---------------------------------------------------- NOVEMBER 13, 2001 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: New Gibralter Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock http://www.gepr.net/y.html#YES YES By Fred Trafton  Yes formed in 1968 with Jon Anderson (vocals), Chris Squire (bass, vocals), Peter Banks (guitar, vocals), Tony Kaye (keyboards), and Bill Bruford (drums). Anderson and Squire had met while both were in other bands and got an idea to play music with "vocal harmony backed by strong instrumentation." Yes were soon formed and in 1969 released their self-titled debut. Featuring strong original work and covers of songs by the Byrds and the Beatles, the album was a musical and critical success. This was followed in 1970 by Time and a Word, which made use of orchestral backing. This was objectionable to Banks, who was replaced on guitar by Steve Howe for the breakthrough The Yes Album (1971). This album finally solidified the classic Yes sound. Tensions between Kaye and Howe led to Kaye's departure and the arrival of Rick Wakeman (of the Strawbs) as Kaye's keyboard replacement. Wakeman's flashy stage presence became a symbol of the showiness (or show-offiness) of progressive rock in the '70s. Nevertheless, two classic albums came out of this lineup: Fragile (1971) and Close to the Edge (1972). These albums featured beautiful harmonies and strong, occasionally heavy playing. These are arguably the band's best albums. Some consider Close to the Edge to be a masterpiece of progressive rock, and others consider it to be a prime example of the disasters of the genre. Either way, this album probably made the strongest impact of any of the band's early albums. Also, Fragile contained the popular hit song "Roundabout." The band embarked on a major tour after Close to the Edge, but major change came soon as Bill Bruford left in late 1972 to join a newly reformed King Crimson. He was replaced by Alan White, whose loose and free drum style was a major contrast to the almost too-tight drumming of Bruford. White at first could not adapt to the styles of the tracks recorded with Bruford, but he eventually came into his own. The three-LP live Yessongs was released in 1973 and was a popular success. This was followed by the controversial double-LP Tales from Topographic Oceans, which was released in the first week of 1974. There were only four pieces on this album, one on each side, and the album marked a change from the carefully rehearsed style of Close to the Edge to a more open, experimental sound. Wakeman was put off by this whole experience and left to pursue a solo career. His replacement was the Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz, who stayed with the band long enough to record Relayer in 1974 and to tour in 1976 after the band took a year's hiatus. During this time, a compilation of work from the first two albums, plus a 10-minute cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "America" was released, 1975's Yesterdays. Perhaps the most curious thing about this album was Roger Dean's cover art. The front included a nude green woman (based on the original English cover of Time and a Word). The back showed two blue naked children, one of whom is urinating. As mentioned, once the band reunited, it embarked on a major tour in 1976 before going on to produce its next album, Going for the One, in Switzerland. Interestingly, Moraz left the band before the album was begun. Rick Wakeman was hired to play on the album as a session musician, but was soon back in the band. This album showed Yes moving in new directions, affected by New Wave, but still with its own unique style. Going for the One was followed by Tormato (1978), which was critically and popularly unsuccessful. The band seemed to be pulling apart, and efforts to produce another album were unsuccessful, although demos from these sessions have recently appeared on bootleg CDs. It was at this time that Anderson and Wakeman left the band. Howe, Squire, and White continued on their own, and were soon joined by the Buggles (Geoff Downes, keyboards, and Trevor Horn, vocals), who were famous for their "Video Killed the Radio Star" (which happened to also be the first video played when MTV made its debut in August 1981). This new lineup recorded Drama (1980), which was rejected by the critics as garbage and by many fans as not being a true Yes album. The band then broke up, with Downes and Howe forming Asia, Horn going into producing, and Squire and White working together. In 1981 the compilation Classic Yes was released, featuring mostly work from the 1971-1972 period. Squire and White then met Trevor Rabin, a South African guitarist. The three began working together on new material. Shortly thereafter, Tony Kaye came back into the picture, and later, Jon Anderson as well. In 1983 this quintet released 90125, the most popular Yes album ever, which featured the #1 hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart." A tour album and video followed: 9012Live (1985). The process of making the next album was difficult, and Big Generator wasn't released until 1987. It should be noted that this '80s period of the group is not universally appreciated by die-hard prog fans. In 1988, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe joined forces to record and release Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. As the nineties began, ABWH were working on a new album, as were the remaining four Yes members. In 1991 all were (ostensibly) gloriously reunited for Union and a major eight-man tour. Of course, this lineup disintegrated quickly. In 1994 a new Yes album was released, Talk. The lineup for this session returned to the configuration of 90125 (Anderson, White, Squire, Rabin, and Kaye). Most of the songs were co-written by Anderson and Rabin, with some writing assistance by Roger Hodgson, formerly of Supertramp. This album is notable mainly in that it was produced by Rabin and recorded and mixed entirely on a Macintosh computer. The release was not well-promoted, however, and the album fell into obscurity almost more rapidly than Union (despite arguably superior music). Shortly after Talk disappeared from most people's memories, rumors, which eventually turned out to be true, began to circulate that Rabin was out (along with Kaye) and that Howe and Wakeman had rejoined the band. In March 1996 this vision of "classic Yes" reborn came to fruition with three nights of sold out concerts near Jon's home in San Luis Obispo, California. The group played rousing versions of many classic tunes, recording the concerts for the October double-disc release, Keys to Ascension. The album featured a Roger Dean cover, several exciting live versions of Yes classics, and two new pieces in an updated version of the "classic Yes" style. While the Yes of the '70s may never be reborn, this album's two new tracks, with running times of 9 and 19 minutes and multi-segmented forms, brought new hope. The album also featured a live version of the Simon and Garfunkel tune "America," first heard in a studio version in 1972 on an Atlantic sampler and on Yes's own 1975 release Yesterdays. An edit of this live version was released as a single, and the band made a few unique media appearances in the last few months of 1996, including the Howard Stern Show, Fox After Breakfast, and a special concert at a Tower Records in Hollywood. Plans for the future included more studio time in November 1996 to lay down a few new tracks for Keys to Ascension 2 (an album that is planned to follow a similar format to the first), which is due for Spring 1997 release. -- Scott Anderson Continuing on in time from the above article, Keys to Ascension 2 was indeed released in 1997. It contained more cuts from the same concert as the first KtA, plus several more new studio cuts. To be honest, it felt like the original KtA used the best live cuts from that concert, and these aren't as interesting. The new studio works I also don't find terribly interesting. Nice Roger Dean cover art, though. By the time of the next release, Open Your Eyes, Rick Wakeman had once again grown tired of being in the band and left (this time forever, he claims) to follow his own muses. To beef up the sound, guitarist Billy Sherwood was brought in as a "formal" member of Yes, though he had been working with them since the Union album behind the scenes. This was also the first Yes album to feature Igor Khoroshev on keyboards, though he only plays on three of the album's 12 cuts. I haven't heard this album, and I'm not particularly dying to either. In 1998, they released some live material featuring the original Yes lineup recorded during 1969 and 1970. This album was called Something's Coming, and I can't comment on this one either as I haven't heard it. But (I'm about to commit a heresy here) the original Yes lineup with Tony Kaye and Peter Banks was never my favorite anyway. The Ladder was arguably the most progressive album Yes had put out in years, though Chris Squire adamantly denies he had any intention of taking Yes back to a more progressive sound. I have heard this release, and it's actually pretty good. This is the first (and perhaps the last) studio release to feature Igor Khoroshev on keyboards as a full member of the band. The sound on this album is a bit like Fragile, but more modern to be sure. This recording was mostly done as a band playing together rather than as individual overdubs done one by one. This, says Squire, is what some are hearing as being "more progressive". I say come off it, Chris, this album just has more interesting and intricate compositions than the albums since Union have had ... that's what I'm hearing as more progressive. This was followed by two compilations and a live album. The first compilation entitled The Best of Yes features the most famous of Yes' songs, but certainly not "The Best" from a progressive rock fan's point of view. Next was Live from the House of Blues, a 2-CD album of music recorded from a 1999 concert in Las Vegas. Finally, another compilation was released, Keystudio, which features all of the new studio material recorded for the Keys to Ascension CD's. Wake me when it's over. 2001 saw the release of another studio album, Magnification. For this one Igor Khoroshev is out ("moved on to other projects and may be associated with Yes in the future") and the band is down to the "core four": Anderson, Squire, White and Howe. I haven't heard this one either, but in this case I've heard enough good things that I am interested in hearing it. I'll let you know what I think when I do. Near as I can tell, there's no keyboard player for this album, so it may be quite a departure for the Yes sound. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com