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JustSayYES
11-22-2005, 05:33 PM
Hey everyone, my name is Charles and as you have probably guessed, I'm new here ha.

I'm never good with introductory posts, but here goes anyway. I never had the benefit of growing up with rock music, instead my childhood was filled with the subtle ambiance of Gansta Rap with it's repetitive beats and gloomy, agressive lyrics. As I grew up, I grew disillusioned with this music, and for quite a lengthy period of my life, I didn't listen to much music at all. I didn't much care for contemporary albums, and the radio was never a good source of groundbreaking music. I suppose it was about a year ago that it all begin to change, a chance happening which proved to be the moment of my enlightenment.

I was sitting in Art class one day in between bouts of staring into space, when I noticed that a good friend of mine had left his iPod at his desk while he stepped out of the room. I picked it up, and decided to listen to a song, any song, the result of which gave me my first dose of Progressive Rock: Pink Floyd's "Eclipse". There was something undeniably enticing about this song, and though I couldn't quite ascertain what was special about it, I found myself enthralled. From that moment on, the rest is, as they say, history. I became (and still am) an enormous Pink Floyd fan, though as one person would tell me, they were merely a stepping song. From them stemmed Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, The Eagles, The Beatles, Cream, King Crimson, and essentially anything else I could get from the era. But none of this could compare to what I most recently discovered: Yes.

I can't describe the feelings listening to so-called "Classic Yes" evokes within me, but I am certain that it resides within every Yes fan. The band is undoubtably home to the foremost musicians of their era and respective genre across the board, and their ability to make full use of this fact is nothing less than astounding. Despite their virtuosity, the band always seems to be in perfect harmony, delegating themselves to the grandiosity of the music and never becoming overly indulgent with personal agendas. Of the albums I have listened to in the last month or so of realizing the band existed (The Yes Album, Fragile, Close To The Edge, Yessongs, Tales From Topographic Oceans, and Relayer with a bit of Time and a Word), Close To The Edge, both the album and its namesake, are the personal pinnacle of my Progressive Rock experience.

Hmm... I feel like I should have tossed in something about myself amidst that little rant ha. Quckly - I'm 18, live in San Fran, aspire to be a Game Designer (video games, of course), and I'm looking to learn how to play the guitar.

Yes_Fan_4_Life26
11-22-2005, 05:36 PM
Cool story dude!

Hope you post often :D

yesiam
11-22-2005, 05:39 PM
Welcome Charles :D Enjoy the site!

Yes, art, iPod - three things I don't want to think about living without. All the best to you!

InverYes
11-22-2005, 06:03 PM
Welcome Justsay..post often, I think you'll be good at it !

wolfhound
11-22-2005, 06:06 PM
Welcome ! That's a fantastic post !

Dances w/PURPLE
11-22-2005, 06:27 PM
Welcome Charles!! Great story. "Eclipse" \m/ Welcome to YESFANS.

allgoodyes
11-22-2005, 06:39 PM
Excellent post, JustSayYes! Destiny brought you to the music of Yes. Enjoy the YesFans website!

Yes2Yes
11-22-2005, 07:12 PM
Nice bio Charles. Hope to see you around!

umgekehrt
11-22-2005, 07:15 PM
Welcome, this is a fun place as long as you stay away from the politics forum :lmao:

True Believer
11-22-2005, 07:16 PM
Welcome Chas! Post often!

cinderella
11-22-2005, 07:35 PM
I really enjoyed your story Charles, and I'm glad you've discovered the music of Yes. Welcome, I hope you enjoy it here.



I'm 18, live in San Fran, aspire to be a Game Designer (video games, of course), and I'm looking to learn how to play the guitar.

My son is working on a video game he's designed and is thinking about trying to market it. :D

Sheerah
11-22-2005, 07:44 PM
Wow Charles, that is an impressive story!

I often wonder how people your age and younger, and heck, even considerably older, can actually like gangsta rap. Perhaps I was stereotyping. You are obviously very intelligent, and I think you will find that there seems to be a correlation between intelligence and a penchant for progressive music. Creativity often seems to come into play as well.

Anyhow, I'm your neighbor, right up the road in Sacramento. When some good shows come around, we'll see about hooking up.

Looking forward to more of your posts!

marklovesyes
11-22-2005, 07:53 PM
Charles - dude. Your story is very familiar. I am so thrilled to hear it. Very cool. I am a bit jealous, in fact. I remember well my time of discovery of YES music in early 1983 shortly before the band re-emerged with Trevor Rabin and 90125.
I was blown away by "The YES Album", "Fragile", the "YESShows" live album, and "Relayer"!! Oh man - what an exciting time. And then all that cool Roger Dean artwork!! Magical.
And you have so much more to discover! "Going For The One", "Tormato", "Drama", "Magnification", etc., etc. And all the solo stuff. Let us know if you need any recommendations. I would start you off with:

Chris Squire: "Fish Out Of Water"
Jon Anderson: "Olias of Sunhillow", "Animation" (if you can find it on vinyl)
Steve Howe: "Beginnings"
Rick Wakeman: "Journey To The Center Of The Earth", "King Arthur..."
Patrick Moraz: "Patrick Moraz", "Out In The Sun"
Jon and Vangelis: "Short Stories"

The list goes on. So excited for you. Let's just hope you get to see the band live.

Check out this web site:

http://www.bondegezou.demon.co.uk/wnyesm.htm

-mly

Deliriumyes
11-22-2005, 09:47 PM
Welcome, Charles!

You are an extremely well-spoken individual! I thoroughly enjoyed your narrative, and I hope that you will post often. Close to the Edge is also my favorite song and album. Please be sure to give Going for the One a good listen...I believe that you will enjoy Awaken, Parallels, and Turn of the Century very much.

Cheers!
Karen

Hill St.
11-22-2005, 11:05 PM
Welcome Charles!It's always refreshing to see todays generation experience the thrill of discovering Yes.There is alot of music to enjoy and alot to enjoy here.Have fun and post often!

gitsy
11-23-2005, 04:49 AM
Nice first post I look forward to more.

soundchaser77
11-23-2005, 05:10 AM
1st off nice story about your great prog. music intro. and 2nd welcome to the site you will soon see there are yes fans of all ages here some even younger then yourself and some like us dinosaurs like myself on here, And you will soon see we are a friendly bunth of ppl on here so welcome aboard and enjoy your stay here!........

Earl Grey
11-23-2005, 05:17 AM
You are the Shyte 'JustSay'.

I loved that.

Kudos, and music as rewarding as it is complicated, happy trails!

Earl

flep
11-23-2005, 05:36 AM
Welcome Charles

I discovered yes at 13 in 1974 and have never looked back.

Enjoy the journey and visit and post here often

Phil

Flo
11-23-2005, 05:49 AM
Welcome to the site, Charles !
That's a very interesting story and an excellent introductory first post !
I would not have thought of such an evolution in musical tastes in such a short period of time.
Looking forward to reading more of your new Yes experience.

relayerjim
11-23-2005, 07:47 AM
Nice post "JustSayYes". It's great to see someone your age digging Yes. I'll look forward to reading more of your post........

relayeire
11-23-2005, 09:59 AM
when coming in through the bathroom window, did you encounter Paul McCartney or Joe Cocker?

bondegezou
11-23-2005, 05:41 PM
And you have so much more to discover! "Going For The One", "Tormato", "Drama", "Magnification", etc., etc. And all the solo stuff. Let us know if you need any recommendations. I would start you off with:

This webpage is 4 years out of date, but have a look at http://www.bondegezou.demon.co.uk/recomm/index.htm for some recommendations of solo and other non-Yes releases (based on polls of alt.music.yes and rec.music.progressive). I must update them some time...

Henry

Hed G.
11-25-2005, 10:00 AM
Welcome Charles! Good to see a convert from (c)rap to real
music at your age.

...and I'm looking to learn how to play the guitar.

Well, get yourself a decent axe, and start strummin'!
It ain't gonna play itself for you! Good luck...

JustSayYES
11-28-2005, 03:18 PM
Ha thanks for the gracious welcome to all of you. I'm sorry it took me so long to respond, but I was away from the computer over the holidays :) Anyway, yes I did see Paul when I came in through the window - in fact, he says that he considers me to be the fifth beatle. That so happens to be my favorite section of the Abbey Road medley, and one of my favorite Beatles compositions.

Also, I did ask for a guitar for Christmas (apparently I'm still getting things for Christmas, which suprises the hell out of me) so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. First Yes song I'm going to fudge my way through? Starship Trooper. I would have gone with Mood For A Day, but there's no way I want to butcher that one haha.