:52)

1. Intro (Firebird Suite)

2. Siberian Khatru

3. South Side of the Sky

4. Going for the One

5. Drum Solo/Soon

6. Aurora

7. Tempus Fugit

Set 2 (Approx. 53:36)

1. Fly From Here (Suite)

2. The man you Always Wanted me to Be

3. Life on a Film Set

4. Hour of Need

5. Solitaire

6. Don't Take No For An Answer

7. Into the Storm

Encore (Approx. 20:57)

1. Roundabout

2. Starship Trooper

Thoughts?

My dad would always say to me "I mean, what would someone rather listen to? Tales of a topographic ocean, or PILE DRIVER". Tbh even as a kid tales of a topographic ocean sounded like a much cooler name, and I got into prog rock as an adult.

When I worked at a pub, a lot of old geezer types would come in and we'd get talking about music. They all said the same sort of thing "simplicity is best when it comes to music. Bob Dylan just needed the basic chords and he made some of the best music of all time"

Has anyone in this sub heard this sort of thing? Where does this sentiment come from? And why is it always tales of a topographic ocean they choose as an example? Because imo I find music fun to listen to when it's complex and gives me a lot to chew on. I don't find simplicity all that fulfilling anymore, there's only so many ways to make a simple chord progression on your basic rock band arrangement sound fresh and interesting. That's not to knock em, some people like that, it's just not for me (most of the time)

I understand the controversy with Benôit and Oliver being fired in favour for Trevor’s singing (for that album), and Geoff’s keys, and I get why some people would feel like Trevor maybe “abused” his power. However I think the album itself is awesome and has great songs. Do people resent the album JUST because of the lineup controversy? Or do some people really just not like the songs?

I’ll be there. Who else is going?

I am transitioning mtf and am heavily considering the name Khatru. Maybe it's a little silly but I think it's really cool and speaks to my love for Yes. Thoughts?

I know a lot of people don't like this one because it's not traditional yes music in the sense that it's laid back and more poppy, and I've even seen it be called "lounge yes" by some fans, but I personally don't think it's that bad. I will admit that it's not their best work, but it has some good songs. What do y'all think?

Just for fun, it’s cool if you don’t have a favorite

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Hey everybody, I’m doing a relisten to their discography after about 30 years and I’m really enjoying it so far. I thought I would share my top 10 songs, with the caveat that I still have a bunch of albums to go.

1. South Side of the Sky
2. Gates of Delirium
3. Machine Messiah
4. Revealing Science of God
5. Awaken
6. Close to the Edge
7. Heart of the Sunrise
8. Roundabout
9. Siberian Khatru
10. Perpetual Change

What are yours?

I started listening intently to Yes in 1973, definitely their prime time. From early ‘74 to summer of ‘77, I saw them live 4
times - Tours: Tales, Relayer, Solos, and Going for the One. All good shows of course, but the ones that stand out in my memory are the Relayer and Solos tours, mainly because of that funky Swiss man, Patrick Moraz. In the decades since I’ve listened to those 60s to 70s albums repeatedly and they remain classic. But in the last few years, I’ve come to think of Relayer as their best album. Why? Because Howe isn’t grandstanding, White does his best drumming, and Moraz, who was unknown before to me, provided atmospheric keyboards which did a lot of the heavy lifting on Relayer, and without the poppy classicism of Wakeman, who I respect but was never my favorite progressive keyboard guy. And I’m not leaving out Jon and Chris because as always they too were great on Relayer. I just listened to it again and it still feels and sounds like their most coherent album. At the 2/74 show I saw, I had a discussion with another fan as we waited in line. He was waxing eloquently on how Howe was the best guitarist around. I offered Fripp as my response, because of his power and subtlety when playing. I never saw Howe that way, but on Relayer the band as a whole plays the hardest they ever did. Realize back then that lots of people dissed Yes as too ephemeral and light. Not on Relayer! I have to admit that I bought the albums through Tormato, and that was it. They were competing by then with punk and disco and were definitely seen as prog dinosaurs by the late 70s. IMHO the only band versions since then who honored Yes in their prime were ABWH and Jon and the Band Geeks. I know this is heretical for many, but to me it ain’t Yes if Jon’s not singing. Go see Jon and the Geeks — they do Yes proud and Jon is in astounding voice still. Long live Relayer! Yes?

I got into Yes - to my embarrassment - just a year ago, in my late 30s (and yes, I am a prog rock fan). Loved Tull, Floyd, Crimson and etc. for years, but Rush and Yes I could never get into. I knew there must be something in it, but I wasn't getting it. I finally got it, and here's few takes I wanted to share:

1. AI helped me - I described my favorite albums to ChatGPT asking how should I approach Yes. It told me to start with "Drama". It was a great advice as I really liked it and it opened me up for "Going for the One" and then the earlier stuff.
2. Some of the "epic" Yes songs suffer a bit from lack of focus/ideas - e.g. Awaken. The 1st half of this song is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. The middle section is intriguing and captivating. Then they get to the ending and it really is un-satisfactory. Sometimes they want to do too much, take too much time on the LP and they simply don't have enough engaging ideas to keep the same level of excitement for 20 mins. I still like the song overall very, very much, but sounds to me like they lacked the ideas for a grand finale - they did better with "Gates of Delirium" and the perfect example would be something like "Ommadawn part 1" by Oldfield. This may sound crazy, but even "Mirror to the Sky" I think is more "tight" and well-structured as a song.
3. Speaking of "MTTS" -> having listened to most of their albums now (I still have the 90s albums to go through, but first attempts were very disappointing) I must say that "Aurora" and "MTTS" are absolutely awesome. Putting nostalgia for the 70s sound aside, this is among the best music they ever made. I had a hard time accepting Davison's falsetto, but once I got over that hump and listened to these albums multiple times I must admit they are excellent, well-written, tight, engaging, atmospheric and in my top6 of all their albums (with Fragile, GFTO, Drama, CTTE). Btw, while as a whole this album is not as good, the Fly from Here suite is also among their best long pieces I heard.

Just wondering where can I listen to the surround sound mix of CttE, I know Spotify can't handle surround sound, Apple music don't have CttE on surround sound (At least in Australia), and I know that there will be a CttE Dolby Atmos Blu-ray coming out soon (Which I will buy for sure).

But is there a way to listen to it digitally?

Wow. I am still flying high from tonight’s concert in Anaheim and all I had was water.

I’m really glad I’ve got tickets to see him (them) in Monterey, San Jose and Napa.

Wondering if anyone wants to meet up just before it starts or at intermission at these shows.

It would be awesome to have the camaraderie
I’m going by myself to all of these. Would love to say hi to fellow fans. .

Hey everyone. I am continuing work on Time and a Word without the orchestra. I just completed a mix of No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed. It is the most challenging yet because of the heavy use of strings. I did make a decent first pass and got rid of the double tracked lead vocals.

I decided to take a look at the “original mix” bonus track and found that it seems to have more guitar that could fill in some gaps. However, the speed on these original mixes is all wrong. They are far too fast compared to the album versions.

It sounds like No Opportunity could be a quarter semitone higher. It sounds very close when I drop the speed and pitch by 1.445%

Sweet Dreams is really off. It sounds very close when I drop it by 5%.

Before I go too far down this path, has anyone figured out the precise changes needed here to match the original speed?

Thanks!

On this little known radio show in Cincinnati they archived lots of interviews, including Yes members Steve, Jon and Bill. Crimson members too and others in jazz and rock. Check it out: https://www.chriscomerradio.com/ccr_music_interviews.htm

On multiple separate Billboard charts, multiple UK charts, along with multiple charts in Germany, France, Belgium, Japan, and Norway. The album has charted in the top 10 in more countries than every album since 90125, that is not a joke. For the first time since 90125, a Yes album has charted in the top 10 in at least 3 countries.

Also, it has charted on the most charts since 90125, with over 20 different charts so far! Only two weeks in!

#3 on the UK Rock Albums chart, #9 in Sweden, #5 on the Scotland Albums chart, #4 on the Norway Rock Albums chart, #5 on Japanese Rock Albums chart, #8 and #5 on two separate German Albums charts, and #36 in the United States.

Isn't that insane? Good for the band!

Around a year ago, I decided it’s time to start collecting some Yes vinyls. I already owned some Yes CDs from my teenage years (as seen in pictures).

I always had an admiration for Yes. It started with Fragile, and then one day I stumbled upon Relayer and it blew my mind. I had never heard anything like it before. Liking Relayer, I picked up The Yes Album and Close to the Edge (all the CDs you see). Sadly at the time I never really listened to CTTE as much as the other 3.

Last year in Feb/March, my band had a show coming up and on my way to rehearsal, my buddy (the drummer) was walking to the rehearsal space. I picked him up and I heard some crazy noises coming from his earbuds, and he told me he was listening to CTTE.

I work in HVAC as an apprentice, and as it was early spring, I had days just power washing coils, I threw in my earbuds and started listening to CTTE. I couldn’t believe I slept on it for so long. I was already a big fan of The Yes Album, Fragile and Relayer.

I needed more, so I came here and saw what people were talking about. I saw a lot of talk about Tales From Topographic Oceans. I thought, hey why not. Little did I know this would be my favourite album. I listened to it religiously. I couldn’t get enough of it. It was exactly what I wanted to hear.

Where this all ties in, is after hearing TFTO, I made it an objective to start finding everything on vinyl, and it became more than just that. Finding things I didn’t know I would appreciate so much.

Before going into this, I’d like to say, I have two copies of The Yes Album, as one was my dad’s (original pressing), and the other the Steven Wilson remix I picked up. I also have two TFTO (one original pressing i found and a remaster) as well as the high fidelity Relayer and an original. Lastly two copies of Drama (one is my dad’s original pressing and the other being an unknowing purchase of mine which i plan to give to my friend, the drummer).

I’d also like to mention I had a friend who told me that only Fragile and Yes Album are good. When I picked up Relayer he said that it was good. He told me to avoid Drama and always told me it was a horrible album and also made fun of 90125. That kind of discouraged me from picking up more Yes and indulging more in my teenage years.

So without further ado, I’d like to give my two cents about everything.

Yes: Enjoyable album. Haven’t given it enough spins, but I truly appreciate it and did enjoy it. Lots of cool covers and it sounds great

Time and A Word: Holy man, this album is fantastic. This album inspired me to pick up my bass more. I can’t say enough great things about it.
Favourite track: The Prophet

The Yes Album: I loved this the album the first time I bought the CD. I really loved the bass and drum work on this album. Whenever I start this album I’m sure to listen to it to completion
Favourite track: Starship Trooper & A Venture

Fragile: A literal classic. I think we all know here how great this album is. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for this album introducing me to Yes.
Favourite track: Long Distance Runaround/The Fish

CTTE: As stated before, I’m upset I slept on this for so long. It’s a great album. In terms of ways Yes albums end, I felt this one left you wanting more. But I do thoroughly love it. Always thinking “Now that it’s all over and done, now that you find, now that you’re whole”
Favourite track: CTTE

TFTO: Oh man, I could write more than I’ve already written here just about this album. It’s perfect for me. I absolutely love it from start to finish. I love that parts return to other songs. It’s a perfect album to just get lost into and be absorbed into the music.
Favourite track: Revealing Science of God

Relayer: Such a cool album. I’ve listened to this so many times over the years. I think I heard the first 10 seconds of this on YouTube back in the day and rushed out to my local HMV (when they were around) and picked it up. It fit in perfectly with my music tastes.
Favourite track: Gates of Delirium

GFTO: First time I heard this album I thought what the heck is this. That changed after a couple listens. This album definitely snuck up on me and I thoroughly enjoy it start to finish now. I didn’t like Turn of the Century as much but now I dig it.
Favourite Track: Parallels & Wonderous Stories

Tormato: I picked this album up despite hearing bad talk about it. It was still a decent album. I haven’t given it enough listens yet to have a favourite tracks but I wouldn’t say it’s bad.

Drama: Boy was my friend ever wrong. This album is fantastic. I loved it. My dad loves it too. It was not what I was expecting. It’s so much fun. I’m so mad at him for making me avoid this album for years. It’s just incredible. I walked into a bar a couple weeks ago and they had Tempus Fugit playing and it made me so happy
Favourite Track: Machine Messiah & Does It Reallt Happen.

90125: Another favourite of my dad’s. Not a bad album. Well produced and sounds great. I avoided this one for a while but ended up liking it.
Favourite Track: Changes

Big Generator: I picked this one up cause I started to not be able to find Yes albums anywhere, and it wasn’t overly priced. Not a bad album but not as great as some of the others. This opinion might change as I get older. My dad also liked some of the songs off of it. I still need to listen to it more to build that familiarity.

Talk: I just bought it today. A local record store is closing at the end of the month and I’ve been eying this album for almost a year and it never sold, so I figured I’d pick it up today. Currently listening to it while I write this out. It’s not as bad as some people have said it is, but it is a little different. I’m still enjoying it.

ABWH: (not photographed but I have the CD in my truck) This album took me for surprise. I just came back from a fishing trip and was listening to it a lot during my driving. I didn’t like it a lot at first but today something clicked and I was really enjoying it.
Favourite track: Teakbois (sorry guys)

I won’t get into the other ones pictured. I really dig a lot of the Rick Wakeman stuff with Six Wives being my favourite (and Anne Cleve’s being my favourite off it). Also dig Fish out of Water as well. There’s a random promotional Wakeman vinyl I found in a store with just Glory Boys and Silent Nights on it. I also bought that Best of Yes cassette as my dad and I are restoring our ‘92 Jetta and it only has a cassette player in it, as well as his ‘75 Chevy Laguna.

For all those who didn’t want to read all of this, which I understand completely,

Top 5:
TFTO
Relayer
Time and a Word
Drama
Fragile

After writing all this I realized for some reason I can’t post photos. I will attach them below.

Cheers everyone!