About to enter OYE - and I may not come out alive ...

[Q]

My fellow fans

I have made it a point to be relentlessly positive about the contributions of all Yes members, and to continually praise the good points of all Yes music from every era.

However, it's awfully hard to venture deeply into OYE - the light burns dimly, there are few handholds.

I am mounting an expedition deep into OYE, determined to dig out some Yes and bring it back. I do this in the service of all my fellow fans, though I face great peril.

Neverthirst! feed me some rope! Riff, be ready to send the dogs in to find me! Jack, start a prayer chain! Earl, get a barbecue going at the album's entrance, and invite everyone!

Tune in your CBs, I'll send out reports of what I find ...

Here I go ... remember me ...

Love to all,
Q

[Jackaranda]

It's gonna take a miracle--I've NEVER made it through that whole album once. Good luck!!! Jack..

[Plastic Man]

same thing with talk...the only thing i like on there is 'silent spring.'

[Dragonfly]

I'm happy to be here as tour guide, shining light into the corners of good music (to these ears.) I'll jump around and I'm not going to cover all the tunes, but I hope this helps.

I'm a big fan of this release. (Other faves are THE YES ALBUM, RELAYER, TORMATO and MAGNIFICATION - does that mean anything?) I will admit, however, that it took a great deal of time before I "allowed" myself to start liking it. I'm genuinely surprised at how far into it I've come.

The opening track, "New State of Mind", while very heavy for a Yes tune, is one of my favorite YesTunes of the later half of the band's existence. The main reason is the vocal harmonies. I'm a sucker for tight, complex, vocal harmonies and this one's got it in spades! Credit Mr. Sherwood for that one. He did a great deal of vocal arranging for the band during his tenure.

I find "Universal Garden" to be veryYes - very Jon, to be more specific.

"From the Balcony" is probably the easiest to get into. It's just Jon and Steve - acoustic. It was my first favorite (when I hated the rest of the album) and now is well down the list on fave tracks. It's O.K., but the others are more fun!

"Man in the Moon" took a long time to like. Even now, the song's just O.K. My favorite part -showing genuine humor on Jon's part - is toward the end. Jon breaks into his best Sinatra (not vocal style-wise, just lyrically) with "It's that old devil moon!" twice. He does it very nicely.

"The Solution" is possibly the most "prog" tune on the album as the rhythm moves around a bit.. It's a sure-fire hit for any Beatles fan with it's "1,2,3,4,5,6,7. All good children....."

For Generators that like "It's Almost Like Love", you'll enjoy "Love Shine". It's straight-forward pop.

I could go on, tune, by tune, but you need to give it your own time to sink in. No Yes album is easy to like on first listen (usually). Know what you're getting into here: Hard Rock in some places, Pop in others.

Good luck!

Dragonfly :yesbird:

[Q]

nightliner ... nightliner, are you getting this? hope somebody's listening ...

I'm just past the entrance of the album ... it's black ... but there's an orange glow ...

i feel a strong wind, a kind of on-rushing - WHOA! knocked me down there! Huge sound, heavy groove with staggered chromatic accents ... funny, it's common time (4/4) but it doesn't sound like common time! That's definitely a Yes marker!

According to Dragonfly's map, this is "New State of Mind" - harmonies bouncing off all the walls in here! sounds glorious! very Jon, very Chris ...

Greek chorus thing happening - harmony voices singing different lyrics than Jon ... again, very Yes ... I remind myself to Hold On as I keep moving in ...

thready bass line creeping from low to high almost like a circus ride - no other bassist would do this - oh, that is a very Yes thing to do ... and the rhythm of the song in general, well, this tune completely rocks, but it's not a typical rock beat at all ... again, very Yes ...

little sparkles on the walls ... oriental sparkles ... kind of like "It Can Happen" ... I'm sniffing the air and there's a kind of Big Generator scent, but I also hear some faraway echoes ... ' feel the calling of a miracle ' ... yeah, "New State of Mind" has left imprints all over the place, and they definitely resemble the ones recovered by the Rabin Expedition ...

Dragonfly's map proves accurate ... this is a Yes finding for sure ... and it rocks!

moving in deeper ... Q out ...

[Dragonfly]

It's sounds like you're off to a good start. Personally, there isn't a single Yes album on which I really like every song - with one exception: RELAYER. I'd be curious to learn which ones stick and which ones you never really develop an appreciation for.

With OPEN YOUR EYES, the only track I really don't care for is "Somehow Someday". The trick to this song is that it's in 3/4 but Alan drums it in 4/4. It's a nice idea but just doesn't work for me. I find it distracting. If I'm not mistaken, this song - either in part or in its entirety - is taken from Jon's solo album SONG OF SEVEN (which I don't own and, therefore, can't confirm.) I'd be curious to hear that version. Anyone have more on this?

Dragonfly :yesbird:

"Starlight flowering endlessly through the universal garden, garden above"

[Jallan]

well I enjoy all yesmusic, some more than others.
I like Wonderlove the best on OYE.

Go ahead play it 3 times all the way through, drink a good glass of red wine. youll be fine. I actually have OYE in my CD at work right now and Keys 2 in automobile CD.

see you on the other side

[Earl Grey]

Yet... and yet...

When I 'got back into YES' this was the "NEW RELEASE!"

I was busily re-buying the classic albums on CD: It had been THAT long! I didn't have anything but the vinyl stuff, and no turntable... I had a copy of RELAYER on cassette that ocassionally graced the car-stereo: I never completely lost the flame, but it was close! The 80's left a nasty taste on this traveller's tongue.

My best Bud bought YES tickets for our mutual friend (A very Roger Dean inspired artist) Beverly, and for lil' ol' me for the 1997 show... I was so jazzed to hear that Steve Howe was back with the band that I dropped everything and became obsessed again after too many moons (I am the man in the moon).

I really wanted to like OYE, so I played it over and over... I love the title cut: Open Your Eyes: they actually played it quite a bit on LA radio at the time. It rocked live.

I LOVE 'From A Balcony'. I was always a sucker for an acoustic song...(sounds a bit like 'Leaves Of Green' huh Pat?) Better than 'Yesterday' in my ears. Less 'sappy' than Macca's Mecca, and better than Beatles. Only YES could pull a compliment out of me like that!

Nine Voices. Hints of 'Your Move' in that one, and a lovely song...

I actually don't mind 'Man in the Moon'. I'm probably all alone here, but it was kinda 'Steve-ish' which I like.

OYE was a stretch, but at the time it was 'New YES' which meant that 'No, they haven't called it quits... and Steve is on guitar as god intended...'
(Hey look, I might become a 'moderator' here soon, and if so I don't get to express YES-member preference as vocally as the rest of you guys so let me say it one last time here:
STEVE HOWE is the VERY VERY BEST GUITARIST to EVER grace YES... anything else, 'Peters' or 'Trevors' or 'a clove of garlic by any other name', is methadone in YESDOM. ...IMHO and my last 'pinheaded' post on this issue ever on this site. Ok. I feel good now! Bring it on! Hehe!;)).

...My copy of OYE burnt up in a house-fire two years ago: ...guess I should re-buy the thing for new old time's sake!

Not the greatest YES album for sure, but some sweet dreams gathered about the OYE times for me! And thank you Quantum for your renegade spirit. You are a good soul.

Earl :yesbird:

[BrianD]

With OPEN YOUR EYES, the only track I really don't care for is "Somehow Someday". The trick to this song is that it's in 3/4 but Alan drums it in 4/4. It's a nice idea but just doesn't work for me. I find it distracting. If I'm not mistaken, this song - either in part or in its entirety - is taken from Jon's solo album SONG OF SEVEN (which I don't own and, therefore, can't confirm.) I'd be curious to hear that version. Anyone have more on this?

Dragonfly :yesbird:

"Starlight flowering endlessly through the universal garden, garden above" [/B][/QUOTe

The basic melody and some of the lyrics of Somehow Someday is actually featured on two of Jon's solo albums with different titles. It first appeared on Animation as the song Boundaries - this is the best version. It then appeared on The Promise Ring as O'er - it is not too bad here as well. But the Somehow Someday version is terrible.

To me, this track epitomised the lack of good ideas that permeates throughout OYE

[Earl Grey]

Originally posted by illusion


Hell, I know its bad, but isn't that action a bit drastic? And Nine Voices is from The Ladder.

Thats right! Oops! After the fire (I know it was an extreme way of getting rid of a so so YES album: actually OYE may have spontaneously combusted! that's it!) I gave away my new copy of The Ladder to a YESHEAD friend of mine who helped me sift through the wreckage... So I listen to my favorite Ladder songs on the HOB CD... where I think they played the songs better anyway. I was at the LA HOB show: what a great show!

I was thinking: Trevor may have been a better suited player for the OYE album than Steve-o. Short songs, more 'pop' sounding...
See? I'm not a total pinhead! Haha!

Earlie :ele:

[mrgone3]

You need help down there Quantum?Maybe I'll throw down a LADDER##### ha ha ha ha! JOE

[Dragonfly]

Originally posted by Earl Grey I was thinking: Trevor may have been a better suited player for the OYE album than Steve-o. Short songs, more 'pop' sounding.

Wow! That would be great! If there were ever any way to hear what that would have sounded like I'd love it! We'd not get "From the Balcony", O.K. But just picture "New State of Mind" with Trevor. That would rock!

Dragonfly :yesbird:

[Earl Grey]

...and we'll never know: unless of course YES does a re-Union tour someday and plays New State Of Mind.
But my guess is that they'll not revisit OYE in any form...
But Trevor probably would've sounded better on OYE than Steve-o.

And that's coming from a total Howe-snob here!

Earlie Burly

[Q]

"Rabin on 'New State of Mind'" ... noted for future expeditions ...

the next chamber is coming up ... "Open Your Eyes" ... STRONG oriental markings, I find myself humming the intro of "It Can Happen ..." - straight-up hook followed by differing, interspersed rhythms on the verse. VERY un-pop, VERY Yes, and yet there is a certain accessibility to it ... I sense a Billyism there and make a note.

I've come to a bridge, and its shape is unusual ... it's made of open-chord harmonies with 7ths thrown in ... now that is VERY VERY Yes - however, the lyrics seem somewhat underdeveloped ...

moving on into the chorus ... there's a bass line up above! interesting ... the footing in here is secure, but this chamber is, in general, kind of featureless ...

moving on now. This chamber has some strong markings - clear evidence of Yes - but some empty passageways, as well ...

going deeper now
Q

[PeterCologne]

Originally posted by Quantum
However, it's awfully hard to venture deeply into OYE - the light burns dimly, there are few handholds.

I am mounting an expedition deep into OYE, determined to dig out some Yes and bring it back. I do this in the service of all my fellow fans, though I face great peril.Q

...I'm down here. And it is quite nice. There are lots of hidden caves. And earworms, created with much fantasy, are crawling all arround me. And a lot of exotic musical-creatures are swinging too. Some of them bite, but it feels good.
I'm happy, that you are here for a while. Because I feel so alone, when I'm in OYE-world. But when I first came here, I got a New State of Mind.

Greetings from deep down
Peter

[Q]

I'm on a quest to find every point of interest, and I don't want to miss a thing - as you can see, we have a number of maps and guidebooks above pointing out lots of stuff worth seeing - and I hope you'll show me some of the stuff you've found

There's bound to be some treasure here!

Q

[Alysoun]

YOu know what the key to making it though OYE is:

Listen to Squire/Sherwood Conspiracy and Sherwood's World Trade first.
OYE is quit the combination of those albums.

I very rarely listen to OYE but I listen a fair amount to Conspriacy and Euphoria.

Allison

[Earl Grey]

Originally posted by illusion
With OYE I get very bored of the tracks halfway thru. And I find there to be no decent keys in it either.

Strange that, as YES could have hired any keyboardist for this album: that in between place. And the keys were a bit lackluster on the CD.

Imagine OYE with Wakey on keys and Rabin on guitar: would have been more suited to the songs I think...

Earl Grey:yesbird:

[Q]

That's an interesting idea, Earl - though I suspect that if Rick had been on keys and Trevor on guitar, they'd both have insisted on a lot of modification in the arrangements of the songs ...

Q

[PeterCologne]

Originally posted by Quantum
There's bound to be some treasure here!Q

...I'm here, yeah, right here, in one of my favourite caves of OYE-world. It is as rich of fruits, as a Universal Garden should be. And every fruit has a different colour. Those beautiful notes on the acoustic-guitar sound gentle and as if they promising to fullfill your desires. If you enter, you are enchanted by all sorts of sounds, mostly on the keyboards, some are dancing in different kinds of rhythms, some cling to you elegantly, all around and into you. Some are frisky, some are sad. In the middle of it all, you discover a wizzard, who, with his guitar, plays all the moods, human beeings can have in one run. Cause it's the Universal garden. This playing around reminds me on the different moods in CTTE, the track.

Before I visited the cave, where the Man On the Moon lives. It has all the fantasy of a good tale for children. And the music is the same, complexity comes out easy at the end - but remains always entertaining. This heavy guitar in dialogue with the ornaments of Steve Howes playing just thrills me. and those faked strings are perfect to symbolize space. And bass, drums and percussion (!) appear to me like the hectical life down on earth. By, the way, here I find Yes playing their very own version of something like Motown-music. And Yes playing with genres is always very interesting, like with Funk on Sound Chaser.

The same with those place, where they sell fortune. Again very black, like a gospel sometimes, jazzy in other moments. And the mix as well as the vocals is really edgy, High Tech with feeling. They reallly challenge Steely Dan with some of the songs.

If you go to the second Cage, you really have to Open Your Eyes. When you're in, you suddenly are picked up by a whirlwind and carried away. You seem to fly high and fast. Mostly by the clever rhythms and those sitars and guitars as well as the sometimes Call-and-Response-like vovals by Jon and Chris. Never has AOR sounded so artful, or the other way round.

Another favourite cave for me is the one, where I always wondering, if here maybe rock-music and even funk was invented. I know, it is not like that, but I feel like, it's as fresh as the first cling on electric guitar ages ago. Some kind of Urknall. And I agree with you, Trevor Rabins spirit is all around in this cave - as in some others too.

For along time, I didn't like to visit, where they promise Wonderlove. But it is worth, I think now. It was the most difficult cave to discover. Very unsual harmonies, rhythms and melodies for a Yes-experience are here to find. Sometimes I'm reminded on the krautrock-weirdness, with hypnotic eletronics, sometimes it is like a - relate to Bill Martins phrase - cyber-folk-song.

In the last cave, I always seek and find Steve Howe. As he does not like much of the rest - but plays great on it - he found here his Solution for a refuge. This one would fit on one of his solo-albums (maybe I'm totally wrong). And it's very exciting, with those typical Howe-like combination of a little Jazz and somewehre in the middle-ages-born sounds, notes and arrangements. And it all rocks.

There are two more caves, that are a pleasure to visit sometimes. A little relaxed rest on a Balcony and an always energetic and nicely positve - and tricky too - gospel-pop-shot. You never lose with that.

The remaining two rooms I visit not so often. They could have been an adventure too. But they are just not finished - built up too rushed, Somehow at Someday (could have been an epic like AYAI with more care), the same for this Loveshine. It lacks some more music. And the fade out in both cases is so unmotivated.

Time to climb up again. But I will come back - and it would be nice to meet you there again, Quantum, and at least some more of you other Yes-Fans.

Greetings Peter

[Earl Grey]

Something for every mood in YESDOM.

I must go out and re-buy OYE again: you've all re-peaked my interest in this strange album that gathers more derision than any other YES album... More derision: yet all these garlands of flowers thrown at it's feet!

No such thing as a YES album of no consenquence: even the stuff they do in their sleep is interesting... The only band to actually sleep with their eyes open! Haha!

YES is the BEST!
Earl Whatsit ;)

[nightliner]

OYE, as mentioned previously, is more of a Conspiracy album than a Yes album. The title track and No Way we Can Lose were actually done by the Chris Squire Experiment and/or World Trade before Yes did them.

As for the World Trade cd's, both sound a lot like OYE, but I prefer the first one.

Q, you still alive and kicking in there?

[PeterCologne]

Originally posted by Earl Grey
No such thing as a YES album of no consenquence: even the stuff they do in their sleep is interesting... The only band to actually sleep with their eyes open! Haha!YES is the BEST!
Earl Whatsit ;)

... and I agree too very much: OYE to me too belongs not to the perfect Yes-albums, but what an great album it is. Don't know any other group or musician whose maybe twelfth best or so album is so exciting - and, yeah, consequent. It offers really something new again.

Greetings
Peter