Friday and the Random 10 (Can We Beat Georgia Again? Edition)

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Friday and the Random 10 (New Year's Eve Return Edition)

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This Day in Music History:Yes/Union (04/30)

Union is the thirteenth studio album by British progressive rock band Yes, released on this date in 1991. It was so called because it brought together the previous Yes album's lineup (Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Trevor Rabin, Alan White, Tony Kaye) and the then ex-Yes members group ABWH.

Front Cover by Roger Dean

This Day in Music History: Styx/Kilroy Was Here (02/22)

On this date in 1983, Styx basically destroyed their career with the release of Kilroy Was Here (covered in more detail here: Side One, Side Two) Yeah, you know THAT one. The one that brought us this:

Styx and Yes have always gone back and forth as being my favorite band. It was hard for me to recover from this album though, which had a tour that was a financial disaster. I mean they had reached their pinnacle to me just two years before with Paradise Theater. When I got this album (I still have it in my collection) I was just utterly confused. It just didn't sound like Styx and quite frankly it was embarrassing to me. Side Two is actually decent to me, but the band has never been the same ever since.

No, please. Let it end.

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This Day in Music History: Yes/The Yes Album (02/19)

Today is the 49th (holy crap!) anniversary of The Yes Album, the third studio album released by Yes in 1971. It was the first to feature Steve Howe on guitar, and the last for Tony Kaye on keyboards. This was basically the beginning of the Yes musical chairs.

I have covered this album previously and more in depth here (Side One) and here (Side Two).

Anyway, enjoy this song (hey, I actually heard this one before!)

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This Day in Music History: Yes/Fragile (11/26)

Fragile is the fourth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released in November 1971 on Atlantic Records. It is their first album recorded with keyboardist Rick Wakeman after the departure of Tony Kaye earlier in the year. It consists of nine tracks, four of which are group performances while five are solo features written by each member.

It marked the band's first collaboration with artist Roger Dean, who would design their logo and many of their future covers.

Fragile was the band's greatest commercial and critical success at the time of its release. It peaked at number 4 in the U.S. and number 7 in the UK. "Roundabout" was released as a single in the U.S. and is one of the band's best-known songs. The album is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over two million copies.

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Friday and the Random 10 (Still Stuck in the Hotel Edition)

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This Day in Music History: Yes/Going for the One (07/22)

On this day in 1977, Yes released their eighth studio album, Going for the One. Produced after each member of the group released a solo record, the album marks the return of keyboardist Rick Wakeman (RW!), who departed in 1974 over musical differences in Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973). The band returned to producing shorter songs, unlike Tales and Relayer where the tracks range from nine to almost 22 minutes.

After their extended break, the band regrouped in Switzerland in late 1976. After constructing epic tracks for the last few years, Yes felt inspired to scale things back a bit and recorded some of their most direct and concise material since Fragile. Wakeman also varied his sound by using the new polyphonic synthesizer out from Moog at the time, and using church pipe organ on "Parallels" and the extended track, "Awaken".

"Parallels" was originally intended for use on Chris Squire's solo album Fish Out of Water, but left out due to a combination of space constraints and a sense that the song didn't quite fit in.

After many successive album covers with Roger Dean, Yes (who also produced the album entirely by themselves) instead commissioned Hipgnosis (known for designing album covers for Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin) to create the artwork for Going for the One. However, Dean's Yes logo was retained. The album cover features the Century Plaza Towers in Los Angeles, also known locally as the Twin Towers. Personally, I think Yes and Roger Dean go together and this was a bad decision.

I have previously covered this album in more depth here: Side One, Side Two.

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This Day in Music History: Yes/Heaven & Earth (07/16)

On this date in 2014, Yes released their 21st studio album entitled Heaven & Earth. It is their first album with singer Jon Davison in the band's line-up, and the final studio album to feature original bassist Chris Squire before his death in 2015.

It was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, who first worked with the band on recording sessions in 1979, and mixed by former member Billy Sherwood. Upon its release, Heaven & Earth peaked at number 20 in the UK, the band's highest chart performance since their 1994 album Talk. It also entered the US chart at number 26.

I have previously covered this album in more depth here: Side One, Side Two.

This Day in Music History: Yes/Fly From Here (06/22)

Fly From Here is the twentieth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes released on this day in 2011. It is their first studio album since Magnification in 2001, and it is also the only one to feature Canadian singer Benoît David.

Fly From Here peaked at #36 on the Billboard 200. I have previously covered this album more in depth in these posts: Side One, Side Two.

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 (Sound Chaser Edition)

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Friday and the Random 10 (REO Edition)

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Music Monday: Yes/Close to the Edge (Side One)

Well now we have reached the point where Yes is well established and start to expand their horizons. They have progressed to the point where some of their songs have gotten longer and longer (Heart of the Sunrise was over 10 minutes). This time, they created a piece of music that took up the entire length of side one. But first, the album cover:

Music Monday: Yes/Fragile (Side 2)

So now it's time to head on to Side 2 of Fragile. The back side of the album has even more artwork from Roger Dean, where the fragile planet is breaking apart and a ship (space ark?) is orbiting above it. This will come in to play on future album covers. The painting looks like this:

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 (Best I Can Edition)

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This Day in Music History: Yes/Talk (03/21)

Released on this day in 1994, Talk is the fourteenth studio album by progressive rock band Yes. It is their first release with an independent label after having been distributed the length of their career thus far with Atlantic Records and Arista Records. 

Talk is also the last Yes recording with Tony Kaye on keyboards and Trevor Rabin on guitars, keyboards and vocals. Pop artist Peter Max created the artwork for the album. I think it pretty much sucks even though I have a t shirt with this logo. It was the first Yes tour and concert that I ever got to attend. It was at the old Orlando O-rena.

Here's one of my favorite tracks from this album:

I also have covered this album in more detailed posts (Side 1, Side 2).

The album peaked at #33 on the US charts (#20 UK) and had one Top 100 single, "Walls", that reached #24.

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Music Monday: Yes/The Yes Album (Side 2)

Now it's time to continue our journey through the music of Yes. Side 1 of The Yes Album was covered here, so now it's on to the flip side.

The back cover. Yeah, creepy.

Music Monday: Yes/The Yes Album (Side One)

Time for another weekly installment of Yes music. At this point we have moved forward to their third album, The Yes Album, which is their first to go platinum. To me, this is their first "modern" sounding music and basically every song is included on most greatest hits compilations. The main difference in sound can be attributed to Steve Howe and his outstanding guitar talents. Yes did a tour where they played this album in its entirety. This also started their tendency of fewer, but longer compositions with multiple sections. Side One has only three songs, but three classics.

The album cover is kinda weird, though it was 1971.