From the latest Grumpy Old Rick's Ramblings, it looks like the Anderson Wakeman Rabin project is seriously gearing up for activity, both an album and tour. But what is the set list of the live shows going to look like? Presumably a new album will be featured, but what else?
When Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe appeared, what they would play on tour seemed obvious from the start. Here was (most of) the band that gave us Fragile and Close to the Edge, and (apart from the opening solo sections), everything they played came from those two albums or ABWH. Moreover, given Bruford had left before the Close to the Edge tour, there was the added irony of this being the first time he had played "Close to the Edge" and "And You and I" live.
Will an Anderson Wakeman Rabin tour have any iconic moments to compare to ABWH playing "Close to the Edge"? The big difference is that Anderson, Wakeman and Rabin never recorded an album together, and they've only been on stage together on the Union tour. They either have to play YesWest songs - which Wakeman didn't originally perform on, has occasionally been rude about, and has rarely played live - or they play "classic" '70s Yes - Rabin's performances of which were often criticised in the 1980/90s.
Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin is an intriguing combination of Yesmen, a more interesting line-up than the current 'official' Yes for some. They have the potential to surprise us in all kinds of ways, but nostalgia is the driving force behind ticket sales and what kind of nostalgia does a band that never existed before offer?
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Union Live is here
The long-awaited and much-delayed "Union Live" boxset is now out, and I have a copy in front of me now. Much to my surprise, Rob Ayling of Gonzo/Voiceprint kindly sent me a copy. I say much to my surprise because I've frequently been rude about the quality of Voiceprint releases before now!
The Union tour was an iconic one for fans generally (and my first time seeing Yes). The surprise was that a live release did not straight away. However, one did emerge, albeit one only available in Japan, first on LaserDisc (if you remember those) and then on DVD. This was taken from the final North American date (8 Aug 1991) on the Union tour, and the sixth to last date of the whole tour: the Shoreline Ampitheater in Mountain View, California. However, the bad news, apart from the release only coming out in Japan, was that this wasn't a full show (only about two thirds of the set) and far from being their best performance.
Nevertheless, the Japanese release was much sought after and Internet ordering thankfully made it reasonably accessible if you knew where to look. I've had a copy for many years and I know many other Yes fans have too. Still, one can understand why there were long plans mooted for a more general re-release of the recording.
Meanwhile, there were two other video recordings going around in trading circles, both full sets of better shows. The 9 May Denver show was professionally shot, rumoured to be at Rabin's behest, although the bootleg version is some way from being pristine recording quality. Then there's a video of the opening tour date (9 April, Pensacola, Florida) shot from the audience.
Gonzo have now re-released the Mountain View material, and if you've got the Japanese release, this is exactly the same. This limited edition 2DVD/2CD boxset has a 1 hour 58 minute DVD with that material, with the two CDs containing the same again in audio-only form. Release details are unclear, but it appears that a single DVD release and a 2CD release will follow at some point.
But it's the second bonus DVD where all the interest lies. Gonzo have included both the Denver and Pensacola shows. I don't know what attempts were made to get master tapes or to clean up the source material, or how the versions here compare with the versions circulating in trading circles. But what we get, as the Gonzo ordering website makes very clear, are very much bootleg-quality. It would be difficult to release these two shows on their own, so Gonzo have sensibly combined the Mountain View show with these two bootlegs as bonuses.
So, what does bootleg-quality mean? Well, both are watchable. Denver (2 hours 43 minutes) is like a second-generation copy of an off-air VHS, if you can imagine that. It was professionally filmed, although the video editing isn't always great – perhaps suggesting not many cameras were involved. The sound is OK: there are occasional glitches, but the main problem is a mix with very little bass. The amateur camera work on the Pensacola show (3 hours) makes it look very different, shaking all the time as it does, yet actually the audio quality is a bit better than for Denver. Both Denver and Pensacola are also 'in the round' compared to the normal stage arrangement of Mountain View.
The bonus DVD also has a selection of audio tracks. There are three Mountain View songs omitted from the video, but here as 5.1 mixes: "And You and I", "Shock to the System" and "Lift Me Up". Then there are also stereo soundboard recordings of "And You and I" and "Shock to the System" (from 29 Jun 1991 London) and the drum duet and "Changes" (from 24 Jul 1991 Burgettstown, US). These are some real gems and make you wonder if all of these shows exist in audio form.
The boxset also includes a reproduction of the tour programme, which is nice but, having been shrunk in size, fairly eye-straining to read. You also get a replica stage pass and stage crew sticker, which sort of rattle around and you'll spend forever worrying you're going to lose them!
The multiple shows mostly had the same set, but there are some differences, as the table below tries to summarise.
Track | Mountain View (video) - DVD 1 | Mountain View (audio) - CD tracks, or audio on DVD 2 | Pensacola - DVD 2 | Denver - DVD 2 | additional DVD 2 audio tracks |
Intro: Firebird Suite | 1 | 1/1 | 1 | 1a | |
Yours is No Disgrace | 2 | 1/2 | 2 | 1b | |
Rhythm of Love | 3 | 1/3 | 3 | 2 | |
City of Love | - | - | 4 | - | |
Heart of the Sunrise | 4 | 1/4 | 5 | 4 | |
Howe solo (usually Clap/Mood for a Day) | 5 | 1/5 | 6 ("Leaves of Green"), 7 ("Concerto in D/Clap") | 5 | |
Make It Easy/Owner of a Lonely Heart | 6 | 1/6 | 8 | 6 | |
And You and I | - | bonus DVD | 9 | 7 | 29 Jun 1991 |
Drum Duet | - | - | 10 | 8 | 24 Jul 1991 |
Hold On | - | - | 11 | 9 | |
Shock to the System | bonus DVD | 12 | 3 | 29 Jun 1991 | |
I've Seen All Good People | 7 | 1/7 | - | 10 | |
Solly's Beard | 8 | 2/1 | 13 | 12 | |
Saving My Heart | 9 | 2/2 | - | - | |
Changes | - | - | 14 | 11 (inc. Kaye solo) | 24 Jul 1991 |
Take the Water to the Mountain | - | - | 15 | - | |
Soon | - | - | 16 | - | |
Long Distance Runaround | - | - | 17 | 13 | |
Whitefish | 10a | 2/3a | 18 | 14a | |
Amazing Grace | 10b | 2/3b | 19 | 14b | |
Lift Me Up | - | bonus DVD | 20 | 15 | |
Wakeman solo | 11 | 2/4 | 21 | 16 | |
Awaken | 12 | 2/5 | 22 | 17 | |
Roundabout | 13 | 2/6 | 23 | 18 | |
Starship Trooper | - | - | 24 | - |
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
What was the best-selling Yes-related album of 2010?
Most albums mentioned on the Where Are They Now? site probably only sell in the thousands and we rarely get to hear any definitive sales figures. I was told Survival & Other Stories sold about 1500 copies on the Anderson Wakeman tour, but that has not yet been available anywhere else. Thus, in the absence of data, it's hard to know which albums have sold better.
However, we can probably say that one of the best-selling of 2010 was Asia's Omega
. That's because Omega made various national charts: #29 in Japan and the top 60 in Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, plus #13 on the UK indie chart. It also did well on the Amazon (US and Canada) and CD Universe sales charts. So, Omega, the best-selling album by a Yesman... well, it would be were it not for Trevor Horn.
Robbie Williams' In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010
includes 3 songs from 2009's Reality Killed the Video Star
produced by Horn and two new tracks, one of which, “Shame” with fellow Take That member Gary Barlow, was also produced by Horn and released as a single. "Shame
" went #2 in the UK, #1 in Hungary, #4 in Europe, #7 in Italy, #11 in Germany and so on. It was certified Silver in the UK (i.e. 60k). In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010 made #1 in the UK, Germany, Austria and Europe; selling 120k copies in the UK in its first week (the second fastest selling album of 2010 in the UK). It also made the top five in Italy, Spain, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Switzerland, Ireland, Croatia. It was the 40th best selling album of 2010 in Europe. It has now gone Platinum in the UK (300k), and Gold in Austria (10k), Belgium (15k), Germany (100k), Italy (30k) and Portugal (10k). So, that's at least 465,000 certified sales.
That's the highest sales for a project by any Yesman, but not for any project featuring a Yesman. To explain... "In High Places" was a song by Mike Oldfield with Jon Anderson, and a section of Jon singing has now been sampled by Kanye West for his latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
. That album made the US #1, selling 496k copies in its first week, and 822.5k in its first five weeks. It made #1 in Canada with first week sales of 29k. It made #16 in the UK, and went Silver. It made #6 in Australia, and went Gold (35k). It also made the top 20 in the Germany, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland and New Zealand. So, that's at least 886,500 sales, 886,500 people hearing Jon sing!
However, if we talk about audience rather than sales, then Trevor Rabin probably wins. He did the music for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". The film has grossed $225,363,077 at cinemas and in DVD sales. I don't know exactly what that means in terms of the number of people seeing the film, but perhaps something of the order of 10 million have heard his score.
However, we can probably say that one of the best-selling of 2010 was Asia's Omega
. That's because Omega made various national charts: #29 in Japan and the top 60 in Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, plus #13 on the UK indie chart. It also did well on the Amazon (US and Canada) and CD Universe sales charts. So, Omega, the best-selling album by a Yesman... well, it would be were it not for Trevor Horn.Robbie Williams' In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010
includes 3 songs from 2009's Reality Killed the Video Star produced by Horn and two new tracks, one of which, “Shame” with fellow Take That member Gary Barlow, was also produced by Horn and released as a single. "Shame" went #2 in the UK, #1 in Hungary, #4 in Europe, #7 in Italy, #11 in Germany and so on. It was certified Silver in the UK (i.e. 60k). In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010 made #1 in the UK, Germany, Austria and Europe; selling 120k copies in the UK in its first week (the second fastest selling album of 2010 in the UK). It also made the top five in Italy, Spain, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Switzerland, Ireland, Croatia. It was the 40th best selling album of 2010 in Europe. It has now gone Platinum in the UK (300k), and Gold in Austria (10k), Belgium (15k), Germany (100k), Italy (30k) and Portugal (10k). So, that's at least 465,000 certified sales.That's the highest sales for a project by any Yesman, but not for any project featuring a Yesman. To explain... "In High Places" was a song by Mike Oldfield with Jon Anderson, and a section of Jon singing has now been sampled by Kanye West for his latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
. That album made the US #1, selling 496k copies in its first week, and 822.5k in its first five weeks. It made #1 in Canada with first week sales of 29k. It made #16 in the UK, and went Silver. It made #6 in Australia, and went Gold (35k). It also made the top 20 in the Germany, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland and New Zealand. So, that's at least 886,500 sales, 886,500 people hearing Jon sing!However, if we talk about audience rather than sales, then Trevor Rabin probably wins. He did the music for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". The film has grossed $225,363,077 at cinemas and in DVD sales. I don't know exactly what that means in terms of the number of people seeing the film, but perhaps something of the order of 10 million have heard his score.
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Poll: what were you most looking forward to in 2010?
A final catch-up on old poll results... I'd asked you, "2010 sees several projects outside Yes itself involving multiple Yes men: which interests you most?" 66 voted with the following results:
Anderson Wakeman Project: 40 (61%)
Asia: 14 (21)%
Yoso: 5 (8%)
Mystery: 2 (3%)
CIRCA:: 1 (2%)
invalid votes: 4
Seems to me that there's a strong relationship there between the number of classic Yes members involved and interest in the project -- perhaps that's not surprising.
Anyway, did the year live up to your hopes for it?
Anderson Wakeman Project: 40 (61%)
Asia: 14 (21)%
Yoso: 5 (8%)
Mystery: 2 (3%)
CIRCA:: 1 (2%)
invalid votes: 4
Seems to me that there's a strong relationship there between the number of classic Yes members involved and interest in the project -- perhaps that's not surprising.
Anyway, did the year live up to your hopes for it?
Friday, 31 December 2010
Poll: Best Yes-related album of the first half of 2010
And continuing a theme... the best Yes-related album of the first half of 2010, as voted by you.
1. Omega (Asia, w/ Howe, Downes): 55 (45%)
2. One Among the Living
(Mystery, w/ David, O. Wakeman): 25 (20%)
3. Oneirology (Billy Sherwood): 11 (9%)
4. Past, Present and Future
(Rick Wakeman): 6 (5%)
5= Shaman Mirror Medicine Tree (Rich Goodhart, w/ Anderson): 5 (4%)
5= Homebrew 4
(Steve Howe, w/ Downes): 5 (4%)
5= Emotion & Commotion
(Jeff Beck, w/ Horn): 5 (4%)
8. Travelling
(Steve Howe Trio): 4 (3%)
9. Palatza Delo Sports, Udine, Italy, March 19, 1974 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 2 (2%)
10= Once in a Blue Moon—The Lost Album
(Rod Stewart, w/ Horn): 1 (1%)
10= San Diego State Univ, San Diego, CA, June 08, 1984 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 1 (1%)
10= Tarrant County Convention Centre, Fort Worth, TX, June 06, 1974 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 1 (1%)
There were 123 votes, including 2 invalid votes. There were no votes for two World Cup-related albums with some Horn production work or for Top Musicians Play Queen (w/ Sherwood).
A clear winner for Omega there, and interesting to see the album with the two newcomers, Benoît and Oliver, coming a good second. I think I voted for Travelling myself, although these days I think it's third placed Oneirology that I'd support.
1. Omega
(Asia, w/ Howe, Downes): 55 (45%)2. One Among the Living
(Mystery, w/ David, O. Wakeman): 25 (20%)3. Oneirology (Billy Sherwood): 11 (9%)
4. Past, Present and Future
(Rick Wakeman): 6 (5%)5= Shaman Mirror Medicine Tree (Rich Goodhart, w/ Anderson): 5 (4%)
5= Homebrew 4
(Steve Howe, w/ Downes): 5 (4%)5= Emotion & Commotion
(Jeff Beck, w/ Horn): 5 (4%)8. Travelling
(Steve Howe Trio): 4 (3%)9. Palatza Delo Sports, Udine, Italy, March 19, 1974 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 2 (2%)
10= Once in a Blue Moon—The Lost Album
(Rod Stewart, w/ Horn): 1 (1%)10= San Diego State Univ, San Diego, CA, June 08, 1984 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 1 (1%)
10= Tarrant County Convention Centre, Fort Worth, TX, June 06, 1974 (King Crimson, w/ Bruford): 1 (1%)
There were 123 votes, including 2 invalid votes. There were no votes for two World Cup-related albums with some Horn production work or for Top Musicians Play Queen (w/ Sherwood).
A clear winner for Omega there, and interesting to see the album with the two newcomers, Benoît and Oliver, coming a good second. I think I voted for Travelling myself, although these days I think it's third placed Oneirology that I'd support.
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Poll: Best Yes-related album of the second half of 2009
Another catch-up on an older poll's result... I asked you all what was the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2009.
1= Steve Hackett: Out of the Tunnel's Mouth
(w/ Squire) 18
1= Rick Wakeman: The Six Wives Of Henry VIII - Live At Hampton Court Palace
[Eagle Rock release] 18
3. King Crimson: Live in Zurich, November 15, 1973 (w/ Bruford) 4
4= The Strawbs: Dancing to the Devil's Beat
(w/ O. Wakeman) 3
4= Rick Wakeman: Always with You
3
4= Moraz-Bruford: In Tokyo
3
4= Trevor Rabin: G-Force OST 3
4= Eureka: Shackleton's Voyage
(w/ Sherwood) 3
9= pianocircus feat. Bill Bruford play the music of Colin Riley: Skin & Wire
2
9= Jim Ladd's Headsets: Chapter 2: Sides (w/ Sherwood) 2
9= Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs: Under the Covers, Vol. 2
(w/ Howe) 2
11= King Crimson: Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA, June 16, 1973 (w/ Bruford) 1
11= King Crimson: The Town Hall, New York, NY, June 03, 1995 (w/ Bruford) 1
Several Horn productions (for Aviv Geffen
, Robbie Williams and Kid Harpoon
), several further archival live Crimson releases, Sherwood's An All-Star Salute to Christmas
and Jerusalem's Escalator
received no votes.
The voting was dominated by two albums and ended in a dead heat. The initial Concert Live release of Rick's Hampton Court show won the poll for the first half of 2009, and the subsequent general release Eagle Rock version ties here. Rick Wakeman's model of how to celebrate the past clearly worked for fans. The other leading album was Steve Hackett's Out of the Tunnel's Mouth, featuring Chris Squire on the opening two tracks -- a good omen for the Squackett album now finished and expected in 2011?
Personally, I think you're all wrong! Skin & Wire, Bruford's final studio recording, stood out for me in its experimentalism and the quality of playing. Not perhaps an easy album at first, but one that rewards repeated listening.
A poll for the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2010 will be on the main site soon. How will key releases like Anderson/Wakeman's The Living Tree
, Yoso's debut, Elements, fare?
1= Steve Hackett: Out of the Tunnel's Mouth
(w/ Squire) 181= Rick Wakeman: The Six Wives Of Henry VIII - Live At Hampton Court Palace
[Eagle Rock release] 183. King Crimson: Live in Zurich, November 15, 1973 (w/ Bruford) 4
4= The Strawbs: Dancing to the Devil's Beat
(w/ O. Wakeman) 34= Rick Wakeman: Always with You
34= Moraz-Bruford: In Tokyo
34= Trevor Rabin: G-Force OST 3
4= Eureka: Shackleton's Voyage
(w/ Sherwood) 39= pianocircus feat. Bill Bruford play the music of Colin Riley: Skin & Wire
29= Jim Ladd's Headsets: Chapter 2: Sides (w/ Sherwood) 2
9= Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs: Under the Covers, Vol. 2
(w/ Howe) 211= King Crimson: Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA, June 16, 1973 (w/ Bruford) 1
11= King Crimson: The Town Hall, New York, NY, June 03, 1995 (w/ Bruford) 1
Several Horn productions (for Aviv Geffen
, Robbie Williams and Kid Harpoon), several further archival live Crimson releases, Sherwood's An All-Star Salute to Christmas and Jerusalem's Escalator received no votes.The voting was dominated by two albums and ended in a dead heat. The initial Concert Live release of Rick's Hampton Court show won the poll for the first half of 2009, and the subsequent general release Eagle Rock version ties here. Rick Wakeman's model of how to celebrate the past clearly worked for fans. The other leading album was Steve Hackett's Out of the Tunnel's Mouth, featuring Chris Squire on the opening two tracks -- a good omen for the Squackett album now finished and expected in 2011?
Personally, I think you're all wrong! Skin & Wire, Bruford's final studio recording, stood out for me in its experimentalism and the quality of playing. Not perhaps an easy album at first, but one that rewards repeated listening.
A poll for the best Yes-related album of the second half of 2010 will be on the main site soon. How will key releases like Anderson/Wakeman's The Living Tree
, Yoso's debut, Elements, fare?
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Poll: Best previously unreleased Yes song to come out in the '00s?
Catching up on some older poll results... I asked you all what was the best, previously unreleased Yes song to be officially released in the last decade. There were 119 votes, and the results were...
The Big Medley
[on The Word is Live
] 26
We Can Fly from Here
[on The Word is Live] 23
Some are Born
[on expanded Tormato] 11
Golden Age
[on expanded Drama
] 10
Richard [on In a Word] 6
Countryside
[on expanded Tormato] 6
It's Over
[on expanded 90125
] 6
(Have We Really Got to) Go Through This
[on expanded Drama and The Word is Live] 5
It's Love
[on The Word is Live] 4
Vevey (Revisited) [on expanded Going for the One
] 3
Days
[on expanded Tormato] 3
Everybody's Song
[on expanded Tormato] 3
Children of the Light: Lightning [on Keystudio
] 2
You Can be Saved
[on expanded Tormato] 2
High
[on expanded Tormato] 2
Song No. 4 (Satellite)
[on expanded Drama] 2
Picasso
[on expanded Tormato] 1
In the Tower
[on expanded Drama] 1
Friend of a Friend
[on expanded Drama] 1
Hello Chicago [on The Word is Live] 1
invalid vote... 1
"Tango", "Never Done Before" and "Crossfire", all from In a Word
, received no votes. Apart from the medley, the most popular individual song was "We Can Fly from Here", so it's interesting that the current band are planning to record a version of this for the new album.
The Big Medley
[on The Word is Live] 26We Can Fly from Here
[on The Word is Live] 23Some are Born
[on expanded Tormato] 11Golden Age
[on expanded Drama] 10Richard [on In a Word] 6
Countryside
[on expanded Tormato] 6It's Over
[on expanded 90125] 6(Have We Really Got to) Go Through This
[on expanded Drama and The Word is Live] 5It's Love
[on The Word is Live] 4Vevey (Revisited) [on expanded Going for the One
] 3Days
[on expanded Tormato] 3Everybody's Song
[on expanded Tormato] 3Children of the Light: Lightning [on Keystudio
] 2You Can be Saved
[on expanded Tormato] 2High
[on expanded Tormato] 2Song No. 4 (Satellite)
[on expanded Drama] 2Picasso
[on expanded Tormato] 1In the Tower
[on expanded Drama] 1Friend of a Friend
[on expanded Drama] 1Hello Chicago [on The Word is Live] 1
invalid vote... 1
"Tango", "Never Done Before" and "Crossfire", all from In a Word
, received no votes. Apart from the medley, the most popular individual song was "We Can Fly from Here", so it's interesting that the current band are planning to record a version of this for the new album.
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