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.
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Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe - An Evening of Yes Music Plus Review by Gary Hill Before the Union album, Jon Anderson, frustrated with the musical direction of the Rabin era Yes, left the group and reunited with former classic Yes-mates Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Bill Bruford. Although, they were four fifths of the same lineup that brought such albums as Fragile and Close To The Edge to life, Chris Squire owned the rights to the name "Yes", and wasn't interested in letting them use it.
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Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe - An Evening of Yes Music Plus DVD Review by Gary Hill As someone who saw this tour live (twice, I believe) and owned the VHS of this for years, it’s a pleasure to finally have it on DVD. For those who don’t remember, Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe spun off of Yes during the Trevor Rabin era (between the Big Generator and Union albums).
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King Crimson - Beat Review by Gary Hill Of the trio of studio albums originally released by this version of King Crimson, this was the middle child. It was also a little less adventurous than either of the other two.
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Yes - 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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Yes - 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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This new set from the ever-changing group of musicians recording under the name "The Prog Collective" does feel a little darker than some of the rest of their music.
King Crimson - Eyes Wide Open DVD Review by Bill Knispel Following two plus years as a “double trio,” and nearly two years of fractionalization through a series of ProjeKCts, King Crimson returned to active duty in 2000 as a streamlined quartet with the album TheConstruKCtion of Light. A second album in this newer “double duo” format titled The Power to Believe, followed in 2003.
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Yes - 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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Yes - 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.
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This 1980 release from Bruford features Bill Bruford (obvious, right?), Dave Stewart, Jeff Berlin and The Unknown John Clark. It has a number of instrumentals along with some songs with vocals.
Yes - 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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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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This newly released double CD compilation gathers up a number of studio and live recordings from Bill Bruford's Earthworks in a nice re-mastered package.
Bruford and Borstlap - In Two Minds Review by Gary Hill This collaboration between drum and percussion legend Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson) and piano player Michiel Borstlap presents some intriguing jazz that seems to strive to exist without borders or preconceptions.
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This is quite an interesting set. It's been released in honor of the 50th Anniversary of King Crimson's Larks' Tongues in Aspic album. We get two CDs here along with two Blu-Rays.
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.
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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.
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.
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King Crimson - Neal and Jack and Me DVD Review by Bill Knispel King Crimson’s ‘return to the throne’ in the 1980’s must have been viewed with a degree of skepticism. The band made a name for themselves in the 1970’s with their dark blend of symphonic grandeur and intense heaviness, mixed with an improvisational spirit that would drive them to push every song and performance into parts unknown.
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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.
This album, the second from Bill Bruford's solo project that went by his last name, is just getting a great remastered vinyl release from his own Winterfold Records.
For me Red has always been King Crimson’s ultimate album. I know, there are those who will point to Larks’ Tongues…, but personally I think this one is more cohesive and to the point.
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.
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Bruford - Rock Goes To College Review by Gary Hill Bruford’s original lineup only played two shows, both television appearances. The second of those is the recording released here. Bill Bruford is joined here, as on the two studio albums that original presented the material they perform, by keyboardist Dave Steward, guitar god Allan Holdsworth and bassist Jeff Berlin.
Yes - 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.
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King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black Review by Gary Hill King Crimson have always been one of the most creative and innovative bands out there. When you expect them to jab they dodge and when you think they are going to dodge you’d better duck.
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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.
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.
Yes - 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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King Crimson - Three Of A Perfect Pair Review by Gary Hill When King Crimson reformed in the 1980’s to create the Discipline album the sound they presented was quite different from the classic Crimson of the 1970’s. While I liked all of the discs from this Belew, Bruford, Fripp and Levin lineup, I still preferred the “old school” stuff.
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Yes - 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. This works extremely well on some of the songs here, while falling rather flat in other places
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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.
Yes - 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. The first was the Trevor Rabin "Yes West" lineup (consisting of Rabin, Chris Squire, Alan White and Tony Kaye - Jon Anderson had left the group, but been working his way back into the fold) and Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe (the splinter group of one of the most classic lineups).
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Bill Bruford's Earthworks - Video Anthology 2 - 1990's DVD Review by Gary Hill Those expecting to find Yes or King Crimson amidst this DVD will come away with out completing their quest. On the other hand, those looking for some stellar jazz performed by an incredible group of musicians will be rewarded with a great piece of music and video entertainment.
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King Crimson - VROOOM Review by Bill Knispel 10 years following the dissolution of King Crimson following a trilogy of world and gamelan influenced albums, the band quietly rejoined forces in a small studio in Woodstock New York to create a new band and a new sound. Expanding beyond the quartet that created those 1980’s albums, the core group (Robert Fripp. Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford) was joined by new members Pat Mastelotto (drums, formerly of Mister Mister) and Trey Gunn (Stick) to create what founding member Robert Fripp called a “double trio.”
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Steve Hackett - Watcher of the Skies Review by Gary Hill Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has assembled a wide variety of musicians to rework many classic Genesis songs. The end result is quite interesting.
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Tony Levin - World Diary Review by Gary Hill Featuring a large number of diverse musicians, this album is a considerably varied work. Released in 1995, jazz, art rock, and world textures dominate in this unique and intriguing CD, Tony Levin`s first solo album and the first release on his Papa Bear label.
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Yes - 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 - 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.
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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.
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Yes - 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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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.
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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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