Orbert
07-31-2006, 01:20 PM
I finally listened to Open Your Eyes, which I'd downloaded off the net over 2 years ago. I had to, of course, because it didn't make sense that Yes is my favorite band and there was an official album by them that I've never even heard. Why did I wait so long? I'm not sure. I have at least one copy of most albums, and have downloaded and listened to more recent things like The Word is Live and Songs from Tsongas. This was the last one, I now have it all, legal issues aside. There's just so much other stuff out there, so much to check out, and so little time for real listening, especially an album which has been so harshly received in general. Maybe part of me was afraid that this album would be as bad as people say.
It's not that bad! There, I said it. Very "song-oriented", not a lot of five-minute instrumental breaks, or even 30-second breaks for that matter. But the songs are nice, the vocal harmonies are tight and clean, and the production is very good. I didn't hear anything that leaped out at me as bad, which is what I was really expecting, given what has been said about this album.
So... it's not "really" a Yes album, but more of a Conspiracy album that was confiscated, mutated, and released as a Yes album? Doesn't bother me much. It says Yes on the cover. In fact, that's all it says, so that really does say it all (even if some say that's misleading).
It doesn't seem very adventurous, and perhaps it was not meant to be. We have high standards and high expectations for Yes, so when they fail to meet those expectations, some people react rather strongly. It was probably a good thing that my expectations were so low, because it allowed me to be pleasantly surprised. I heard the three-part harmonies that I love; I heard Steve whip out a few licks here and there, which is always nice; I don't remember hearing a lot of keyboards, which was somewhat disappointing, but that's still better than hearing bad keyboards (cheesy sounds, tumeni notes, etc.)
Overall, a nonbad experience. Nongreat, but nonbad. I'll give it another listen in the next day or two, and see what happens. But as it stands, after all these years and all those albums, I still know of no bad Yes albums. And that's good.
It's not that bad! There, I said it. Very "song-oriented", not a lot of five-minute instrumental breaks, or even 30-second breaks for that matter. But the songs are nice, the vocal harmonies are tight and clean, and the production is very good. I didn't hear anything that leaped out at me as bad, which is what I was really expecting, given what has been said about this album.
So... it's not "really" a Yes album, but more of a Conspiracy album that was confiscated, mutated, and released as a Yes album? Doesn't bother me much. It says Yes on the cover. In fact, that's all it says, so that really does say it all (even if some say that's misleading).
It doesn't seem very adventurous, and perhaps it was not meant to be. We have high standards and high expectations for Yes, so when they fail to meet those expectations, some people react rather strongly. It was probably a good thing that my expectations were so low, because it allowed me to be pleasantly surprised. I heard the three-part harmonies that I love; I heard Steve whip out a few licks here and there, which is always nice; I don't remember hearing a lot of keyboards, which was somewhat disappointing, but that's still better than hearing bad keyboards (cheesy sounds, tumeni notes, etc.)
Overall, a nonbad experience. Nongreat, but nonbad. I'll give it another listen in the next day or two, and see what happens. But as it stands, after all these years and all those albums, I still know of no bad Yes albums. And that's good.