90125 Review by Gary Hill After Yes broke up following the Drama tour, Chris Squire and Alan White (first trying to put together a group with Led Zep's Jimmy Page) hooked up with South African Trevor Rabin to begin putting together a band.
90125 Remastered and Expanded Review by Greg Olma Yes needed to do something new to attract the music buying public. Punk and new Wave were trying their hardest to bury the classic rock sound and the older fans were moving on with their lives.
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Big Generator Review by Gary Hill Talk about contrasts - for my money, this album opens with the worst piece of drivel the band have ever produced in "Rhythm of Love". I truly despise the song and cringe when I hear it.
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Classic Yes Review by Gary Hill This compilation of Yes material came out at the same time as Yesshows, shortly after the break up of the band following the Drama tour. This truly does feature some classic Yes material and would represent a great first look at the band.
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Close To The Edge Review by Gary Hill This is the first Yes album that I ever heard, and although it took me several listenings to get into it (I actually hated it first time through) it completely won me over. It is truly my favorite Yes album and the disc that got me interested in the band, and in progressive rock.
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Drama Review by Gary Hill In 1980 when Yes found themselves without their keyboardist (Rick Wakeman) and vocalist (Jon Anderson), they turned to their manager Brian Lane to see if he had any suggestions.
This is the bastard child of the Yes family. Many Yes purists don't acknowledge its existence with even Jon Anderson refusing to play any of the material live.
Extended Versions - The Encore Collection Review by Gary Hill So, you've probably seen this set around and wondered what it is and if you should pick it up. Well, I have saved you the trouble and will reveal what is in store for you here.
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Only the second album in the history of Yes to be recorded without Jon Anderson, this one, particularly since it’s the only other Yes disc with Geoff Downes on keyboards, is obviously compared to Drama.
Fragile - Remastered And Expanded Review by Gary Hill Rhino has begun a series of remasters of Yes albums, restoring the original artwork and adding bonus cuts to the discs. This is their version of one of the more classic Yes recordings, Fragile.
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Friends and Relatives Review by Gary Hill Friends and Relatives is a two CD set that is a compilation of two Yes tracks from the KTA albums with solo works from the various artists. Other than the two stellar group performances, the Rick Wakeman pieces and Steve Howe`s take on Tales From Topographic Oceans stand out the most. More...
Going For The One Review by Gary Hill Being an album that had Rick Wakeman rejoining the fold, this one was looked upon as a very strong and welcome release to Yes fans. Indeed, it still ranks among the favorites of many of them. More...
Greatest Hits Review by Gary Hill With this Yes compilation recently reissued, it seems a good time to have a look at it. It always seems a bit odd when you get a “Greatest Hits” compilation from a band that isn’t known for hit singles, but such is the case here.
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Where do I begin on this review? I guess I should start by saying that I’m a Yes fanatic and I have been since I was twelve years old – and for those keeping track, that’s a long time ago.
House of Yes-Live From The House of Blues Review by Gary Hill This two-disc set is the companion soundtrack to the new DVD of this live show recorded on Yes' The Ladder tour. There are a lot of really good performances here, but also a few complaints. More...
Keys To Ascension Review by Gary Hill The majority of this 2 disc set is a series of live recordings from the three SLO concerts that Yes did in 1996. The live material is augmented by two new studio cuts. More...
Keys to Ascension 2 Review by Gary Hill Keys to Ascension 2 contains live tracks from the San Luis Obispo concerts, recorded March of 1996(disc one), and 5 new studio songs(disc two). The lineup for the album is Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White. More...
Keystudio Review by Gary Hill Talking about the album that should have been! When these songs were originally released it was as bonus new studio recordings at the end of the two Keys to Ascension sets.
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Yes recently did a couple of tours where they performed some of their studio albums in their entirety. This live recording comes from one of those shows.
Live at Montreux 2003 Review by Gary Hill Yes is a band that has no shortage of live albums. For this reason, the next statement I’m going to make is all the more profound. This may well be the best live CD they have ever released.
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Magnification Review by Gary Hill Yes' brand of progressive rock has often been dubbed "symphonic rock." The term refers to the group producing arrangements in the vein of a symphony using typical rock instrumentation. More...
I’ve always liked the Magnification album quite a bit, and since the recent reissue of Open Your Eyes on vinyl was amazing, I was really looking forward to this.
Open Your Eyes Review by Gary Hill Yes fans are pretty well divided on this album, many find it to be a sell out of Yes` musical principles, while many others find it good, but not great. There are still others who find it to be a very fine effort. More...
Open Your Eyes (Surround Sound Version) Review by Gary Hill This is in many ways a reprint of my earlier review of Open Your Eyes. As reviewed here, it does, however, reflect the changes made when the CD was remastered as the first album ever mixed for Surround Sound systems. More...
Re (Union) Review by Gary Hill When Yes released Union it was a hodgepodge sort of album. More...
Relayer Review by Gary Hill At first glance, Relayer resembles Close To The Edge in that it is composed of three cuts, one in the twenty-minute range, and the other two taking up about the same length of time between them.
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Something`s Coming Review by Gary Hill This album is actually a compilation of Yes performances on various television and radio programs from the 1969-1970 era. The personnel on this album are Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Peter Banks, Bill Bruford and Tony Kaye. More...
Symphonic Live Review by Gary Hill This was released on DVD before, but they have just now chosen to let it lose in CD format.
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Tales From Topographic Oceans Review by Gary Hill This is quite possibly the most derisive Yes album of the entire catalog. Certainly many critics panned it, but that wasn't all that unusual.
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Talk Review by Gary Hill After the Union tour, the Rabin (or Yes West as many dubbed it) incarnation of the band reformed to record Talk. The promo hype at the time said that it was proof positive that this lineup was capable of the more complex and powerful progressive rock creations that had been the meat and potatoes of the earlier band.
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The Ladder Review by Gary Hill For some bands, the music industry seems to cause a paradox. In order to survive as an artist, one must have a certain degree of commercial success, but to the hardcore fans, doing so can bring forth cries of "too poppy". More...
The Yes Album Review by Josh Turner This marks the third album from this first class group. Its recording predates the membership of the legendary Rick Wakeman, who ultimately joined late in the tour of this album. While this might appear to be a huge drawback in the studio, the album is quite strong.
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Time and A Word Review by Gary Hill When Yes went into the studio to record their second album, the producer decided that they could benefit from an orchestral string arrangement on much of the material.
Back in the late 1970's, Yes must have been a bit scared of the changing musical landscape. Punk was trying it's hardest to kill off bands like Yes; calling them dinosaurs.
Like last year, there is a new Yes picture disc released for Record Store Day. Last year it was 90125. This year they turned their attention to Tormato.
Union Review by Gary Hill The great experiment - at the time of this album's recording there were essentially two versions of Yes out and making music.
Yes Review by Gary Hill The self-titled debut by Yes, this 1969 album was full of psychedelic wandering and experimentation. It had some definite strong points, and did, in fact show off signs of the band that would later develop.
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Yes (Expanded and Remastered) Review by Gary Hill One of the releases in the series of discs that showcase remastered Yes albums with additional material added, this one focuses on the first album.
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Yesshows Review by Gary Hill When Yes broke up after the aborted Drama tour, their label released two "new" albums, Classic Yes (a compilation) and Yesshows (a live album recorded before Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman chose to take their leave of the band).
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Yessongs Review by Gary Hill At the time that Yessongs was released, the critics were calling Yes a studio phenomenon, and saying that they could not reproduce their complex arrangements live. This release, at least partially, was meant to dispel that rumour -- and it worked. More...
Yesterdays Review by Gary Hill This compilation is composed almost entirely of material from the first two Yes releases (Yes and Time and a Word) - the majority from the second album. As such the lineup consists of Jon Anderson, Peter Banks, Bill Bruford, Tony Kaye and Chris Squire.
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Yesyears Box Set Review by Gary Hill Released during the flurry of activity surrounding the Union tour, this four CD set is a pricey, but fairly solid addition to the Yes catalog. While any compilation will undoubtedly bring up complaints as to what was included and what was not, this album presents a fairly accurate representation of the chronology of the band.
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This is the visual counterpart to the 9012Live album. Even though both share the same title, they are quite different. While the CD focuses on the solo spots of the 90125 show, the DVD contains more of the songs.
Yes - Greatest Video Hits DVD Review by Gary Hill Originally released on VHS, this collection was put out on DVD in 2005. This video is a collection of videos (many of which have not often been seen) interspersed with interview clips from band members (recorded during the Union tour).
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Yes - House of Yes Live DVD Review by Gary Hill This DVD is a pretty darn good live show collection. The picture and sound quality are awesome and it includes lots of great bonuses. More...
Yes - Keys To Ascension DVD Review by Gary Hill Recorded in 1996, this one is the one that almost makes it in the quest for ultimate live Yesshow video. Those who were there say that the video includes a lot of overdubs, but for the uninitiated, you really can't tell. More...
Yes - Live At Montreux 2003 DVD Review by Gary Hill Another in the Live at Montreux series, this DVD is one of the best of the bunch. Mind you, a good deal of that is about the performance that was captured here.
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Yes - Live In Philadelphia 1979 DVD Review by Gary Hill This DVD really seems to be an official release of a bootleg video. For one thing the audio is in mono, rather than stereo. More...
Yes - Musikladen Live DVD Review by Gary Hill This DVD is rather a mixed bag. I t does contain some considerably rare footage of the group, and therefore scores points on that basis. More...
Since we’ve already reviewed the DVD version of this set, this review will focus on the difference between this new BluRay release and that original one.
Yes - Symphonic Live DVD Review by Gary Hill Alright, alright, so Yes seems to be coming out with a live album or video (or both) every time they tour these days. This one is a bit special in some ways, though.
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Yes - The New Director’s Cut DVD Review by Gary Hill In some ways you can say, “we’ve seen it before.” Of course, isn’t that par for the course whenever you see “Director’s Cut” anywhere in the title or subtitle of a DVD? More...
This is a new reissue of the original Yes concert film. While the main film remains unchanged from older editions, there is quite a bit of added material here.
Yes - Yessongs DVD Review by Gary Hill The only true Yes concert film (as in it was shown in theaters as a motion picture) this movie suffers a lot from the time period in which it was made. Granted, this classic performance from December of 1972 is a great time capsule, but filmmaking has come a long way since then. More...
Yes - Yesspeak DVD Review by Gary Hill This DVD is documentary (remember when these things were called "rockumentaries") on Yes. It focuses on interview segments with each of the current members of the band (Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White) but focuses on the entire history of the band.
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Yes - Yesyears DVD Review by Gary Hill Before there was Yesspeak, there was Yesyears. In some ways this documentary is superior to the more recent one.
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Concert Reviews
Yes - Live at Taste of Chicago, July 8th, 2000 Review by Gary Hill A true dream come true for Yes fans, the Masterworks Yes tour featured three, count 'em, three epics. They included two seldom played gems.
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I drove to The Symphony Hall and bought a ticket for the night's Yes show at the last minute (literally!). It was a long shot, but it really paid off, as I got a good seat in the stalls.
Yes - Live In Chicago, 2002 Review by Gary Hill First things first, a warning since the tour is still underway, if you are one of the people who is going to see one of the shows, and if you like to be surprised, don't read this review until after you see them - because there are spoilers in the review.
Yes - Live in Chicago, November 21, 2002 Review by Steve Alspach Only four months after previously playing in Chicago, Yes returned and put on an superb show that showcased some of the highlights of the band's 33-year career. With Rick Wakeman back into the fold, the band showed that it still hasn't lost any of its chops.
Yes - Live In Milwaukee, November 13, 1999 Review by Gary Hill This band just keeps getting better. Yes gave a wonderful performance on a Saturday night in Milwaukee. The stage show, featuring a screen behind the band that most of the night featured computer graphics, rivaled the light shows of Hawkwind.
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Yes - Live in Milwaukee-November 15th, 1997 Review by Gary Hill For me, this Yes tour was the best that I have ever seen. I should explain that statement by saying that, although I have been an avid Yes fan since 1975, I did not get the opportunity to see them until the 90125 tour. Therefore, I did miss many of what diehard Yes fans consider to be their best outings.
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Yes - Live In Nottingham, England, June 6, 2003 Review by Bruce Stringer Firebird Suite / Siberian Khatru was not the smashing introduction to the set that I had hoped, but none-the-less quite strong. The crowd had been stamping and yelling and were quite worked up over the 65 minute wait for Yes to arrive on stage.
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Yes - Live in Rosemont, IL, May 4th, 2004 Review by Gary Hill The last couple Yes shows it seemed that the band was just getting better and better live. Probably a lot of this was due to heightened excitement and energy from the return of Rick Wakeman.
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I knew it would be hard to see Yes without Chris Squire! As "Onward" played, with a white Rickenbacker on stage with a spotlight, I felt myself tearing up.
This is an excellent book in many ways. First, it’s a quick read – partly because it’s not all that long and partly because it’s written in such a way that it flows really well.
There have been a few books written about the band, Yes but this one really includes the involvement of many of the members of the group through extensive interviews.
Rick Wakeman - 1984 Review by Gary Hill This concept album is Rick Wakeman’s interpretation of George Orwell’s classic book. More...
Circa: - 2007 Review by Gary Hill Well, since I’m a huge Yes fanatic, it seems a foregone conclusion I would like this CD. The thing is, unless something purely amazing comes out in the next few months, this is my favorite disc for 2007 – yes, it’s that good.
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Jon Anderson - 3 Ships Review by Gary Hill This Christmas disc by Yesman Jon Anderson features some traditional and some original holiday music. The songs vary from fairly traditional (but modernized) to quite modern.
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If ever there was a perfect dream team then it would have to be the bassist with one of the legendary bands joining forces with the guitarist from another of the bands in the prog pantheon, namely Yes and Genesis.
(this is a bit of an experiment here, a poem by Wendy Vig as her interpretation of Jon Anderson`s ballet---let me know if you like this and would like to see more things in this vein.)
Rick Wakeman - Almost Live In Europe Review by Gary Hill While you can debate as to what music should or should not have been included to make this a better disc, there’s one thing you probably won’t quibble about. That’s the sound quality of the recording.