YES.....WHY THEY ARE MY FAVORITE BAND

It was probably 1976. I remember exactly where I was…I was in a VW bug with 3 of my friends on my way to play some basketball…about a block from the house where I grew up….it was nighttime….I heard this song…(for the first time)

We have all been asked what our favorite musical group is. Some of us have one….”The Beatles” is a common and well deserving response to that question..I mean, really….who did what they did in only 8 years or so…? Incredible…and, objectively speaking….I would say “the Beatles” in a landslide…but, their music is nostalgic for me…it isn’t, for me, timeless…that is a tall order…to be timeless….

Led Zeppelin is timeless (for me)

Pink Floyd

And several others, for sure..

I have never really had a clear winner in that category…it always seems in flux…some music that I loved when I was in high school I see now as dated…not transcendent…not able to cross the bridge between youth and adulthood….Some groups you just get fatigued from…yes, they had their moments in your life…but it is like an ex-girlfriend…there is nothing left. The thrill is gone…or they are trapped in a time and place.

So, just this week….after years of observing what music actually still resonates with me just as much as it did the first time I heard it…I came to this personal conclusion….and, more for personal exercise, I am archiving my thoughts for all of eternity….

What makes YES my favorite group of all time…and what makes their music just as relevant today as it was when I was leaning up against a hallway wall at a high school party after a football game?

Well, for one…YES, is from that genre called Progressive Rock…YES is not a “guitar” band…they aren’t like most rock bands…like Zeppelin, The Stones, Hendrix, Van Halen, etc…which lead with strong guitars…and percussion…

Progressive Rock is usually much less dominated by guitar….it is more the domain of the synthesizer…most notably made popular in the late 60’s and early 70’s. “Prog” Rock bands feature guitar, of course, but they have much more synthesized sounds….keyboards are strong…and the tone can be mystical….interstellar, or a harkening back to King Arthur….

YES is among a relatively short list of Progressive Rock bands from that era…other popular Prog Rock bands would be:

Pink Floyd

Emerson Lake, and Palmer

Supertramp

Rush,

King Crimson

(Early) Genesis

and, 3 of those aforementioned bands are among my favorite all time bands..

YES is music that you might imagine as a soundtrack for Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is often that otherworldly. What sets YES apart, for me, is the amazingly rich vocal layering….the songs aren’t verse/chorus, verse/chorus…it is much less formulaic, but certainly very deliberate.. It is highly produced music.... YES has a very unique lead singer in Jon Anderson, one of the most unique vocalists of his era…he sings in the upper octaves…high pitched…and his supporting band members can make beautiful layered harmonies on top of his lead vocals. I think they are some of the most sophisticated vocal arrangements I have ever heard in music. If you don’t like highly produced music then YES (and Prog Rock in general) may not be for you....this is far from Pete Seeger or Jackson Browne.....there is a lot of layering.

YES, like most Progressive Rock, makes me think of my best dreams…or other existential ruminations. I feel most connected to my best (and most autonomous) self when listening to YES. In those times when I am losing touch with my true self...I know just what music to listen to....it gives continuity to the many different phases of my life….it is a form of spirituality for me….and, like I said once before…it is transcendent…if I was ascending to the heavens on a cloud…I might have YES as the soundtrack….

You don’t dance to Progressive Rock…let’s make that clear from the start..it is too comtemplative for that…it pulls at your soul…and not your dancing shoes. This isn’t Grateful Dead….though I like me a lot of that when the mood is right. YES is for the solitary man, or the man who is looking for solitude..or a moment within himself…

The name of that song that I heard on that night coming out of Dave Loveton’s VW bug “8 track” was “And You and I”. It was from a 1972 album called “Close to the Edge”. The song is 10 minutes long. It struck me then as being such a different song than anything I had ever heard…..the first minute is so very different….nothing to compare it to….actually, the whole darn song is mesmerizing, to the welcome ear….

For those who want to foray into YES territory I would suggest this song….and a song called “Soon” from an album called “Relayer”…and, of all the classic and more well known YES songs, I would suggest “I’ve Seen All Good People”. YES albums from post MTV era dipped into the more commercial, though there were some very great songs from that time. “Dear Father” is a noteworthy song from 1975.

There I said it….YES has not lost mystique since the day I heard it first….it is truly timeless…..and it is a reflection of who I am, and where my mind wanders often.

And you and I climb, crossing the shapes of the morning
And you and I reach over the sun for the river
And you and I climb, clearer towards the movement
And you and I called over valleys of endless seas