Recommend lesser known Yes related albums

[Kevin W]

There are some great albums among the Yes solo and Yes related band albums out there - a few of which are very well known and widely respected by many Yes fans, like 'Olias', 'Fish Out of Water', or Bill's first album with The Mighty Crim, 'Lark's Tongue In Aspic.' But can you recommend some lesser known Yes related albums that you really like? Here's 10 of mine, in no particular order:

1. Jabberwocky - Oliver Wakeman and Clive Nolan. Great concept album, also featuring Peter Banks on guitar (and Rick on narration)
2. Instinct - Peter Banks. Musical diversity from a restless musical mind, and an underappreciated one at that! Hope that documentary finally sees the light of day.
3. Arena - Asia. Took me a while to accept the Payne era of Asia. Think I was just being a musical snob really because there are some good albums that they released with him.
4. Preludes to a Century - Rick Wakeman. One of his solo piano albums where the melodies are strong and the playing graceful.
5. Squackett - A Life Within A Day. Not what I was expecting really; this is a varied album with some great tracks on it.
6. Bill Bruford's Earthworks - A Part And Yet Apart. Really intelligent jazz. Album title says it all really. Honestly I could have picked any of Earthworks' albums here. Great stuff.
7. Time - Steve Howe. Steve's been pretty prolific outside of Yes so there's lots to choose from. I really like the classical overtones of this album.
8. Live in L.A. - Trevor Rabin. Get the remastered version with the bonus Solly's Beard on it for better sound quality.
9. Halcyon Hymns - Downes Braide Association. Almost didn't include this because it is quite well known already despite being a recent release. Such a feel good album though I couldn't leave it out!
10. Recollection - Strawbs. A live set from 1970 this is essentially a longer version of 'Antiques and Curios' that showcases why Yes wanted to tempt Rick away from the band to join them.

Any more recommendations?

[alex peters]

Jon Anderson Toltec

[alex peters]

Obviously Chris Squire's Fish out of Water. As good as any Yes album with the exception of maybe 2.

This album showed Squire could be a lead singer. Unfortunately he never followed up with Fish 2

[Sharp On Attack]

I'll skip the obvious ones : FOOW, Olias, Six Wives that everyone knows...

1. Transportation by Billy Currie with Steve Howe : beautiful and atmospheric instrumental album.
2. Rick Wakeman : No Earthly Connection, probably my favourite RW album, sci fi themed prog rock but not so Yessy though
3. Flash (Peter Band's band after YES): Their 3 albums although the 3rd one is inferior
4. Mainhorse : Patrick Moraz before (and better than ! ) Refugee
5. Steve Howe : Turbulence for an alternative take of many Union tracks
6. Steve Howe Beginnings : Despite the vocals...
7. The 3 BRUFORD albums with Jeff Berlin and Allan Holsdworth (on the first 2)
8. Earthworks Random Acts Of Happiness (Bruford back to acoustic drums)
9. The first UK obviously ( I do like Bill !)
10. Jon Anderson's Invention of Knowledge : I do not know why so many people don't like it. Totally worthy of the YES legacy to my ears ! (Still hoping for the follow-up)

[Enlighten]

Let’s not forget Trevor Rabin’s Can’t Look Away and Jacaranda, The Cape, Sludge, Market Street…..great stuff.

The first Conspiracy album has some good moments.

Billy Sherwood’s The Big Peace is probably his best work.

Levin, Torn, White is great

Rick Wakeman’s Criminal Record has some terrific tracks with Chris and Alan

The Steve Howe album is aces

Igor Khoroshev’s Piano Works is stellar

Encores, Legends and Paradox features several Yes men offering tribute to ELP

[Kevin W]

[QUOTE=Sharp On Attack;n28772]I'll skip the obvious ones : FOOW, Olias, Six Wives that everyone knows...


4. Mainhorse : Patrick Moraz before (and better than ! ) Refugee


Ah yes of course I had forgotten Mainhorse! Great album! Love quite a few of the others you mentioned as well although I was classifying them as more well known but maybe that's just because I have been listening to them for so long! I was thinking of the Bruford and the UK albums especially. The latter is one of my all time favourite Yes related albums.

[luna65]

8. Live in L.A. - Trevor Rabin. Get the remastered version with the bonus Solly's Beard on it for better sound quality.

Agreed (in terms of the version) but the thing about "Solly" is, I believe I can reasonably assert, that it is the version from 9012Live which is cheating! 🤪

Let’s not forget Trevor Rabin’s Can’t Look Away and Jacaranda, The Cape, Sludge, Market Street…..great stuff.

For the purposes of this discussion, Can't Look Away doesn't count because it is the opposite of "lesser-known" in terms of Trevor's solo work. But yeah, Jacaranda deserves far more love than it has received, it's a work of Art.

I'm going to bang on about this again, and I guess it's probably marginal, but...
Headspace - I Am Anonymous
...which features Lee Pomeroy (so there's the tenuous Yes connection) as well as Adam Wakeman and Damian Wilson (who have worked with Rick too) and it is a delightful slice of prog-metal. I think the band is defunct at this point because they've all got other gigs and therefore no time but everytime I see a photo of even a couple of the boys together on Adam's Instagram I get a little surge of joy, that's how much I love their music but especially this album.

[Ash Armstrong]

Strawbs - From the Witchwood

King Crimson - Lizard

Lou Reed's eponymous debut solo album features both Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. It suffers in comparison with Transformer and Berlin, but it's still a good listen for me.

[Kevin W]

Strawbs - From the Witchwood

Agreed. A great album which I could have easily gone for over the one from the Strawbs that I did choose because, well, you can never have too many live versions of Rick’s tour de force that is the solo in ‘Where is This Dream of Your Youth?’ can you?

[Soundwaveseeker]

Great Yes-related entries, all of these. Here's some of mine:

1) Igor Khoroshev - Piano Works (1999): best piano album by any Yes keyboardist, period. Not snoozy new age stuff like Rick's got, this is engaging ivory stuff.

2) Trever Rabin: Beginnings/Trevor Rabin s/t (1978) - solid pomp rock, strong Queen/Styx-level harmonies, even a couple jazz rock moments and a couple of Brian May-like guitar squealings.

3) Steve Howe: Grand Scheme Of Things (1993) - varied rock album alternating strong guitar instrumentals and Yes-level song with vocals. His vocals don't even sound half bad on here. Lots of fine overlooked material on the Relativity label.

4) Patrick Moraz: Human Interface (1987) - symphonic 80's synth heaven on the short-lived Cinema label. Moraz had the elements to be a Jean Michel Jarre type synth star/one-man orchestra type artist. This and Future Memories are such moments.

5) Bill Bruford: Masterstrokes 1988-85 (1986) - if you only get one album from the Bruford group with Allan Holdsworth, let it be this 1986 compilation. It collects the best of that stuff along with some tracks from the two albums he did with Moraz.

6) Jon Anderson: 3 Ships (1985) - feel-good 80's Christmas album from Jon which is somewhat more like a regular Jon Anderson solo album with a few Christmas tracks.

7) Asia: Aura (2001) - my favorite of the John Payne Asia. Howe guests on 2 tracks. It just glows. This is a summery orangey sky sunset album.

8) Billy Sherwood: What Was The Question (2010) or Speed Of Life (2009) - one of these may do for that 'Sherwood sound'/modern 'prog' rockin' stuff from Sherwood recorded in between Yes stints. Not the best thing in the world, but when the mood hits...

9) Peter Banks: Reduction (1999) - true, his other ones are better, but I'm always drawn to this third one in the Self-Contained trilogy. The short but dreamy track 'Fade To Blue' is worth the price of the disc alone and is reminiscent of Andy Summers on his album 'Mysterious Barricades'.

10) Geoff Downes: The Light Program (1987) - one of my top 5 electronic albums of all time. I always return to this album. It's engraved on my heart. In fact, I stack it up against anything Tangerine Dream ever made or any electronic artist. One of the best synthesizer albums ever made.


Plenty o' lesser-talked about Yes-related solo albums & band projects. These are a fraction of them, plenty to discover if you haven't already.

[luna65]

2) Trever Rabin: Beginnings/Trevor Rabin s/t (1978) - solid pomp rock, strong Queen/Styx-level harmonies, even a couple jazz rock moments and a couple of Brian May-like guitar squealings.

I appreciate your articulation of the correct opinion. But still I despair of ever finding anyone else who thinks "I'm Old Enough (To Make You A Woman)" contains Trevor's best Brian May impersonation.

[Gilly Goodness]

7) Asia: Aura (2001) - my favorite of the John Payne Asia. Howe guests on 2 tracks. It just glows. This is a summery orangey sky sunset album.

.

Again SWS. Correct. Euphoric golden album.




Also Steve did some incredible instrumental
music with Paul Sutin. In Switzerland.

[Somis Sound]

Chris Squire- Fish Out of Water (One of my favorite albums)
Trevor Rabin- Jacaranda
Squackett- A Life Within A Day
Levin Torn White
Conspiracy- self titled debut
Bruford Levin- Upper Extremities

[josuev80]

Nobody except maybe one person knows about this one album

That isn’t entirely true and you know that as

these two songs were released in world trade’s 1995 album but clearly were written and demoed during the 1989-1990 sessions

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Stnx4o1DPFg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p8_GfnXyqQE

then you have the four songs that wound up on union from yes west that likely would of been part of the album in 1990

which by my math does create a full album


love conquers all
the more we live
lift me up
Evolution song
saving my heart
miracle of life
say good bye

about a 45 minute album

[Soundwaveseeker]

Chris Squire- Fish Out of Water (One of my favorite albums)
Trevor Rabin- Jacaranda
Squackett- A Life Within A Day
Levin Torn White
Conspiracy- self titled debut
Bruford Levin- Upper Extremities

Bruford Levin Upper Extremities/B.L.U.E - I had totally forgotten about that one. Excellent one, with David Torn and pre-fame Chris Botti on trumpet. I saw that live back in 1998 at the Orion Studios in the Baltimore area, standing mere feet away from Bruford. Sick players. Picked up the disc at the show, all the music played that night was new to me. I believe a few tracks from that show were later released on a live album, Blue Nights.