Open Your Eyes reviews

[Mr. Holland]

Lets act "Journalists". Put your review of this album in here......

[RABARKS]

It's a schizophrenic album. It contains some of their best work (NSOM, OYE, UG, FS, TS) and some of their worst: From the Balcony was a horribly failed Jon/Steve collaboration. Squire's (vocal debut on) Man In The Moon was a bad joke. And Someday Somehow was Jon's sentimental Boundaries (one of the songs I would skip on Animation) recycled, self plagiary of the worst kind.

Newcomers Billy and Igor made very positive contributions. Billy's keyboards and rhythmguitar were good, but his singing was excellent. Igor showed he could do anything Rick could and throw in a little Patrick and Tony as well!

The new age bonus track was a big mistake. They should have taken those vocal outtakes and put them on/in the songs where they came from. (That's what I did when making my own, trimmed, alternative OYE)
:headset:

[Jackaranda]

A weak attempt to duplicate 90125. But it's not THAT bad.

[Vic Anderson]

man if you dont' like from the balcony you don't get jon
and so you can't fully understand yesmusic

[Sonoacustico]

I believe this album contains the worst everYes compositions (Love Shine being #1 in that cathegory) and some very very good songs: NewState of Mind, Universal Garden, Fortune Seller and The Solution. As far as i know, this was supposed to be a Squire/Sherwood album,that turned out to be a Yes one. Maybe with some more input from Steve and we would have got better results.

Greetings

Claudio

[RABARKS]

man if you dont' like from the balcony you don't get jon
and so you can't fully understand yesmusic

1. Not everything Jon does is good.
2. Jon does not equal yes, even if he's the #1 person in the group. :headset:

[mindgame]

There is very little to get excited about on this album when compared to the quality we judge Yes by. Avereage by average band standards, disappointingly bad by Yes standards.

[YES indeed-ily]

when I think of OYE, the word "polarized" comes to mind.

Having said that, Igor's solo in "Fortune Seller" is one of my fave Yes keyboard solos, brief as it is...now I will run away & hide....

[Hugh Shiebler]

I believe this album contains the worst everYes compositions (Love Shine being #1 in that cathegory) and some very very good songs: NewState of Mind, Universal Garden, Fortune Seller and The Solution. As far as i know, this was supposed to be a Squire/Sherwood album,that turned out to be a Yes one. Maybe with some more input from Steve and we would have got better results.

Greetings

Claudio

Oh. "Love Shine" isn't that bad at all. Actually, my ears usually perk up a bit at that point in the album...

[DPinAccy]

Very average in Yes terms. Sounds like a Chris Squire solo album played by Yes with some additions. Too hurried.

[Dr.Bass]

Sounds like a Chris Squire solo album played by Yes with some additions
That's because it was, more or less, the beginings of Squire/Sherwood's Conspiracy.

Yes albums have certain flavours, OYE is just an unfamiliar one, not a bad one.

[HaroldLand]

It should be said "Open Your Eyes" is the worst piece of music ever released by Yes. The songs do not have a group-feel to their composition and many of the songs are some of the worst to ever be released by anyone in the history of the music business. That being said they are a few tracks that standout as exceptions. But getting to them is like wading through a cess pool to get to a garden lily. It's hardly worth the effort though. "Open Your Eyes" is a black mark on the band and should never have been released.

[new_sum_do_solve_ay]

Newcomers Billy and Igor made very positive contributions. Billy's keyboards and rhythmguitar were good, but his singing was excellent. Igor showed he could do anything Rick could and throw in a little Patrick and Tony as well!


I only like two songs on this album: NSOM and Fortune Seller. What do you know!? Igor appears on both of these! Igor is someone I will continue to watch even though he has left the band. Not only does the music work here but the lyrics work and are thematically right on the mark for Yes in my book.

The rest can take a dive in a deep river. Sounds like they were trying to keep writing Trevor-style pop without Trevor. It did not sound like the real Yes to me. From a balcony had they lyrics but not the music...

[YesJen357]

Gee, having read some of the opinions above;

I feel like apologising to myself for enjoying this album!
Unlike some, I'd hate to have 25 albums that all sounded like CTTE. (not that there's anything wrong with CTTE)
Though I must admit, I did need to work a bit harder than usual to get into OYE. The tour of the album was a great one, despite what anyone cares to say. eg. Igor playing RSOG etc.. was a superb experience.

Even

[Ron Drummond]

A lot of people have made extremely disparaging remarks about the secret track on Open Your Eyes (not to mention the album as a whole). They say you're not missing anything if you don't have it. I think it's worth having for itself. It can definitely put you into a drifty, meditative head space.

Here's my take on it, and I haven't seen anyone else point this out: you know how "Close to the Edge" begins and ends with the sounds of wind and birdsong and flowing water, and the music rises out of that sound and then, 20 minutes later, subsides back into it?

Well, essentially Billy Sherwood's conception is that he's giving us 20 minutes of just that background, just the night-time forest sounds -- wind, birds, underbrush rattling, flowing water, along with occasional chimes and other distant outdoorsy sounds -- and then, every once in a while, every minute or couple of minutes, an a capella vocal from one of the songs on OYE will sound out in the darkness, usually just one line or two lines and without instruments, just the voices, and then it subsides and we hear just the forest night sounds and then another vocal line will rise and fall away, and then another, etc. -- for 20 minutes.

I don't think he quotes from every song, but he does quote from most of them.

But the whole thing is set in the forest after the magnificent adventure that is "Close to the Edge" has gone by, has passed into the far distance and faded from our ears, and we're left alone, still crouched in the forest, listening, surrounded by the vastness of the arboreal world, and every once in a while we are visited by the brief ghosts of Yes songs written 25 years later.

It's a reverie, a respectful meditation on the places left behind, a suggestion that the worlds Yes create in their music are still there after the music falls silent.

I think that is a profoundly hopeful message.

Ron

[Yesgalaxy]

For myself, there is not any other Yes album that grew on me like this one, it took awhile but after some time it started to grow on me, and I really enjoyed it. I almost always listen to new albums on random, not from beginning to end, works for me.

[gitsy]

I think it has some great work such as the title track along with an all time low 'Man in the moon'.
I don't Believe it deserves better than the beating it's getting on this thread.

[creamy]

I think it has some great work such as the title track along with an all time low 'Man in the moon'.
I don't Believe it deserves better than the beating it's getting on this thread.



I remember when Tormato came out around 1979 and i hated it and then i picked it up 20 years later around 1999 and i said wow what a good album. OYI was even worse. Horrible! So i put it aside and i will pick it up when i am an old man and give it another try. Or i will have it played at my cremation party if i dont make it to be an old man.Funerals are miserable so OYI will be perfect for my funeral.

[soundchaser77]

Gee, having read some of the opinions above;

I feel like apologising to myself for enjoying this album!
Unlike some, I'd hate to have 25 albums that all sounded like CTTE. (not that there's anything wrong with CTTE)
Though I must admit, I did need to work a bit harder than usual to get into OYE. The tour of the album was a great one, despite what anyone cares to say. eg. Igor playing RSOG etc.. was a superb experience.

Even
As I as well enjoyed this cd as well, and from a vocalest veiwpoint was very good to me, ofcause not yes best but i enjoyed it very much! :theband:

[Ronboy]

As much as it hurts to say anything negative about YES, OYE is so uninspiring, disappointing and songwise very weak. Steve Howe cannot stand the album (says it all) and as I have said before I have tried and tried with this album but whenever I think give it another listen I end up replacing it with another YES cd. Only my opinion but the more slated albums i.e. Union and ABWH are masterpieces by comparison. I love both albums and funnily enough I did not use to like Union but believe me this does grow on you. Try it and see.

Ronboy

[relayeire]

this didn't begin as a Yes album, I believe... it was a Squire-Sherwood collaboration... note the extra tracks on their first Conspiracy album... this wasn't a Yes project and it shows... the cover for the album is very appropriate - it's as bland and characterless as the music... basically very weak... the title track is ok (this was the name of an Asia track Howe played on, too, remember?) and a few others are listenable... Man on the Moon is one of the worst "Yes" tunes ever... and another tune, the name of which I can't remember, is Jon's third rewrite of Boundaries from his Animation album... all the songs seem designed specifically for radio play, though I don't think they got much...

besides the music and the design, this album suffers from another problem - the lineup... this was the first time (though not the last) that a Yes album didn't have a distinct keyboard presence... Trevor played most of the keys during HIS tenure, which, while not giving the albums a "dedicated" keysman, did give them a consistent sound, with the keys having some prominence... you barely notice the keys on OYE, and when you do there's nothing special about them... though Magnification was great even with minimal keys, Yes is best in a five-man, vocal-guitar-bass-keys-drums format...

Billy's lasting contribution to Yes music, in my opinion, was not his average writing or his (unnecessary) rhythm guitar, but his vocal harmonies...

[yarstruly]

Oh...C'mon...It's not THAT bad.....just DIFFERENT! Maybe they should have called it OPEN YOUR EARS (to something NEW & different).....Are there a few weak tracks? Sure.....Is it Yes' best.....no...but saying things like "This is some of the worst music in the history of recorded music," just goes WAY too far IMHO. I haven't heard Animation, so I still like "Somehow, Someday." (I do have the other version, "O'er" from the Promise Ring). I tend to crank the crap out of NSOM & OYE...I actually LIKE "Man on the Moon"...It kinda has a SWIRLING effect with the vocal harmonies...."Fortune Seller" & "The Solution" are standouts as well...and howabout those great harmonies on "Universal Garden"...."From the Balcony" is much better than, say, "Clear Days," or "Soft as a Dove," as far as acoustic, introspective ballads go from Yes. I think the weakest track is "Love Shine," but I'd take it over "Holding On," or "Dangerous" from Union, for example....I think it gets the bad rap it gets from many fans for not being an album of Epics, but who ever said that that's all Yes were allowed to do...Open Your Mind & Open Your Ears to Open Your Eyes!

[YesJen357]

"Open Your Ears"
Yes, I like that. Well said.

[Ronboy]

Well last Friday I thought one more try but same result.

My lovely lady said "Who is this, I've not heard it before!" and she loves YES. She too tried to listen but found most tracks boring, dull and dronelike. Considering I have owned the cd since just after release and have played it very few times, it says it all. Honestly, I have tried and tried to find some good quality on the album but only find a couple of tracks OK. Thankfully I have everything else by YES so I am not starved of their great music.

Ronboy

[Dr.Bass]

I can't believe the amount of hate mail this album gets. I guess its a Trooper vs Generator thing, or perhaps I'm part of a new third group- the Conspirators!

Not all albums can sound like classic 70's Yes, nor should they.
The multi layered sounds, guitars and vocals on this album justify its existence.

It might have been better without Steve and From the Balcony- then it might not have seemed like a 'Yes are trying to find themselves again' album.

I love this album, and along with Conspiracy and the Unknown it's part of a unique trilogy.

I'm a Conspirator-

You ain't seen me, right?

[gitsy]

I ain't seen who?

[Joe]

I really dig this album!

It's so different. I love all the off beats and
the confussion of it. Really cool stuff!

[neilius]

Not one of my favorite yes albums, but it has its moments.
I nearly died of fright the first time I heard the ambient Bird/seashore noises on the secret track on the end; about a minute of this in and all of a sudden- WAITING FOR THE MOMENT WHEN THE MOMENT HAS BEEN WAITING ALL THE TIME!

[yarstruly]

Not one of my favorite yes albums, but it has its moments.
I nearly died of fright the first time I heard the ambient Bird/seashore noises on the secret track on the end; about a minute of this in and all of a sudden- WAITING FOR THE MOMENT WHEN THE MOMENT HAS BEEN WAITING ALL THE TIME!

That's funny! I think it made me jump too!

[Steve St Thomas]

I'm listening to it now as I type. Amazing init.

Hmmm. I haven't listened to this album in years, honestly, and I think since that time, I have to put its Conspiracy leanings in perspective with it. I don't know whether to review it as a Conspiracy album under the Yes name, or Conspirayes. I'd honestly rather review it as a Conspiracy album that has Steve Howe as lead guitarist. Does he play anything else on this album other than solos? I mean I see Steel, Mandolin, and Banjo listed there, but apart from Acoustic parts, I just hear Sherwood handling the rhythm guitar parts and Howe just solos over that.

I'm trying to listen to it with an open mind and ears, which is very hard to do. I've found with post-1994 Yes, I end up placing Rabin in that mix and missing him being there even though he's not there. Weird I know. But its the first thing I hear, are the things its not. Which is probably what ''Troopers'' hear when they hear Westie recordings. Go figure. But at the same time, I can listen to these albums without cursing, spitting and grimacing at everything thats contained with it.

I've just listened to Man In The Moon, Wonderlove and From The Balcony. Love Shine is playing now. Love Shine would be a much better Conspiracy song. It needs balls. It needs Rabin. Its just kind of weightless, though it has all the markings of a song that should be as catchy as hell. It seems like they were too ''scared'' to go full tilt with it, because its 'Yes'. I don't know. It sounds like it has potential, but I sense resistance to that idea from the players.

Listening to The Solution, I totally hear Sherwood/Squire, until you get to that little DRAMA-era section at the 00.56 mark.

[Steve St Thomas]

Whether its Yes or Conspiracy, what doesn't get in the way is that New State Of Mind and Open Your Eyes are good to great songs. I've always liked these 2 songs, even without Rabin being there. Of course I hear him being there and once again giving the songs some nuts. ;) I'm wondering what it is with Billy and his fascination with India/Sitars, because he tends to lump it in with ''something Eastern'' even though Arabia / India / China are all as far apart in idealogy and culture as can be. I guess its what bothered me about The Unknown on its musical level. If the song is indeed about repercussions directed at 9/11 and ''Al Quaeda'' involvement, then why use Sitars playing Arabic styled music. It's the wrong context, unless you're blaming the whole ''Eastern World'' community for something. I may have the actual subject matter of the song incorrect. It definitely has the tone of . . . . . . . post-9/11. So Open Your Eyes and New State Of Mind get filled with Sitars and ''Eastern'' in the broad sense of the term, and I can't help but feel its supposed to accent some sort of ''Spiritual Context'' to these songs just because there's something Eastern about it. It's not just these 2 songs either. It shows up on Universal Garden as well.

I mean, its not a bad album really. Ifyou remove the Yes context, or the connotations as to what that should be, its really not a bad album. I think thats what prevents me from listening to it for what it actually does have. I'm going in there with the preconception that Rabin's gone, and there's a guy back in there that seems so Anti-Rabin that he's there to prove a point. Which if there is, I don't need that in a song. I'd rather the song just be what it is in the end. But as said, its very hard to remove ''barriers'' to this album (and others) based on who's not there, what it not is, what it could be, what it should be, why its there, what situation created it, etcetera etcetera etcetera (to quote Yul Brynner).

So Saving My Heart was not Yes? What's No Way We Can Lose? No Way We Can Rewrite Saving My Heart Without Completely Sounding Like It. Which is what bothers me a little bit about post-1994 Yes and ABWH. They seem perfectly willing to tread in Rabin territory, as long as he's not there, but totally willing to support the 'dismissal' of that territory altogether when it comes down to dictating what 'Yes' is supposed to be 'about'. No Way We Can Lose is Saving My Heart in other guise. I don't see why the ABWH / Union / Keys situations ever needed to be, if they're totally willing to go the Rabin route, but refuse to take the flack when its Rabin's doing it. It's like ok, he's not here now, so we're going to do this without getting burned as much by reaction, because we've got 'this' factor (Howe, Anderson, or Wakeman) on our side now, so we won't take as much ----. The problem with Shock To The System being exactly like City Of Love. The problem with No Way We Can Lose being Saving My Heart.

[Steve St Thomas]

That's a cool little Organ solo from Khoroshev on Fortune Seller though! He's ''funkier'' than Wakeman. I like.

[Awaken1976]

man if you dont' like from the balcony you don't get jon
and so you can't fully understand yesmusic

Jon is so hard to get. I'm not talking bad about him but, he is a flake and fairy if I ever did see one. Great vocalist and lyricist though.

[Hugh Shiebler]

That's odd that Steve "can't stand" OYE, given that his playing is all over it. Sure, his playing on OYE has a kind of "shoe-horned" quality to it. But there are also songs such as "Universal Garden" that contain some very fine Steve playing.

I can't think of any other band whose own members so regularly and predictably trash their own work. In fact, this is such an essential feature of Yes, that I am sometimes tempted to think that it is in the nature of self-parody.

[mrkelp]

I'm listening to it now as I type. Amazing init.

Hmmm. I haven't listened to this album in years, honestly, and I think since that time, I have to put its Conspiracy leanings in perspective with it. I don't know whether to review it as a Conspiracy album under the Yes name, or Conspirayes. I'd honestly rather review it as a Conspiracy album that has Steve Howe as lead guitarist. Does he play anything else on this album other than solos? I mean I see Steel, Mandolin, and Banjo listed there, but apart from Acoustic parts, I just hear Sherwood handling the rhythm guitar parts and Howe just solos over that.

I'm trying to listen to it with an open mind and ears, which is very hard to do. I've found with post-1994 Yes, I end up placing Rabin in that mix and missing him being there even though he's not there. Weird I know. But its the first thing I hear, are the things its not. Which is probably what ''Troopers'' hear when they hear Westie recordings. Go figure. But at the same time, I can listen to these albums without cursing, spitting and grimacing at everything thats contained with it.

I've just listened to Man In The Moon, Wonderlove and From The Balcony. Love Shine is playing now. Love Shine would be a much better Conspiracy song. It needs balls. It needs Rabin. Its just kind of weightless, though it has all the markings of a song that should be as catchy as hell. It seems like they were too ''scared'' to go full tilt with it, because its 'Yes'. I don't know. It sounds like it has potential, but I sense resistance to that idea from the players.

Listening to The Solution, I totally hear Sherwood/Squire, until you get to that little DRAMA-era section at the 00.56 mark.
You hit the nail on the head (wut?) with the Rabin comment, it seems every time I have a hard time getting into the "new" Yes stuff, it's because the newer sound would be perfect with Rabin. Like the track on the Yessyears box with Rabin, produced by Sherwood. Man, if they had kept that lineup intact, that would've been a good album, or CD.
Even though I proffess to be a Yes fanatic, and listen to them constantly, and have grown up with them, I haven't heard a note off Open Your Eyes, it came out at a time in my life where alot of stuff was going on, and I didn't get worked up about it enough. But from reading all the opinions here, I gotta get it! Only problem is, I can't seem to find it, I hope it's not out of print.

[Awaken1976]

You hit the nail on the head (wut?) with the Rabin comment, it seems every time I have a hard time getting into the "new" Yes stuff, it's because the newer sound would be perfect with Rabin. Like the track on the Yessyears box with Rabin, produced by Sherwood. Man, if they had kept that lineup intact, that would've been a good album, or CD.
Even though I proffess to be a Yes fanatic, and listen to them constantly, and have grown up with them, I haven't heard a note off Open Your Eyes, it came out at a time in my life where alot of stuff was going on, and I didn't get worked up about it enough. But from reading all the opinions here, I gotta get it! Only problem is, I can't seem to find it, I hope it's not out of print.

Check Ebay or Amazon.com for it.

[luckeydoug1]

After reading the responses here, I am begining to see why I like this album so much. Yes, indeed, it does remind me a lot of the YesWest music. I just finished selecting the music for my second compilation CD (my first is all YesWest, btw) - my set of the next best 80 minutes of Yes music so to say. I was very surprised when I noticed that 6 of the songs I selected came from this album: Open Your Eyes, Man In the Moon, No Way We Can Lose, Love Shine, New State of Mind and The Solution. Not bad, since many here consider this to be one of the worst Yes albums ever. 5 more come from The Ladder. My bottom line is I guess I prefer Yes music, for the most part, that either contains contributions from Trevor or are heavily influenced by his style (sounds like they could have been written/performed by YesWest.)

[Guy]

One more vote for this being one of the worst YES albums. I agree with all the negatives said above. But, no it is not just that there are no epics; no, it is not just that there aren't any keyboards; no, it is not just that it doesn't sound like classic Yes. Come on. We are not that shallow. I just don't like it. To each his own. If you like it, fine.

Guy

[Joedude]

I had the lights out and the headphones on when I first listed to this CD, and I thought the beginning was great. There were a number of tunes I liked, and the harmonies were outstanding. And the ambeint track was interesting.

Having said this, I don't think it was a strong effort, but it still has some redeeming value.

[Yesed]

If your going to make an album that really sucks, at least make the songs sound a little different. That way you can say you at least tried to make a good sounding album.
Billy Sherwood is a good tech engineer, but he must stay out of the songwriting business. Hes not totally to blame, though.
Do they even listen to this stuff before they release it. Ed

[RickyG]

If your going to make an album that really sucks, at least make the songs sound a little different. That way you can say you at least tried to make a good sounding album.
Billy Sherwood is a good tech engineer, but he must stay out of the songwriting business. Hes not totally to blame, though.
Do they even listen to this stuff before they release it. Ed

Pretty much total agreement with you Ed!!!

The only song that I ever care to listen to again from that album is "From The Balcony". Just Steve and Jon. The one song we know Billy Sherwood didn't have a hand in writing. The one song that sounds different from all the rest.

[Yesed]

Your right RickyG,
From the balcony is good because its Yes. I hate to be so harsh, it really pains me to be so. I think its a frustration that comes from a regret that since Big Generator Yes could have put out great songs, i.e. ones for lasting radio play, good pop songs that everybody could like, some that are for Yesfans only, etc.
Something bad happened after 90125, though thats a good album. I have no problem with lineup changes, just albums that are not good music for anybody. I just got (Re)Union, thinking I was getting Union (whats that all about) and it has the same problems as OYI, but I really like some of it. If an album, by any band, has at least one song I can get into and worthy of burning Im satisfied. As for Yes their still the best. Ed