solo albums

[Rabin105]

I read somewhere about how the solo ablums that came out in 75 was really backlog material from the bandmembers so which sounds the most like yes (i also put in a few other solo albums that didn't come out in 75)

[Rabin105]

uhm you are also welcome to reply and say what you think of the solo albums

Nice poll Rabin105! I'm most familiar with Jon's solo recordings and find that they are wonderful and worth having. (I have a couple of disclaimers but I'm still working on those and expect that I can get more out of even them than what I have already.) Olias is the one that most sounds like Yes, than Chris' Fish out of Water--in my opinion.

If anyone would like a chance at a more thorough conversation about Jon's solo works, please visit his forum on Yesfans as I have separately listed all of his recordings--except a few in which he had only limited participation. Many of these threads have some conversation started and some have none. So we need your input.

Good going Rabin105!

[RobAdams]

I would have equally voted OLIAS and FISH if I could. The Squire album is even MORE Yeslike now that we have MAGNIFICATION to compare it with.


I wonder if anyone is going to be a wise guy and vote for RAMSHAKLED?

[Rabin105]

Id vote for Big peace and Fish because they both have a very yes quality (explain to me why billy wasn't keyboardest please somebody explain why) I was very tempted to put rick's two sides of yes or steve's not nescarly acoustic but didn't (I will do another poll similar to this one in the near future amd put those in) As far as ramshacked it is okay though it doesn't sound like yes bufords feels good to me has more of a crimson UK feeling to it than a yessy feeling.
Danny

[Jackaranda]

I have to go with Song of Seven. Much of that material would have been Yes music but Jon had just left the band at the time. I really loved that album. Of the choices listed, I'd have to go with Olias...Jack

Jack, you really think Song of Seven sounds more Yes like than Olias? Wow! I'd never heard anyone express that before.

[Jackaranda]

Originally posted by yessiree
Jack, you really think Song of Seven sounds more Yes like than Olias? Wow! I'd never heard anyone express that before.

Well I guess I'm just a bit different, you know. Olias was a bit TOO left field for me, while Song of Seven wasn't quite so much. Anyway, I liked SOS (the Jon album, not the Abba song!!) better.

How about Jon and Vangelis? There's quite a bit of Yes sounding music there, also...Jack

There is so much wonderful Jon/Vangelis music. I see them as more Jon than Vangelis and more like solo Jon than Yes. Olias is the only Jon recording that makes me think of Yes. I can appreciate all of it though--some more than others.

[Rabin105]

Some of the album is stuff from the 79 sessions so that is why it remind you of yes because in more ways than one it is Yes

[Safe]

'Olias' sounds like Yes, simply because of the unmistakeable vocals.
However, if you listen to the instrumental sections of the album, it sounds very little like Yes.
Squire's is undoubtedly the closest, and while I'm a huge fan of 'Olias', 'Fish Out of Water' has always been closer to my heart.
Not a surprise, given my Yesfans name!

I bought all five, as they were released, and find great things on all of them.
I loved PM's at the time, with all that brazilian percussion, and the, then, futuristic keyboard sounds - such a breath of fresh air, after the wall-to-wall mellotrons of the Wakeman sound - still the reason why Relayer is my fave album.

'Ramshackled' has a charm to it, but, as has been mentioned, is the least 'Yeslike'.

'Beginnings' had some great moments, but lacked consistancy, and sometimes comes over as a'look how many different kinds of string instruments I can play' advert on Howe's behalf.
It's kinda telling that I can't remember one single track off of that album, though.

Overall, it has to be the Fish.
'Hold out Your Hand' should have made it onto 'Going For the One', in place of the lamentable drivel that was 'Wondrous Stories', or the truly awful title track.
'Safe' is quite possible the most measured, dignified, and complete solo track by any of the band members.

'Story of i' shows us what were really missed when Moraz went, and how good a follow up to 'Relayer' might have sounded, if the band had just shown a little more imagination and courage......

[Martin Riley]

I've voted Olias - but it's so close with Fish Out of Water also being an outstanding album. I've only recently re-listened to Beginnings and I'm coming round to thinking it's a better album than I've given it credit for. If it had been in the list I may have voted for Rick's King Arthur...it's over the top and melodramatic in the extreme but I just love it. It may have something to do with the fact that I broke the bank to get enough money together to go see the Ice show at Wembley Arena all those years ago.

[ycantibu]

I voted for Can't Look Away because it sounds the most like [80's/90's] Yes! You didn't specify which era!

[jcostello]

It's all a matter of opinion, of course, but I don't think that "Wonderous Stories" is "lamentable drivel" or that "Going for the One" is awful. We'll have to agree to disagree.

"Fish Out of H2O" is the most Yeslike (Yesish? Yessian?) of the ones that are listed, but how about Rick's solo, cover versions of Yessongs on three albums (some of the tracks he recorded in the '90s have been rereleased on one of the newer albums; I haven't gotten the newest one that includes "Awaken" yet), or Steve Howe's revisitations of Yes history on his solo albums (especially the "Tales" restatements on the live album)? Those are Yeslike by default, although it's interesting how Rick and Steve took a different approach on the solo renditions to what they've played on the group versions. Also, Jon has recycled solo lyric and musical ideas on Yes albums, so some of those tracks can be included in the comparison, too, if not the entire albums.

Peace, Love, and Don't Forget that Moraz Has Paid Tribute to Himself on a Yes Tribute Album, Also,

John C.

[ranyart]

I voted for "Fish out of Water" it is such an excellent album I like elements of all those solos, but "Fish" is such a fundamentally sound album, i'ts got such nice orchestrations on it and Squire is such a good singer and all around producer. I wish he would come out with a sequal to it!

"All you got to do is hold out your hand"

[R'tanys]

I also had to choose between Olias and Fish. I went with Olias for the vocals and harp. If we could somehow combine these two albums into an amalgam of music, then that would be most Yeslike.

[BrianD]

Olias by a long shot.

Fish out of water - maybe in places but not as a whole.

[Rabin105]

Originally posted by Rabin105
Id vote for Big peace and Fish because they both have a very yes quality (explain to me why billy wasn't keyboardest please somebody explain why) I was very tempted to put rick's two sides of yes or steve's not nescarly acoustic but didn't (I will do another poll similar to this one in the near future amd put those in) As far as ramshacked it is okay though it doesn't sound like yes bufords feels good to me has more of a crimson UK feeling to it than a yessy feeling.
Danny
you know i just have to repost this cause i agrre with it (probably because i wrote it ;)

[Ron Drummond]

Turbulence by Steve Howe

[Rabin105]

SHerwood should havbe played keys on the oye tour

[brotherofmine]

Fish out of water - also had appearances by Bill Bruford and Patrick Moraz on the album.

[custom55]

Both Fish Out of Water and Olias are the most YES-like.

[SallyKhatru]

I#d say a mix of Fish out of water, Olias and Journey would sound the most like yes:-)

[pianozach]

Definitely FISH OUT OF WATER.

While OLIAS OF SUNHILLOW sounds a lot like Yes, it's only the superficial elements that give that impression: You have Jon's harp, rhythm guitar, vocals and lyrics, and simplistic melodies over complex instrumental and percussive patterns. Sure there's more to the album than that, but on the whole, it sounds like only an element of Yes.

Steve 's Beginnings was a bit egocentric (I am SO tired of him listing and picturing each guitar he played on each song. Oooo, he's got a lot of guitars and uses them all as much as possible. I get it. Does Rick or Patrick keep harping on how many keyboards they play on each album. No. Give it a rest Steve). Anyway, there are a few Yes elements on it - mostly Steve's guitar stylings, but that's about it. Some of Steve's later works sound a lot like Yes because pieces of them were pirated wholesale for YesWorks.

Patrick's Story of I was a keyboard/percussion Brazilian jazz/rock fest with very little Yes in it.

Alan's Ramshackled, fun though it is, is not Yes. It's Alan playing drums for a different band. Just the same as if they had put Alan's name on Plastic Ono Band instead of John Lennon's.

Rick's Journey and Six Wives has the Yes keyboard sound and style from the time that Rick played with them.

On the other hand, FISH sounds more like all eras of Yes: Much of the music would not have seemed out of place on Time and a Word, Tales, Relayer, GFTO, Drama, Talk, Magnification, OYE, or even - gulp- ABWH. Lucky Seven could have been on Fragile in place of The Fish (Actually The Fish would have fit right in on FOoW). Chris's recent solo work sounds amazingly like Yes (duh).

Here's an analogy: If Yes were a series of films (like Star Trek or Bond), then Chris would be the set designer, Jon the set decorator, and Alan (or Bill) the construction crew. They all (Jon, Chris, Steve, Trevor, and even Rick and Billy) fill in as director and/or writer from time to time. Steve would be the Diva. Trevor, during his tenure would have been Artistic Director, leading man, and "Cinema"tographer (hee hee hee :rolleyes: )

[umgekehrt]

I#d say a mix of Fish out of water, Olias and Journey would sound the most like yes:-)
When I first read this I thought Sally meant the band Journey hehehe. Turned out she was talking about Rick's album "Journey To The Center Of The Earth"

[tecladista]

From The Choices Given, Fish Out Of Water Is Closest. I Would Say That Criminal Record Is A Great Pseudo-yes Album