Monday, February 27, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
YES 2nd Known TV appearance only 18 months as a band RARE!
The second appearance of Yes on TV from 1970. A great, and well-recorded version of "Beyond and Before."
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Benoit's Out, Jon's In -- (not THAT Jon)
From Yes' Facebook page:
"Yes (official) YES Recruit New Singer Prog rock band YES were forced to cancel the last 3 shows of their European Tour in December due to the illness of lead vocalist Benoit David who has still not recovered. To avoid disappointing their fans on the forthcoming Australasian leg of their world tour, they have found a replacement singer. Jon Davison will join YES as lead vocalist for the upcoming dates in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, and Hawaii. YES really appreciate Jon Davison joining them for this leg of the tour and are sure this arrangement will satisfy all YES fans."
Talk about a revolving door! It doesn't pay to fall ill if you're a member of Yes.
Nevertheless, best wishes to Jon Davison! I love his (former, I guess) band, Glass Hammer.
"Yes (official) YES Recruit New Singer Prog rock band YES were forced to cancel the last 3 shows of their European Tour in December due to the illness of lead vocalist Benoit David who has still not recovered. To avoid disappointing their fans on the forthcoming Australasian leg of their world tour, they have found a replacement singer. Jon Davison will join YES as lead vocalist for the upcoming dates in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, and Hawaii. YES really appreciate Jon Davison joining them for this leg of the tour and are sure this arrangement will satisfy all YES fans."
Talk about a revolving door! It doesn't pay to fall ill if you're a member of Yes.
Nevertheless, best wishes to Jon Davison! I love his (former, I guess) band, Glass Hammer.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Yoso - Yoso
Yoso is the new band featuring Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye, formerly of Yes, and Bobby Kimball, formerly of Toto.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Attack of the Clones!
There hasn't been a better time to be a fan of progressive rock since the '70's. There were very worthy artists who made a lot of great music in the '80's and '90's, but the flowering of progressive rock music in the last few years is unprecedented since the heyday of the style 40 years ago. Undoubtedly due in part to the rise of social media sites like MySpace and Facebook, and file sharing sites like Bandcamp and CD Baby, not to mention encyclopedia projects like Prog Archives, new bands and new music have popped up all over the world recently. This is a most welcome development.
Neverthelss, there is a trend which I feel compelled to comment upon, and that is the predominance of Genesis clone bands. I count myself among the most staunch fans of Genesis (at least during the Gabriel and Hackett eras), and it is to be expected that many later bands would model themselves on one of the greatest of all progressive rock bands. The problem as I see it, though, is that there seems to be developing a kind of "standard" prog rock or neoprog sound which is derived from the classic Genesis sound.
It's not even that I think that such a sound is bad. Rather, it's the notion of any kind of "standard" sound in progressive rock which bothers me. The original progressive bands were characterized by their willingness to incorporate a variety of sounds and styles into their music--from classical and jazz to folk and psychedelic, even a little country (see Steve Howe). That's what made them "progressive." Experimentation. Taking risks.
The emergence of a "standard" sound is a sign of playing it safe, of being risk-averse. Failing to experiment, refusing to risk failure in the search for the new, would mean the death of any progressive rock worthy of the name.
So, here's to the adventurous, the brave musical explorers who carry on the true spirit of progressive rock! Long may they thrill us with their discoveries!
Neverthelss, there is a trend which I feel compelled to comment upon, and that is the predominance of Genesis clone bands. I count myself among the most staunch fans of Genesis (at least during the Gabriel and Hackett eras), and it is to be expected that many later bands would model themselves on one of the greatest of all progressive rock bands. The problem as I see it, though, is that there seems to be developing a kind of "standard" prog rock or neoprog sound which is derived from the classic Genesis sound.
It's not even that I think that such a sound is bad. Rather, it's the notion of any kind of "standard" sound in progressive rock which bothers me. The original progressive bands were characterized by their willingness to incorporate a variety of sounds and styles into their music--from classical and jazz to folk and psychedelic, even a little country (see Steve Howe). That's what made them "progressive." Experimentation. Taking risks.
The emergence of a "standard" sound is a sign of playing it safe, of being risk-averse. Failing to experiment, refusing to risk failure in the search for the new, would mean the death of any progressive rock worthy of the name.
So, here's to the adventurous, the brave musical explorers who carry on the true spirit of progressive rock! Long may they thrill us with their discoveries!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Jon Anderson - Shock to the System - with YeS
A performance from Yes' much-maligned "Union" tour. With Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe, Squire, Rabin, White and Kaye. There's surely a bit of overkill in this lineup. Wakeman in particular seems fairly nonplussed by the proceedings. Nevertheless, "Shock to the System," like most of the "Union" material, is a perfectly good song. Somehow, whenever Yes is less than absolutely brilliant, their efforts get trashed as unmitigated failures. This is a case of such misjudgment.
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