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.
Patrick Moraz - Future Memories I and II Review by Gary Hill Patrick Moraz might not be the household name that Rick Wakeman is, but he definitely has plenty of prog rock cred built up. Stints in Yes and the Moody Blues will do that for you.
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Patrick Moraz - In Princeton DVD Review by Gary Hill The core of this DVD is a solo concert by Patrick Moraz from 1999. It is professionally filmed, although, I have to say that the film quality is somewhere on the excellent side of very good – in other words, it’s not perfect.
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Moraz / Bruford - In Tokyo Review by Gary Hill This live recording of Moraz and Bruford dates to 1985 and it finds both musicians in top form. More...
Refugee - Live in Concert: Newcastle City Hall 1974 Review by Gary Hill This was originally a bootleg. With the wizardry of modern recording the sound quality of this has been taken from poor to adequate – or perhaps a bit better.
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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...
In the 1980’s the Moody Blues took on a more electronic sound. I know that sound didn’t sit well with a lot of fans. For them this was probably the last great Moody Blues album – at least for a while.
The main claim to fame of this 1971 disc is the fact that it was Patrick Moraz' first band (at least in terms of first band with a release). The thing is, the music holds up really well as early progressive rock by itself.
Moraz / Bruford - Music For Piano and Drum Review by Gary Hill While many might think that Bill Bruford and Patrick Moraz first played together in Yes, that's not true. They never played in Yes together. More...
Robby Steinhardt was probably best known as the violinist for the band Kansas. He was certainly a unique individual in the prog rock scene of the day playing that instrument.
The first solo album from Patrick Moraz, The Story of i (also reviewed in this issue), was released in 1976 as part of a group effort from members of Yes to release solo albums.
Refugee released their only studio album in 1973. The band was considered a nod to the classic prog band The Nice, but I'd say there was more to it than that.
Yes - 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. However, while there are some strong moments here, this is arguably Yes at their most self-indulgent and least cohesive. More...
Various Artists - Steinway To Heaven Review by Gary Hill It seems like a rather novel, but still somewhat obvious concept. Take various keyboardists, mostly from the world of progressive rock and have them record various classical piano pieces. More...
I generally like things like this where an album is created by taking the track list of a famous album and having different artists reproduce the songs.
Various Artists - Tales From Yesterday Review by Gary Hill A tribute to the music of Yes, Tales From Yesterday, features some very fine renditions of Yessongs performed by a variety of artists (including several past and present members of Yes). This is a mixed bag. Some of the tracks are quite faithful to the original, while others represent major reworkings. More...
I know a lot of people disregard these later Moody Blues albums. I happen to have a special attraction to them because Patrick Moraz is on them, bringing a Yes connection.
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.
Patrick Moraz - Windows of Time Review by Gary Hill Patrick Moraz is every bit the keyboard powerhouse that Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman are, but he never seems to get the kind of respect they do. That’s a shame.
Yes - 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. More...
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. More...
