Saturday 18 April 2020

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2019? Round 3 + list of finalists

Our last round of the overly long vote for the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2019 had a very clear winner. 35 votes and 30 of them went to the Steve Howe Trio's New Frontier. In Continuum's Acceleration Theory Part Two: Annihilation squeaks through as runner-up on two votes, while three of the Rick Wakeman live series get a vote each: Live at Daphne Du Maurier Festival UK 17th January 2001, Live at the City Hall Sheffield, UK November 21st 1981, and Live in Guildhall Preston, UK November 16th 1981.

That means no votes for Wakeman's Live at Sankei Hall, Osaka, Japan 30th June 2014, Live at International Forum Hall, Tokyo, Japan 1st July 2014, or Live Solo Performance, Tokyo, Japan. Also on zero votes were Deckchair Poets' Always Piste at Christmas (with Downes) or You're in My Heart from Rod Stewart with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (with Horn). The last of those, ironically, was by far the best-selling of any Yes-related album in 2019. It was the tenth best-selling of any album in the UK in 2019, as well being top ten in Ireland and Australia, and top 40 in Germany, Hungary, Portugal and New Zealand.

That means that our grand final will be between:

Refugee: Refugee [2019 re-release] (w/ Moraz)
Downes Braide Association: Live in England
Steve Howe Trio: New Frontier (w/ Bruford writing)
Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders: Get the Money (w/ Davison)
Rodney Matthews and Jeff Scheetz with Oliver Wakeman: Trinity (w/ Wakeman R)
In Continuum: Acceleration Theory Part Two: Annihilation (w/ Davison, writing by Anderson)

There were 28 contestants: 12 Rick Wakeman solo releases from the archives (0 in the final), 3 re-releases with previously unreleased archival material (1 in the final), and 13 new albums (5 in the final). Nothing with Horn (out of 3 releases), Banks (1 release) or Sherwood (1 release) has made it through. There were 12 Wakeman solo releases and 2 appearances, of which just one guest appearace got through, whereas 2 out of 3 Davison performances are included, as are the only O Wakeman and Bruford appearances. Anderson has 1 out of 3 release through to the final. Downes and Moraz are 1 out of 2.