My favourite band and word.

When most of my cassettes had become worn out, I moved to CD's. When a few of those became unplayable, I bought replacements. Then the laws regarding the downloading of music here in Canada were defined, mix that with the Bit Torrent client….

The Yes 28 CD discography torrent yielded:
2.39 GB (2,574,886,245)

1969 - Yes
1970 - Time And A Word
1971 - The Yes Album
1972 - Close To The Edge
1972 - Fragile
1973 - Tales From Topographic Oceans Disc 1
1973 - Tales From Topographic Oceans Disc 2
1973 - Yessongs Disc 1
1973 - Yessongs Disc 2
1974 - Relayer
1977 - Going For The One
1978 - Tormato
1980 - Drama
1983 - 90125
1987 - Big Generator
1991 - Union
1993 - Highlights - The Very Best Of Yes
1994 - Talk
1996 - Keys to Ascension Disc 1
1996 - Keys to Ascension Disc 2
1997 - Keys To Ascention II
1999 - The Ladder
2000 - Live At House of Blues
2001 - Magnification
2002 - Keystudio
2004 - Open Your Eyes
2004 - The Ultimate Yes - 35th Anniversary Collection 3 Cd's
2005 - The Word Is Live 3 Cd's

I'm not Yessed out yet.

P.

Re: My favourite band and word.

Man, I'm comin' to you if I need any info from those CDs! Wow, that looks like all of them. You're right, that's a “torrent” of CDs.

What a great list with all of the years. Thanks! That will always be there to refer to.

Because I also record on my computer, I suggested to MicroSoft the simple idea of adding up the MBs (totaling) in Windows so a User will know what memory they're dealing with. That seems a simple and handy thing.

Mark

Re: My favourite band and word.

I own, or used to own, when they first came out, all of them from the first up to ”Going for the One” and then stopped there, in '77. I loved them all, up to Relayer.

I stopped then because GFT1 seemed very different from all the previous ones.

I've only recently come back to Yes, partly through listening to Bill Bruford's more recent jazz (like A part and yet apart)
and discovered I now liked GTF1.  I guess I've moved on.

So I went and bought The Ladder, Magnification, and Keystudio.

And more recently, Talk.

I really liked The Ladder, but the other 3 don't (yet) do a lot for me.

So what I really need is an expert's guide to which one to buy next.

Mike

Re: My favourite band and word.

Hi Mike,
 
I'm no expert, but if you like different (ie from Relayer to GFT1), then I'd suggest Drama. There is nothing bad on that album (to me). It is very strong composing, and Alan and Chris kick ass! They are so tight.

I like Chris's voice, and to hear him in a substantial piece (Does It Really Happen?) is satisfying. Chris's style has always be “in the groove,” but Does It Really Happen? is so funky, it's beyond funky (IMO)!

The Ladder was a good choice.

I'm parcial to Magnification myself. So rich in texture with the orchestra and very good composing. And lo and behold, it contains a song with Chris singing all by himself. (Of course, I love Jon's voice! Just love it!! That said, “Can You Imagine” leaves you wanting more!)

That's my 2 cents. If anybody else has any suggestions for Mike feel free.

Affirmatively,

Mark

Re: My favourite band and word.

Thanks!

I think that, just at the moment, “It will be a good day” is my favourite track

and sums up everything I believe in

Maybe that's what's changed for me.

The words are more important now than they used to be.

Back in the '70s, “Tales” was my favourite, because of the music, but

I can't get much out of the words on that one…

 Mike

Re: My favourite band and word.

Interesting! I've had “It'll be a good day” in my head for many days now. And I too have been thinking that it sums up a lot of why I like Yes

Yep, I agree, I think Yes's lyrics are more important me than they used to as well.

But, thank God, that the richness and depth in Tales exists in this world! That's how I feel. Even if you or me don't understand something from it, it's there. It's an eternal piece!

Hell, even some of the band themselves didn't get it then, and some still don't want to get it. But again, it exists!

In Wholeness,
Mark

Re: My favourite band and word.

Thought you might enjoy a little Yes story you reminded me of with your discussion:

A couple of lifetimes ago (what, 7 years now) I was involved with a spiritual group called “The Golden Rule”. One of the things that attracted me to them was the fact that their leader was a huge Yes fan and actually used to hang with the band in LA. He was part of “The Source,” the original health food restaurant which was a natural watering-hole for the band. 

Jon (my teacher) said they would come in after concerts and set up the back room so they could watch the footage of the show while they ate. They would critique their performance and make notes on what to do for the next show. Needless to say, this greatly impressed my teacher, amidst all the rock and roll debauchery that was happening in Hollywood, that these guys didn't spend their post-show time soaking up kudos and chilling, they stayed hard at work perfecting their craft.

So, I meet Jon (teacher, I know it's confusing), who had written this fantastic book, right before I was to attend a Yes concert. He gave me an autographed copy of his book with a message to Jon (Anderson) to try and get into his hands. It was quite a bit of fun to try and get backstage, didn't have any success, of course, but I finally found some ladies heading back to interview the band and got them to agree to deliver the book.

Whew. So we sit down and the show starts. During the break after the first song, Jon tells the whole audience “Whoever sent the book, thanks so much, great to hear from my old friend. Don't have much time for reading these days, but I'll put it on my list,” and with that they swung into the next song.

Must admit, it was quite a rush to have that ever so slight brush with the YesWorld. I never heard if they connected again, Jon (the teacher) passed on a few years later. But there was magic there that night, and who knows, it may still be brewing somewhere!

Re: My favourite band and word.

“The Ladder” is a good choice.

Might I suggest you try “Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe”.

There are some moving spiritual themes there and some GREAT Yes music.

At this point, Jon Anderson was sliding back and forth between the Trevor Rabin combo, and this combo, and that eventually culminated in the “Union” album, which brought the two combos together. I find “Union” to be a bit of a hodge-podge, but ABWH is a Yes record in every sense and has a great feeling of continuity running through the record.

Steve

Re: My favourite band and word.

Well, after this discussion, I dug out my copy of “Talk” again and I am liking it more this time.
Maybe I'll get “Drama” for Christmas…

Re: My favourite band and word.

I saw a YouTube video of when Yes were on the David Letterman show doing a song from “Talk” (the song slips me at the moment). But I thought it was very good! Very strong!

Yep, the Yes albums grow on you. They have this ability to mature, like a good glass of wine (Merlot or Chardinay :)

Also on YouTube (Thanks Lela) was a concert footage of Yes doing “Endless Dream.

Playing around with different search words, I'm sure you'll find it. Unfortunately the word “Yes” is not a good search word. Maybe Lela has some ideas?

Affirmatively,
Mark

Re: My favourite band and word.

I found best results with band member names…followed by Yes…