The only band I love from which I could assemble great separate line-ups

[mcnpauls]

It struck me the other day that while the Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Howe and Wakeman line up is my definitive Yes, a hypothetical band composed of Benoit David on lead vocals, Trevor Horn on bass and vocals, Alan White, Trevor Rabin and Geoff Downes would actually have interested me just as much performing "Drama" era material onwards at any point up to our very sad loss of Alan.


It even got me wondering about a third viable Yes: Juan, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, Billy Sherwood and Jay would have been worth seeing, too.

[Ceasar’s Palace]

Somehow I can’t imagine Rabin playing Drama songs. I really don’t know why.

[Soundwaveseeker]

Yes are like Legos, you can assemble all sorts of interchangeable fun. Ages 7- up. Warning: choking hazard. Close To The Edge Playset sold separately.

[Homemade Parachute]

So much fun imaging what Yes might have accomplished had they “fractalised” like King Crimson in the 90s. I mean, kind of unmanageable, too, but had they all actually liked each other and got on, so much talent that could have combined in such interesting ways. Rabin/Bruford/Levin? Howe/Kay/White? Anderson/Anderson’s Ego?

[Enlighten]

Rabin, Bruford, Moraz, Anderson and Squire

[madbear]

Squire, Howe, Bruford, Kaye.

[Soundwaveseeker]

A Genesis equivalent of this would be a lineup of Ray Wilson vox, Hackett, Chester Thompson, Daryl Stuermer on bass and Anthony Phillips on keyboards. Genesis sure could have benefited from some Yes-style tenaciousness and perseverance of the brand name, but I know, different band with different band dynamics.

One missing Yes configuration other than a lineup with Wakeman and Rabin on an album together would have been a lineup with both Anderson and Geoff Downes together. Could they not have got on musically? I think they probably could have written together if they happened to be in a Yes at the same time. What would a song with an Anderson/Downes writing credit have been like? The only thing that sounds like such a thing in the Yes catalogue is To Be Alive (Hep Yadda) from The Ladder. The keyboards on that song are kinda Downesy.

[bondegezou]

It struck me the other day that while the Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Howe and Wakeman line up is my definitive Yes, a hypothetical band composed of Benoit David on lead vocals, Trevor Horn on bass and vocals, Alan White, Trevor Rabin and Geoff Downes would actually have interested me just as much performing "Drama" era material onwards at any point up to our very sad loss of Alan.

It even got me wondering about a third viable Yes: Juan, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, Billy Sherwood and Jay would have been worth seeing, too.

It's part of what makes Yes so wonderous! There's a couple of other acts I could do the same for, like Soft Machine and Gong.

Soft Machine's line-up on their first single is the wonderful combo of Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen, but about 10 years later and you had another great line-up of John Marshall, Karl Jenkins, Roy Babbington and John Etheridge... who were joined for a short period by Alan "Rick's cousin" Wakeman on saxophone.