Yes (band)
(Read all about Yes after the video)
Yes are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The band has undergone numerous formations throughout its history, of which nineteen musicians have been full time members. Since June 2015, it has consisted of guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, keyboardist Geoff Downes, singer Jon Davison, and bassist Billy Sherwood. Yes adopted several changes in musical style, from rearranged covers to progressive and art rock in the 1970s, before moving towards pop in the 1980s. They have sold 13.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US.[2]
Formed by singer Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire,
Yes changed their name from Mabel Greer's Toyshop and performed
rearranged covers of rock, pop, blues and jazz songs as evident on their
first two albums. A change of direction in 1970 led to a series of
successful progressive and art rock-style albums until their disbanding
in 1981, their most successful being The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971) and Close to the Edge
(1972). Yes toured as a major rock act that earned the band a
reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album
covers designed by Roger Dean. The success of "Roundabout", the single from Fragile, cemented their popularity across the decade and beyond.
In 1983, Yes reformed with a new line-up that included guitarist Trevor Rabin and a more commercial and pop-oriented musical direction. The result was 90125 (1983), their highest selling album which contained the US number one single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart". From 1990 to 1992, Yes were an eight-member formation after they merged with Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe to release Union
(1991) and complete its tour. Since 1994, Yes have released albums with
varied levels of success and completed tours from 1997 to 2004. After a
four-year break in activity, they resumed touring in 2008 and continue
to release albums; their most recent is Heaven & Earth (2014).
Yes are one of the most successful, influential, and longest lasting progressive rock bands. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema",
and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. Yes have
headlined annual progressive rock-themed cruises since 2013 named Cruise
to the Edge. Their discography spans 21 studio albums. A campaign to have Yes inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began in 2013; the band were nominated for inclusion in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
History
Formation and breakthrough (1968–71)
In 1967, bassist Chris Squire joined the rock band Mabel Greer's Toyshop,[3] with singer and guitarist Clive Bayley, drummer Bob Hagger, and guitarist Peter Banks.[4] They played at the Marquee Club in Soho,
London where Jack Barrie, owner of the nearby La Chasse club, saw them
perform. "There was nothing outstanding about them", he recalled, "the
musicianship was very good but it was obvious they weren't going
anywhere".[5] Barrie introduced Squire to singer Jon Anderson, a worker at the bar in La Chasse, who found they shared interests in Simon & Garfunkel and harmony singing. That evening at Squire's house they wrote "Sweetness," which was included on the first Yes album.[6] Meanwhile, Banks had left Mabel Greer's Toyshop to join Neat Change, but he was dismissed by this group on 7 April 1968.[4] In June 1968, Hagger was replaced in the nascent Yes by Bill Bruford, who had placed an advertisement in Melody Maker,[4][7] and Banks was recalled by Squire, replacing Bayley as guitarist.[4] Finally, the classically trained organist and pianist Tony Kaye, of Johnny Taylor's Star Combo and The Federals, became the keyboardist and the fifth member.[8] The newborn band rehearsed in the basement of The Lucky Horseshoe cafe on Shaftesbury Avenue between 10 June and 9 July 1968.[9][10][11]
Anderson suggested that they call the new band Life while Squire suggested that it be called World.[12] After renaming themselves as Yes! at Banks' suggestion,[4] the first gig under the new brand followed at a youth camp in East Mersea, Essex on 4 August 1968. Early sets were formed of cover songs from artists such as the Beatles, the 5th Dimension and Traffic.[13] On 16 September, Yes performed at Blaise's club in London as a substitute for Sly and the Family Stone,
who failed to turn up. They were well received by the audience,
including the host Roy Flynn who became the band's manager that night.[14] That month, Bruford decided to quit performing to study at Leeds University.[15] His replacement, Tony O'Reilly of the Koobas, struggled to perform with the rest of the group on-stage.[15]
After Bruford was refused a year's sabbatical leave from Leeds,
Anderson and Squire convinced him to return for Yes' supporting slot for
Cream's farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 26 November.[15]
After seeing an early King Crimson
gig in 1969, Yes realised that there was suddenly stiff competition on
the London gigging circuit, and they needed to be much more technically
proficient, starting regular rehearsals.[16] They subsequently signed a deal with Atlantic Records, and, that August, released their debut album Yes.[17] Compiled of mostly original material, the record includes renditions of "Every Little Thing" by the Beatles and "I See You" by the Byrds. Although the album failed to break into the UK album charts, Rolling Stone critic Lester Bangs complimented the album's "sense of style, taste, and subtlety".[18] Melody Maker columnist Tony Wilson chose Yes and Led Zeppelin as the two bands "most likely to succeed".[19]
Following a tour of Scandinavia with the Small Faces, Yes performed a solo concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 21 March 1970. The second half consisted of excerpts from their second album Time and a Word, accompanied with a 20-piece youth orchestra.[20]
Banks, who was dissatisfied with the idea of recording with an
orchestra and the sacking of Flynn earlier in the year, left the group
in May, two months prior the album's release.[17][21]
Banks later claimed he was fired by Anderson and Squire, and that Kaye
and Bruford had no prior knowledge that it would be happening.[16] Similar to the first album, Time and a Word features original songs and two new covers–"Everydays" by Buffalo Springfield and "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" by Richie Havens. The album broke into the UK charts, peaking at number 45. Banks' replacement was Tomorrow guitarist Steve Howe, who is photographed with the group on the American issue despite not playing on it.[22]
The band retreated to a rented farmhouse in Devon
to write and rehearse new songs for their following album. Howe
established himself as an integral part of the group's sound with his Gibson ES-175 and variety of acoustic guitars. With producer and engineer Eddy Offord,
recording sessions lasted as long as 12 hours with each track being
assembled from small sections at a time, which were pieced together to
form a complete track. The band would then learn to play the song
through after the final mix was complete.[23] Released in February 1971, The Yes Album peaked at number 4 in the UK and number 40 on the US Billboard 200 charts.
Yes embarked on a 28-day tour of Europe with Iron Butterfly in January 1971.[24] The band purchased Iron Butterfly's entire public address system, which improved their on-stage performance and sound.[25] Their first date in North America followed on 24 June in Edmonton, Canada supporting Jethro Tull.[26] Kaye performed his final show with Yes at the Crystal Palace Bowl that August. The decision was made after friction arising between Howe and himself on tour,[27] and his reported reluctance to play the Mellotron and the Minimoog synthesiser.
Fragile, Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographic Oceans (1971–74)
At the time of Kaye's departure, Yes had already found their new keyboardist – Rick Wakeman, a classically trained player who left the folk rock group Strawbs earlier in the year. He was already a noted studio musician, with credits including T. Rex, David Bowie, Cat Stevens and Elton John.
Squire commented that he could play "a grand piano for three bars, a
Mellotron for two bars and a Moog for the next one absolutely spot on",[28] which gave Yes the orchestral and choral textures that befitted their new material.
Released on 26 November 1971, the band's fourth album Fragile showcased their growing interest in the structures of classical music, with an excerpt of The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky being played at the start of their concerts since the album's 1971–1972 tour.[29] Each member performed a solo track on the album, and it marked the start of their long collaboration with artist Roger Dean, who designed the group's logo, album art, and stage sets. Fragile peaked at number 7 in the UK and number 4 in the US[30]
after it was released there in January 1972, and was their first record
to reach the top ten in North America. A shorter version of the opening
track, "Roundabout", was released as a single that peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[31]
In February 1972, Yes recorded a cover version of "America" by Paul Simon. The single reached number 46 on the US singles chart.[32] The track subsequently appeared on The New Age of Atlantic, a 1972 compilation album of several bands signed to Atlantic Records, and again in the 1975 compilation Yesterdays.
Released in September 1972, Close to the Edge, the band's fifth album, was their most ambitious work so far. At 19 minutes, the title track
took up an entire side on the vinyl record and combined elements of
classical music, psychedelic rock, pop, and jazz. The album reached
number 3 in the US[30] and number 4 on the UK charts.[33] "And You and I" was released as a single that peaked at number 42 in the US.[32]
The growing critical and commercial success of the band was not enough
to retain Bruford, who left Yes in the summer of 1972, before the
album's release to join King Crimson. The band considered several possible replacements, including Aynsley Dunbar (who was playing with Frank Zappa at the time),[34] and decided on former Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White, a friend of Anderson and Offord who had once sat in with the band weeks before Bruford's departure.[35] White learned the band's repertoire in three days before embarking on their 1972–1973 tour.
By this point, Yes were beginning to enjoy worldwide commercial and
critical success. Their early touring with White was featured on Yessongs,
a triple live album released in May 1973 that documented shows from
1972. The album reached number 7 in the UK and number 12 in the US.[30][36] A concert film of the same name premiered in 1975[37] that documented their shows at London's Rainbow Theatre in December 1972, with added psychedelic visual images and effects.
"It is a fragmented masterpiece, assembled with loving care and long
hours in the studio. Brilliant in patches, but often taking far too long
to make its various points, and curiously lacking in warmth or personal
expression..."Ritual" is a dance of celebration and brings the first
enjoyable moments, where Alan's driving drums have something to grip on
to and the lyrics of la la la speak volumes. But even this cannot last
long and cohesion is lost once more to the gods of drab self
indulgence."
Tales from Topographic Oceans
was the band's sixth studio album, released on 14 December 1973. It
marked a change in their fortunes and polarised fans and critics alike.
The double vinyl set was based on Anderson's interpretation of the Shastric scriptures from a footnote within Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi. The album became the first LP in the UK to ship gold before the record arrived at retailers.[39] It went on to top the UK charts for two weeks while reaching number 6 in the US,[30]
and became the band's fourth consecutive gold album. Wakeman was not
pleased with the record and is critical of much of its material.[40] He felt sections were "bled to death" and contained too much musical padding. Wakeman left the band after the 1973–1974 tour; his solo album Journey to the Centre of the Earth topped the UK charts in May 1974.[41] The tour included five consecutive sold out shows at the Rainbow Theatre, the first time a rock band achieved this.[42]
Relayer, Going for the One, Tormato and the Paris sessions (1974–80)
Several musicians were approached to replace Wakeman, including Vangelis Papathanassiou, Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music and former Atlantis/Cat Stevens keyboardist Jean Roussel. Yes ultimately chose Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz of Refugee, who arrived in August 1974[43] during the recording sessions for Relayer, which took place at Squire's home in Virginia Water, Surrey. Released in November that year, Relayer showcased a jazz fusion-influenced direction the band were pursuing. The album features the 22-minute track titled "The Gates of Delirium", which highlights a battle initially inspired by War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
Its closing section, "Soon", was subsequently released as a single. The
album reached number 4 in the UK and number 5 in the US.[30][44] Yes embarked on their 1974–1975 tour to support Relayer. The compilation album Yesterdays,
released in 1975, contained tracks from Yes' first two albums, the
b-side track from their "Sweet Dreams" single from 1970 titled "Dear
Father", and the original ten-minute version of their cover of
"America".[45]
Between 1975 and 1976, each member of the band released a solo album. Their subsequent 1976 tour of North America with Peter Frampton featured some of the band's most-attended shows. The show of 12 June, also supported by Gary Wright and Pousette-Dart Band at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, attracted over 100,000 people.[46]
Roger Dean's brother Martyn was the main designer behind the tour's
"Crab Nebula" stage set, while Roger and fabric designer Felicity
Youette provided the backgrounds.
In late 1976, the band travelled to Switzerland and started recording for their album Going for the One at Mountain Studios, Montreux.
It was then that Anderson sent early versions of "Going for the One"
and "Wonderous Stories" to Wakeman, who felt he could contribute to such
material better than the band's past releases. Moraz was let go, after
Wakeman was booked on a session musician basis. Upon its release in July
1977, Going for the One topped the UK album charts for two weeks and reached number 8 in the US.[30][47] "Wonderous Stories" and "Going for the One" were released as singles in the UK and reached numbers 7 and 25, respectively.[47] Although the album's cover was designed by Hipgnosis, it still features their Roger Dean "bubble" logotype. The band's 1977 tour spanned across six months.
Tormato was released in September 1978 at the height of punk rock
in England, during which the music press criticised Yes as representing
the bloated excesses of early-1970s progressive rock. The album saw the
band continuing their movement towards shorter songs; no track runs
longer than eight minutes.[48] Wakeman replaced his Mellotrons with the Birotron, a tape replay keyboard,
and Squire experimented with harmonisers and Mu-tron pedals with his
bass. Production was handled collectively by the band and saw
disagreements at the mixing stage among the members. The album reached
number 8 in the UK and number 10 in the US charts.[30] Despite internal and external criticisms of the album, the band's 1978–1979 tour was a commercial success. Concerts were performed in the round
with a £50,000-central revolving stage and a 360-degree sound system
fitted above it. Yes earned a "Golden Ticket Award" for grossing over $1
million in box office receipts.[49]
In October 1979, the band convened in Paris with producer Roy Thomas Baker.
Their diverse approach was now succumbing to division, as Anderson and
Wakeman favoured the more fantastical and delicate approach while the
rest preferred a heavier rock sound. Howe, Squire and White liked none
of the music Anderson was offering at the time as it was too lightweight
and lacking in the heaviness that they were generating in their own
writing sessions. The Paris sessions abruptly ended in December after
White broke his foot while rollerskating in a roller disco.[50]
When the band, minus Wakeman (who had only committed to recording
keyboard overdubs once new material would be ready to record) reconvened
in February to resume work on the project, their growing musical
differences, combined with internal dissension, obstructed progress.
Journalist Chris Welch, after attending a rehearsal, noted that Anderson
"was singing without his usual conviction and seemed disinclined to
talk".[51]
By late March, Howe, Squire and White had begun demoing material as an
instrumental trio, increasingly uncertain about Anderson's future
involvement. Eventually, a serious band dispute over finance saw
Anderson leave Yes, with a dispirited Wakeman departing at around the
same time.
Drama and split (1980–81)
In 1980, pop duo The Buggles (keyboardist Geoff Downes and singer Trevor Horn) acquired Brian Lane as a manager. The pair had had a worldwide hit with the single "Video Killed the Radio Star",
and were working in the same rehearsal complex as Yes. The duo already
had a song called "We Can Fly From Here," which they thought would be
suitable for Yes and which they consequently pitched to the band. A demo
of the song was recorded in May 1980 with Squire's participation.
At this point, the departure of Anderson and Wakeman had been kept
secret from everyone outside the Yes inner circle. Seeing an option of
continuing the band with new creative input and expertise, Squire
revealed the situation to Horn and Downes and suggested that they join
Yes as full-time members. Horn and Downes accepted the invitation and
the reconfigured band recorded the Drama
album, which was released in August 1980. The record displayed a
heavier, harder sound than the material Yes recorded with Anderson in
1979, opening with the lengthy hard rocker "Machine Messiah". The album peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 18 in the US.[30] Their 1980 tour
of North America and the UK received a mixed reaction from audiences.
They were well received in the United States, and were awarded with a
commemorative certificate after they performed a record 16 consecutive
sold out concerts at Madison Square Garden since 1974.[52]
After the Drama tour, Yes reconvened in England to decide the
band's next step, beginning by dismissing Lane as their manager. Horn
chose to leave Yes to pursue a career in music production, with White
and Squire next to depart. Left as the sole remaining members, Downes
and Howe opted not to continue with the group and went their own
separate ways in December 1980. A live compilation album of Yes
performances from 1976 to 1978, mixed in mid-1979 and originally
intended for release in late 1979, was released as Yesshows, peaking at number 22 in the UK charts and number 43 in the US.[30] An announcement came from the group's management in March 1981 confirming that Yes no longer existed.
Downes and Howe later reunited to form Asia with former King Crimson bassist and vocalist John Wetton, and drummer Carl Palmer from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Squire and White continued to work together, initially recording sessions with Jimmy Page for a proposed band called XYZ (short for "ex-Yes-and-Zeppelin") in the spring of 1981. Page's former bandmate Robert Plant
was also to be involved as the vocalist but he lost enthusiasm, citing
his ongoing grieving for recently deceased Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham.
The short-lived group produced a few demo tracks, elements of which
would appear in Page's band The Firm and on future Yes tracks "Mind
Drive" and "Can You Imagine?". In late 1981, Squire and White released "Run with the Fox",
a Christmas single with Squire on vocals which received radio airplay
through the 1980s and early 1990s during the Christmas periods. A second
Yes compilation album, Classic Yes, was released in November 1981.
Reformation, 90125 and Big Generator (1982–88)
In 1982, Phil Carson of Atlantic Records introduced Squire and White to South African rock guitarist and singer Trevor Rabin, who had initially made his name with the pop band Rabbitt, subsequently releasing three solo albums, working as a record producer and even briefly being considered as a member of Asia. The three teamed up in a new band called Cinema,
for which Squire also recruited the original Yes keyboard player Tony
Kaye. Despite the presence of three Yes musicians, Cinema was not
originally intended to be a continuation of Yes, and entered the studio
to record a debut album as a brand new group. Although Rabin and Squire
initially shared lead vocals for the project, Trevor Horn was briefly
brought into Cinema as a potential singer,[53] but soon opted to become the band's producer instead.
Horn polished the band's developing songs with modern studio effects
and digital sampling and also played a prominent role in vocal
arrangement (including contributing to the backing vocals). However, his
clashes with Tony Kaye (complicated by the fact that Rabin was playing
most of the keyboards during the recording sessions) led to Kaye's
departure after around six months of rehearsing.[53] Meanwhile, Squire encountered Jon Anderson (who, since leaving Yes, had released two solo albums and had success with the Jon and Vangelis
project) at a Los Angeles party and played him the Cinema demo tracks.
Anderson was invited into the project as lead singer and joined in April
1983 during the last few weeks of the sessions, having comparatively
little creative input beyond adding his lead vocals and re-writing some
lyrics.
At the suggestion of record company executives, Cinema then changed
their name to Yes in June 1983. Rabin initially objected to this, as he
now found that he had inadvertently joined a reunited band with a
history and expectations, rather than help launch a new group.[54]
However, the presence of four former Yes members in the band (three of
whom were founding members, including the distinctive lead singer)
suggested that the name change was sound commercial strategy. The new
album marked a radical change in style as the revived Yes had adopted a pop rock
sound that showed little of their progressive roots. This incarnation
of the band has sometimes been informally referred to as "Yes-West",
reflecting the band's new base in Los Angeles rather than London.
Yes released their comeback album 90125 (named after its catalogue serial number on Atco Records)
in November 1983. It became their biggest-selling album, selling over 6
million copies, and introduced the band to younger fans. "Owner of a
Lonely Heart" topped the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks, and went on to reach the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the only single from Yes to do so,[32] for two weeks in January 1984. Kaye's short-term replacement on keyboards, Eddie Jobson,
appeared briefly in the original video but was edited out as much as
possible once Kaye had been persuaded to return to the band.[55]
In 1984, the singles "Leave It" and "It Can Happen" reached number 24 and 57 respectively.[32] Yes also earned their only Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1985 for the two-minute track "Cinema".[56] They were also nominated for an award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals with "Owner of a Lonely Heart", and a Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal award with 90125.[57] The band's 1984–1985 tour was the most lucrative in their history and spawned 9012Live, a concert film directed by Steven Soderbergh with added special effects from Charlex that cost $1 million.[58] Yes' mini-LP released in 1985, 9012Live: The Solos,
earned Yes a nomination for a second Grammy Award for Best Rock
Instrumental Performance for Squire's solo track, a rendition of "Amazing Grace".[59]
Yes began recording for their twelfth album, Big Generator,
in 1986. The sessions underwent many starts and stops due to the use of
multiple recording locations in Italy, London and Los Angeles as well
as interpersonal problems between Rabin and Horn, which kept the album
from timely completion. Eventually Rabin took over final production, and
the album was released in September 1987, reaching number 17 in the UK
and number 15 in the US.[30] Big Generator earned Yes a nomination for a second Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1988.[60] The single "Love Will Find a Way" topped the Mainstream Rock chart, while "Rhythm of Love" reached number 2 and "Shoot High Aim Low" number 11.[30] The 1987–1988 tour ended with an appearance at Madison Square Garden on 14 May 1988 as part of Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary.
ABWH, Union, and Talk (1988–95)
By
the end of 1988, Anderson felt creatively sidelined by Rabin and Squire
and had grown tired of the musical direction of the "Yes-West" line-up.
He took leave of the band, asserting that he would never stay in Yes
purely for the money, and started work in Montserrat
on a solo project that eventually involved Wakeman, Howe, and Bruford.
This collaboration led to suggestions that there would be some kind of
reformation of the "classic" Yes, although from the start the project
had included bass player Tony Levin,
whom Bruford had worked with in King Crimson. The project was
contractually unable to take over or otherwise use the Yes name as
Anderson, Squire, White, Kaye, and Rabin held the rights which dated
back to the 90125 contract.[citation needed] The group became known as Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, which suited Bruford since he wanted to distance himself from the "Yes" name.
Their eponymous album
released in 1989 featured "Brother of Mine", which became an MTV hit,
and went gold in the United States. It later emerged that the four band
members had not all recorded together; Anderson and producer Chris Kimsey slotted their parts into place. Howe has stated publicly[61]
that he was unhappy with the mix of his guitars on the album, though a
version of "Fist of Fire" with more of Howe's guitars left intact
appeared on the In a Word box set in 2002. ABWH toured in 1989 and 1990 as "An Evening of Yes Music" which featured Levin, keyboardist Julian Colbeck, and guitarist Milton McDonald as support musicians. A live album was recorded and released in 1993 titled An Evening of Yes Music Plus that featured Jeff Berlin
on bass due to Levin suffering from illness. The tour was also dogged
by legal battles sparked by Atlantic Records due to the band's
references to Yes in promotional materials and the tour title.
Following the tour the group returned to the recording studio to produce their second album, tentatively called Dialogue. After hearing the tracks Arista Records
refused to release the album as they felt the initial mixes were weak.
They encouraged the group to seek outside songwriters, preferably ones
who could help them deliver hit singles. Anderson approached Rabin about
the situation, and Rabin sent Anderson a demo tape with four songs,
indicating that ABWH could have one but had to send the others back.
Arista listened to all four and wanted all of them, but Rabin would not
agree to the request.[citation needed] The "Yes-West" group were working on a follow-up to Big Generator and had been shopping around for a new singer. Ex-Supertramp vocalist Roger Hodgson
had already rejected the post; while he enjoyed working and writing
with the group, he thought it unwise to attempt to pass off the
resulting music as "Yes." The band had also been working with Kansas singer Steve Walsh[53] and with Billy Sherwood of World Trade.
Walsh only spent one day with them, but Sherwood and the band worked
well enough together and continued with writing sessions. Arista
suggested that the "Yes-West" group, with Anderson on vocals, record the
four songs to add to the new album which would then be released under
the Yes name.
Union
was released in April 1991 and is the thirteenth studio album from Yes.
Each group played their own songs, with Anderson singing on all tracks.
Squire sang background vocals on a few of the ABWH tracks, with Tony
Levin playing all the bass on those songs. The album does not feature
all eight members playing at once. The track "Masquerade" earned Yes a
Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1992.[62] Union sold approximately 1.5 million copies worldwide, and peaked at number 7 in the UK and number 15 in the US charts.[30] Two singles from the album were released. "Lift Me Up" topped the Mainstream Rock charts in May 1991 for six weeks, while "Saving My Heart" peaked at number 9.[32]
Almost the entire band have openly stated their dislike of Union.
Bruford has disowned the album entirely, and Wakeman was reportedly
unable to recognise any of his keyboard work in the final edit and threw
his copy of the album out of his limousine. He has since referred to
the album as "Onion" because it makes him cry when he thinks about it. Union Co-producer Jonathan Elias
later stated publicly in an interview that Anderson, as the associate
producer, knew of the session musicians' involvement. He added that he
and Anderson had even initiated their contributions, because hostility
between some of the band members at the time was preventing work from
being accomplished.[63] The 1991–1992 Union tour
united all eight members on a revolving circular stage. Following its
conclusion, Bruford chose not to remain involved with Yes and returned
to his jazz project Earthworks.
In 1993, the album Symphonic Music of Yes was released and features orchestrated Yes tracks arranged by David Palmer. Howe, Bruford and Anderson perform on the record, joined by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the London Community Gospel Choir. The following Yes studio album, as with Union,
was masterminded by a record company, rather than by the band itself.
Victory Music approached Rabin with a proposal to produce an album
solely with the 90125 line-up. Rabin initially countered by
requesting that Wakeman also be included. Rabin began assembling the
album at his home, using the then-pioneering concept of a digital home
studio, and used material written by himself and Anderson. The new album
was well into production in 1993, but Wakeman's involvement had finally
been cancelled, as his refusal to leave his long-serving management
created insuperable legal problems.
Talk was released in March 1994 and is the band's fourteenth studio release. Its cover was designed by pop artist Peter Max. The record was digitally recorded in its entirety by Rabin and co-engineer Michael Jay, using 3.4 GB of hard disk storage split among four networked Apple Macintosh computers running Digital Performer,
the first album ever recorded with such software. The album blended
elements of radio-friendly rock with a more structurally ambitious
approach taken from the band's progressive blueprint, with the
fifteen-minute track "Endless Dream". The album reached number 20 in the UK and number 33 in the US.[30] The track "The Calling" reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and "Walls", which Rabin had written with former Supertramp songwriter and co-founder Roger Hodgson, peaked at number 24.[32] It also became Yes’ second-to-last charting single.[64] Rabin and Hodgson wrote a lot of material together and became close friends.[64] Yes performed "Walls" on Late Show with David Letterman on 20 June 1994.
The 1994 tour (for which the band included Billy Sherwood
on additional guitar and keyboards) used a sound system developed by
Rabin named Concertsonics which allowed the audience located in certain
seating areas to tune portable FM radios to a specific frequency, so
they could hear the concert with headphones.[65] In early 1995, following the tour, Kaye and Rabin both left Yes to pursue other projects.
Keys to Ascension, Open Your Eyes and The Ladder (1995–2000)
In
November 1995, Anderson, Squire and White resurrected the "classic"
1970s lineup of Yes by inviting Wakeman and Howe back to the band,
recording two new lengthy tracks called "Be the One" and "That, That
Is". In March 1996, Yes performed three live shows at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California which were recorded and released, along with the new studio tracks, that October on CMC International Records as the Keys to Ascension album, which peaked at number 48 in the UK and number 99 in the US.[30] A same-titled live video of the shows was also released that year.
Yes continued to record new tracks in the studio, drawing some
material written around the time of the XYZ project. At one point the
new songs were to be released as a studio album, but commercial
considerations meant that the new tracks were eventually packaged with
the remainder of the 1996 San Luis Obispo shows in November 1997 on Keys to Ascension 2. The record managed to reach number 62 in the UK, but failed to chart in the US.[30] Disgruntled at the way a potential studio album had been sacrificed in favour of the Keys to Ascension
releases (as well as the way in which a Yes tour was being arranged
without his input or agreement) Wakeman left the group again. (The
studio material from both albums would eventually be compiled and
re-released without the live tracks onto a single CD, 2001's Keystudio.)
With Yes in disarray again, Squire turned to Billy Sherwood (by now the band's engineer) for help.[66] Both men had been working on a side project called Conspiracy
and reworked existing demos and recordings from there to turn them into
Yes songs, and also worked on new material with Anderson and White
(Howe's involvement at this stage was minimal, mainly taking place
towards the end of the sessions). Sherwood's integral involvement with
the writing, production and performance of the music led to his finally
joining Yes as a full member (taking on the role of harmony singer,
keyboardist and second guitarist).
The results of the sessions were released in November 1997 as the seventeenth Yes studio album, Open Your Eyes
(on the Beyond Music label, who ensured that the group had greater
control in packaging and naming). The music (mainly at Sherwood's
urging) attempted to bridge the differing Yes styles of the 1970s and
1980s.[66]
(Sherwood: "My goal was to try to break down those partisan
walls—because all of the music was so good. There are people who won't
listen to Genesis, say, after 1978, but I can't imagine that. I love all
music. That was the one thing I tried to do, to bring unity. During the
time I was with Yes, you heard new things, and classic things. For
that, I am proud — to have aligned planets for a moment in time."[66]) However, Open Your Eyes was not a chart success; the record peaked at number 151 on the Billboard 200[30] but failed to enter the charts in the UK. The title single managed to reach number 33 on the Mainstream Rock chart.[32]
For the 1997/1998 Open Your Eyes tour, Yes hired Russian keyboard player Igor Khoroshev,
who had played on some of the album tracks. Significantly, the tour
setlist featured only a few pieces from the new album, and mostly
concentrated on earlier material. Anderson and Howe, who had been less
involved with the writing and production on Open Your Eyes than they'd wished, would express dissatisfaction about the album later.
By the time the band came to record their eighteenth studio album The Ladder with producer Bruce Fairbairn,
Khoroshev had become a full-time member (with Sherwood now
concentrating on songwriting, vocal arrangements and second guitar).
With Khoroshev's classically influenced keyboard style, and with all
members now making more or less equal writing contributions, the band's
sound returned to its eclectic and integrated 1970s progressive rock
style. The Ladder also featured Latin music ingredients and clear
world music influences, mostly brought in by Alan White (although
Fairbairn's multi-instrumentalist colleague Randy Raine-Reusch
made a strong contribution to the album's textures). One of the album
tracks, "Homeworld (The Ladder)", was written for Relic Entertainment's Homeworld, a real-time strategy computer game and was used as the credits and outro theme.
The Ladder was released in September 1999, peaking at number 36 in the UK and number 99 in the US.[30] While on tour in 1999 and early 2000, Yes recorded their performance at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, releasing it in September 2000 as a DVD and live album called House of Yes: Live from House of Blues.
This would be the last album to feature Billy Sherwood, who saw his
role in Yes as creating and performing new music. Realising that the
rest of the band now wished to concentrate on performing the back
catalogue, he amicably resigned from Yes at the end of the tour.[66]
Later in the year, Yes embarked on the three-month Masterworks tour of the United States, on which they performed only material which had been released between 1970 and 1974 (The Yes Album through to Relayer). While on tour, Khoroshev was involved in a backstage incident of sexual assault[67][68][69] and parted company with the band at the end of the tour.
Magnification and further touring (2001–04)
In 2001, Yes released their nineteenth studio album Magnification. Recorded without a keyboardist, the album features a 60-piece orchestra conducted by Larry Groupé; the first time the band used an orchestra since Time and a Word in 1970. The record was not a chart success; it peaked at number 71 in the UK and number 186 in the US.[30] Yes toured with a symphony orchestra in 2001 with keyboardist Tom Brislin as Wakeman was occupied with his solo tours. Their performance in Amsterdam was released on DVD in 2002 and CD in 2009 as Symphonic Live.
Following Wakeman's announcement of his return in April 2002, Yes embarked on their Full Circle Tour in 2002–2003 that included their first performances in Australia since 1973.[70] The triple compilation album The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection
was released in July 2003, reaching number 10 in the UK charts, their
highest-charting album since 1991, and number 131 in the US. On 26
January 2004, the film Yesspeak
premiered in a number of select theatres, followed by a closed-circuit
live acoustic performance of the group that was released as Yes Acoustic: Guaranteed No Hiss later on. A 35th anniversary tour followed in 2004 which was documented on the live DVD Songs from Tsongas.
In 2004, Squire, Howe and White reunited for one night only with former members Trevor Horn, Trevor Rabin and Geoff Downes during a show celebrating Horn's career, performing three Yes songs. The show video was released in DVD in 2008 under the name Trevor Horn and Friends: Slaves to the Rhythm.[71][72]
On 18 March 2003 minor planet (7707) Yes was named in honor of the band.[73]
Hiatus and departure of Jon Anderson (2004–10)
After
the 35th anniversary tour in September 2004, Yes were inactive for four
years. Anderson, unlike the other members, was not interested in
producing a new studio album after the low sales of Magnification.
He claimed that recording one was not "logical any more," and no
announcement was made regarding a release of the new material.[74]
A 40th anniversary "Close to the Edge and Back" tour was scheduled to
begin in 2008 – Anderson would later claim that the band had rehearsed
four new "lengthy, multi-movement compositions" for the tour.[75] With Rick Wakeman unable to tour for health reasons, his son Oliver Wakeman
was chosen to replace him on keyboards indefinitely. The tour was
abruptly cancelled in May 2008 after Anderson suffered an asthma attack
and was diagnosed with acute respiratory failure.
The remainder of Yes became tired of waiting for Anderson's return
and in early September 2008, it was announced that he had been replaced
by Canadian musician Benoît David, a member of Mystery and of the Yes tribute band Close to the Edge.[76] From 2008 to 2010, Yes performed the In the Present Tour,
with Asia and Peter Frampton supporting the band on certain legs. A
number of dates in 2009 were cancelled when Squire required emergency
leg surgery plus recovery time.[77]
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