hidden track - Open Your Eyes

[Drazan22]

I just found out about this. It's one of the only Yes albums I don't own. Can somebody please upload the hidden track after "The Solution" or post a link?

[BrianD]

We don't allow any trading of officially released material on this website. I am unaware of any officially available downloads for it.

[happytheman]

I just found out about this. It's one of the only Yes albums I don't own. Can somebody please upload the hidden track after "The Solution" or post a link?
Open your eyes is pretty easy to find used for under $5.00. Go ahead and splurge! Seriously the track isn't that special.

[umgekehrt]

If you're curious it's the vocal parts of the songs mixed with some ambient beach sound. Similar to the hidden track in Opeth's album Deliverance.

[yeslife]

Long ago, in the dim and distant past, Ron Drummond posted a cool description of the hidden track on OYE:

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

And you can read his review of the whole album here:

http://www.yesfans.com/showpost.php?p=116396&postcount=13

Life? Yes!

[Altres]

It's crap, seriously, it isn't worth the disk space.

Brian

[smatt]

It's crap, seriously, it isn't worth the disk space.

Brian


Oh dear Brian.. How dare you disparage ANYTHING that lovely Jon has graced.... Sure you can think it.. But you can't say it around here... Now you must gather all the rose petals you can, and follow Jon around tossing them in his path so that his heavenly feet never touch the raw ground...... :lmao:

[Yes.2]

I think that would scare Jon. :lmao:

[yeswab]

It's crap, seriously, it isn't worth the disk space.

Brian

HOLY SMOKE! That is just wildly, needlessly negative. Know why? It's like the Golden Rule of Television: If you don't like it, turn it off!

Translated to this context, that means: The long montage after "The Solution" is at worst harmless, and since the album's "regular content" is nowhere near the 80 minute limit of a CD, this space wasn't doing anything better anyway.

If you don't like it, don't go to the extra effort of shuttling two minutes past the end of "The Solution" and then listening to something you don't like.

Better yet, rip the album, use the editor found in most CD burning programs, excise the latter 22 minutes of the track "The Solution" reducing it to a regular-length song, and then create a new CD of "OYE" and fill the remaining time with something else, like a live version of "Close to the Edge".

Your problem is thus solved.:lght:

[smatt]

Yes but it's much more fun to make people cringe at the thought of a "FAN" saying something negative about their dear Yes.... :lmao:

[yeswab]

Agreed, we'll be charging them too.

(I'd like you to take the three by the bin into consideration!):aaa[1]:

[Altres]

Still crap though. A needless attempt at sew-age muzak that had, in my ever so humble opinion ;), no redeaming qualities whatsoever.

If you want to hear some amazing music in this style get a copy of:

The Pearl by Eno/Budd
Epsilon in Malaysian Pale (original version) by Edgar Froese
Dune by Klaus Shulze
New Age of Music by Ashra

or dozens of other things. I don't even consider this a Yes track. More a collage of samples thrown together by someone on drugs......prozac unfortunately.

Brian

[MrZuLu]

:aaa[1]:

[new_sum_do_solve_ay]

I just found out about this. It's one of the only Yes albums I don't own. Can somebody please upload the hidden track after "The Solution" or post a link?

Hello Drazan and welcome to the blog! Have you been to the 'Revealing Science of Yes' thread? I was just mentioning this track yesterday!!

I'm as guilty as anyone of putting down Open Your Eyes, but it does have some enjoyable stuff. Go ahead and buy it. It's fairly cheap. The reason we put it down around here is that it simply is not up to par with the majority of Yes material. It's a good buy.

:headset:

[yeswab]

My defense of the track may have been over-enthusiastic. If it were just those background sounds, it would be great for meditation, chilling out and similar pasttimes.

However, every 2 minutes, those voices come blasting along, in razor sharp digital detail, and flippin' LOUD.

So, I still maintain that it's harmless, but it is indeed...useless.

Other great pieces that do the "same thing" but much better:

Angelic Music by Iasos.
Reiki Whale Song by Kamal.

Both available at iTunes. (I wound up buying a CD hard copy of Angelic Music later because I love it so much that I wanted to have it at 9% higher fidelity or whatever the actual value might be.)

The XM "new age" channel is great for this stuff. Don't remember what the channel's called, because I had to give up XM when I got a car with a regular radio that doesn't spew chunks, and I could no longer justify the expense of XM....

[MrZuLu]

just for the record i love THE POS... i have worn out 2 copies and on my third plus is in winamp rotation... it is the best 'worst crrrap' i have ever heard.

it is ranked #3 in my favs list!


FWIW:beerchugr:

[Altres]

I'm not puttin the whole album down, it does have a few good tracks on it too. :D

Brian

[Ron Drummond]

Long ago, in the dim and distant past, Ron Drummond posted a cool description of the hidden track on OYEThank-you to yeslife (do I know you?) for resurrecting a post I'd almost forgotten I'd written! And I see that most of the remarks before and after on this here thread have been so prevailingly negative that I'll go ahead and repost my own post, in the humble hope someone thoughtful will read it in the right spirit.

***

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

[MrZuLu]

thanks for that,ron...


like i said i love it
the whole GDMFingPOS

[Altres]

Ron, after reading that, I'll definitely give it another listen some time. As a big fan of that style of widescreen, ambient, improvisational aspect music, I think I just compared it to too many other classics. I just felt it was all a bit too obvious, forced and clumsily "in your face" at points. It would probably have worked better for me as a backdrop to a windblown video of Roger Dean landscapes, consolidating the nostalgic feel.

It is great to read others impressions.

Brian

[Close to Loch Ness]

Ron, after reading that, I'll definitely give it another listen some time. As a big fan of that style of widescreen, ambient, improvisational aspect music, I think I just compared it to too many other classics. I just felt it was all a bit too obvious, forced and clumsily "in your face" at points. It would probably have worked better for me as a backdrop to a windblown video of Roger Dean landscapes, consolidating the nostalgic feel.

It is great to read others impressions.

Brian

It's still crap though!! :dog:

[Altres]

It's still crap though!! :dog:
Yip! :dog:

[YesJen357]

I'm with Mr. Zulu.
It's the best crap I've heard.
Even if it's not as solid as the other YES albums...OYE is way ahead of anything else I can care to think of; - for me.

[smatt]

Oh it's OK... But barely.. I did listen to it a few weeks back... I still think the Experiment version of the song "OYE" "Wish I knew" Is better then the Yes version. OYE the album has it's moments, but it's jsut so cobbled together and incomplete..... I think this is Billy's worst job of production to date. But it isn't his fault, you work with what you've got.....

Speaking of Billy.. I'm really interested in the new Conspiracy CD/DVD.... :clap:

[podo]

I think its crap too

[Yesed]

Its probably the best uncreative track on the album....if you remove the 'Solution'.
Actually, the problem with OYE is not really all the music, its the way its produced, as already metioned. Its too loud and congested.
Maybe thats why the secret tract doesnt sound so bad.

[gathernear]

I'm not puttin the whole album down, it does have a few good tracks on it too. :D

Brian

And, where would that be?:aaa[1]:

[Joedude]

Hey, I like the ambient track. It's very peaceful, especially when played in the dark with headphones on.

OYE may not be my favorite album, but there's still New State Of Mind, Universal Garden and From The Balcony along with the title track.

[ariceffron]

i have the surround cd version- ive never noticed a 20 min bonus track-- is it on that version- if so how do i access it? also is this the "oye ambient" music from before the concerts that year?

[pianozach]

i have the surround cd version- ive never noticed a 20 min bonus track-- is it on that version- if so how do i access it? also is this the "oye ambient" music from before the concerts that year?
On the regular version of the CD it's simply tacked onto the end of the 5:30 song "The Solution" after about almost two minutes of silence: It thereby makes "The Solution" 23:47 long on my CD.

I find that hearing the vocals in an isolated way is interesting from an arranging viewpoint. And I don't mind it, although I'd have to agree that it seems fairly pointless.

And it's really not very hidden, either.

And it's certainly not as annoying as the "Owner of a Lonely Heart" extended remix!

I was at the OYE tour, and they played this before the show (Not the "Owner" remix, the OYE Ambient "Hidden" Track.

[Mrsteve]

The "Ambient" track from Open Your Eyes was played as background music before the show on the "Open Your Eyes" tour I attended also.

In that setting is was quite enjoyable. No of the group I was with had heard it at that time. It took us a few vocal interludes to agree it was Yes we were hearing.

[Rick N Backer]

i have the surround cd version- ive never noticed a 20 min bonus track-- is it on that version- if so how do i access it? also is this the "oye ambient" music from before the concerts that year?

It's not on the surround sound version. And yes, it is the piece that was played as audiences took their seats before the OYE shows.

[DW Duke]

I found it one day when I was tired and fell asleep in my car outside the Merrill Lynch office in Anaheim CA. All of the sudden it woke me up and I thought I had entered some strange time space dimension especially since I couldn't find it on the cover.

I once had a cassette of the Talk album where someone dropped a microphone in the studio and somehow it get mastered through. I asked about it and no one knew what happened. I think I still have it somewhere. Unique collector piece.

[nitrus]

I found it one day when I was tired and fell asleep in my car outside the Merrill Lynch office in Anaheim CA. All of the sudden it woke me up and I thought I had entered some strange time space dimension especially since I couldn't find it on the cover.

I once had a cassette of the Talk album where someone dropped a microphone in the studio and somehow it get mastered through. I asked about it and no one knew what happened. I think I still have it somewhere. Unique collector piece.

OMG!!! :cool:
What can you hear there?

[flep]

I'll nail my colours to the mast here as well.

Something i thought I'd never say about Yes. But sorry it truly is crap.

What was he trying to do. "Oooh look I can add 18 minutes to the end of this album by sampling bird and sea sounds call it my track and as it amounts to 33% of the total running time of the album I get 33% at least of the royalties."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

:meter: :sleeping: :sleeping: :sleeping:

[flep]

God it still hasn't finished is it on some sort of loop or what????????

[DW Duke]

OMG!!! :cool:
What can you hear there?

You hear a slight ambience sound like at the beginning of CTTE though not exactly the same. Then all of the sudden you hear the phrase sung "Staring that the golden heights wondering are you ready for the climb." then more ambience for several minutes then they sing something else.

[RickyG]

In spite of the way Ron describes it, I still find it to be a piece of junk as well.
I would like to hear the music that Ron describes, I just don't hear it on that bonus track.

My problem with OYE in general is both the horrifically bad, over-driven, over-compressed production, which makes the album rather harsh on my ears, but also alot of really lame melodies.

The bonus track just further highlights how weak many of the vocal melodies are.

I like the concept of the bonus track. But I think the execution is really bad. For one very big reason is, as someone else mentioned, when the vocals come in they are so loud and digitally razor sharp. There is nothing warm about them. If they were mixed much lower to merge with the ambient sounds then it would work much more in the manner that Ron describes it, I believe.

Also the ambient sounds are not that good either, not for 18 minutes. It's way too flat, doesn't breath as nature would. It's nowhere near as interesting as the bit on CTTE. Part of the problem is that he has the very standard Korg digital bird/cricket sample very prominent in the mix. It's a very short loop. I know, I've used it myself and when I use it, it's a big creative compromise and I only use it because I don't have access to other synths, or samplers or field recordings. (The only synth I've owned for the past 10 years is a Korg O1/W.)

As much as I think it's a bad album, I've listened to much of it again in the past few days since it's such a topic of discussion here. There are some good things on it.... or at least parts of some of the songs are pretty good. But the only thing that I actually like in it's entirety is "From The Balcony".

The biggest annoyance to my ear is the way the vocals are mixed and also the fact that I feel there's alot of rather weak writing on it.

Just my opinions.....

[Jonah]

I don't get the whole 'bonus track' thing at all. Why do bands do it? I have an album that has twelve tracks. Then it lists 'plus, bonus track'. Well, surely that track is just track 13?

And another thing. Aren't albums just TOO long these days. What happened to 4 tracks side on and 4 tracks side 2? An album these days can last an hour, and most bands cannot produce enough good music to fill that sort of time in one sitting. Except Porcupine Tree, Tears For Fears, Delgados, Gomez, Barenake Ladies, Pink Floyd, Francis Dunnery.


There, I've just defeated my own argument.

[podo]

I don't get the whole 'bonus track' thing at all. Why do bands do it? I have an album that has twelve tracks. Then it lists 'plus, bonus track'. Well, surely that track is just track 13?

And another thing. Aren't albums just TOO long these days. What happened to 4 tracks side on and 4 tracks side 2? An album these days can last an hour, and most bands cannot produce enough good music to fill that sort of time in one sitting. Except Porcupine Tree, Tears For Fears, Delgados, Gomez, Barenake Ladies, Pink Floyd, Francis Dunnery.


There, I've just defeated my own argument.

I agree.
A bonus track is just the next track.
A 80 minute album is fantastic if its got 80 minutes of good music. Unfortunatly some are 20 minutes of good music and 60 minutes of not so bonus tracks

[RANDALLCRAIG]

I have to say this about the track. The first listen through this cd brought a depression that Yes was trying to make a hit song or two. When I listened to it the second time, I let it play all the way through the "Earthmother Earth" style track and when each melody came out, I thought "hmmmm, I did kind of like that" and so on. For awhile I cranked this album alot and enjoyed it especially the first tracks "Garden" ect. So in a way that long track brought those "hooks" out to me and changed my mind on the cd. Of course now I think it's crap!.......just kidding!

Thanks
Randy

[nitrus]

You hear a slight ambience sound like at the beginning of CTTE though not exactly the same. Then all of the sudden you hear the phrase sung "Staring that the golden heights wondering are you ready for the climb." then more ambience for several minutes then they sing something else.

Oh, I know that, I own OYE, of course. I was asking about that weird copy of Talk of yours. Sorry, i should've been more clear...

[RickyG]

I don't get the whole 'bonus track' thing at all. Why do bands do it? I have an album that has twelve tracks. Then it lists 'plus, bonus track'. Well, surely that track is just track 13?

And another thing. Aren't albums just TOO long these days. What happened to 4 tracks side on and 4 tracks side 2? An album these days can last an hour, and most bands cannot produce enough good music to fill that sort of time in one sitting. Except Porcupine Tree, Tears For Fears, Delgados, Gomez, Barenake Ladies, Pink Floyd, Francis Dunnery.


There, I've just defeated my own argument.

Well the idea of "bonus" tracks does make sense when an old vinyl album is re-released on CD with additional tracks added. So they are in fact "bonuses" to the orginal album.

I also like the idea of the "hidden track".... the extra surprise that isn't part of the proper album. I've done it on one of my own CDs. It's a fun way to include something that may not really fit in as part of the album concept or direction but does relate in some way and presents a different aspect of the creative experience around the album, or takes it to an unexpected place.

On my most recent album, track 12 is essentially one of these "extra" pieces, but I simply include it as a 13 minute track #12.
On my previous album I put one on as a "hidden" 11 minute bonus track.

I agree that alot of times bands fill up 60 - 70 minutes on a CD where in the past they would have left off the weaker tracks and instead released a more consistently strong 40 minute album.