| Yes | |
|---|---|
| Origin |  London, England |
| Genre(s) | Progressive rock, Symphonic rock, Pop-rock, Art Rock |
| Years active | 1968-1981 1983-Present (On Hiatus) |
| Associated acts |
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Asia, Cinema, XYZ, Circa:, The Buggles |
| Website | YesWorld.com |
| Members | |
| Jon Anderson Steve Howe Rick Wakeman Chris Squire Alan White |
|
| Former members | |
| Bill Bruford Tony Kaye Trevor Rabin Peter Banks Patrick Moraz Trevor Horn Geoff Downes Igor Khoroshev Billy Sherwood |
|
Yes are an English progressive rock band that formed in London in 1968. Their music uses complex arrangements, unusual time signatures, virtuoso musicianship, dramatic dynamic and metrical changes, a blend of musical styles, vocal harmonies, and a unique lyrical style. Despite the many changes to its lineup, the band has continued for nearly 40 years and retains a strong international following.
History
Early years (1968–1970)
Yes was formed in 1968 by vocalist Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire. Anderson had already recorded a single in 1964 as a member of The Warriors, a beat band formed by his brother Tony, and later sang on a couple of 45s for Parlophone Records under the pseudonym Hans Christian. He was also briefly a member of the group Gun. Squire had been a member of The Syn, a flower-pop outfit which had recorded a couple of singles for Deram Records (one, "14-Hour Technicolour Dream", celebrating the "happening" held at Alexandra Palace on April 29/April 30 1967). After the breakup of The Syn, Squire spent a year developing his bass-playing technique, influenced by The Who's bassist, John Entwistle. In 1967, Chris Squire and Peter Banks joined Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, a band formed by composer-singer-guitarist Clive Bailey and drummer Bob Hagger early in 1966. Later Tony Kaye joined. In May 1968, Squire met Anderson in a London Soho nightclub, La Chasse, where Anderson was working. The two had a common interest in vocal harmony and began working together soon afterwards. Following this meeting, Anderson performed briefly with Squire in Mabel Greer's Toyshop, not long before the band played their final gig in May 1968 in Highgate, London. The line-up at this final show was Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Peter Banks, Clive Bailey and Bob Hagger. [1]
Anderson and Squire, based on their shared vision for creating a new sound, formed a new band called Yes, bringing in their former bandmates Banks and Kaye. Banks came up with the name Yes, with the rationale that it would stand out on posters. The classically trained Kaye had already been in a series of prior groups (Johnny Taylor's Star Combo, The Federals, and Jimmy Winston and His Reflections). Drummer Bill Bruford was recruited from an ad he had placed in Melody Maker. A jazz aficionado, Bruford had played just three gigs with Blues revivalists Savoy Brown before leaving.
Yes played their first show at East Mersey Youth Camp in England on August 4, 1968. Soon thereafter, they opened for Cream at their 1968 Farewell Concert from Royal Albert Hall. Early on, influenced by bands like 1-2-3 (later Clouds)[2], the group earned a reputation for taking other people's songs and drastically changing them into expanded, progressive compositions. In September, they subbed for an absent Sly and The Family Stone at Blaise's and as a result of that appearance gained a residency at The Marquee club. Soon after, they made their first radio appearance on John Peel's programme (although several Yes members had previously played the show in Mabel Greer's Toyshop) and, when Melody Maker columnist Tony Wilson selected them and Led Zeppelin as the two bands "Most Likely To Succeed" (as he states on the liner notes of the band's debut LP), it appeared that their future was assured.
Their eponymous debut album was released on July 25 1969. The harmony vocals of Anderson and Squire were an immediate trademark of the Yes sound. Standout tracks were a jazzy take on The Byrds "I See You" and the album closer, "Survival", which displayed the band's vocal harmonies and deft song-construction. Notably, the album was given a favourable review by Lester Bangs in Rolling Stone magazine, which described the band as promising and that the album displaying a "sense of style, taste and subtlety".[3]
In 1970, the band released their second album, this time accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. Time and a Word featured mostly original compositions and two cover songs, Richie Havens's "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed", and "Everydays" by Stephen Stills, originally recorded by Buffalo Springfield. The reworking of Havens' song also included excerpts from the theme song of the movie The Big Country. The orchestra (and keyboardist Tony Kaye) overpowered Banks and much of the vocal work, leaving Time and a Word somewhat uneven. Before the album's release, Peter Banks was asked to leave and ex-Tomorrow guitarist Steve Howe was hired. Howe was included in the front cover photo of the American release (despite not having played on the album) because the photograph was taken after Banks' departure.
1970–1974
Songs often exceeded the standard three-minute pop-song structure with lengthy multi-part suites sometimes lasting twenty minutes or more, in the 1970s progressive rock style. Vocal verses alternated with atmospheric instrumental interludes, frenetic ensemble passages and extended guitar, keyboard and bass solos. The band's sound featured Jon Anderson's distinctive high-register lead vocals, the group's strong vocal harmonies, Rick Wakeman (and Patrick Moraz) and Steve Howe's respective keyboard and guitar solos, Bill Bruford's and later Alan White's polyrhythmic drumming and Chris Squire's melodic bass playing. Chris Squire adapted electronic guitar effects such as tremolo, phasing and the wah-wah pedal to the electric bass, as well as using unique "bi-amping" techniques to achieve the signature sound found throughout the Yes catalog.
The first two Yes albums mixed original material with covers of songs by their major influences, including The Beatles, The Byrds and Simon & Garfunkel. However, the departure of Peter Banks in 1970 and his replacement by guitarist Steve Howe gave Yes a new sound. The group's emerging style coalesced on their next LP, the critically acclaimed The Yes Album, the band's first album to consist entirely of original compositions. It was also the record that united them with long-serving producer and engineer Eddie Offord, whose studio expertise was a key factor in creating the signature Yes sound.
In 1971, original organ/piano player Tony Kaye left the band. Kaye was a talented player who contributed memorable chord passages on the Hammond organ, particularly on "Everydays" and "Yours is No Disgrace". He soon formed the group, Badger. Kaye was replaced by the classically-trained Rick Wakeman, who had just left the Strawbs. Wakeman was a studio musician with credits including David Bowie and Lou Reed, and he was a skilled improviser. Tony Kaye and ex-Yes guitarist Peter Banks eventually formed their own progressive rock band, Flash.
As a soloist, Wakeman proved to be a good foil for Steve Howe. He also brought two vital additions to the group's instrumentation: the Mellotron (which Kaye had been unwilling to employ) and the Minimoog synthesizer. Surrounded by banks of keyboards, Wakeman's flowing blond hair and sequened cape provided a strong visual focus on stage. With Wakeman, Yes cut two LPs. Fragile (1971) went Top Ten in America, as did Close to the Edge (1972). Yes benefited from the tremendous advances in live music technology that were taking place at that time, and they were renowned for the high quality of both their sound and lighting. Fragile also marked the beginning of the band's long collaboration with artist Roger Dean, who designed the original version of the group's logo, illustrated their album covers, and designed their elaborate stage sets.
Before the release of Close to the Edge, and at the height of the band's success, Bruford quit the band to join King Crimson. He was replaced by former Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White, a more conventional rock drummer and a distinct contrast to the jazz-influenced Bruford. White was brought into Yes several months before the September 1972 release of Close to the Edge. Their early touring with White was featured on their next release, the three-record live collection Yessongs, recorded on their world tour in late 1972 and early 1973. The album included two tracks with Bruford, the song "Perpetual Change" with an extended Bruford drum solo, as well as backing Chris Squire in his solo "The Fish", while White played drums on the rest of the tracks. [3].
Yessongs was an ambitious project and a major gamble for their label, Atlantic Records. It was one of rock's first triple-album sets, featuring live versions of all-original material from the previous three studio albums. The album packaging was lavishly presented, with Roger Dean's artwork spread across a triple gatefold cover, and a continuation of the cosmic-organic design concepts presenting in the packaging design of the two previous albums. A film of the tour, released under the same name, featured concert footage intermixed with psychedelic visual effects.
Their next studio album, Tales from Topographic Oceans polarized fans and critics. It earned mixed reviews, and it was later described by Anderson as "the meeting point of high ideals and low energy." The album was based upon a book of Shastric teachings that Anderson had read while on tour. Tales from Topographic Oceans was no small feat, as it contained four tracks each reaching over eighteen minutes in length. However, Rick Wakeman was not pleased with the album, and disliked performing its songs on tour.
Increasing tensions between Wakeman and the rest of the band, as well as Wakeman's own burgeoning solo career, led him to quit at the end of the Tales tour in 1974. (By 1976, Wakeman worked to put together a prog-rock triumvirate rivaling Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but in the end he did not participate in that project. That band, eventually featuring Bruford, his King Crimson bandmate John Wetton, guitarist Allan Holdsworth, and Roxy Music's wunderkind keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson, formed under the name UK.) Wakeman embarked on a long, prolific, and fairly popular solo career, while also working on projects with the English Rock Ensemble, writing film scores, and collaborating with other artists.
1974–1981
Wakeman was replaced by Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz for Relayer in 1974. The vast difference between Moraz's contributions to Yes and Wakeman's was more of a novelty than a disappointment, Moraz being a distinctive electric-jazz musician in his own right. Again, the album featured a side-long track, "The Gates of Delirium", from which the "Soon" section was extracted for single release. This single edit reached number one on the Spanish charts.
Following an extended tour through 1974–1975, Yes took a brief hiatus as a band, with each member of the group releasing his own solo album. These included fan favorites "Olias of Sunhillow" (Anderson) and "Fish Out Of Water" (Squire), as well as efforts from Howe, White and Moraz. Several of these solo efforts involved collaborations from other Yes members, past and present. During this same period, Yesterdays was released by Atlantic, containing tracks from the first two albums, as well as "America" as the opening track, which saw the track's first non-sampler album release.
After this hiatus, the group commenced sessions for a new album. After negotiations, Wakeman returned as a session musician, and Moraz was asked to leave the band. Moraz ended up at the top of the ambiguous "thanks to…" list on the album sleeve, and ultimately went on to become keyboard player for the Moody Blues in the next couple of years. In any case, after hearing and being impressed by the new material, Wakeman once again became a permanent band member.
Apart from the fifteen minute track "Awaken", the resulting album, Going for the One — the first not to feature Roger Dean artwork since The Yes Album (instead featuring artwork by Hipgnosis) — was mostly made up of shorter songs, including "Wonderous Stories", released as a single in the UK in 1977. This album and the next, 1978's Tormato featuring the same lineup, were successful in spite of being released at the height of the punk rock era in Britain, during which time Yes were often criticized by the music press as representing the most bloated excesses of early 1970s progressive rock. Ironically, Yes outlasted many of the groups of that era. The Tormato album sparked dissension among fans for its less cohesive songwriting and production approach. However, despite internal or external criticisms of this latest album, the band enjoyed successful tours in 1978 and 1979 by utilizing, for the first time, a rotating circular stage and calling the tour "Yes - In The Round".
In October 1979, Yes convened in Paris with producer Roy Thomas Baker, fresh off his success producing Queen's album Jazz. There were a number of statements made by band members (and rumors) as to why the sessions did not produce a formal album. Howe, Squire, and White said later in 1980 that none of the three of them liked the music Anderson had offered the band, claiming it was too lightweight and lacking in a heaviness that the trio felt they were generating during their own time together. (Bootlegs of these sessions, included in the infamous "Yesoteric" collections, as well as bonus tracks appearing on CD re-releases, would gain support among listeners that Howe et al. were not alone in their assessment of Anderson's music, some of which appeared on his 1980 solo album Song of Seven.)
In December, the sessions ended when Alan White broke his foot. There is also strong speculation that Anderson and the remaining members of the band had a falling out over money issues and claims and counterclaims of members spending more than their fair share of their group monies. By May 1980, the situation reached a conclusion with Anderson departing Yes as no agreement could be reached over musical direction and financial remuneration. With Anderson leaving, Wakeman followed suit, thinking that Yes could not continue without its primary voice. Anderson would turn up on several duo albums with electronic composer Vangelis that were released during these years on Polydor Records.
At Yes manager Brian Lane's suggestion, Squire invited The Buggles duo of Geoffrey Downes (keyboards) and Trevor Horn (vocals) - who were coming off an international success with their New Wave album The Age of Plastic and the acclaimed single "Video Killed the Radio Star" - to help out on a new Yes album. Initially, the plan was that Downes and Horn would help write some new material. They already had a song called "We Can Fly From Here" which had been written with Yes in mind. Downes and Horn were then invited to join Yes as full-time members. The resulting album, Drama, displayed a heavier, harder sound than the material Yes recorded with Anderson in 1979. It opened with the lengthy hard rock track "Machine Messiah."
The album's artwork, once again featuring Roger Dean's illustrations, raised eyebrows as the inside cover also displayed a bit of a horror-house style in photo and graphic design, which perplexed some fans. The band undertook a North American tour in September 1980. After the tour, Yes reconvened in England to decide the band’s next step, but after the criticism directed toward them, and members' interest in pursuing different projects, the band officially disbanded in the spring of 1981.
Alan White and Chris Squire continued working together, beginning sessions with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. The band was to be called XYZ, said to be short for "ex-Yes-and-Zeppelin," but nothing came of the sessions . XYZ produced a few demo tracks, elements of which would appear in later Yes music (most notably "Mind Drive" from Keys to Ascension 2, and "Can You Imagine", from Magnification). Another XYZ track became "Fortune Hunter," a song on the album Mean Business by Page's later group The Firm. Later in 1981, Squire and White released the Christmas single "Run With The Fox". Downes and Howe went on to form supergroup Asia with former King Crimson and UK bassist/vocalist John Wetton and Carl Palmer from Emerson, Lake & Palmer on drums, while Horn went on to begin a successful and long-running career as a producer.
1983–1988
In 1983, over two years after the breakup of Yes, Chris Squire and Alan White formed a new group, dubbed Cinema with guitarist Trevor Rabin (late of the band Rabbitt). Original Yes organist Tony Kaye was invited to participate as Squire felt that Kaye's textural approach to keyboards would suit the band. Formerly a solo artist with three albums to his credit, Rabin's writing contributions included the catchy riff-oriented "Owner of a Lonely Heart'; but Rabin also played a role in the making of music to fit the MTV era while retaining certain aspects of Yes' original style - particularly the vocal harmonies.
Originally, the lead vocals were shared between Rabin and Squire; but in early 1983, Squire played Anderson some of Cinema's music at a party in Los Angeles. Impressed with the band's new approach in songs like "Leave It", Anderson was invited by Squire to add his vocals to the new project and Anderson accepted the invitation, resulting in the "accidental" reformation of Yes. Many fans call this lineup "Yes West", because of the band's relocation to Los Angeles and its more American, radio-friendly sound.
An excerpt from "Owner of a Lonely Heart" from the album 90125.
Problems listening to the file? See media help.
The band's first album since the reunion, 90125 was a radical departure from their earlier sound. It was more visceral, with then-modern electronic effects — attributable chiefly to producer (and former Yes vocalist) Trevor Horn. Yes' most commercially successful album by far, 90125 eventually sold over six million copies and secured a new lease on life for Yes, which toured for over a year to support it. The song "Owner of a Lonely Heart" from this album was even a top hit on the R&B and disco charts (and sampled countless times since), resulting in the band's only Number One single. Yes scored significant hit singles with "Leave It" and "It Can Happen." It also garnered a Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental ("Cinema," a short, highly compressed and complex track recorded live in the studio). The popular album spawned a concert video, directed by Steven Soderbergh (9012Live), and a short live album (9012Live: The Solos, which included solo pieces from Anderson, Rabin, Squire and Kaye plus a Squire/White jam).
In 1986, Yes began recording Big Generator. Unfortunately, interpersonal problems (chiefly between Squire and Anderson) kept the album from timely completion, and ultimately Rabin took a hand in its final production. Although 1987's Big Generator did not fare as well as 90125, it still sold well over two million copies. Some Yes fans have considered Big Generator more faithful to the vintage Yes sound than its predecessor due to a concentrated effort to record longer songs such as the fan favorites "I'm Running" and "Shoot High, Aim Low" in addition to the more pop-oriented tunes. Rabin's radio-friendly "Love Will Find a Way" charted moderately well, with the Beach Boys-inspired "Rhythm of Love" just making the Top 40. The 1988 tour ended with a gig at Madison Square Garden as part of Atlantic Records's fortieth anniversary celebrations; but it left the Yes members exhausted and frustrated with one another.
1988–1992
Anderson grew tired of the musical direction of the "new" Yes line-up. He wanted the band to return to its classic sound. Following the 1988 tour, Anderson began working with former Yes members Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, and Bill Bruford. Some in the group (particularly Bill Bruford) wanted to distance themselves from the "Yes" name. As it turned out, Anderson and the former Yes members were contractually unable to use the name, as Squire, White, Kaye, Rabin and Anderson jointly held those rights, dating back to the 90125 contract. Subsequently, the new group called themselves "Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe", or simply ABWH.
The project included session bassist Tony Levin, brought in by Bruford, after the two had worked together in King Crimson. Appealing to old and new Yes fans, their eponymous 1989 album featured "Brother of Mine," a popular MTV video in its own right, and went gold in the United States. However, they did not all record together as in the early 70s but instead their parts were slotted into place on the album by Anderson. Howe has stated publicly that he was unhappy with the mix of his guitars on the album (a version of "Fist of Fire" with more of Howe's guitars left intact eventually appeared on the Yes In a Word box set in 2001).
According to Bruford, the four-way writing credit does not reflect the actual writing process and was instead an incentive to have the ex-Yes men take part in the recording sessions. He stated that Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman were the primary composers for the album. After the album's release, legal battles (sparked by Atlantic Records) soon followed over the title of ABWH's tour, An Evening of Yes Music Plus, the live recording of which featured Bruford colleague Jeff Berlin in Levin's session bassist spot, who was forced to sit out for two weeks due to illness. In addition, the live sessions were augmented by second keyboardist Julian Colbeck and guitarist Milton McDonald. The tour alternated between music from AWBH and vintage Yes classics, and each night opened with short solo stints from all four members. In a somewhat ironic twist, Anderson sang "Owner of a Lonely Heart" as a solo-piece during the ABWH tour.
Meanwhile, Yes were working on their follow-up to Big Generator. The band had been shopping around for a new singer in case Anderson would not be involved. They worked with ex-Supertramp Roger Hodgson, and songwriter Billy Sherwood of World Trade. Hodgson enjoyed working with the group; but thought it unwise to attempt to pass off the music as Yes. A little known fact was that while the band had been working exclusively with Hodgson, other names were being mentioned as possible replacements, most notably Steve Walsh of the band Kansas. However Walsh was almost immediately dropped from consideration as it was felt that his vocal styling would not mesh with the current sound that the band was trying to produce at the time. Arista, ABWH's new label, encouraged ABWH to seek outside songwriters, and Trevor Rabin ultimately sent a demo. Predictably, Arista sensed the commercial possibility of a union of Yes and ABWH. This would lead to the end of Yes having new albums released by Atlantic Records after more than 20 years of their initial recording contract.
Throughout early 1991, phone calls were made, lawyers soothed, and agreements were struck, with Yes joining ABWH for the Union album. Each group did its own songs, with Jon Anderson singing on all of the vocal tracks, and Steve Howe contributing a trademark acoustic guitar solo. Chris Squire sang backing vocals on a few of the ABWH tracks (with Tony Levin doing all the bass on those songs). A world tour united all eight members on one revolving stage in a short-lived "Mega-Yes" line-up of Anderson, Squire, Howe, Rabin, Kaye, Wakeman, Bruford, and White, but the album itself proved somewhat less than the sum of its parts. None of the songs on Union featured all eight members at once, and two-thirds were actually ABWH compositions, while Rabin and Squire contributed four songs (including a Billy Sherwood collaboration).
Nearly the entire band have publicly stated their disliking for the finished product due to producer Jonathan Elias's secret involvement of session musicians after the initial sessions. Bruford and Howe have disowned the album entirely and Wakeman was reportedly unable to recognise any of his keyboard work in the final edit. Wakeman later began to refer to the album as "Onion" because "every time I heard it, it made me cry". The guitarist Jimmy Haun (who now plays with Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood in Circa) has said that he was paid by Elias to "sound like" Steve Howe on "Union." The Union tour itself featured tracks spanning the band's entire career. Among other unique aspects, the concerts featured a Bruford/White drum duet, as well a musical duel of sorts between Wakeman and Rabin. Despite all the problems associated with the Union collaboration, the tour was one of the highest grossing concert tours of 1991 and 1992.
1992–2000
When the tour was over in 1992, Bill Bruford and Steve Howe recorded an album of Yes instrumental music reinterpreted by an orchestra for RCA Victor, which featured Jon Anderson's vocals on two of the songs. Entitled "The Symphonic Music of Yes", the album offered some fresh sonic presentations of Yes masterpieces. It remains debatable, however, whether the concept warranted the length of the actual finished recording. String arrangements were done by David Palmer (who also arranged for Jethro Tull), and the record was produced by progressive rock legend Alan Parsons.
After the release of this album, Bruford chose not to remain involved in future Yes possibilities. Anderson began writing with both Howe and Rabin separately, but eventually, Howe was not asked to be on the next album by the record label (Victory Music), which had approached Rabin with a proposal to produce an album solely with the 90125 lineup, to which Rabin initially countered by requesting that Wakeman be included. By 1993, Wakeman's refusal to leave his long-serving management meant he also could not play on the new album, which by then was well into production. Rabin and Wakeman have both expressed regret that they never played together on a Yes album - excepting the patchwork of Union - although Rabin did guest on Wakeman's Return to the Centre of the Earth album in 1999.
Yes was back to its popular 1980s lineup of Anderson, Squire, Rabin, Kaye, and White. In 1994, Yes released Talk on Victory Music, one of the group's poorest selling releases. Neither the record label nor US radio stations provided much promotion for "The Calling", perhaps their most commercially viable single since "Owner of a Lonely Heart". (David Letterman heard the song while driving and immediately sought to find the "new band" and have them appear on the Late Show, which they did on June 20 1994, just days into their Talk tour, performing "Walls" from Talk). Anderson and Rabin's collaboration resulted in a fusion of 'old' and 'new' Yes that appealed to a variety of fans.
Some of the fruits of the band's work with Roger Hodgson also appears on the album. On the 1994 tour, guitarist/vocalist Billy Sherwood, who co-authored Union's "The More We Live" with Squire, joined as a sixth member. By the end of 1995, Sherwood, Tony Kaye and Rabin left, with Rabin going on to become a highly successful film score composer and Kaye temporarily retiring from music. (Kaye did provide Hammond organ on several tracks on the Sherwood-produced Return To The Dark Side of the Moon in 2006.)
Proving the truth of the old adage "never say never again," the band surprised and delighted fans by reforming with the classic 1970s lineup of Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman and White for a three-night live performance in the California town of San Luis Obispo in 1996. As the band formed a brief contract with CMC International Records, the resulting live recordings were released, together with new music, on the Keys to Ascension albums. Keys to Ascension 2, in particular, featured 48 minutes of new music. The band was disappointed that the new material wasn't released as a single studio album, which had the working title of Know.
The new studio cuts from those two albums were later reissued on a single CD called Keystudio. Wakeman left the group yet again before the release of Keys to Ascension 2 after a Yes tour was planned without his input, and because of his frustration over the decision to bury the Keystudio studio tracks on redundant live albums. This frustration was apparently shared by consumers, reflected in the lackluster sales of all three releases.
Longtime collaborator Billy Sherwood immediately rejoined Yes on keyboards and guitar as an official member. Open Your Eyes, released in 1997, was originally intended as a project by Squire-Sherwood called Conspiracy. However, it was basically co-opted by Yes in order to fulfill a need to get a new record out by the then-current lineup. The band agreed it would release this and all future releases on the Beyond Music label to ensure they have more of a say in album packaging and titling. Squire and Sherwood eventually released a mostly newer set of songs as their first "Conspiracy" album.
The tour that followed featured only a few pieces from the new album, and mostly concentrated on the revival of classic Yes material such as Siberian Khatru. The return of Howe to Yes one year earlier, along with a heavier emphasis on 1970s-era Yes music, was considered an exciting development by many fans. The tour also featured keyboards from Russian keyboardist Igor Khoroshev, who had played on a few of the Open Your Eyes tracks. Khoroshev was later made a full time member for the following album The Ladder. This would be the last album that record producer Bruce Fairbairn would work on before an untimely death.
Many fans were reminded of the band's classic 1970s sound, largely because of Khoroshev's keyboards. His work was classically-oriented and also included sampling large sections of music by British techno group The Prodigy. Sherwood's live role was limited to backup vocals and backup guitar, with a few notable spotlight moments for guitar solos in Rabin-era songs. Howe refused to duplicate Rabin's solos, citing that his style would not fit those solos. (Howe was never fond of Rabin as a member of Yes, claiming that Rabin had undermined his guitar parts in his performances and that he sanitized the sound of the band on albums, particularly Talk; but, Rabin, of course, disagrees).[citation needed] The 1999 tour resulted in a live DVD of the performance at the Las Vegas House of Blues. "Homeworld (The Ladder)", a track from The Ladder, was written for Relic Entertainment's real-time strategy computer game Homeworld, and was used as the credits and outro theme.
2000s
Sherwood was let go prior to the 2000 Masterworks tour, which featured a revival of the Moraz-period extended piece "The Gates of Delirium". Months later, Khoroshev was fired after a sexual assault charge, just before the recording of the 2001 orchestral release Magnification. The band was not only backed by a 60-piece orchestra, but specific parts and arrangements were written by notable film composer Larry Groupé and performed by the orchestra, sounding as if the orchestra was a permanent band member. On tour, however, the band hired session touring keyboardist Tom Brislin to augment the orchestra since the orchestra alone could not faithfully reproduce some of the classic Yes keyboard material.
Rick Wakeman announced his return to the group on April 20, 2002, and a world tour for Yes followed, including a return to Australia after more than 30 years. The classic lineup enjoyed a somewhat revitalized presence in the public consciousness, especially during the celebration of their 35th anniversary in 2003. Reacting to an online survey of popular Yes songs to play, the band added "South Side of the Sky" to the touring set list, a surprise given that it was rarely played before, even on the original Fragile tours.
This revitalisation showed itself during a show in New York's Madison Square Garden. Near the end of the song "And You and I" before the last few acoustic notes, the band was overwhelmed with thunderous applause. It lasted so long that by the time it subsided, the roadies had already removed Howe's guitar. Wakeman then had to play the last bit with Anderson singing. Towards the later part of the tour, the band performed some songs in acoustic style, after doing a live-via-satellite concert as part of the Yesspeak documentary's premiere.
In October 2002, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" appeared in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
On November 11, 2004, for one night only, the very unlikely alternative Yes line-up of Rabin, Howe, Squire, White, and Geoff Downes performed a set of Yes songs at the Prince's Trust concert at Wembley Arena, which was a tribute to former Yes vocalist/producer Trevor Horn. It remains somewhat unclear why Anderson did not perform that night, although since Horn was being honoured that night, (the other acts that played that night were all produced by Horn), there may have been a desire to emphasize Horn's role rather than Anderson's. One report said that Anderson needing time to rest, under doctors' orders, and that Wakeman declined to join in because of Anderson's absence. Whatever the exact reason, fans of the 90125 era were delighted to see Rabin perform with the group for the first time in ten years, and, as on the Union tour, the audience was treated to guitar solos by both Rabin and Howe.
In 2005, DJ Max Graham sampled and remixed Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart", credited to Max Graham Vs. Yes. The song reached the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
Since 2004, Yes has been on indefinite hiatus. While Howe, Squire, Wakeman and White have all expressed an interest in recording and touring, Anderson has been firmly opposed. Thus, band members have pursued varied solo projects. White has formed a new group, White, featuring Downes Their debut album, also called White, was released on April 18 2006. In 2004, Squire joined a reformed version of The Syn, one of his pre-Yes groups from the 1960s.
Plans for a joint tour by White, The Syn, and Steve Howe, which would have included the Yes members (with the singer from White) performing songs from Drama, were canceled as a result of visa problems for English members following the July 2005 London bombings. White joined the band for a tour in 2006. On May 16 2006, Squire http://chrissquire.com/cs_newsmain.html announced that he had left Syn.] On the same day, the original members of Asia, including Howe and Downes, announced that they would be reuniting for a 25th anniversary tour, which commenced in September. Anderson and Wakeman toured together in October of 2006, and the setlist for most shows featured Yes material along with songs from both their solo careers, and at least one ABWH song. In early 2007, Sherwood, Kaye and White — along with guitarist Jimmy Haun — formed a new band, Circa:. The band released its debut album - Circa:2007, available from its website www.circahq.com. Its debut live performance was held on August 23, 2007, at The Coach House, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., at which time the band performed its entire debut album followed by an hour-long medley of Yes songs.
In February 2007, Jon Anderson said on Philadelphia's Radio WPHT 1210 AM that Yes will possibly reunite in 2008 for a 40th anniversary tour and that Roger Dean is creating artistic projections for the shows.
Discography
References
- ^ [1].
- ^ Mojo Magazine Nov 1994 '1-2-3 and the Birth of Prog'; The Illustrated History of Rock ' Clouds by Ed Ward'
- ^ [2]
See also
External links
- Yesworld: The Official Yes website
- Wikia has a wiki about this topic: Yesclopedia
- 1983 audio interview with Trevor Rabin, Alan White, Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
