This Day in Music History: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (06/20)

On this day, June 20th 1989, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe released their self titled album, using the Blue Desert painting by Roger Dean as the cover. This is a spin off from the group Yes, composed of all "former" members at the time.

This is also THE album. Yes, THAT one. My desert island CD. The Relationship Story soundtrack. And the precursor for the Union album "disaster". I wish everyone owned this and appreciated it the way I do. I guess it was just a special time, and a special place, and a special person...

I have covered this album in much more detail, giving my personal feelings about each song in previous posts here (Side One) and here (Side Two)

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Friday and the Random 10 (I Thought That They Were Angels Edition)

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Music Monday: Yes/Fragile (Side One)

OMG! Fragile! I've been waiting to get to this one. This is one of my desert island albums. To me, this is when YES became YES. After upgrading guitar by Steve Howe on their last album, they upgraded keyboards a million times over with Rick Wakeman. Fragile is an album with four group efforts along with solo pieces from every member of the band. This is also the first time they used graphic artist Roger Dean to do their covers. I mean, look at it! (oh, that's what's on that t-shirt you wear all the time...) All the album covers from here on out tell a continuing story, beginning with the fragile planet here cracking up and exploding.



 He also did illustrations inside the album covers as well.

Now, on to Side 1 of the music. I was cruising some old country back roads in my old Plymouth Valiant, just enjoying some quiet weekend time when this first song came on the radio. I was captivated and had to find out who it was. This started my fascination with Yes.

Friday and the Random 10 (Blue Brains Edition)

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This Day in Music History: King Crimson/Red (10/06)

Red is the seventh studio album by progressive rock group King Crimson, released on this day in 1974. It was their last studio recording of the 1970's and the last before the lead member Robert Fripp temporarily disbanded the group.

Tours in 1974 had seen King Crimson's musical approach becoming louder and more brutal, an approach primarily driven by bass player John Wetton and drummer Bill Bruford (guitarist and group leader Robert Fripp once compared their powerful playing to "a flying brick wall"). This had had the effect of drowning out the band's fourth member, violinist and sometime keyboard player David Cross and led to tension within the band. Deemed not strong enough as a musical personality, Cross was ejected from King Crimson after the end of its tour in summer 1974, reducing the group to the trio of Fripp, Wetton and Bruford. Having already begun to record Red with Cross, King Crimson finished the album with the help of former band-members Ian McDonald and Mel Collins.

Music Monday (ABWH, Side 1)

Blue Desert by Roger Dean

I can't tell you how long I have been waiting to get to this one. When I last covered the Yes discography, they had just released Big Generator. Jon Anderson left after that tour to pursue other projects. This is that project.

Anderson got in touch with three other former members of Yes to form a band: drummer Bill Bruford, keyboardist extraordinaire Rick Wakeman (RW!), and guitarist Steve Howe. 

Music Monday/Close to the Edge (Side 2)

Side 1 of CTTE was the title track that took up the entire side of the album. You can listen to that here, and also check out the lyrics over there to the right. Side 2 only contains two songs in itself. If you think only three songs on an entire album is weird, wait until next time when there's only four songs on a DOUBLE album, one on each side. But I digress...

When you unfold the outward cover of the album, this is what you find inside. More beautiful artwork from Roger Dean. I've read where this depicts a part of the planet from the Fragile cover as it's breaking apart. Another fantastic image.

Now onto the music:

1) And You and I - Another song with multiple parts. It describes Martin Luther (sad preacher nailed upon the colored door of time) and what I believe is a reference to Isaac Asimov's Foundation series (as a foundation left to create the spiral aim). Also, TV producer and writer Joss Whedon allegedly named his production company Mutant Enemy Productions after the line in this song (they'll be no mutant enemy that we shall certify).

I. Cord of Life

The song opens with Steve Howe tuning his guitar, and his voice can be heard at the beginning of the track, then playing mostly natural harmonics, played around what will become the central melody, using a 12-string acoustic guitar which quickly forms into a simple chord progression over distant organ chords. Then, the Moog enters for a simple solo, presenting a subsequent phrase, albeit differently arranged. The vocals begin at about 1:40. The line "All Complete in the sight of seeds of life with you" is sung, which is repeated throughout the song. At about 2:50, there's an distinct change: Anderson sings a sharper melody, accompanied by a second vocal track by Anderson harmonizing with himself, plus Chris Squire and Steve Howe providing a counter-melody and alternate lyrics.

II. Eclipse (Beginning at 3:47)

"Eclipse" is the slowest part of the song based on a measured and deliberate melody reminiscent of Sibelius. It is led by Rick Wakeman's epic Mellotron and Minimoog synthesizer. The lyrics are all from the first stanza of "The Cord of Life", but are sung in a different melody, which is also epic and slightly sad. Finally ending with the 12-string acoustic guitar leading into "The Preacher, The Teacher".

III. The Preacher, The Teacher (Beginning at 6:16)

The melody and lyrical structure is very similar (for the most part) to that of "The Cord of Life", with some variations. The exception is that "The Preacher, The Teacher" has a fast synthesizer solo by Rick Wakeman at one point during the song. The last stanza again consists of lines from "The Cord of Life", now sung in a different order and a completely different mood. At 8:34 there is a reprise of the previous section "Eclipse", which lasts until 9:12. The section ends with a cadenza-like orchestral statement, on Mellotron and Moog, reminiscent of neo-Wagnerian compositions from Strauss or Bruckner.

IV. Apocalypse (Beginning at 9:26)

"Apocalypse" is the shortest piece of the song, only about 40 seconds long, it consists only of four lines, accompanied only by Howe's guitars. The lyrics are taken from "Cord of Life", but are sung in the key of B, making them more upbeat:

And you and I climb, crossing the shapes of the morning.

And you and I reach over the sun for the river.

And you and I climb, clearer, towards the movement.

And you and I called over valleys of endless seas.

 2) Siberian Khatru - Shortest song on the album at 8:55. Pretty straightforward with the usual cosmic lyrics. Even to this day I don't know what a khatru is.

And that's it for Close to the Edge. Three cosmic songs that you have to really listen to over and over, especially because two of them contain multiple parts. To many, this was Yes at their peak and this album is considered their crowning achievement. I would put it behind the album that is coming next week. Until then...