Yes: Worst to Best Albums

welcome back to another edition of worse to best this series where I pretty much rank all the albums from a particular group and this time we're diving into quite a lengthy discography this time we were looking at yes these guys have countless members and I believe I have actually nailed it down to 19 records now a little bit of ground rules before we start this one off just because there are so many albums to cover first off we're only looking at official studio releases from the official band of yes this doesn't include any of the side projects the band has done this doesn't include any of the unofficial releases such as Anderson Bruford Wakeman and how there's not going to be any of the keys to assertion studio releases there's not going to be any of those EPS they've been released and I'm only looking at the material that has been released on the official releases not any of the special editions or special features and the second item that needs to be addressed is because there's so many albums to address here I'm only going to be doing like a bird's eye view of the album we're not gonna give any kind of a review I'm just gonna give a reason of why it is where it is that all being said I also want to preface that this isn't a critical kind of analysis of each album and where they fit this is my own personal enjoyment of the albums so with all that out of the way let's dive in and find out what their worst album is so I think the first five albums can pretty much be interchangeable on this list but for me it's open your eyes that takes the worst spot mainly because it is far too long and it's just far too boring there's not a whole lot of new material it feels very rehashed of things that they are trying in the 90s that we already got a bunch of this style of music but the main caveat for me is that it is just way too long and the music is very forgettable even with that big song at the end it just kind of is silence for most of it so it just it just doesn't match up with any other other releases so the reason why I put talked as being the second worst album at spot number nineteen eighteen is that it is much shorter there's a lot less to digest which means there's a lot less meandering this album is very middle-of-the-road it's very safe as I said the only saving grace that this album has to open your eyes is that it is much shorter [Music] okay so I'm guessing a lot of you based on my past videos we're gonna put nine oh one two five as my worst album but there's some really interesting moments on this album and even I will admit the album itself isn't 100% bad owner over lonely heart is a fairly fun track even though it does pay me a little bit to know who it is that is recording this it's still a fun track and there's a few other tracks on here that is kind of fun a Trevor Horn really knows what he is doing in the production side of things even if his style of music and his style of presentation doesn't connect with me and I'm not like it's just not for me I also really enjoy the song cinema and city of Love has a great groove to it but really outside of those there's not a whole lot that I really enjoy and even city of love gets pretty repetitive by the end and sometimes what repetition works but in a case like this where there's not a whole lot going on within the repetition it just kind of feels flat for me now Union I feel as though a lot of people would put as their worst for me it does some fun things and I like the idea of this album of getting as many of the creative hands that have been through yes to get in there and get in their pot unfortunately it does end up feeling like there's too many cooks in the kitchen it doesn't feel unified at all it feels like a lot of things have just been thrown on the wall and seeing what sticks and what sticks it's just kind of bland but some of the things that they've thrown on the wall do work out pretty pretty well saving my heart and the more we live let go these two songs are real gems off the album but it's not enough to save the album overall so this album is to follow up to nine oh one to five and I actually enjoy it a little bit better than I know one to five a lot of people thought that big generator was a weaker album of the two but I feel that it is a bit of an improvement now that they've got their feet in this kind of a style because 9 11 to 5 was such a stark change from what we have expected with yes that now they've played around and played live they're starting to get the groove of it so I feel like it's an improvement it feels a little bit more unified and a little bit more cohesive in comparison to its predecessor it also works in that there are a number of more fun tracks on this again Trevor Robin has finally dialed it back as being the center stage player and he's doing a lot more of the harmonization all pieces which I feel he excels in a little bit more so tomato isn't necessarily a bad album it is the worst album from the 70s and 60s this was a very interesting album expecially coming after such the goliaths that had preceded it the songs are much shorter but they're still a little bit on the complex side like I feel as though John Anderson and Rick Wakeman really stood out on this and in some ways this is a good thing like within a circus of heaven and don't kill the whale these tracks have just that dripping mist that I love from those two individuals but it never really allowed a lot of shine for Steve Howe or Alan white now I do know that Chris Squire is still pumping on the bass and he provides that heart but unfortunately in the end there's not a whole lot of like really I guess new ground that's been tread especially with all the albums that preceded it really breaking new ground this one just kind of hunkered down into its own little safe box and it's the first time I can say that a yes um played it safe so the debut album is taking up the 13th spot and this is where we can really see where the band is gonna go they still haven't really worked out their signature sound their signature set players as well so they're just kind of getting their feet wet getting a groove and used to one another a lot of these songs don't really leave a lasting impact but it does kind of show where the band is gonna go in future discographies so I am really hoping that heaven and earth is the last album that the band puts out especially after Chris Squires passing and now that most of the band members have left I think there's only really Steve Howe and Allan white let's left so I hope that they stop here and heaven and earth is actually a pretty pretty fun album especially taking the the 12th spot here when it first came out I did not like it at all I didn't connect I didn't dig it I thought that it was very very safe and that is a very good way to describe this album it is safe but it's still quite enjoyable the more that I listen to it it definitely harkens back to the early yes like it's it's no surprise that it's kind of where it is because it feels very much like yes and time and a word it's light it's fun it's fine it's fine but it's not much else than that it doesn't leave a lasting impression and it is interesting to hear so much like hammond organ on this they're really channeling the the john lord on this but the lights of Ages is definitely the highlight of this album and it's enough to really boost it up so [Music] okay the 11th spot is taken for time and a word and for me this is the first of them that really started the signature sound of what yes was and what they were going to become it has that standout track of time and a word which has really developed its own legacy I love this track it's one of my favorite yes tracks as well as astral traveller and I think this is where they're really starting to get into that experimental side that would really put them on the map and so this is where that that spark is starting to fly of whoo yes really is [Music] [Applause] 10 spot goes to drama drama is a very very interesting album and not just because of what's on the album but what was going on around it kind of the Buggles falling out and then getting smushed in with yes and it just it's a very very strange album like it works in some respects like I love Maschine Messiah I love Tempus Fugit the rest of the tracks though fall a little short and it just doesn't quite I love how dark Maschine Messiah is and Tempus Fugit is just a fun kind of a complex but kind of a rhythmic groove that I really really enjoy but as I said the rest of the album is just kind of blah I mean on the upside it's the best album the band put out in the 80s so that's a good point a okay number seven fly from here now a lot of the material that was used on flight from here was actually developed in like Jami sessions from the drama era a lot of the tracks feel as though this could have been the sequel to drama as opposed to nine oh one to five and I kind of wish that the band had gone into this direction because the sounds that we have on here are fantastic the title track that's kind of split into a whole bunch of mini tracks it's it's my favorite piece on this album for sure and it's probably the last real media pick that the band had done when I was listening to this when it first came out back in 2011 I just melted now unfortunately the second side of this album does kind of fall that's kind of falter I think only I have the tiger or that's the only track on the second side that really gets me but the reason why I put this over drama is because drama was bookended by two fantastic pieces and it was really hard to kind of get into that album where I was with fly from here at least I could listen to the title track on the first side and have a great time and then I could choose whether or not to continue on the second slide so that's why I put it up a little bit higher coming into the eighth of the latter so the latter is the genesis of one of my favorite moments in yes it shows where the band is gonna go within the 2000s it has that optimistic approach it has a lot more of a I guess celebration of sound as well that was captured from like the going for the one era and why I like this album so much is in the 90s it felt like the band was going through an identity crisis and they didn't quite know where to go and so I felt with the latter they finally got an idea of who they were in this new century who they wanted to be and went for it whereas a lot of bands in this time we're really really spinning their wheels and so I have to applaud the band for coming up with such a solid work at this stage of their career the only drawback that I have to the ladder and this is a small nitpick and why it's kind of here is that there are a number of callbacks to past albums that I think removes the listener a little bit from where they want to be okay number seven with relayer this guy is a fantastic treat and one that I forget just how good it is gates of darillium or just media and it's interesting because at this point progressive rock was kind of on shaky ground I mean the band that just released tales of the topographic oceans so you can tell that they were kind of like well do we continue on with this with such a strange kind of a acceptance that was tails or do we just kind of sail forward and they sailed forward with such a great work of relayer gates of darillium being that 20-minute epoch and ending with soon it just makes me melt every time I listen to it and the two other tracks sound chaser and to be over are just great tracks like I love how chaotic sound chaser can be at times and just how off-the-wall insane it is and to be over is kind of what they had done with the remembering as well as with you and you and I like this very grand presentation and this grand sound without being like really crazy and really over-the-top a very succinct way of presenting that [Music] okay number six now we're coming into some I guess controversial opinions some hot takes with fragile being here so I know fragile is probably the outside of 901 to 5 their most popular work having a lot of their stand out tracks like roundabouts like a heart of the sunrise and what I love about this album is the concept a lot of bands had tried things similar to this where every band member had a song on this that was just their work and then they would come together and create these so beautiful masterpieces so cans and Bram's is definitely Rick Wakemans and I love the fact that they started off with his being the new member to kind of initiate him into the band we have heaven clearly John Anderson five-percent nothing in his Bill Bruford just uh it's so good the fish well obviously that's fish that's the man Chris Squire and then finally mood for a day being Steve house and so when they come together as a full unified group with roundabout with the south side of the sky and with heart of the sunrise you can see where each individual shines on those individual tracks that they had a master and then how they work together as an overall group and I love this album but I love a few other ones a little bit more number-5 magnificat magnification okay now I know a lot of people would probably put this a little bit lower on the list but number five has to go to magnification I love this album and I love the fact that it comes so late in their career it shows they still have a mastery of songwriting ship and musical playing styles they utilize a Orchestra Foley to its full extent so many bands bring in an orchestra on an album and just use it as a gimmick but here it works so well and it has its own identity all the albums that kind of came out in the 80's 90's and later on in the 2000s and 2010 each of these felts just kind of blend they're kind of piggybacking off of one another this one does a little bit from the latter but with magnification it has its own unified feeling I mean two of my favorite tracks on this are definitely don't go with just being very fun very poppy very light-hearted and then the follow-up track to that of give you love each day just how beautiful that track is of give love each day yeah just that presentation that celebration and how optimistic this band is even so far into their own career the yes album taken the fourth spot on here this is the one that really broke them out so the star performers are found on here I think only Rick Wakeman is the one that is in Tony Kaye is still on the keys here but that is just fine for what is being done on this album yours is no disgrace Starship Troopers I've seen all good people like these three tracks are played over and over and over again on the live circuit and even the clap being such a great little guitar Diddy on here and venture with perpetual change especially perpetual chains where it's going like all over the place great stuff and this is the one that really showcases where they're gonna go in the future being a straight-up progressive rock effort at this point so yeah I have to applaud this album and I freaking love it okay so these last three are pretty much interchangeable for me like catch me on any other day and I will probably have it all over the place but I really had to think about which ones I wanted to put so let's get into the first third so I've already done a full at live stream of this album you can find that right there to get my full take on this they really moved away from the chaotic and more into a celebration I love the use of the deep organ sounds that Rick Wakeman is employing on this let's go on to number two so so hard so hard you made me choose between two of my all-time favorite albums uh it pains me to put this at number two because it has so much beauty and dripping of glory on this I'm gonna have to do a live stream of this the only reason why I put this one a little bit lower was the giants under the sea doesn't connect with me all the time and that's the only reason why I lowered it a little bit more than the number one album but when it hits oh does it hit hard like the remembering that moment on remembering near the end words that big symphony of sound and is so grand and so heavy the revealing science of god being the first track it really takes its time to build and by the time you're near the end you're like holy geez this song is massive and ritual ritual is one of those songs where no matter when I listen to this I get emotional so I have to be really selective of when I listen to it cuz that ending play out was Steve Howe playing on the guitars this whole album is an emotional experience for me I don't mind that it's overblown and a little bit pompous a little bit pretentious but I don't mind at all I love it so yeah it's number two so process from the elimination we already know what number one is let's talk about it close to the edge closely edge close to the edge man this guy came on the scene and just blew everybody away like if you're going to follow up arguably a masterpiece that is fragile how are you going to do it but with an even bigger masterpiece close the edge is a staple and people have been talking about this endlessly it showed that even though the genre of prog had started four or five years earlier there was still a lot of room to grow and this guy just blows me away every time I listen to it the title track close to the edge being that Goliath that every moment is so well orchestrated and so well thought out that there's no inch of wiggle room on this so that by the time we get to and you and I we have that breathing space we have that release we have that lament and we have that rejoice yes Iberian cut to I can never pronounce that guy being in my mind like the quintessential yes track like if I were to just pin down one song as being the quintessential yes track that would be the one just being a funky track everybody's coming together and playing so well it ends the album off brilliantly and it starts off on my favorite live recordings so closely edge easily takes number one even though I had to battle myself pretty hard of what does that number one so that's my list of yes is worse the best how does it match up with yours let me know if your own ranking by commenting down below thank you guys so much for watching as always you guys are definitely the best and until next time no doubt [Music]

Channel: Notes Reviews

Views: 153,089

Keywords: Yes, Yes Band, Worst To Best, Prog Rock, Progressive Rock

Id: w8MulynpvdU

Length: 20min 17sec (1217 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 23 2018