OYE - better than I remembered

[RobAdams]

I bought OPEN YOUR EYES on cassette when it was the new album. I was psyched! Jon, Chris, Steve, Alan and Billy could only come up with an amazing album. I was hoping for the 1997 answer to GOING FOR THE ONE.

I popped the tape into my car stereo, and it just bored me to death. At this point I had only heard all the Yes albums from YES to TALK. OPEN YOUR EYES sounded to me like the ultimate Yes klunker. Perhaps I brought too much expectation to the table.

When I joined the forum earlier this year I decided to buy OYE on CD. My cassette was lost back when it was new, and I didn't care. Now I had to get it again, as I'm gradually closing in on a complete Yes collection.

Reading various posts and threads on the subject of Least Favorite Yes Albums, it seemed to be very popular to dislike OYE. BIG GENERATOR also has gotten its' share of disrespect here, and I like that one.

I've even posted negative thoughts on OYE. But now I have to say I was somewhat mistaken.

I've had the OYE cd for about 2 months now. I've played it and played it, and I will have to re-evaluate my original opinion.

Originally this was what I considered my least favorite Yes album. Now I'm in a happy quandary. I can't think of a least favorite Yes album anymore. I'm left with nothing to pick on but HIGHLIGHTS - THE VERY BEST OF YES !

Mind you, OPEN YOUR EYES still doesn't get to be considered fantastic in my book. It's a bit too "pop" without enough dark edges - too much emphasis on vocals and not enough on the instrumental portions. The tracks I've decided are pretty good are NEW STATE OF MIND, OPEN YOUR EYES, UNIVERSAL GARDEN, FROM THE BALCONY, SOMEHOW SOMEDAY and THE SOLUTION.
The two tracks that really fail for me are MAN IN THE MOON and the hidden 12th track - the 'ambiant track'.

This album once scored a big zero with me. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'll give this one a 5. When I first heard the album, it was the first new Yes music I heard since TALK. But now hearing OYE in context with its' chronologically surrounding albums, it's not so bad. It'll never be in my top 10 list, but I admit to being too hard on this one.

[Moon Theme]

I do not get the " dislike " towards this album.. I really dig it........

[Moon Theme]

I agree that it is different, but I think the vocals and the guitars are prominent and really ambient.. It is Yes in a different direction...

[Sonoacustico]

For me the worst on OYE is LOVE SHINE, I don't like the music and the lyrics are absolutely stupid, but I really Love all of the songs Rob mentioned in his first analysis, specially New State of Mind, Universal Garden, Somehow Someday and the Solution, but my favorite track is Fortune Seller. from a strictly musical point of view i think it's fantastic, you can listen to a typically Rabin-ish rhythm acoustic guitar to the left ear while you are listening to the trademark sound of Steve Howe in the other ear, I think that combination was really excellent, and what would I say about the AMAZING hammond solo of Igor Khoroshev in this one! :) And of course Squire's trademark sound always present ;)

Summary I like OYE, but for me the bad songs in there are SOOOOOOOOOOO BAD!!!!! and the good ones aren't "classics"
but just good songs.

greetings

Claudio

[Thoughtbecontact]

I just purchased OYE as it comes from that period in my life that I spent constantly in an ice rink, and I forgot about buying music. This is one of the last Yes discs I need to buy. Peter had warned me that he is one of the few on this board who likes the disc, but after listening to it twice, my first impression is I DO like it. The vocal harmonies are beautiful. I think it gets criticism because it is very Rabinish, without having Trevor, and by the mere fact that it did come on the heels of KTA II with Wakeman.

[Martin Riley]

I play OYE regularly - I know it's by no means their best (In fact I can probablyagree that it is likeliest their worst) but I find that I'm playing the more recent albums more than the old classics which I know back to front

[Sonoacustico]

yes, me too Martin, I also listen more to the newer stuff than the older stuff, maybe for a matter of sound quality... in fact for live versions, I listen to the KTA discs hundreds of times more than Yessongs for example... in fact I don't listen to Yessongs very much.... I agree about the huge energy the guys put in their playing there, but for me the sound quality is horrible, I think that's what avoid me to listen to yessongs more often.

greetings

Claudio

[upbgirl]

i cant belive you guys havent figured it out yet! something you HATE now could be something you couldnt live without in the near future..i NEVER say a WORD about personal likes/dislikes untill i have REALLY STUDIED the music..[and with prog music, that could take awhile! lol!!]
when i was little-i hated broccoli.. now i can stomach it because i know it is good for me..
i personally HATED gates, myself! sounded like a bunch of noise..
once i found they were reviving it for one of the tours, i decided to re-visit it again.. [it was my big brothers FAVORITE-he is a drummer] i decided it WAS a good tune, and seeing it LIVE cemented it for me..
cool of you to give the old stuff a second chance..[sorry-i KNOW i am a flake, but i LIKE man in the moon!-it just doesnt seem like Yes much]

[yarstruly]

I have gone on record saying that I like this album as well, I have a tape of it with the Ladder on the other side and pop it in in the car all the time! Not their best, but still damn good...Yes at their worst is better than most bands at their best!

[PaulH]

I am among the folks who do not care much for this one.
There are a few decent tunes....Universal Garden and from the balcony being a few I can listen to repeatedly.

I think it has to do more with the spirit of how it was made than anything else. I mean, it's still Jon, and Steve and Chris (and Billy)
doing the vocal harmonies, and (along with alan and igor and others)playing their respective instruments, so it has that allure for Yesfans, but I think my favorite Yes-music comes from a more experimental/collaborative place.

Billy and Chris obviously had most of this one written and took it to the other guys for them to do their thing. Like trevor's time in the band where the songs were more presented, than coming in with an idea and giving it the full Yes treatment. (untill Talk that is, which although not as commercially successful, had more Yes-spirit in it IMHO) I don't think this is something that may be in the forefront of one's mind (or ears perhaps) as you listen, but I am never as fullfilled by listening to OYE, and perhaps that is why.

I always felt that after Rick's departure, OYE was more of a reaction to yet another Yes line-up crisis than coming from a true place of inspiration or collaboration.
I think it should have been released as a Billy and Chris CD.

[brantley]

I find listening to OYE very pleasant. It goes into my playlist rotation rather frequently.

This album, to me, signals the return of regular releases from Yes. Sure, Rabin was with them for 13 years, but they only had 4 albums in that time. Since his departure, we have seen 3 studio albums.

There's one thing about releases from Yes. You just can't compare them to anything previous. It needs to be taken in the context of which it was released, the decade, the period and the members.

No, it doesn't sound like the music they created from The Yes Album to Fragile. That "magic" period contained something else that many forget. That "something" was Eddie Offord. He was very much part of the band.

I just really dig all the material they have released recently.

I do, however, long for tunes that just tear up the keyboards and fretboards. Sound Chaser, South Side of the Sky, On the Silent Wings of Freedom, Gates of Delerium and so many others continue to astound me. I really miss that, but we may never see that again. They have matured. They are no longer trying to take the world by storm. They are no longer testosterone driven youths.

They write differently now. I love getting a new release an listening to it, not knowing what to expect.

OYE will continue to be one of my favorites from the "adult" years of Yes.

Brantley

[Ron Drummond]

Open Your eyes is an excellent album. The biggest single reason it is hated so much has nothing to do with the quality of the music (which is incredibly well-crafted, inventive, idiosyncratic pop music) and has everything to do with people's expectations. Open Your Eyes came from so far out in left field, it was SO completely utterly unexpected by Yes fans that people were angry because it violated their precious expectations. Well, God forbid that the band that's famous for always trying out new things should try out something so new (to them) that most of their fans won't even give it a chance!

For those who didn't like it, the only way to listen to Open Your Eyes now is to forget about your disappointment, and even forget that it's a Yes album and listen to it for what it is, HEAR what's actually there instead of what you wish was there but isn't!

Open Your Eyes has a lot to offer. The arrangements are dense, incredibly intricate, full of tiny nuances. And yet as densely interwoven as the music is, the recording is incredibly clear, god what transparency. It's also a very Beatlesque album, with lots of beautiful harmonies. Billy's got a fine singing voice, and the way he and Jon go together sounds great. It takes many hearings to completely untangle Billy's guitar playing and Steve's guitar playing, but once you do (usually, but not always, Steve's on the left speaker and Billy's on the right), the way they mesh their sounds is really cool. And there's some awesome Steve Howe playing on this album. And then from a rhythm section standpoint, Chris and Alan are incredibly tight.

OYE is also much more collaborative than people assume, though it's true that Billy and Chris powered the songwriting. But just compare the Conspiracy version of "Open Your Eyes" with the OYE version -- Jon and Steve's contributions transform that song (I love both versions, but OYE's is arguably better) and make it something larger, more nuanced.

Also, OYE paved the way for The Ladder, which right now is my favorite Yes album.

My favorite songs are the title track and "Man in the Moon" (which is a hoot), but tracks 1, 3, 5, and 7 are good too.

The only song I kind of dislike is "From the Balcony" which is funny because you'd think it would be one I'd like. There's a lyrical problem -- if you don't know the title of the song, then it sounds like the singer is kind of self-righteous and thinks he's better than the person he's singing to -- "I'm looking down on you!" Without the title, you can't fill in the blank with "From the balcony". So it only works if you know the title, which is a funny flaw. Anyone notice, though, that "From the Balcony" is almost exactly like "Soft as a Dove" on Magnification? I much prefer the latter -- they finally got the song right!