Anderson, Wakeman and Rabin Working on New Album

[bondegezou]

I guess you have a point there, all though wasn't it in your interview with Rabin where he sort of admitted Anderson played a much more important role on 90125 then is generally thought?

I don't think that was quite the point he was making. But, yes, Anderson was an important part of 90125/Big Generator, but he was more peripheral in the band with the Rabin/Squire partnership central. For ostensibly the same band, Talk is a completely different dynamic with Kaye, Squire and White relatively sidelined.

Henry

[Mr. Holland]

I don't think that was quite the point he was making. But, yes, Anderson was an important part of 90125/Big Generator, but he was more peripheral in the band with the Rabin/Squire partnership central. For ostensibly the same band, Talk is a completely different dynamic with Kaye, Squire and White relatively sidelined.

Henry

True there is very different dynamic to the first two Yeswest albums and the last one. I also think that this was because there was much more of a commercial succes idea behind the first two albums as where with Talk (at least for Rabin and Anderson) I think it became more about the music, becasue it was allready clear that big commercial succes was over.

[bondegezou]

because there was much more of a commercial succes idea behind the first two albums as where with Talk (at least for Rabin and Anderson) I think it became more about the music, becasue it was allready clear that big commercial succes was over.

You think? Victory thought Talk would be a commercial success and appear to have had considerable input on the album to ensure that. For example, Victory pushed for the inclusion of "Walls", something Rabin says he later regretted. Victory also, I recall from one Rabin interview, asked for a long epic, thus "Endless Dream".

Henry

[enoesque]

Epic fail.

[Mr. Holland]

You think? Victory thought Talk would be a commercial success and appear to have had considerable input on the album to ensure that. For example, Victory pushed for the inclusion of "Walls", something Rabin says he later regretted. Victory also, I recall from one Rabin interview, asked for a long epic, thus "Endless Dream".

Henry

True, but Rabin also said that one can't just write an epic on order and that Endless Dream was something that came about in a natural way, it started with a little theme and developped. And I know the record company went for commercial succes, they also pushed for the band to cut out the ambient part in The Calling, and whoever is paying the bills ofcourse has influence, but that is why I said that for Rabin/Anderson it became more about the music. Was it totally uncompromised? No, but in my view less zo then with 90125 and BG.

Btw, this is the quote, out of a 2004 Anil Prasad innerview: "....when Talk was discussed, Phil Carson [President of Victory Records] said to me “I really want you guys to do a long-form Yes song.” My issue was what does that really mean? It sounds like a very contrived attempt to do something. Something like that just needs to happen. The only contrived thing about it should be I’m allowing myself to do something without any time constraints. That’s what happened with “Endless Dream.” But as far as saying “Okay, I’m going to create something that’s really long”—that’s just contrived."

[Mr. Holland]

You know, here's another quote from that interview. All Rabin era bashers take note:

"I think one of the misconceptions about the band is the kind of stereotyping that goes into the different line-ups—you know, like people saying my line-up was the one with the pop songs. [laughs] That couldn’t be further from the truth. Some of the things we tried and some of the weird places we went aren’t talked about much. I think songs like “I’m Running,” Shoot High, Aim Low” and “Endless Dream” more accurately reflect what the band was about when I was in it than “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” though that song stands out as a moment that defined where the band was going.

I would have hated for people to say “When Trevor came into the band, he fit right in and it sounded just like it used to.” When I’m on my last breath, I’d rather be seen as something a little more catalytic in terms of what I brought to the band."

[luna65]

And one would think Phil Carson would have known better than to attempt to push on things like that, but between that and Derek Shulman's assessment of Trevor as the "hitmaker" I think that was part of the reason Trevor was growing weary of being in a band with so much baggage.

[Mr. Holland]

And one would think Phil Carson would have known better than to attempt to push on things like that, but between that and Derek Shulman's assessment of Trevor as the "hitmaker" I think that was part of the reason Trevor was growing weary of being in a band with so much baggage.

This is what he had to say on leaving the band in that 2004 interview with Anil Prasad:

"I honestly believe there’s such an overblown idea of the personality clashes between me and Jon and Tony. I like Jon and enjoyed working with him. I think his voice is extraordinary and there’s only one of them. But when you’re in a creative environment and you’re passionate about what you do, there are going to be arguments and disagreements. Unless you’re a guy that sits there and goes “Yeah, that’s fine then, of course,” there are going to be those moments. And if that’s the case, then what are you bringing to the table?

There were disagreements that happened during and after Talk, but if you speak to Jon, he’ll tell you the Talk album was a positive moment for him. I think he enjoyed it. It was one of the times when I went to a holiday resort on the coast here and Jon and I got together for quite some time. We wrote, talked and walked on the beach and had a great time.....[...]...When you do a record like Talk and you’re happy with it and it reaches your ambitions and then doesn’t sell as well as you wanted, it kind of takes the wind out of your sails a little. I thought “Well, I don’t know what to do now. I guess Yes can go and do another single, but we’ve gone through that. Now, it’s a matter of making albums that can stand there on their own—albums you can listen to like a symphonic work or something of that nature.” I thought Talk had done that to a degree. So, it was a confusing time for me. I needed to catch my breath. I think I was claustrophobic after Talk. Having said that, the Talk tour was the one on which we played our absolute best."

[Paul Allen]

Rabin. What a guy.

[Mr. Holland]

Rabin. What a guy.

Yeah, I definetly hope this AWR project will take of in some form.