Greatest (Ranked ?) YESsongs Under 3 Minutes

[carlmarx38]

OK, here's an idea I got after reading some of the posts in response to my FRAGILE 50th Anniversary thread......What are the greatest, or worst songs YES recorded which run less than 3 minutes ? If you ever wondered how many they even recorded, here's a more-or-less complete list :

All Fighters Past
Bumpy Ride
Cans and Brahms
Can I ? (really should go with "Face to Face" because it segues directly into it)
Can You Imagine
Cinema
Clear Days
EvenSong
Five Percent For Nothing
Fly From Here Overture
From the Balcony
Hello Chicago (The Word Is LIVE)
I'm Down (LIVE 1976, from YesYears)
Madrigal
Masquerade
Montreux's Theme (YesYears)
Mood For a Day
Overture (from Symphonic LIVE)
"Si" (9012Live - The Solos)
Soft as a Dove
Soon (9012Live)
Time Is Time
Vevey, Part 1
Vevey, Part 2
We Can Fly (reprise)
Yesterday and Today
White Car

[carlmarx38]

Ok technically I cheated, because I didn't include any of the throwaway demos or leftover tracks which were included on some of the reissues, but if you want a truly complete list, than add these as well (although some of these may qualify for the Worst YESsongs ever recorded) :

Crossfire
In the Tower
Last Train
Never Done Before
Picasso
Days

[Gilly Goodness]

Man in a White Car is the PERFECT short song.
A haiku.
A palate cleanser between 2 meaty prog sub-epics.
A bonsai symphony. A tantalisingly aperitif.
The story of Gary Numen.
Introduces character.
Farewells character.
Audacious.
Daring.
Should be back in the repertoire.

The rest? Not so much.

(Soft as a dove, clear days are lovely though)

[Homemade Parachute]

1) Cinema
2) We Have Heaven
3) Evensong / Can I (tie)

I will not be taking questions at this time.

[Ceasar’s Palace]

That’s a very mixed bag!

1) Madrigal (how could you miss it?)
2) Montreux’s theme (even in this unfinished state better than a lot of official Yes songs)
3) Clear Days (maybe not quite Eleanor Rigby, but still beautiful)

Honourable mention: In The Tower. This could have been the best thing Jon & Rick ever did, had it been developed a bit more.

[John Vehadija]

Gotta go for Time Is Time great idea

[carlmarx38]

That’s a very mixed bag!

1) Madrigal (how could you miss it?)
2) Montreux’s theme (even in this unfinished state better than a lot of official Yes songs)
3) Clear Days (maybe not quite Eleanor Rigby, but still beautiful)

Honourable mention: In The Tower. This could have been the best thing Jon & Rick ever did, had it been developed a bit more.

Thanks for the correction, I updated the original thread to include "Madrigal". Also noticed I missed "Picasso" and "Days", two bonus tracks from the reissue of Tormato. Trying to not include demos though (unless someone thinks they are worthy of inclusion in the Classic Cannon !)

[Soundwaveseeker]

My top ten Yes songs under 3 minutes:

In no particular order, just 10 that I include as favorite 2+ minute Yes songs:

1) Cinema
2) Can You Imagine
3) Clear Days
4) White Car
5) Madrigal
6) Cans & Brahms
7) Montreux Theme
8) Can I?
9) Picasso
10) Yesterday & Today

[carlmarx38]

Ok, here's my Top 10, but first a disclaimer.....I realized that 3 of my Top 5 are virtually inseparable from another song, because they all function as a Prelude or "Part 1" to another song which they segue into :

1. We Have Heaven / South Side of the Sky
2. Cinema / Owner of a Lonely Heart
3. Overture / Give Love Each Day (or Close to the Edge on Symphonic Live)
4. Fly From Here Overture
5. Can I ? / Face To Face


To me these songs (except for Fly From Here Overture and Cinema, which can function as a stand-alone songs pretty well) all are really 2-Part suites, and work best within the context of both songs. The Overture for "Give Love Each Day" is an interesting case, because in the live environment it was used in a different context, as a Prelude for "Close to the Edge" (the show-opener), instead of "Give Love Each Day"). IMO it pretty much works in both contexts (although you can argue that it doesn't count because it is an orchestral piece written by Michael Kamen the arranger, and the band didn't have much to do with it).

Here are my remaining picks :

6. Madrigal
7. Cans and Brahms
8. Yesterday and Today
9. Five Percent For Nothing
10. Can You Imagine
11. From the Balcony (my 2nd favorite song from Open Your Eyes)

[Roundabob]

Mood for a Day and The Fish off of Fragile both clock in under 3 minutes. They would be on my list, along with Time is Time. I was hoping to add A Venture off of The Yes Album, but alas, it is 3:17 long, and doesn’t qualify.

[Soundwaveseeker]

I was thinking of adding The Fish too, but I consider the live version on either Yessongs or 'Whitefish' as the definitive Fish.

[carlmarx38]

Mood for a Day and The Fish off of Fragile both clock in under 3 minutes. They would be on my list, along with Time is Time. I was hoping to add A Venture off of The Yes Album, but alas, it is 3:17 long, and doesn’t qualify.

Don't know how I missed Mood For a Day, thanks for the correction.....I think I left off The Fish on purpose, because it is virtually Part 2 of LDR, as far as I'm concerned. And the few times the band has played LDR without Fish (on the Magnification tour), it doesn't really work.

[Sharp On Attack]

We Have Heaven, MAn In A White Car and Can You Imagine

[Susanne]

We Have Heaven, MAn In A White Car and Can You Imagine

I think I might go for the same songs, but in a slightly rearranged order:
We Have Heaven
Can You Imagine
Man in a White Car
(Or, perhaps, We Can Fly (Reprise))