The type of music that they play is Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock, Pop Rock, Art Rock and Psychedelic Rock.
To me I would rather listen to the older music from them. The music from the 70's. Songs like Roundabout, And You And I, Apocalypse, Then, Time and a Work and Every Little Thing. These are just some of the songs.
The band formed in London in 1968 with band members Jon Anderson lead vocals, Peter Banks guitar, Tony Kaye keyboards, Chris Squire bass and Bill Bruford drums. The band was formed by Jon Anderson and Chris Squire. Jon was a brief member of The Gun band and Chris was a member of The Syn band. Chris was influenced from bass player John Entwistle of The Who.
The first album Yes was released July 25th 1969. This album had The Byrd and Every Little Thing on it. This album was really good. I really like this album because it just had a really different sound to it and has a totally different musical power to the album. When I first heard this band I knew they would be around for a long time.
Just like any other band they had there ups and downs with band members coming and going. The band also split up a couple of times.
In late March 1981 was when the band first split up and they also fired long time manager Brian Lane. Also in 1981 Chris Squire and Alan White had been doing some recording for a band that was getting together called the XYZ. This was with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant from Led Zepplin. But Robert couldn't do it anymore because he was still mourning the loss of his best friend John " Bonzo" Bonham. So this never happened for them.
Then in 1983 Chris Squire had seen Jon Anderson at a party in Los Angeles. Chris asked Jon if he would like to do some vocals for a band he was getting together called this Cinema. Jon told Chris yes so they had a new band together again. The did some recordings and the record company told them they would sell more albums if they went back to using the band Yes. The new writer and processor was Trever Rabin.
Then in 1996 the band let Trevor Rabin and Tony Kaye go. This was the start for the band to go back the the classic styles from 1970's music. The band performed three night in San Luis Obispo California. This was Jon's home town. The band sold out all three nights for the shows. They also recorded the live performances for the album Keys to Ascension.
Then in 2008 Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White reunited the band the second time with Benoit David on vocals and Oliver Wakeman on keyboards.
If you are able to see them in concert I would say do it. They put on an awesome concert. I really enjoyed it and this was the very first time I was to one of there concert. I hope you enjoy this revue about the band.
These are the band members that the group had gone through in the years.
| Year | Lead vocals | Guitar | Keyboards | Bass | Drums |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–1970 | Jon Anderson | Peter Banks | Tony Kaye | Chris Squire | Bill Bruford |
| 1970–1971 | Steve Howe | ||||
| 1971–1972 | Rick Wakeman | ||||
| 1972–1974 | Alan White | ||||
| 1974–1976 | Patrick Moraz | ||||
| 1976–1980 | Rick Wakeman | ||||
| 1980–1981 | Trevor Horn | Geoff Downes | |||
| 1981–1983 | Group disbanded | ||||
| 1983–1989 | Jon Anderson | Trevor Rabin | Tony Kaye Trevor Rabin (studio only) | Chris Squire | Alan White |
| 1990–1992 | Trevor Rabin Steve Howe | Tony Kaye Rick Wakeman | Alan White Bill Bruford | ||
| 1993–1994 | Trevor Rabin | Tony Kaye Trevor Rabin | Alan White | ||
| 1995–1997 | Steve Howe | Rick Wakeman | |||
| 1997 | Steve Howe Billy Sherwood | Billy Sherwood (studio only) | |||
| 1997–2000 | Igor Khoroshev | ||||
| 2000 | Steve Howe | ||||
| 2001–2002 | Tom Brislin (touring only) | ||||
| 2002–2004 | Rick Wakeman | ||||
| 2004–2008 | Group on hiatus | ||||
| 2008–2011 | Benoît David | Steve Howe | Oliver Wakeman | Chris Squire | Alan White |
| 2011-present | Benoît David | Steve Howe | Geoff Downes | Chris Squire | Alan White |
|---|
Nice review there Tender Bear! My favorite stuff from Yes was when Steve Howe joined in 1971 on The Yes Album till their first official break up in 1981. 1972's Close to the Edge remains my favorite of that pack.
ReplyDeleteThe 90125 lineup that featured Rabin and Kaye produced their number one smash hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was alright. I did see them in concert during that tour (for the first time). As great the show was, it just wasn't the classic Yes I grew to love.
The latest I heard from Yes was Geoff Downes replaced Oliver Wakeman on the keyboards and are in the studio working on a new album due this year.
I've heard the same as Drew. Also I've heard that former Yes vocalist and producer, Trevor Horn, is producing the new Yes album.
ReplyDeleteI'm likely in the minority in that Drama is my favorite Yes album. Steve Howe's chemistry with Geoff Downes is tighter than it was with any of the other keyboardists he played with in Yes (and I include Rick Wakeman when I say that).
While Howe and Downes showed more of that chemistry in Asia, I didn't feel the quality of the material on the Asia albums really showed their full potential the way songs like Machine Messiah, Into the Light, and Tempus Fugit did.
Great Review. I saw Yes at Alpine Valley for the Union Tour (I forget the year). It had all of the members: Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Tony Kaye, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, Trevor Rabin, Alan White and Bill Brufor. It was simply breathtaking. One of the best concerts I have ever been to. I have to say that Close to the Edge and Relayer are probably my two favorite albums. But everything through Union is very good. Some of the later stuff is a bit draggy. I am a prog nut who's has over 50 gigs of it on my hard drive. Yes was a very early influence for my on drums as well.
ReplyDeleteDrew- I heard about the new album that they are working on too. I can't wait for it to come out and hear it. It is going to be interesting to see how it is. That album is a real good one. I think they did an awesome job on that one. Thank you for your comment.
ReplyDeletePerplexio- To me I think that Steve Howe and Geoff Downes have done better with Yes then when they were with Asia. You are right about the chemistry of them. That album was a real good one. There are some songs on that one that I do like too. I just prefer the older songs more. Thank you for your comment.
Brett- Those are two awesome albums. I just think anything after the 90125 album really became a little boring with some of the music. I seen them in concert last year at summerfest and they were really good. I thought they sounded better in concert than there studio verions. They sang a lot of the older songs. Thank you for your comment.