Wives/girlfriends

[Mouse]

Let's see... I like all Yes, but rate Rabin as a better guitarist over Howe (because he uses sounds other than the same bloody clean setting, is generally more imaginative and is content to stick to playing his guitar sections only on stage), my singing voice can reach the Anderson levels on a good day but I try to keep it more around the David Gilmour levels as it's more comfortable, and I saw The Wailers at GuilFest last month play a wonderful set which was absolutely brilliant and created a great vibe for the evening (which unfortunately for me involved falling horribly ill).

I think that ties everything up on this thread at my end.  8-)

[Trapezium Artist]

Let's see... I like all Yes, but rate Rabin as a better guitarist over Howe (because he uses sounds other than the same bloody clean setting, is generally more imaginative and is content to stick to playing his guitar sections only on stage), my singing voice can reach the Anderson levels on a good day but I try to keep it more around the David Gilmour levels as it's more comfortable, and I saw The Wailers at GuilFest last month play a wonderful set which was absolutely brilliant and created a great vibe for the evening (which unfortunately for me involved falling horribly ill).

I think that ties everything up on this thread at my end.  8-)

Sorry to re-open one part of it though, Mouse ...  

I'm not enough of a guitar aficionado to make a serious contribution to a debate on the relative playing talents of Howe and Rabin, that I'll admit, although my inner aural memory seems to insisting that Howe's sounds can be pretty varied.

And I reckon that Howe and Anderson wrote songs together were a lot more inventive and ground-breaking than Rabin's rather over-produced stuff which owes much more to conventional rock than progressive. That Rabin went on to become a film score composer speaks volumes, with works such as Con Air, Armageddon, and National Treasure as prima facie evidence.

But I will accept that Steve's solo albums can be a lot more folky and quirky (in the less than positive sense of the word) than I'd like (and his solo vocals, err, well), so perhaps he really did need Anderson, Squire, Wakeman, Bruford, White, Moraz, et al. to push him in the right direction.

Not sure my wife's a Yesfan at all though  

[catherine]

I really like Howe and Rabin's work - both get some great sounds. I think Steve Howe gets greater emotional depth out of his guitar (Gates of Delirium, anybody?) and find his stuff generally more appealing, whereas Rabin's quite flashy but colder.

I do feel a sudden strange urge to go and listen to 90125 and Big Generator all over again though! And perhaps I'll give Talk another spin - that's one album that I haven't really got to grips with yet.

[Gman]

Funnily enough I've been giving 90125 a virtual spin today...must get out and buy Big Generator.

Find myself hitting the fwd button alot when Spotifying pre-Rabin Yes...guess I'm not a die hard progger!  

[Geetar]

I'd actually go for "Talk" before BG, but maybe that's just me.

I like Big Generator, especially "Shoot High", but I love "Talk." It's also rather sad, imo anyway, that it's the last work TR and JA ever did together.

And please indulge me if, for once, I am utterly blunt: whenever I hear criticism of Rabin as a "metal" guitarist, however well-intentioned it may be, I can't help but entertain the uncharitable notion that the person espousing aforementioned opinions is devoid of the necessary critical faculties to discern great musical synergy when they hear it.

[Trapezium Artist]

Err, I didn't say "metal", did I?  :?

I'm happy to characterise TR as progressive in a generic sense, but slightly more on the side of conventional rock than I've ever been entirely happy with. I also always had the feeling that his collaboration with JA was "TR writes a song, records the instruments, and tracks the vocals, then JA comes in to record overdubs, and TR overproduces", missing the clear magic of the earlier "blood on the floor over a diminished fifth, bits of tape razored and stuck together with sellotape, let's write a double album with just four tracks" insanity.

In any case, despite the evident Trooper / Generator divide here, I'm heartened by the over-arching sense we're on the same broader page of Yesfandom  

Question: was Yes really Yes without JA? Weirdly enough, I'm a fan of Drama ahead of pretty much anything that came after it, so for me the answer must be a qualified yes (apologies).

[Geetar]

Nah mate, wasn't you I was referring to ....though it's worth noting that  "Talk" is a far more collaborative effort than many realise.

I'm still fighting an old battle with the Yesfans members who have their heads shoved resolutely up their assets.

And it's one of those battles that will only end when the universe eventually bows to the second law of thermodynamics, I fear.

[Mouse]

Nice to see you're sending some praise to Talk Geetar, I always feel that it often gets overlooked. Might even be my favourite album they did with Rabin. The Calling is one of my favourite Yes tunes and Endless Dream is stupendous.

As for where I stand on the Trooper/Generator field, then I'm on neither - I'm a Yes fan. I like all Yes and would quite happily mix Close To The Edge with 90125 with Magnification without and recognise it all as the same band which has made excellent music for over 40 years. And for me, that goes for any other band which has gone through some kind of line-up change.

[gr8gonzo]

It's always the same, it's just a shame...

I appreciate Steve Howe's work, but I'm more of a hard rock guy, so I actually prefer Rabin (I love his "Can't Look Away" album).  I think 90125 is a brilliant album.  By making "hits," do you realize how many non-prog people got into Yes (new and old) because of that tour?  I find myself in the minority when I praise the Union album, but I love the different line-ups sharing one album and think "Miracle Of Life" is one of several great songs on it.

[RacingHippo]

Funny that a thread that's nominally about "Wives/girlfriends" ends up being 90% Yes.
In my experience with the subject matter, it's always been 90% "No"  :roll:

[rogerg]

Funny that a thread that's nominally about "Wives/girlfriends" ends up being 90% Yes.
In my experience with the subject matter, it's always been 90% "No"  :roll:

heh

well played, sir!

[rogerg]

thinking more about it, as long as I ask ten times a day....

[catherine]

Your logic is flawed there, Rog. It'll still be "No" on at least 90% of the days, with a probable shift to "NO, and will you stop hassling me!" on day 2 and beyond.

[rogerg]

Your logic is flawed there, Rog. It'll still be "No" on at least 90% of the days, with a probable shift to "NO, and will you stop hassling me!" on day 2 and beyond.

I knew there'd be a way around it...