Some jazz music confuses the hell out of me. And always has. For example, I've been buying Branford Marsalis's releases for 30 years or more, and for 30 years I've been forcing myself to listen to them. Take his latest release "The Secret between the Shadow and the Soul" for example. Very often during the playing of this record I ask myself what the fuck are they doing? I don't understand it.
I very much like some of it, a lot of it in fact, and I very very much dislike some of it. Specifically, I don't understand the elongated passages of pure apeshit nuttery. At a moments notice in an otherwise beautiful song, the band all just fugue out and fucking lose it for 3 to 5 minutes at a stretch. I don't get the musicality of it. There is no rhythm to speak of, no melody, no tonality, no harmonic structure; it's just these guys losing their fucking minds for however many measures.
For context:
"Jazz Has Become The Least-Popular Genre In The U.S. BY DAVID LA ROSA | MAR 9, 2015, 10:54 AM
Both jazz and classical represent just 1.4% of total U.S. music consumption a piece. However, Classical album sales were higher for 2014, which puts Jazz at the bottom of the barrel. This continues an alarming trend that has seen more and more listeners move away from jazz every year… Jazz was the only genre to have its digital album sales decline, year-on-year, between 2011 and 2012.
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals, Guitar [Portuguese Vachalia] – Steve Howe
Bass Guitar, Vocals – Chris Squire
Listening to the re-issue I bought a few weeks back. This is the first set of songs that really caught my ear when I was listening to Classic Yes. I realized I hadn't given these guys the attention they deserve.
A1 Yours Is No Disgrace 9:36
A2 The Clap 3:07
A3 Starship Trooper 9:23
A3.1 Life Seeker
A3.2 Disillusion
A3.3 Würm
B1 I've Seen All Good People 6:47
B1.1 Your Move
B1.2 All Good People
B2 A Venture 3:13
B3 Perpetual Change 8:50
I don't know if I want to continue doing this song by song breakdown anymore. It seems like I'm getting weary of it and I'm half hearted about it. Maybe I'll just play it by ear and do the ones I want to and will just skim over the ones I'm not all that interested in.
What is with these people supporting Donald Trump, or as I will be referring to him from now on, the Orange Clown King?
I am seriously utterly completely confounded by the people who continue to support this obviously dimwitted, bellicose, ill-mannered, liar. What is the fucking problem? How are so many of the American people into this rotten piece of shit? I just do not understand it. Everyone has been asserting the fact that America has been transitioning to a nation of uneducated, uniformed, unenlightened morons for years, but who knew that this transition would have such horrific ramifications.
I don't have the energy to do this.
I'd just like to say fuck you to the MAGA people. I wish you weren't stupid. And I wish you would go the fuck away.
Presswell repress, denoted in label matrix suffix ("PR").
Vocals, Percussion – John Anderson
Organ, Piano – Tony Kaye
Bass, Vocals – Chris Squire
Drums, Vibraphone – Bill Bruford
Guitar, Vocals – Peter Banks
Clive Bailey receives songwriting credit because he was a singer and guitarist in Mabel Greer's Toyshop, the rock band that was a precursor to Yes. The songs which credit him originate from that time period.
I'm listening to this in Mp3 format using Apple Airpod Pros and Sony wf-1000xm4 earbuds. This is generally not the way I prefer to survey new material for review. I find the ideal setting is the Lp played on my Project Evo through my vintage Kenwoods. But I could not locate a copy of this record on Lp over the weekend. I have since ordered a copy from Discogs… and we all know how those attempts often go, although I was informed that it shipped from Philadelphia this morning, so perhaps all will be well with this purchase. Once I get the Lp, I'll go back over these notes and add whatever seems appropriate.
I received the Lp in the mail today and it appears to be in good condition despite the fact that it was 119 degrees today. Yep… 119 degress if you can fucking believe that… Anyway, I will be embarking upon an examination of the material contained in the grooves upon the morrow. I will likely take a bit of time to stretch out and really get into it, as the next record "Time and a Word" has only just shipped and will likely take until later in the week to arrive.
Beyond And Before (Chris Squire, Clive Bailey) 4:50:
Sparkling trees of silver foam cast shadows soft in winter home,
Masquerading leaves of blue run circles round the morning dew,
Patterns understood by you, reaching out beyond and before.
"Silver foam"? Not sure what that means. Trees. Falling leaves masquerading as something? Patterns understood by "you"… Who is "you"? Whoever it is understands the pattern reflected in the blue falling leaves? Are the patterns or the person being spoken to reaching out beyond and before? Unclear. Reaching out beyond and before sounds like a function of Time?...
Time, like gold dust, brings mind down to hidden levels underground,
Say a few words to the wind, that's all that's left of winter's friend.
Time… could be onto something there. Time brings death and burial underground. A few words to the wind could be a metaphor for a lifetime, but who is winter's friend? No idea.
Reaching the snow in the days of the cold, casting a spell out of ice.
Now that you're gone,
The summer's too long and it seems like the end of my life
Beyond and before.
Time, like gold dust, brings mind down.
Someone, the "you" from the first verse?, is gone. Winter is more fitting a season with the person gone. Beyond and before is a poetic way to refer to the presence of someone in our lives, even if they're gone. It seems to be a poem of loss, of the passage of Time, and of remembrance. It's a good lyric despite the meaning. Anderson came out of the gate swinging.
Peter Banks plays guitar on this record, but interestingly he is nearly indistinguishable, to my ear anyway, from the lads who come after him. If Yes can be said to suffer from any one thing, a thing that perhaps kept them them from the same level of success as bands like Zeppelin, Cream, The Who, or The Rolling Stones, it is perhaps the guitar players, beginning here with Banks. The tone is not good on the opening sequence… awful really. It is reedy and trembly. And the guitar performance itself is not appealing either, with Banks sort of crudely plucking an octave interval repeatedly with a wah wah laden set of V, VI, I guitar and organ chord changes underneath. It could have worked given the right dexterity and finesse applied to the strings, or with perhaps a more thoughtfully constructed tone, but Banks ends up sounding like an amateur player. I've listened to the full recording several times and I don't think there is a memorable guitar sequence in the entire song, and nothing I could really assign the characteristic of a solo. Maybe there was one, but I guess I missed it? It is perhaps unsurprising that Banks was asked to leave the band after the second album. He seems to have been a decent fellow.
Chris Squire is the primary tonal architect of this song, and of this band. His tone is awesome, and his performances are always varied and deeply intriguing. Bruford also absolutely maintains a solid presence. As far as I can tell, his drumming is flawless in most cases, and are recorded superbly.
Not a tremendous fan of the Falsetto harmonies in the opening verses. But they may well grow on me. They are very much an aesthetic artifact of the time period. I have received my somewhat wartorn copy of the Lp. It sounds immeasurably better on my stereo. Even that opening sequence with Banks' guitar sounds pretty good.
The thing that saves the opening sequence is the superb quality of the drums and bass. This Paul Clay person did a wonderful job on the sound overall. It is pure late 60s psychedia, but in the best possible sense. Paul Clay did not manage to parley his involvement in these initial recordings into much beyond working with Yes. Always a sad thing to see. Next to no information exists regarding him on the internet. It all has a wonderful texture and the arrangement is undoubtedly excellent.
And Squire. Immediately a force of pulverizing strength. He's amazing both in terms of performance and tone.
I am officially a full on fan of both Squire and Bruford. This is a brilliant debut song of a brilliant debut record.
I See You (David Crosby, Roger McGuinn) 6:33 -
I see you la la la la la la la la la la la la I see you
I see you la la la la la la la la la la la la I see you
I see you la la la la la la la la la la la la I see you
Second song off the record, they've chosen a cover. Originally performed by The Byrds. An interesting choice. Reflects a distinct lack of ego to have a cover in the 2nd position on your first album as a band. Most people would want their own material and would certainly have enough suitable material given they've never recorded anything previously.
Sun smiling sun through the cave of your hair
Wind washing tulips out of space sitting there
I love you
At your door second floor first world war
I love you
Who listens
Tell your friend I'm aware that she care
Who listens
Green specks bright spiraling out in the sky
Catch my eye turn my head have to look don't know why
I see you
Everywhere behind your hair over there
I see you
I see you though your eyes can tell lies I sympathize,
I see you
Sun smiling sun through the cave of your hair
Wind washing tulips out of space sitting there
I love you
I see you
Everywhere behind your hair over there
I see you
I love you at your door second floor first world war
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
The lyrics appear to have been altered from the original. Strange Revisions here and there. And the "I love you" lines don't exist in the orignal. You don't see this sort of thing happening very often. I can't think of another example of someone covering a song and fairly extensively revising the lyric. Certainly there have been wild variations on the music, but never the lyric. For some reason there's always been an unwritten rule that you didn't do that. Not so in the case of Yes it seems.
This song is fucking amazing. What could have been a standard sort of love song is trans-Yes-ified into a bonkers heavy prog epic journey into psychedelic awesomeness.
Yesterday And Today (Jon Anderson) 2:37 -
Why is there you when there are few people around making me feel good?
Why is there me when air is free, some I can see better than I should?
There's only us simply because thinking of us makes us both happy.
I think of you ev'ry way, yesterday and today.
I think of things that we do, all the way, ev'ry day.
Stand in the sea, sing songs for me, sing happily, making me feel good.
Watching your eyes, feeling your sighs, saying goodbyes better than I could.
There's only us simply because thinking of us makes us both happy.
I think of you every way, yesterday and today.
I think of nothing but you, things we do, things we do.
Mr. Anderson's first contribution to the proceedings certainly sets the stage for his future offerings and performances. A very confusing time signature. I have no idea what that is. I can't figure it out. Not a musician me… A very nice love song. Hopefully it got him into the pair of pants he was hoping it would.
Looking Around (Chris Squire, Jon Anderson) 3:49
Looking around me
There's not so much in life I miss
Things that I can't see
I'll touch and I'll feel then I'll kiss
Then I saw you standing there
With a smile I couldn't share
Just looking around everywhere
Tunes that I can't hear
Would take me for a while my smile
Fares that are too dear
I'd rather walk out another mile
Then I heard a tune so right
It was in the dark of night
Just listening around everywhere
All the things I've wanted to do
Take so much time to get around to you
Just reach out and catch and hold on
Leaving trails of dust and lust
Never even lying or trying, keep on moving, never dying
Smiles that I don't see
I'll make them up as I go on
Laughs that just can't be
I'll make and laugh at everyone
Then I saw you in your place
With a laugh upon your face
Just looking around everywhere
All the things I've wanted to do
Take so much time to get around to you
Just reach out and catch and hold on
Leaving trails of dust and lust
Never even lying or trying, keep on moving, never dying
Looking around with my feet on the ground
Full of words and of sound, bringing smiles all around
Satisfy me with your words that can be
Full of sound and I'll see, I'm just looking around
Mr. Anderson is not a storytelling lyricist is he? At least not at this point. None of these lyrics have struck me as particularly impacting. They're not bad at all, the meaning is either beyond me or simply isn't really there beyond a sort of surface interpretation. But the music is phenomenal, as are the vocal melodies. This is a fantastic side 1 of a debut album and I sincerely wish I've been introduced to it earlier in my life. Here I am, 54 years old, about to turn 55 in a few weeks, and I'm listening to this superb recording, originating from 1969, for the very first time. My group of friends really weren't into early Rock and Roll beyond Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. For whatever reason, what I heard coming from Yes on the radio did not encourage me to seek out any of their records. I've never owned a Yes record up until now.
I love the arrangements. The organ, the drums, the bass, and the guitar really do sound great together. Punchy and aggressive without any obnoxiousness.
Harold Land (Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford) 5:26 -
Harold Land with a wave of his hand said goodbye to all that.
Harold Land could be seen as a nick name for England, Haroldland. A Land filled with blokes with names like Harold. An Everyman Land.
"Good-Bye to All That is an autobiography by Robert Graves which first appeared in 1929, when the author was 34 years old. "It was my bitter leave-taking of England," he wrote in a prologue to the revised second edition of 1957, "where I had recently broken a good many conventions". The title may also point to the passing of an old order following the cataclysm of the First World War; the supposed inadequacies of patriotism, the interest of some in atheism, feminism, socialism and pacifism, the changes to traditional married life, and not least the emergence of new styles of literary expression, are all treated in the work, bearing as they did directly on Graves's life." - Wikipedia. Brilliant allusion. And one that I missed despite being a fan of both Robert Graves and his daughter Lucia.
He paid his bills and stopped the milk, then put on his hat.
He tried to say his last farewells as quickly as he could,
Promising that he would return, but doubted that he would,
Doubted that he would, doubted.
Mr. Land must have been called up to serve in the War, as evidenced by the Graves allusion. I'm quite certain most fellows felt they were unlikely to ever return given the catastrophic level of casualties the Great War produced.
Now he's marching soldiers in the rain as on to war they rode.
A long thin line of human mind, damnation as their load.
In the mud in coldness dark, he'd shiver out his fear,
What disappointing sights he'd seen instead of ones so dear,
Instead of ones so dear, so dear.
The horror that those men witnessed may well be unsurpassed in history, excepting perhaps a few moments in the Second Great War, Stalingrad, Iwojima. I think there's a clear double meaning being developed that Harold was fearful of not returning and it is made clear in the last verse Harold did not actually return. Someone else who was not the same Harold did. One that was somehow diminished or broken.
Going home, He's going home to the land he loved so well.
Going home, He fought for two years, never fell.
Going home, He's going home,
Going home. He's going home.
Harold Land with a wave of his hand stood sadly on the stage,
Clutching red ribbons from a badge, but he didn't look his age.
Only two years had passed between his leaving home and back;
He had lost his love and youth while leading the attack, leading the attack.
In conversation it could be said,
Well after war your heart is dead.
Well it's not hard to understand,
There is no heart in Harold Land.
Another double meaning. There's no heart in the man Harold Land, and there's no heart in the country Haroldland, because the flower of it's male youth have all been killed in a stupid pointless war, as they all are. Fucking rich people again. It always comes back to fucking rich people.
The first lyrical masterpiece on the album. Although the previous songs, as I've said, were not at all bad. This one benefits from the distinction that I'm able to understand it. Anderson has a writing credit here. I wonder if he wrote this or if it was a combined effort. Regardless, it is fucking awesome.
A jaunty opening sequence to such a heavy bit of subject matter. Another excellent arrangement. I'll always be a fan of the bass, drums, and organ as they have them recorded.
I've been fucking hamstrung for the last week because fucking Beth has been home. She got the Flu on Monday… Of course, right before she was due to leave town for a number of days. Not sure how long. I don't pay much attention to her yammering. So instead of being GONE, she's been here gumming up the works… Although I have to say she has been remarkably restrained in saying stupid shit… Other than saying she doesn't want to have "ask for me to make breakfast". Apparently I should just make her breakfast and have it ready for her fucking highness when she desires it. I swear to Zeus… If I could I'd BE GONE!
Sorry…
Irritated…
Speaking of irritated, I just confirmed that I'm suddenly fucking Lactose Intolerant… What the fuck do I have against Lactose? I don't even know what it is?... But suddenly I'm like Lactophobic. Was it because of how I was raised? Is it a cultural thing? Do I not know any better? If only all forms of intolerance were like Lactose Intolerance. Like if you go around yelling about the Jews and the Holocaust was fake you immediately get violent uncontrollable flatulence. I guess that would explain Rosanne Barr. Although I think her flatulence is due, at least in part, to other ancillary physiological factors as well… Not that I mean to fart shame anyone… Some of my best friends are farts…
Sorry…
Every Little Thing (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) 5:24 -
Sweetness (Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Clive Bailey) 4:19 -
B1 Statesboro Blues 3:45 (Written by – Willie McTell)
B2 Need Love 5:03
B3 Hooked On Music 6:27
B4 What You Mean To Me 4:32
This record came late in my exposure to the Travers discography. I was mainly aware of his later albums, Primarily 'Live: Go For What You Know" and "Heat in the Street", with a bit of "Black Pearl" and "Crash and Burn" thrown in. It wasn't until I started gathering the rest of his recordings later that I came across this album. And to be honest, at the time, I was more enamored with the high octane performances off of the live album than I was with these original recordings. I got a job as a delivery boy for a Dental Lab in San Ramon when I was 18. Which unsurprisingly fixed the course of my life. But that's another story. As a delivery driver I drove all over the bay area to Napa, Oakland, Antioch, Tracy, and up into Fairfield and Vacaville, depending on which route I was taking. I somehow managed to hunt down all the record stores along these routes and visited them frequently to acquire the various records (tapes at that point) I was somehow coming into contact with. I have no memory of how I found these stores or how I came across the bands that I wanted to explore. The Yellow Pages? MTV? I don't know. It's hard to imagine the world that existed before the internet. The fellow who managed the Lab, Mike Hedrick, was also a fan of music, and he had all the Travers recordings on Lp and was nice enough to record them for me onto cassette. He's dead now. Passed away quite a few years ago now. No idea how. That was the first time I had this record, "Puttin' it Straight", and "Black Pearl" in my possession. "Black Pearl" was in the heaviest rotation at the time, but I'll save that story for the notes I make for that record. This record is a Masterpiece. But it has been forgotten. No one talks about Travers anymore, and if they do, it is not about this record. If anything Traversian has survived into the modern cultural arena it is the mediocre and dubiously popularized "Snortin' Whiskey, Drinkin' Cocaine" and the sort of troubling "Boom Boom, Out Go the Lights". I think he probably makes the best of it at this point, but it must be a bit of a bummer to be best known for songs that celebrate excessive drug and alcohol abuse and domestic battery. But, I'll leave a discussion about those songs for their respective albums. The point is this record, among Travers peak era recordings, is probably the third most forgotten, trailing behind "Pat Travers", and "Puttin' it Straight". For informational clarity, I would say Travers' peak era encompasses the following Lps: "Pat Travers" (76), "Makin' Magic" (77), and "Puttin' it Straight" (77), "Radio Active" (81), and "Black Pearl" (82), all produced as Pat Travers solo albums. "Heat in the Street" (78), "Live: Go For What You Know" (79), "Crash and Burn" (80), all produced as Pat Travers Band. "Hot Shot" should make the cut, but I'm reluctant to do so, as I haven't listened to it in a long long time. Although when I acquired it during the great Dental Lab Delivery Acquisition Period I listened to it quite a bit. Ok, fine. I'll include it. The next album to appear isn't until 1990 when "School of Hard Knocks" appeared in the bins at one of the record stores along my route. I did not care for the record. The first time that ever happened. Hard Knocks marks a transition period for Travers. For the next 10 years or so, he released quickly produced Blues albums with very highlights. It's not until Blues Tracks 2 in 1998 that he produces anything that really connected with me, despite my having loyally sought out all the Blues releases I could find. I think at some point I possessed all of them, but have since lost them to the mists of time. These albums were: 1992 Blues Tracks, 1993 Just a Touch, 1994 Blues Magnet, 1995 Halfway to Somewhere, 1996 Lookin' Up, and 1998 Blues Tracks 2. The new Millenium marked the commencement of a long period of time when Travers released records that struck me as deeply half-hearted, mostly comprised of cover albums, blues albums, and both past and contemporary live recordings. For the next 20 years I largely didn't listen to anything he released until 2023 with "The Art of Time Travel.
All the records of the peak era deserve to be remembered, but it seems to me this one is the most important among them, because it is very nearly a perfect record. It is simply amazing.
I listened to this record a few months ago when I heard about its release and, at the time, I didn't like it at all. It's funny how that works. That happens to me quite often. The first listen something offers up a negative impression that does not carry through in consequent listenings. I haven't heard the record in its entirety yet. I just received my vinyl copy in the mail yesterday and have yet to indulge in a complete survey of its contents. My impressions at this point are far more favorable than that first exposure. I do note that Travers' voice is not at all in poor condition, compared to any number of his contomporaries, but he certainly seems to be utilizing less control over it. He doesn't sing with the precision he used to. His vocal notes aren’t evenly produced; he tends to meander about the note with very uncontrolled vibrato. The effect is one I don't find all that appealing. The production is superb. And the performances are equally excellent. Traver's guitar playing is, as always, superlative. He is not entirely as good as he was at his peak, but it's close enough that I don't care. It's Pat Fucking Travers. The man will likely still be able to play when he's flatlined. I'm not familiar with the drummers. I guess name players aren't a thing for Travers anymore. I don't know. How many "name" players are out there at this point? Names that I would be familiar with anyway? At any rate the drummers are also superb. Wonderful performances. The name "Pastorious" in connection with the bass is hard to miss. David Pastorious is evidently Jaco's nephew. How do you not become a musician if your name is Pastorious? So far I've been impressed with his playing and his tone. I imagine I'll have more to say about him going forward. The back up singers are Traver's wife and daughter? They are excellent. Very impressive. I'd assumed they were professional hired guns.
"The Art Of Time Travel" - It's amazing that Travers manages to achieve the same guitar tone he's had for decades with purely modern equipment. He must really be adept at adjusting his sound to get it so consistent. I think it has to do at least partially with how he harmonizes his guitar parts. He must use the same harmonic conventions, because all his arrangements sound like signatures going back to the first album. It's also really apparent on "Makin' Magic" and "Putting it Straight", although it's still unmistakable in "Live: Go For What You Know" many years later. And here it is many decades later. There is also a overall sharpness and precision to his sound, like all the musical parts have been exactingly machined to perfection, with no rough edges or distortions that aren't meant to be there.
If Yes is a band that embodies the "different', then Focus embodies something that lies even beyond that. Unsurprisingly, "Hocus Pocus" was my first, and pretty much only, exposure to Focus. I bought "Moving Waves" a while back, but, equally unsurprising, I don't think I've ever actually listened to it. So I saw this record (Focus 3) in the record store, in really good condition, and I couldn't resist. Upon looking into it, it seems it is well received recording, by and large. Allmusic gave it 4.5 out of 5 and Downbeat gave it 3 out of 5. Listening to it for the first time I note the production is far superior to "Making Waves". Very good resolution of the instruments, excellent tone, a lovely keyboard tone. And of course it didn’t take long for that fucking guy to start in with the Tiny Tim Falsetto weirdness. It is a rather daunting task to dive into a double Lp set of Dutch whackiness, but such is our calling dear reader. I find it very satisfying to really immerse myself in these recordings, and to take these notations as I listen. I find myself developing a familiarity and a relationship with the records that I wouldn’t other wise have. After giving Side 1 a cursory listen, I think I'm going to enjoy this record. I liked what I heard so far very much.
"Round Goes the Gossip" - Exactly what I would expect to hear when throwing on a Focus record. Kooky prog changes with unhinged vocalizations over the top. The main thing I notice is the production value is so good. Everything sounds great. The kick drum and the cymbals, the keyboards, the guitar, sound really cohesive and punchy. I love it. A great double time interlude with some amazing soloing on Van Leer's part. Evidently the vocalizations are being done by the producer Mike Vernon. He repeats "Round goes the gossip". And in the middle section he recites five lines from Virgil in Latin:
Book 4: Lines 173-177
"Extemplo libyae magnas it fama per urbes
Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius ullum
Mobilitate viget virisque adquirit eundo
Parva metu primo, mox sese attollit in auras
Ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit"
At once the great news of Libya spread through the cities
Fame, an evil which no other hastened
He thrives on mobility and acquires strength by walking
With a little fear at first, he soon lifts himself up into the air
He enters the ground and hides his head among the clouds
or:
Immediately Rumor goes through the great cities of Libya,
Rumor, than which not any other evil was more swift;
she flourishes with movement and gains strength with going,
small at first because of dread, soon she raises herself on the breezes
and proceeds on the ground and establishes her head among the clouds.
So… Is "Rumor" it a dude or a chick?... Weird… I don't know if Van Leer is looking to get any deeper than the function and impact of Rumor here. This passage has larger contextual elements regarding Dido and Aeneas that I don't know if Van Leer means to invoke, but they're there nonetheless. Aeneas and Dido are in love (although the passions are arguably more fervent on the part of Dido) and, through the machinations of Juno and Venus, the couple are encouraged (tricked?) into having an affair. The rumor mentioned above regards their having fucked in a cave. An old jilted boyfriend, Iarbus, hears about it and prays to Zeus for reparations. If you know the story, things go poorly for Dido from this point. Aeneas leaves and Dido kills herself. It's not a happy situation for anyone, except maybe the twisted, fucked in the head, Gods. This song is not evocative of unhappiness, so I think Van Leer was making a more general reference.
"Love Remembered" - A very nice piece of Akkerman penned music to highlight Van Leer's flute it seems. Very enjoyable, with great playing by all and the inclusion of what sounds like a Theramin to me, although no one is credited with playing it in the liner notes. Which are sparse. I hate it when they go through the trouble of making a gatefold Lp and all they include is a huge generic photo of the band. Based on a young couple's morning walk.
"Sylvia" - The band's biggest hit evidently, and I can see why. It's really well written by Akkerman, superbly produced and arranged. An excellent piece of music, and again, with ace performances all around. I love the opening punchy guitar riff with the organ and drums coming in over the top. And of course, we need some Van Leer yodeling. This is a very punchy energetic record so far.
From Mr. Johnson's book referenced above:
"Van Leer wrote "Sylvia" in 1968 when he was a cast member of Shaffy Chantant, a Dutch theatre production by singer and actor Ramses Shaffy. He was not fond of a composition that singer Sylvia Alberts was given to sing for her solo performance, so he wrote the instrumental with a set of lyrics in English written by Linda van Dyck. Its original title was a long one: "I Thought I Could Do Everything on My Own, I Was Always Stripping the Town Alone", and concerned an independent young woman who fell apart after she met the love of her life. When he played the song for Sylvia, "she didn't like it at all," so it went "on the shelf." Van Leer kept the music, re-arranging it as an instrumental track when it came to selecting material for the album. He renamed it "Sylvia" after Alberts "to tease [her] a little". The track includes a guitar introduction written by van Leer's brother Frank." "…Concerned an independent young woman who fell apart after she met the love of her life." I find that interesting given the context of the Virgil quote. Is there a theme here? Whatever Sylvia… Dude writes a great song for you and you don't like it? Fucking women… I guess that's why I've never written a love song. A successful one anyway.
"Carnival Fugue" - I think this may be the first piece of music on the record that could be considered Masterpiece. The songs leading us up to this moment were great, but this feels like it's on a higher level from the very beginning, with Van Leer's gorgeous piano opening, with guitar and percussive accompaniment. When the full ensemble comes in we really get the sense that this is a Bach style Fugue structure with the repeated musical figure being moved around and inverted and developed. The development continues and leads out of the intial Bach section into a delightful extended Mo-Town style sequence with excellent flute, organ, and guitar solos over the top which closes out the song. A masterful, yet incredibly playful composition, with a very pleasing production. I love this record so far. Not a bad note played thus far.
"Focus III" - An interesting pulling back a few notches in terms of atmosphere. A Pink Floyd influence for certain. Not horrible. We'll see where it goes. Hopefully the song doesn't maintain this vibe throughout. And it doesn't. Nice crescendo. I do love the sound of the drums. They're miced to give the maximum punch and resonance. If you're going to so a slower number, this is certainly the way to do it. Nice textures, interesting rhythmic elements, playing through a series of melodic crescendos. Excellent bass accompaniment.
"Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!" - The first true Epic. 14 minutes long. And it does not disappoint at all. In the spirit of Yes's most glorious expansive sonic explorations, it's beautifully wild and uninhibited. The essence of the "Jam Band" is here, all the players going ape-shit at once, then a nice interlude allowing for everyone to catch their breath. Van Leer is a master of the organ and all it's pecular characteristics. A great song. If this is what Focus is, an instrumentally driven progressive rock band, then they are on it. It really doesn't get much better than this. Ian Anderson really cornered the market when it comes to Rock Flute. But I am sincere when I say I've never heard Ian Anderson play anything as satisfying as Van Leer's flute solo here at around 5 minutes in. It fits the atmosphee so perfectly, and blends seamlessly into the arrangement. Akkerman's guitar accents during the solo are awesome as well. Very understated. I almost wish he had taken a more aggressive stance, but what he does is tasteful and he gets to his bit soon enough, about 8.5 minutes in. Which is AMAZING. Such a stupendous solo. There hasn't been a ton of soloing on the record so far. And when it finally arrives it is most welcome. I gave these guys a polpularity rating of 3 based on the fact that they are really not that well known. I didn't even know this album existed before I stumbled on it. And I'm so glad I did.
"Anonymus II (Part 1)" - Out of one Epic into another. You better settle in for this one. Maybe get you some coffee. Almost 20 minutes long, 28 including both parts. Why this is "Anonymous II" is not immediately apparent. Where is part I? It's apparently on their first record were it's spelled "Anonymus"? With no Part designation. Ok, fair enough. When the song gets going… wow. So heavy. This is a band of professionals. Don't let the surface goofiness fool you. A large part of their focus is to jam here. No complaints at all. This is a long record. There's plenty of room for the players to stretch out. I appreciate the desire and the ability to do this without losing coherence. "Jam" bands often suffer terribly from this, e.g. The Allman Bros., Phish, The Grateful Dead, Cream. Almost everyone will admit it under duress that these groups' improve moments go on for far too long and lose effectiveness for being too lengthy and too free form. I never feel like Focus is losing the focus here (see what I did there?). They always keep it tight and keep the ensemble interplay locked in so it doesn't feel like unfettered random improvisation as much as scripted precision explosions. Always room for a bass solo. And Akkerman does the same sort of thing he did with the organ solo, providing tasteful accents, scratches and string strikes. Very effective in lending a sense of groove to the proceedings. Bert Ruiter has been here all along, but it's really nice he gets to have an extended bit of time to play. He's an ace player as well. No question. His runs are inventive and complex and seldom travel oer the same ground. It is evident that he plays with a pick. But nobody's perfect. The return of the full ensemble is glorious!! I think I'll be listening to this record a great many more times. What a gift. This album came out FIFTY YEARS AGO. And I never heard about it.
"Anonymus II (Conclusion)" - Largely a drum solo. Not bad, but not all that memorable either. Drum solos seldom are.
"Elspeth of Nottingham" - A nice Lute opening, capably performed by Akkerman, with a lovely piccolo flute accompaniment by Van Leer. Very rennaissance.
"House of the King" - An odd bit of fun High Pageantry that was so beloved of the era opens this Akkerman composition. I sense a bit of early ELO and definitely no small amount of Jethro Tull. And I have to say the production sounds different here. Less resolute. Not bad, just markedly different. A fun way to close out the record.
I love this album. LOVE it. 10 out of 10. I'll be listening to it many many more times.
Tony Kaye – keyboards on "Yours Is No Disgrace" and "Starship Trooper"
Rick Wakeman – keyboards on everything else
Alan White – drums on "Wonderous Stories", "Roundabout", and "I've Seen All Good People"
Bill Bruford – drums on everything else
Track Listing:
1. "Heart of the Sunrise - Fragile (1971) 10:34
2. "Wonderous Stories - Going for the One (1977) 3:45
3. "Yours Is No Disgrace - The Yes Album (1971) 9:41
4. "Starship Trooper" - The Yes Album (1971) 9:29
5. "Long Distance Runaround - Fragile (1971) 3:30
6. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) - Fragile (1971)" 2:36
7. "And You and I" - Close to the Edge (1972) 10:03
Yes is clearly a talented band. Like early Genesis, and most of Jethro Tull, I am aware of their work, yet have zero connection to it. It's just always been a bit iaccessible to me. So this will be the first time I've given them a fair shake. I'm not sure what this album is meant to be. Is it a greatest hits? A compilation of what is considered their finest works? Apparently it was compiled in the early 80s by Chris Squire. No criteria was noted as to how the songs were selected. They seem to be structureless procurement from their body of work. A fitting approach for this band, as we'll come to see I think.
"Heart of the Sunrise", originating from the 1971 album "Fragile". This song captures exactly my problem with Yes. I have listened to the song once through and I can discern no structure to the music. I'm not entirely bound to the notion that all music needs to have a standard connstruction, but it should have some discernible form. I have nothing to grab onto. I'm still listening to the record and I'm not sure if the first song is over or not. I didn't gather enough of a sense of this song to know if it had concluded and the next one seems to have begun with no break between? I think it has ended as I've just heard Jon Anderson say the title of the next song. I feel completely disoriented.
Listening to it a second time. I do really like the production. And Squire's bass tone is magnificent. I find the guitar accompaniment to be squeaky and annoying. All the other instruments are very satisfying. But I do dislike the guitar. So we go through a proggy intro, fairly nice and clearly showing the tightness of the band's ensemble playing, into a dreamy verse sequence. Again, no initially disernible melody or structure. It feels very disjointed. I don't think it's possible to call this a "song" in that it really doesn't follow any conventions of the form, other that it has music and vocalized lyrics. How the heck did they remember how to play all of this? After a few listens it definitely grows on me, and you can certainly begin to see a loose structure to it. This is just a simply very different band, with a very different method of composition. Comparisons with a contemporary group like Led Zeppelin or The Rolling Stones will only lead to stupefaction. This band is crazy. And you sort of have to let go of your sanity a little bit to listen to them let alone enjoy them. I am sincerely blown away that they can reproduce this composition reliably. The drummer must have an eidetic memory.
"Wondrous Stories", originating from the 1977 album "Going for the One". This comes as a bit of a breather after the bonkers sequences of the previous songs. When Anderson is at his most Andersonian, he has a very distinctive High Elven quality to his approach to music, and it is fully on display here. Rennaissance Festivals have to look no further for their theme music. This a a lovely little song. "Little" compared to the sprawling multi-part epics usually thrown down by this ensemble.
"Yours is no Disgrace", originating from the 1971 album "The Yes Album". A much more structured bit of Prog than the first song. Again, Squire's vital potent bass tone carries the rhythm. I am tempted to call it "aggressive" or "masculine", but those terms, while clearly extant elements of his playing, don't quite fit. Vigor, command, and authority are there, but there is also a delicacy and a high level of sophistication. There is bombastic pugnacity, but no crudity. I really like this song. And I'm beginning to sort of "get" the Yes paradigm. There are no rules with this group. This band may well loom much larger in my future. Another song with no real structure to grab onto. But it somehow takes on a glorious flamboyance in the absence of formality. It's the literal embodiment of Queen's concept of "I want to Break Free". Yes really has broken free of formal musical constraints, as established by popular music in the 20th century, and while that is incredibly disorienting for the listener, it is also very sonically and aesthetically liberating. Anderson shines here. His voice is superb. Controlled, soaring, and melodic in its own idiosyncratic way. I do find their time bending passages to be more and more enjoyable over repeated listenings, but I also find the moments were they lock into a groove to be immensely satisfying, perhaps due to the contrast. I love this song.
"Starship Trooper", originating from the 1971 album "The Yes Album". I REALLY like this song. I will have to pick up copies of "The Yes Album" and "Fragile" as soon as possible. Perhaps I'll go throught the motions of acquiring and reviewing all their recorded material. I have to really take a step back and take in just how different this band is. This opening sequence is truly remarkable. The bass is oscillated, probably played through a Leslie? Who has ever done that? I can't think of another example. But what a gorgeous set of changes combined with Anderson's melody. Beautiful. And Bill Bruford is rapidly becoming a highlight. His playing is crisp, complex, and innovative. I could just listen to him and be perefectly happy. Steve Howe jumps to the center stage here. Whereas I was put off by his contributions to "Heart of the Sunrise" his parts here are amazing. The lush opening chords, the finger style acoustic interlude, the ethereal strumming in the interludes. I do notice at this point that there are no solos on any of these songs. Interesting that I hadn't noted that before now. But there are no solos. Very odd. There is a short series of solos toward the end that are not bad, but they really seem like an afterthought. This song originates from "The Yes Album". I love the production. This may well be the first record I procure if I can. This is one of the greatest songs I've ever heard.
"Long Distance Runaround", originating from the 1971 album "Fragile". The only song on this record that I've heard before (excluding the 3 songs on the bonus 7"). Never was terribly impressed with it, but I do have to admit it suffered mightily from the background noise effect, in that it was always playing on the radio and as such I never really gave it any meaningful consideration, despite being exposed to it so many times.
Squire's fist jumps right into your face, of course. And in contrast, Howe's somewhat reedy and waifish guitar floats over the top. I think this song became popular not because it was better than any of the other offerings off of "Fragile", but it has a straight forward beat that remains somewhat consistent throughout. Their habit of using erratic schizoid time signature meaderings really challenges the listener. This song largely minimizes that element. Maybe that's a result of this one being written by Anderson. Anderson also wrote "Wondrous Stories", which is the other fairly straight forward song in terms of time signature on the record. I'm really amazed at how much I love this record. I bought it on impulse at the last second at the record store. I was going to buy Iron Butterfly's "In-a-gadda-da-vida".
"The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)", originating from the 1971 album "Fragile". It was hard to tell when the previous song ended and this one began. I sort of had to guess? I have the feeling this song and the previous one are linked on the orginal record and brought here as a team rather than extricating one from the other. An interesting little interlude. Not sure it was necessary to include it here. But it's interesting.
"And You and I", originating from the 1971 album "Close to the Edge". Lovely acoustic opening. Howe is certainly an interesting player. Again, different. This opening sequence is redolent of the Yes I sort of have always had in the back of mind. The High Elvish bit, with Anderson singing glorious melodies over lush instrumentation, bells, and Celtic percussion filling out the edges creating a general sense of High Pageantry.
Bonus 7":
"Roundabout" (live version recorded at Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California, USA, 7 October 1978). Wow… This recording is Jaw Dropping. Unbelievable. If this originates from an available more complete live recording I will certainly seek it out. A cursory search does not reveal any more extant recorded material from this show. Bummer.
"I've Seen All Good People" (live version recorded at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, UK, 28 October 1978). Another brilliant performance and a sincerely amazing production. This record was worth buying just to get this 7".
What a record. And wow, what an experience getting to hear most of it for the first time. 10 out of 10.
