Why Do So Many People Hate This Album? [Archive]

Dantalion Rides Again

09-10-2003, 11:01 PM

I like it, myself. But I think it comes across as trying to be pop and cool at times. And c'mon . . . 'Man in the Moon' is just not that cool. Neither is the ambient 25 minute thing. I'm not crazy about that.

But I feel it's unfairly criticized. I like it better than some of the other albums that are consistently praised. It's got a great sound & feel, and some of the songs are so under-appreciated because of the album's reputation.

Some great gems here on Open Your Eyes, IMHO. Good harmony. Decent songwriting. Boring album art, but it isn't like, ugly, do you think?

SonicDeath10

09-10-2003, 11:07 PM

Originally posted by Dantalion Rides Again
I like it, myself. But I think it comes across as trying to be pop and cool at times. And c'mon . . . 'Man in the Moon' is just not that cool. Neither is the ambient 25 minute thing. I'm not crazy about that.

But I feel it's unfairly criticized. I like it better than some of the other albums that are consistently praised. It's got a great sound & feel, and some of the songs are so under-appreciated because of the album's reputation.

Some great gems here on Open Your Eyes, IMHO. Good harmony. Decent songwriting. Boring album art, but it isn't like, ugly, do you think? yes it is boring. i almost always listen to the 25 minute ambient thing though. i did today! makes no sense...

Faceintheplace

09-10-2003, 11:26 PM

I wish they hadn't done an ambient track and gone with full a capella versions of songs. "Man In The Moon" is pretty embarrasing, but I was suprised how much better it sounded on the first Conspiracy album. The thing with this album is when its good, its very good. I especially like the title cut, "Universal Garden," "Wonderlove" and "Fortune Seller" (not the ending though. I made my own edit that cuts off the "1-800" bit.) "The Solution" is great too. (I cut off the ambient track with my Music Match Jukebox.) "Somehow Someday" doesn't work for me. I prefer the original version on Jon's "Animation" album. The album cover is pretty dull, but I think it was a tribute to the first Yes album cover.

Joedude

09-11-2003, 12:06 AM

I think it gets criticized because it tries to be poppy and has little of the "Yes signature" in it. I personally like a number of the tunes on it, even some of the tunes that no one else seems to like (Love Shine comes to mind).

Jonah

09-11-2003, 07:45 AM

I think it's an awful collection of sloppily written songs which are neither pop nor rock. Within the Yes canon it is so out of place. I do enjoy the title track though - this has a great pop/rock feel about it.
I always lump OYE and The More You Know by Jon Anderson in the same 'lost their way' category.

J

R'tanys

09-11-2003, 09:33 AM

I think the biggest problem with this album is that the pieces sound kinda slapped together. I don't think there was enough development time for the material. For example, I think UG and LoveShine could have been two parts of the same piece and probably would have been, had the material had the time to evolve in the Yes cocoon. This album could have been a beautiful butterfly, but the cocoons were ripped open to sell the caterpillars. Too bad. If any Yes album screams to be revisited, it's this one.

slamsound

09-11-2003, 01:57 PM

I've really tried to like this album....

I can't seem to find any catchy melodies, with one exception: the chorus to Universal Garden. Other than that - nothing.

It feels like the boys were trying very hard to make this a hit album - maybe too hard.

illusion

09-11-2003, 03:51 PM

Because it's crap.

It's really awful. It has that headachy feel to it.

Insane Teacher

09-11-2003, 04:00 PM

I've never heard it. Should I bother?

illusion

09-11-2003, 04:50 PM

No.

It's only useful if you want to complete your collection of albums.

Earl Grey

09-11-2003, 04:59 PM

Universal Garden is really nice. So is the title track. If you buy the boxed-set, you don't necessarily have to buy OYE unless you are a completist.

Then again, 'From A Balcony' is just lovely. I don't know. I love certain tracks off of OYE, but it did seem a little tossed together.

:yesbird:

yessongs72

09-11-2003, 07:26 PM

Originally posted by illusion
Because it's crap.

It's really awful. It has that headachy feel to it.

Yep, Illusion you are right! This is getting scary we are still agreeing,lol!

bdyescall

09-11-2003, 10:44 PM

I also think it does seem to sound slapped together.--It was quite boring for me the first 10 or so times I listened to it except for a few songs, but, although I still hardly listen to it, when I do, I have to hear it REAL loud and find that it's not too bad actually!!--I don't have the whole collection, but, if I did, Drama would be the one I'd toss.(Sorry Chris!), but, mixing Buggles with YES was a bad move).

Jallan

09-11-2003, 11:34 PM

I think Silent wings of Freedom is in the top 10 of BEST YES songs.

Like so many, I can play them over and over.

I like this album.

Jim in Benicia

DaveJB

10-11-2003, 12:32 AM

As others have said, there are some good tracks here. My main problems with this album are Man in the Moon & the ambient track. It just doesn't work as a Yes song, IMHO.

Tonydess

10-11-2003, 12:51 AM

Does the ambient track on Open Your Eyes have an official or unofficial name?

bdyescall

10-11-2003, 12:53 AM

It's one record that I had to listen to a bunch of times before I started to like it.
It's definately not their best, but, it's better than listening to the Buggles.(drama)
I think "Man in the Moon" is a great tune.
"Video Killed The Radio Star" would suck if it were a YES song.

petemargowskins

10-28-2003, 01:03 AM

OPEN YOUR EYES is very passionate and extremely positive...as is almost all yes music, but there's a grand feel to OYE. while it's not as dynamic as some yes albums, it's an easy album to flow along to, and the production is more wall-of-sound than the intricate, crystal-clear style of THE LADDER, for example, but i actually thought THE LADDER was far more of an attempt at being poppy than OYE was. i find myself getting absorbed in OYE very easily, letting it wash over me; other 90's stuff is more eclectic, while OYE seems more of a complete work. overall probably my favorite yes album from the 90's.

yarstruly

10-28-2003, 03:55 PM

I actually like the album quite a bit...New State of Mind is probably my favorite track on it....

Erdy1

10-28-2003, 04:15 PM

The only songs I can stand are New State of Mind, Open Your Eyes, From the Balcony, and The Solution. And I don't even really LIKE them. The slapped togother comment does really seem to apply here.

The thing that bothers me most is that KTAII, which IMO has some of the best Yes music ever, got swept under the rug in favor of this!!!

Yes' output has been so uneven in the last 10 years that I'm almost scared to see what they do next.

Kevin Still

10-28-2003, 05:06 PM

I kinda view it as a post-Rabin Yes to sound like Rabin era Yes. Steve Howe came in at the end. Chris and Billy had most of this cd constructed before Steve and Jon came into the sessions. I think they were under pressure to release something and this was the fastest way possible.

Steve wasn't crazy about it either.

Robert Shupe

10-28-2003, 05:29 PM

I think part of it suffered because of the entire Keys To The Ascension issue. A classic lineup was back for Keys and two live / studio albums and almost a tour. I think there was some disappointment over Rick being back in and then out.

Then Open Your Eyes comes out with little fanfare or promotion. It is not a horrible album but it doesn't really push the Yes envelope like maybe I wanted. It is Yes music but not Yes music that demanded to push the boundries. However, maybe that is a good thing. There are gems in the piece and it seems that we all differ as to what those gems are. Personally, I like Love Shine, Wonderlove, and From The Balcony.

The cover who knows. I can by the homage to the debut album or maybe it was the most cost efficient thing to do.

Robert Shupe

Ascend_Create

10-28-2003, 05:38 PM

Oh, the pain. I've really tried to give this album a chance, really I did. I'm a 'Big' 80's/90's fan, too! I'll take Talk and Keys over this album any day. Hell, I'd even rather listen to The Monkey's Greatest Hits than that album...IMHO.
Erdy1 , where can I get a "Caution:Mountians Come out of the Sky" t-shirt? =)

Gabriel

05-20-2004, 10:37 AM

I'd like to know why everyone hates it as well. I listened to the album last night before I went to sleep [best time to hear an album; just you and the music!] and I REALLY enjoyed it. When I say REALLY I mean as much as Talk or Fragile, I thought it was fantastic, and much better than Tormato which I didnt think at first [since they were my weakest albums I thought, but now Tormato is the weakest yes album for me although its still a cracking record]

I've never really been into certain aspects of music, such as production and time signatures etc, while alot of you are and those factors effect if you like a song or not it seems, whereas I'm one of those people who either loves it or hates it, and I clicked with OYE just fine.

SonicDeath10

05-20-2004, 10:08 PM

i actually like all of the yes music in the last ten years but Union. hell in the last twenty years. including all rabin albums, talk, oye the keys albums, the ladder, and magnification. Union is the bad one.

ELLIS

12-27-2004, 08:28 AM

I liked New State of Mind, and I would love to see this played live next tour. But the rest of the album is rather weak, and Yes are capable of so much better. It might have sounded better if Trevor rabin played on it instead of Steve, as it's definitely not his style.

Cast Iron Leader

12-27-2004, 09:07 AM

Why do so many people hate this album...

...unfortunatly the world is full to overflowing with dunderheads and nincompoops who indeed think they know it all, so it is ever likely that your going to find many people who think this album is rubbish.... I can find you just as many who will tell you that 'Close to the Edge' is total waffle and 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' is the biggest pile of excrement that Yes ever created and as for 'Relayer'... well the less said about that the better because they only ever really began making music once Rabin happened along and if it wasn't for him then Yes would have long ago gone to the wall or gone down the drain when they should have done once Punk happened along and exposed their hippie trash music for what it really is.

Like all great music you need to listen and unfortunatly in 'Open Your Eyes' case very few people know what to listen for... but one child knows the secret and can say id.

SonicDeath10

12-28-2004, 05:49 PM

Scooty

12-28-2004, 05:56 PM

i love the album but i like that idea: that trevor would have played better on it. Steve was obviously bored, and just threw down whatever guitar parts came into his mind. he was really lazy on that album.

Actually, Steve didnt have time to makae any real contribution..OYE was for the most part Sherwood/Squire material that Squire let the record company consider yesmusic. Steve and Jon made their contributions at the last minute. Wakeman was supposed to tour with them, but again beig Flakey Wakey, he dropped outta site. SO the situation was ..release an album quickly before the tour or no tour..

The record was rushed to meet the tour schedule. Steve had little or no choice in what he put on the album...no time...not that he was lazy or bored. just thought Id clear that up for ya..

jambo

12-28-2004, 06:07 PM

open your eyes is a sherwood and squire project that evolved into a yes one.
hence man in the moon and open your eyes being on their first conspirancy album at the end.
it is still a good record with good songs just isnt the best but not the worst, i think union gets that honour. rabin prob would of been a better guiter for that album.

scootwhoman

12-28-2004, 06:24 PM

Sometimes, Yes should be called 'Okay', because that seems to be what keeps the band alive, the willingness to go along with something that you are not enthusiastic about.

'Tormato' was reviled by the band that they arranged to have a rotten tomato splashed across the cover. (According to one of my English instructors from years ago, 'tor' is an old English word for 'hill'. On the album cover somewhere, there is a map with 'yes tor' on it.) Even though I like parts of the album, I rarely see any of the pieces on it mentioned in company with great Yes music.

I have never considered 'Big Generator' to be a good example of Yes music, only one of meeting a contract deadline.

'Union' appears to me to be a collection of the works of several different groups, with no common thread of feeling or sound.

'Open Your Eyes' is not a great album, but, like so many other Yes albums, it has some great music on it, I think.

I think that we should all count ourselves lucky that the guys have never ALL thrown in the towel at the same time. Yes is a unique phenomenom in pop music, rivaled in longevity only by the Rolling Stones and the Greatful Dead. I don't think there is another major band anywhere which has survived the turnover of members that Yes has. And I seriously doubt that any other band has such vast array of fan organizations, websites, and lawyers.

(Maybe it is because the band was not inclined to extreme substance abuse, nor, for the most part, were its followers. And Yes fans often are technically accomplished or savy people, so web sites are no big deal.)

By the way, I sometimes use the name 'Maybe' when referring to the unweidly 'Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe'.

marklovesyes

12-28-2004, 06:29 PM

It is well known that OYE is a collection of mainly Squire-Sherwood songs that Howe, White, and Anderson added some bits to. They did this because the label wanted a new YES album before the tour. It was thrown together just to meet that end. Really, the songs are quite good, but it is a pretty weak YES effort. Nonetheless, it still strikes me that it is as good as it is. Throw another band name on the cover and a few YES fans might feel different about the album. Then compare it to other albums that came out in 1997 by other artists. It holds up quite well from that perspective, I think.
I always think that YES at their worst are still better than most current popular artists at their best. OYE is just another example of that.

SonicDeath10

12-28-2004, 11:05 PM

yes. or maybe.

raz

12-28-2004, 11:10 PM

Love Shine view from the balcony and Man in the Moon...
those three songs are good.
poppy songs, but they are good.
the album does not deserve the Yes moniker.
maybe it should have been released as a world trade/conspiracy album with the yes folks guesting on it?
anyway, it's history now... i'm just looking forwad to 2005 and what that may bring...

Scaramouche

01-05-2005, 02:10 PM

An Interesting thread! An Interesting question...a question I would like to answer in three words....It was crap!!

Pure and simply this album was complete arse from beginning to end. I love Yes, love them with a passion, but if all of their output over the last 35 years had been as appalling as this venture ,then Jon Anderson would have been back working on his Accrington farm for many a long year by now.

I still think that somewhere along the line, this was a bet. They must have all been sitting round a table with a few beers and decided to write and record the worst album ever just for a laugh.

There were prizes for who could write the most god awful song imaginable, and forfeits for those who accidentally managed to include any form of musical brilliance...guess no-one paid a forfeit on this baby.

It is interesting to note that the only good thing I have found about this cd is that it frequently stops my dining room table from wobbling and occasionally props my living room door open.

Sorry guys, I love you all, but please. please, please...never again....please.

Love and Light.

Scaramouche xx

SonicDeath10

01-05-2005, 09:05 PM

i guess i'll have to agree to disagree with you on this one: it is one of the "lesser" yes albums but it's not as bad as all of that!

Vic Anderson

01-05-2005, 09:15 PM

what i have to say is that it was my first yes album after the ladder when i didn't know anyother yes and boy did it do it for me!!! I listened to it weeks till i got over it!

now i am probably the only person who did this

allgoodyes

01-05-2005, 09:36 PM

There are some good songs on the Open Your Eyes album, such as "New State of Mind", "Open Your Eyes", "Universal Garden" and "Love Shine", but the album as a whole does not seem to be nearly as innovative and exciting as the Yes material on previous albums. After hearing Open Your Eyes the first few times in 1998, I declared to myself (i.e. silent talking) that the rest of the music world had finally caught up to Yes. Thank goodness that The Ladder and Magnification later came along to restore my faith in the extraordinary talents of Yes.

SonicDeath10

01-05-2005, 09:46 PM