Why do so many Yes fans dislike 'yessongs' so much?

M

mikew86

New Member
Yessongs is easily one of my five favorite musical things ever. I can listen to it all the way through, non-stop, and the goosebumps stay from beginning to end. Yet it seems that many Yes fans think it's a mediocre album full of songs that pale in comparison to the studio versions. I like the looser vibe and the adrenaline-filled intensity of the live versions, while the studio versions sound almost clinical to me, maybe someday I'll come to respect the studio versions more someday as I listen to them more, I'm not sure.

Any thoughts?
 
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I don't know what the "dislike" comes from. I don't know if it's the live concert they don't like or the fact that one can not get a good copy of that darn album!
I like Yes and Yessongs is my favorite for some reason, but finding a good copy on vinyl is practically unobtainable. Having been through 4 copies I'm wondering if it was recorded poorly. I'm about to go ahead and try getting the remaster of it on CD to see what that sounds like.
 
withmusic said:
I don't know what the "dislike" comes from. I don't know if it's the live concert they don't like or the fact that one can not get a good copy of that darn album!
I like Yes and Yessongs is my favorite for some reason, but finding a good copy on vinyl is practically unobtainable. Having been through 4 copies I'm wondering if it was recorded poorly. I'm about to go ahead and try getting the remaster of it on CD to see what that sounds like.
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My 3rd copy is excellent. I must have seen 15 to get this one though.

I love The Yes Album through Going For The One and Yessongs is a good addition.
 
I love this album. I don't know who you are talking to, but most of my friends are Yes fans and like Yessongs. As for the vinyl version, the album was well recorded. The CD sounds fine. There were a lot of lousy pressings made at that time. Don't blame the recording.
 
If Bill Bruford, not Alan White, had been playing drum kit on more than a couple of the tracks, it would have been a favorite of mine. He didn't, so it isn't. The difference between the two is massive.
 
kneeOhFight said:
If Bill Bruford, not Alan White, had been playing drum kit on more than a couple of the tracks, it would have been a favorite of mine. He didn't, so it isn't. The difference between the two is massive.
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If Bill Bruford, not Chester Thompson, had been playing drum kit on more than one track, it would have been a favorite of mine. He didn't, so it isn't. The difference between the two is massive.

Also applies to Seconds Out:yes:
 
For me, by the time "Yessongs" came along, they'd long since crossed the line into total self-indulgence; from Baroque to Rococo... from substance (well... a little bit of substance) to decor. :-)

I do now have a copy, having found one on the swap pile at the town dump a few years back. Haven't listened to it, though.

For my taste, they lost the forest for the trees after Close to the Edge (and, yes, I have to admit I like that album - despite having a side-long "song", Rick Wakeman, and goofy lyrics galore).

The best Yes, for me, was The Yes Album, with Bruford and sans Wakeman.

I guess I am pretty nontraditional as Yes fans go; my favorite Yes tracks are probably Starship Trooper and their cover of Paul Simon's America!

Well... more of an erstwhile fan. I rarely feel compelled to listen to them any more; I think I outgrew them at about age 20.
 
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I have 2 vinyl copies of Yessongs, one I picked up last week that's in nearly perfect condition (not even any ring wear, which is rare for this album) and another that is in probably VG+ to EX condition. I figured having two copies could not possibly be a bad thing. If I find another in great condition I will probably buy it too:)
 
my favorite Yes tracks are probably Starship Trooper and their cover of Paul Simon's America!
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I assume you mean the version of America on "Yesterdays" which is different than the short version on "Close To The Edge".
 
correct.

There's no version of America, shortened or otherwise, on my copy of Close to the Edge - which is a licorice pizza copy I purchased in the late 1970s.
 
My $.02:

Yes was an incredible studio band. Live, not so much. I've owned a variety of Yes live albums from Yessongs to that awful laserdisc concert from Philadelphia; I'll stick with the well-groomed studio stuff, thankyouverymuch.

As always, just my opinion, YMMV.
 
I always thought that "Tales from Topographic Oceans" was the hated Yes album. I simply cannot make it through "Tales."
 
I really like "Revealing Science of God" from Tales. I like Yessongs too, but I admit I'm a pretty ardent Yes fan :D
 
I enjoy Tales from Topographic Oceans but it was one of my first Yes albums.
I'd consider it more indispensible than Yessongs.
Then again I've owned and regularly listen to everything from The Yes Album through Going For The One since the mid 70s.
I consider that whole block as a permanent part of my collection.
Along with Fish Out Of Water, Olias Of Sunhillow, Badger, 6 Wives, Center Of The Earth, **** it I'm a Yes fan, gimme the headphones :music:
 
I also like Relayer. I have to be in the mood, but when I am, it's killer! It's certainly not "easy listening" ;)
 
July 3, 1971, went to a Jethro Tull concert at Dallas Memorial Auditorium. First band to play was Yes. Had not heard them before, dependent on Dallas radio back then.They played most if not all of The Yes Album. I have 35 mm slides from that show. Anyway got blown away that night! That 3rd Yes album immediately started getting lots of airplay on the progressive rock station.
 
Are you sure that your not confusing it with Yesshows? It had Ritual split between sides 3 & 4 with a song before and after it.
Who thought that that was good idea??

Yessongs is an excellent live album!
 
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