Where to begin?

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

+1 Kira,

Don't miss CLOSE TO THE EDGE.

MY personal favorites are Tales From Topographic Oceans & Relayer.

OOooooooo! Yeah! I just listened to The Ancient on my walk today. Full sun and full pleasure.

Jake, let us know what you think of Gates of Delirium (GOD) when you get to it.

i've got a defect TFTO lp that does a strange pitch change after the second "alternate tune lyric on the end of "the remembering, which i though was the way it was recorded. not so, aparently when i got the cd
. but it is so cool and works perfectly. i like it so much i made a cd of side 1+2 and will only play that with the real cd side 3+4.

[johnallg]

+1 Kira,

Don't miss CLOSE TO THE EDGE.

MY personal favorites are Tales From Topographic Oceans & Relayer.

OOooooooo! Yeah! I just listened to The Ancient on my walk today. Full sun and full pleasure.

Jake, let us know what you think of Gates of Delirium (GOD) when you get to it.

i've got a defect TFTO lp that does a strange pitch change after the second "alternate tune lyric on the end of "the remembering, which i though was the way it was recorded. not so, aparently when i got the cd
. but it is so cool and works perfectly. i like it so much i made a cd of side 1+2 and will only play that with the real cd side 3+4.

Can you trim out a few minutes of this happening and share? Sounds interesting.

[just_bassics]

I'd start with Time and a Word, to hear the original lineup and get a feel as to what they were looking for, then The Yes Album, Fragile and Close to the Edge, in order. Those three are, to me their best work as a period and by the end of CTTE you'll get the extended piece format at it's very best. After that, there is still almost an "Endless Dream" of material, from the raw arrangements of the 1st LP to the raw power of Relayer, the extended beauty and mystique of Tales From Topographic Oceans, symphonic arrangements of Magnification and Awaken, pure pop magic of 90125 (almost engineering perfection, BTW) and a whole host of other sounds that these guys have been hurling at us for over forty years now! Enjoy!

P.S. Don't forget the live stuff and solo efforts, too!

[JakeK]

I don't log into the forum for three days and get all this!

Thank you all for the suggestions! Any songs in particular that are noteworthy? I don't want ONLY hits, I want you to dig as deep as you can.

There are a number of tracks by the Kinks, Rolling Stones, Who, Byrds and Petty I've listened to that are almost as good as the hits or even more so. There've got to be some Yes tunes that are in that league?

[just_bassics]

South Side of the Sky, last track on side 1 of Fragile. For me, music never really gets any better than that!

To Be Over (Relayer), Turn of the Century (Going for the one), Lightning Strikes (The Ladder), Into The Lens (Drama), I Am Waiting (Talk), Release Release (Tormato), Looking Around (Yes), A Venture (The Yes Album), and, the song that changed my life in 1972 - Siberian Khatru (CTTE), Howe's opening guitar riff and Squire's bass line and tone drove me to near musical insanity!

[johnallg]

South Side of the Sky, last track on side 1 of Fragile. For me, music never really gets any better than that!

To Be Over (Relayer), Turn of the Century (Going for the one), Lightning Strikes (The Ladder), Into The Lens (Drama), I Am Waiting (Talk), Release Release (Tormato), Looking Around (Yes), A Venture (The Yes Album), and, the song that changed my life in 1972 - Siberian Khatru (CTTE), Howe's opening guitar riff and Squire's bass line and tone drove me to near musical insanity!

And don't forget the triad Jim mentioned in his first post, Endless Dream (Talk). On headphones. Nirvana.

[just_bassics]

Let me also toss in Shoot High Aim Low and I'm Running from Big Generator.....

[johnallg]

Let me also toss in Shoot High Aim Low and I'm Running from Big Generator.....

Great taste Jim!

[johnallg]

Jake, where are you on your journey? Interested in your impressions.

[rickinroma]

There are a number of tracks by the Kinks, Rolling Stones, Who, Byrds and Petty I've listened to that are almost as good as the hits or even more so. There've got to be some Yes tunes that are in that league?

Hi Jake
My opinion is that from someone who's been used to the quintessential typical 60s classic rock and pop-rock standards you have just indicated, and having his ears and tastes set in that way, approaching YES starting from stuff like Fragile, Close To The Edge and (oh my God) what followed the latter, may be a little bit indigestible....
Try to play Tales From Topographic Oceans for a couple of times, and then you will just feel the desire to hear early Beach Boys or Beatles albums for at least 10 consecutive days 24/7 to detoxify yourself
The evolution of the Yes music is comparable to the Beatles to some extent, meaning that every album they published from the 1st one onwards was always different, and in the case of YES, less catchy from the previous one, and getting more and more sophysticated, maybe too much self-indulgent and more focused on the execution of complex and intricated arrangements that extended the song format up to its limits....strictly speaking about the original classic YES Band (in the 60-70s) the more you proceed ahead along their career from the beginning, the less you will find tunes to whistle and keep in your head....
Being said that, I believe that a "safe" approch would suggest to start in cronological order....
- YES
- TIME AND A WORD
- THE YES ALBUM
- FRAGILE
- CLOSE TO THE EDGE

[ram]

Yes, a report on the quest would be nice... I have to throw in one that doesn't seem to get much mention but still gives me chills - The Revealing Science of God (Tales of Topographical Oceans)....

[kiramdear]

Any progress to report, Jake? I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

[JakeK]

Sorry, sorry!! Work and school have got me very busy right now, so I don't get the chance to log in and post as often as I'd like. Heck, I don't even get to play guitar as much as I want.

Fragile has come up quite a bit, so I'm going to start with that album. I usually like to start with compilations when discovering a new artist, but I didn't see any highly rated comps, so I asked the biggest YES heads I know.

[paologregorio]

When I was a kid I thought the song was "Going for the Wine." I should prolly add that to the "Misheard Lyrics" topic discussion.

Funny Rick jam moment; Kenny Howes leading a few fellow Ricknuts through an abbreviated, cheeky rendition of "Roundabout" at the Trotty Thanksgiving Eve jam in `08.

[songdog]

Fragile has come up quite a bit, so I'm going to start with that album.

Hard to go wrong that way! The first Yes song I ever heard was Roundabout, and I still remember the moment vividly.

After you've absorbed that, go look up the "Isolated Squire Bass" thread here....