Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I don't have any Rush albums either. And the only Yes LP I have is "90125."

*ducks*

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!!???????? People, people, people......Amazon.com, Napster, ITunes, do what you have to do, you are only cheating yourselves!!

I guess I'll look for somebody to trade me back for all those Lawrence Welk albums...

I'm amazed that people know very little of this stuff . . . as far as albums go, for Rush, every album is worthwhile except their debut, in my opinion, because it's basically a Cream/Zeppelin ripoff. And no Neil Peart. If you want Geddy for his Ric sound, though, grab "Fly By Night" through "Signals". Those are pretty much what people consider the "classic" albums, though their other '80s stuff is definitely on par with their older stuff.

As for Yes, every album is good (though Topographic Oceans is a love/hate thing, as is Drama, but for different reasons), except don't get "Union", "Talk", or "Open Your Eyes". They're junky and bland. Everything else . . . well, when you hear "Starship Trooper" and "Siberian Khatru", you'll understand why people rave about Chris Squire. And don't even get me started on "Roundabout" or "Heart of the Sunrise". If you want Chris Squire's really in-your-face bass playing, grab "Yes", "Time & a Word", "The Yes Album", "Fragile", "Close to the Edge", "Tales from Topographic Oceans", "Relayer", "Tormato", and "Drama". Everything that I didn't mention is worth buying too, but Squire kind of mellowed out for a while, until about "Keys to Ascension" in the '90s. But "Drama" is the last studio album recording of THE Ric, I believe, though I may be wrong.

I like Yes' Talk actually, even if it is more of a Trevor Rabin solo album than a Yes album. Kinda like "Trevor Rabin featuring members of Yes", hehe.

John wrote:

"... I am curious though, what all the chris squire hype is...."

Taking it from a historical context, Squire's playing and sound were the 'Big Bang' in terms of the wide-open Rickenbacker bass 'growl' when using round-wound strings, and a huge step in rock bass playing, being up front in the mix and quite melodic. Squire was/is a major influence on bassists, he was kind of the first to do it that way...thus the 'hype'.

I've never really gotten into Yes.
I can certainly appreciate the skill of the players, but Anderson's voice always bothered me.
A slightly earlier generation as well. Rush was more my kind of thing & more current when I started learning to play.

I have an Anderson/Vangelis album from the '80s.

I played about twenty seconds from each cut and put it back into its case, never to be played again. A's voice makes me want to clear my throat continually.

At least "Kittens' Christmas" was good for a couple of days back in '93...

Well, that's why they make some red cars and some blue cars...

I like Anderson's voice a lot...at least on Yes albums up through 'Relayer'. (The whole band got a bit silly after that...falling all over themselves trying to be more 'accessible'... IMHO, need I add). You might check out his guest appearance on 'Prince Rupert Awakes' on King Crimson's 'Lizard'...then again, that might not do it for you either...

"A's voice makes me want to clear my throat continually."...yeah, vegetarians who smoke kind of crack me up in general.

As to the 'Rush' thang...great players, all...but Geddy's voice (combined with Peart's absurdly bombastic lyric writing) drives me absolutely nuts....(okay, I know: that's not a drive, it's just a short walk...)

I was a huge Yes fan back in the day. I think when most people heard Yes for the first time, was also the first time people heard a bass with roundwounds with that bright a sound... and yes, Entwhistle did it first, but it was a different sound. Rush always struck me as a Yes copy... even to the point of Geddy wearing a long white jacket on stage!

It's funny, Anderson's voice never bothered me (although some of his lyrics are an acquired taste) but Geddy's voice is like fingernails on a chalk board! And Rush's lyrics are silly also.

I'm not putting Rush down.. and in fact I like a lot of their stuff... But if there wasn't a Yes, there wouldn't be a Rush. (or they would sound like the early hard rock Rush).

"Geddy's voice is like fingernails on a chalk board!"

Obviously that's my take as well...epitomized on the occasion of his screeching out the word: "Salesmen!"...