1yesfan

Just curious, seems the age group here would have been into back in the day.
They are still out on the road, making new albums.

Octania

Yes.

Diego

I'm not in that age group, and not a fan, but they used to play them a lot on the Philly radio stations.

If you like Steve Howe, you should look up his previous group, Tomorrow.

1yesfan

yea back in the day Phily was HUGE for them. If i recall correctly there was a Dj there that was one of the first in the country to play their music on FM radio and pretty much broke open their stay on FM radio everywhere for a long time.

Diego

Then it stands to reason why I used to hear so many 6-minute songs. :-)

1yesfan

6 min is considered short for them from the Albums of the 70's.

rustyroger

how does the age demographic of this forum break down?.
I was a young adult during the Yes album years, not a big fan though.


Roger.

1yesfan

You live in their home country and you don't like them??? Genesis? ELP?

rocketraider

Yes were part of my early-70s high school soundtrack. The Roger Dean album art alone was worth the price of admission. Then you found the music...

They weren't the only progressive British rock in my collection either... King Crimson also figured in heavily, along with early Roxy Music.

1yesfan

Dean just lost a lawsuit trying to claim that the Avatar movie imagisty was stolen from him. If you look at some of it, it looks just like some YES album work.

don71

Yes, to being a Yes fan.

Early stuff too on into the 80's with album 90125. Good stuff and not the run of the mill usually.

I havn't heard any new stuff, but I'm not surprised. A lot of the older groups are still going. Its a different music business now a days.

rustyroger

I didn't say I didn't like them, just not a big fan.
I rate ELO as the best '70s band, their cover of "Roll Over Beethoven" eclipsed both Chuck berry's original and the Beatles cover imo.


Roger.

1yesfan

The last two albums over the last 4 years have two diff new lead singers. Fly From Here has based around some left over stuff from the DRAMA era album as Trevor horn helped produce this new album and Geoff Downs is back in the band. The latest new album Heaven and Earth has another new lead singer in Jon Davidson. They play all the golden oldies and still do well if now a bit slower. I rather have them then not. Jon Anderson is doing a new band, Anderson/Ponty which is headed out on the road soon.
Trevor Rabin is working on releasing another solo album, his last being a few years back. He is re releasing his the Live in LA live show from his Can't Look Away solo album. If you like him, you should pick up this album. He also released 90124, a album of demo's stuff of which much made it onto the 90125 album.

1yesfan

I love ELO but I see their music being much diff than the PROG bands. YES and early Genesis and early ELP had some very structured music along the lines of orchestra type level of tunes in terms of multi layered music and felt they are some of the best guys in music in terms of talent. Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson were/are some of the best keys players out there.

oldcutlass

I listen to music from the 50's and 60's. I will say my musical appreciation stopped in the early 70's, right before disco.

1yesfan

Didn't disco start in the late 70's?
As for Prog music, I think that is where you found the best musicianship across the board in a full blown band playing intrigit music of most all music. I me back in the day what bands like YES and ELP were playing LIVE is hard to match for the most part.

oldcutlass

Actually disco started in the late 60's, early 70's and was basically over in 1980. Progressive style rock started in the late 60's and has been around for a long time. The Beach Boys, Beatles, The Byrds, The Who, Pink Floyd, Tull, Moody Blues, etc... were all inspirations to ELP, Yes, Genesis, et al.

costpenn

I am - in a Roundabout way....

Blackpage

Love 'em. Close To The Edge is a masterpiece. I've seen them 12 times. Never disappointed. Steve Howe is one of my favorite guitarists.

Just a slight tick below 70's Pink Floyd and Genesis on the prog scale. 70's era rock is the best era of music IMO. Music then was so diverse and offered something for everybody.

Musicians could actually play their instruments and singers could carry a tune (with the exception of Bob Dylan & Neil Young). Unlike today's Pro Tools artificially produced crap. Sad really.

kevdog442

[QUOTE=

Musicians could actually play their instruments and singers could carry a tune (with the exception of Bob Dylan & Neil Young). Unlike today's Pro Tools artificially produced crap. Sad really.[/QUOTE]

I agree.

Octania

"Musicians could actually play their instruments and singers could carry a tune (with the exception of Bob Dylan & Neil Young). "
===================
NOW you tell me I could have been a singer, even though notes mean nothing to me?!
I guess some musical talent might help.

I have the songs waiting to be written!

1yesfan

Yea they could write music back then, 2 or 3 guys in the band, now many folks have MANY folks writing the simple crap of today.

oldcutlass

The simple crap of today is not music...

76olds

I have a room full of Johnny Cash stuff, I just can't listen to much past the 70's early 80's. A Yes fan no but my wife likes them along with the 80's 90's stuff. I just go down to my Cash room.

1yesfan

I like Cash also. I love oldies of the 40-60's, other non prog bands of the 70's that are still doing stuff today even if the bands have broke up and they do their solo things.

J-(Chicago)

I'm more of a Jethro Tull guy, but have gone to see YES live a few times without ever being disappointed.

Blackpage

Led Zeppelin rules and it's obvious why. Just look at the picture !

gs72

Yes in the round was my first rock concert experience. It blew my mind!

z11375ss

MOJOJOJO!!!! Saw Yes twice. Cool stuff. Rick Wakeman, boss.

stan 65 cutlass

yes, and neil young too

Diego

Yes were one of the reasons Punk rock came to be.

I do think there are more interesting Progressive bands than Yes, but they have their place. I'd rather listen to other Prog bands like Gong, East of Eden, High Tide . . . guess it really depends on what Prog means to you - does it have to be avant garde? Classically influenced? Some of the bands I mentioned may not fit the traditional mold except Gong.

rustyroger

East of Eden?, that's a name I haven't heard in many years, they had a minor UK hit with "Jig a jig" in 1971 if I remember correctly, but seemed to vanish without trace after that.
My musical tastes stretch from Gregorian chant to some of the latest releases. It's fair to say that most of my favourites are from the '50s thru '70s.
Good music is easy to define; if you enjoy listening to something it's good, if you don't, it isn't. And it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks of your tastes.


Roger.

Diego

East of Eden's hit was not quite characteristic of them - it was a surprise hit. They had an album that preceded the hit.


Some others:

Van Der Graff Generator

Caravan

Focus

frankr442

I'm 56. Back in high school and college Yes, ELP and Chicago (the first 3 albums anyway) was all I listened to. Saw Yes three times and ELP twice, the laser and light shows were great. "Close to the edge" and "Starship trooper" performed live were amazing, and you didn't even have to be stoned. Can I add Rush to that list, still like them a lot and I'm trying to teach myself some of their stuff on guitar.

1yesfan

YES first band to play in the round.

rustyroger

Jon Anderson, lead singer and co-founder of Yes joins Johnnie Walker for the BBC Radio 2 show "Sounds of the Seventies" on Sunday Sept 18th from 3pm-5pm GMT.
Any Yes fans might want to go to the BBC iplayer website and have a listen. Johnnie Walker is a broadcasting veteran of music from that era and if you like an intelligent discussion of Yes, and the background to some of their work you would probably enjoy listening.
Most of you are 5-7 hours behind GMT btw.

Roger.

zeeke

Eric "The simple crap today is not music" is what sparked me to write this.

You guys talk about main stream music. There are plenty of bands out there today that know how to play, they are just harder than others. Yes is a mild band, one of the most talented in there time. If you like them crank it up. But don't say there is no talent out today. Get away from commercial radio. It's not what everyone listens to, it's what they tell you to listen to. If your music appreciation is from the 50's, 60's, or 70's you most likely wouldn't like the talent of today. Although I only like the early stuff Rush is an incredibly talented band.
There is a band called Dream Theater, you will not find them any where near commercial radio but when Mike Portnoy was on drums they were defiantly the most talented band out there. The Yes of the new day, you might say. They are a little harder than Yes so they might be hard to appreciate. Although I don't follow them like I did with bands when I was younger I'd say they are a musicians band. If you do give them a try it will take time to get accustomed to. My rule of thumb is listen straight through 2 or 3 times then slow down and appreciate them. If you hear something and it's catchy the first time it will usually fizzle out quick. About the closest thing I come to main stream is Pink (yea, girl band). There is a lot of talent there if you slow down and listen. I find most people like simple. I, on the other hand like more complexed music.
The music I listen to is far from "Doo Wap" or Cycadelic" but they can play. Not that I don't appreciate that stuff, it's were the roots are, just not my bag. I remember working for a guy when I was 18, in the 80's. He would tell me Heavy Metal was a fad and it would never last. His music fizzled out in 30 days and the stuff I listened to, 30 years later, is stronger than ever.

As for Yes starting the punk rock movement, I'd strongly disagree. There was a band in 1965 out of Detroit called MC5 (Motor City 5). The Who is from 64' but didn't get hard until after 65'. Although the Who was well on there way MC5 had them beat. You can you tube them if you like. I can't find anyone before who played harder stuff. This, in my opinion is what started the hard rock revolution. This progressed toIron Butterfly, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rush and so on, which progressed into Metal. Out of Metal came trash. The earliest band I can recall in the Trash Genre is out of Germany called Accept. Definitely not easy listening. You also had Iggy Pop who would almost pre-date Yes as they began to main stream. That is what started Punk.
Coincidently MC5's song Kick out the Jams, sounds very similar to a heavy commercial band from the 70's called Kiss. Is it a coincidence there first album is called Detroit Rock City? All the original members are from New York.
I can go on about this all day. Bottom line is Yes is very talented, as is Chuck Berry as many artist today. I find musical taste depends on two things, the era you grew up in and the company you kept. You listened to what your friends would listen to.

Country, Music & Oldsmobiles could be my motto. If my wife reads this, family first dear family first.

God Bless America and all who defend us.

Jamesbo

I saw Bob Dylan singing on TV with sub titles once

btw

Deep Purple. 'Enuff said.

My442

No