Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm sure that many of you may have noticed that a "semi-Yes" tour with Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White will be starting in August. The tour will be called "The More Drama Tour" and will also feature The Syn and Geoff Downes.

So here are my questions:

1. Would this show be worth seeing?
2. Has Wakeman gotten attitudinal again and left Yes again?
3. If Wakeman is still in the Yes lineup, why haven't they released a new studio album since reuniting over three years ago? This is WAAAAAAY overdue.

I'm not sure if this tour is going to satisfy my classic Yes cravings.

Yes and no...

I think Wakey had a few traumas on a recent tour in Cuba and took a fair amount of flak for doing it in the first place. As a result he's talked about retiring from live work. Let's face it, would he survive another tour anyway? Health wise he's been through a lot.
As far as a new album goes, Jon Anderson is reluctant to do another one following the failure of Magnification as I understand it and would rather concentrate on more multimedia things and DVD's (hence the fairly steady flow of DVD releases in the last couple of years).
In fact, there have been unsubstantiated rumblings that Wakey's not the obstacle to a new album, its Jon.
so....aye, there you go. My take on things!

Where is Trevor Horn when you need him??????

Magnification, a failure ???? I think this would be a great album to finally put an end to the YES discography. Just think of "Open your eyes" and "The Ladder" for major failures !!!

"The Ladder" is a "major failure" ??? Aiyaaaah.

I wish Chris would tour with some version of the "Drama" line up. Medium sized venues/clubs.

Magnification wasn't a failure artistically-far from it. But the band however thought that it would have been far better received and sold in greater numbers than it consequently did.
Part of it was down I read to bad promotion. But I think Jon had particularly high hopes for the LP success-wise and when it didn't happen, he took it hard.
I've heard Open Your Eyes is a total critter of an album-not many people have nice things to say about it, but I ain't heard it yet!!!
Chris is touring with as near to the Drama line up as your gonna get-Wee Trevor is probably not gonna sing Yes stuff again-I have an interview somewhere with him where he jokingly has a moan about Chris making him "sing too high"!
My only hope when they tour is that they make it to the UK.

Wait - isn't the current tour precisely that - "More Drama" - Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White and Geoff Downes is 4/5 of the version of Yes that did the Drama album - looks like they're going to play seperately with their different bands and then get together for the encore (described as "drama-tic" at the Yes website). I really like Drama, especially the bass solo at the end of "Does It Really Happen"...

The best music Yes has put out in the last decade or so were the Keys to Ascension studio tracks. Those songs truly sounded like classic Yes in modern times (Mind Drive and That, That Is are actually two of my favorite extended Yes pieces.) The Ladder was pretty good, Open Your Eyes was mostly doodoo with a couple bright spots, and what I've heard of Magnification didn't really turn me on (I'm just not a fan of the rock band + orchestra thing).

This tour sounds interesting. Geoff Downes may actually be my favorite Yes keyboardist, and I like the Drama "sound" a lot. It would be cool if these guys recorded something, with Chris on lead vocals!

Thanks for the tip! Drama was the first "new" YES album for me after I was turned on to their 70s stuff and the first tour I saw. I still remember them opening with Does It Really Happen with CS playing his blue/green non-rev T-Bird. Awesome! I'll be checking out this show for sure. Love Chris' voice.

So what Yes album would you tell someone who has never heard them to get? Iv heard OF the band, but i dont think Iv really heard any of their stuff.

Between Fish Out of Water and Drama you realize just how important Chris Squire's voice is to the Yes sound. Tom, that is so cool that you saw the Drama tour! Did they have those big illuminated crystals on stage?

Jacob, there's a lot of good stuff out there, personally I would recommend The Yes Album (which has a weird green cover and a picture of the band on the cover - I think it's from 1971) or Fragile to start...

Tom, I saw them on that tour also. I remember really being shocked to see the Thunderbird. Sounded great though.

Jacob,
There are so many great Yes albums that it is difficult to pick just one, but try Close To The Edge for great classic Yes.

Another choice would be the two Keys To Ascension CDs as these are some of the best live recordings of their music spanning most of their albums. It is on two CDs as it covers a concert in San Luis Obispo and also has new (for '96) original studio tracks that are very good.