Hosni Mubarak has resigned, and such an event is clearly more important than anything that happens in the world of prog! But you will forgive if this blog focuses on today's other events...
UK have re-formed: John Wetton and Eddie Jobson are joined by Jobson's UKZ mates Alex Machacek on guitar and Marco Minnemann on drums. Two Japanese dates are being advertised, but presumably there will be a fuller tour. In one sense, this is hugely unexpected: we've been waiting thirty years (lol) for a UK reunion. Then again, given we had almost the same band when Wetton joined U-Z for three Polish shows in Poland in 2009 (now captured on Ultimate Zero Tour - Live), and given Jobson's recently guested on Wetton's new solo album, it's hardly surprising at all to hear this news. Still, I'm looking forward to it immensely and hope we get European dates.
Wetton's been recording his solo album with Billy Sherwood in LA. Anyone following Geoff Downes' tweets will have seen he's been in LA too, attending the NAMM show and also guesting on Wetton's album. Of course, Yes have also been recording in LA, produced by Trevor Horn. Surely Downes must have popped by to visit!
Well, yes, he did... and more. It's now emerged that Downes has been recording with Yes for their new album. (Downes is now back in the UK, and Yes are still working on the album.) So, what does this mean? A guest appearance? A reunion of the Drama band on "We Can Fly from Here", already thought to feature Horn on vocals? Or something more?
Friday, 11 February 2011
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
pianocircus play Skin & Wire
Last night, we saw a one-off show by piano sextet pianocircus (David Appleton, Paul Cassidy, Kate Halsall, Dawn Hardwick, Semra Kurutaç and James T Young) at King's Place, the relatively new arts venue behind King's Cross station. The first half of the show was pieces by Colin Riley, including two taken from Skin & Wire: pianocircus featuring Bill Bruford play the music of Colin Riley. Bruford was in attendance, three seats to my right in fact, but not performing. I'd estimate the total audience at a bit over 100.
The evening opened with "Squiggle Zipper", a jarring, discordant piece from Skin & Wire and, I felt, the weakest performance of the evening. The timbral variation provided by the drums and more on the album version work better for me than the piano/synth-only version here. Visuals throughout the first half were supplied by William Simpson and Simon McCorry, with "Squiggle Zipper" being accompanied by an effective abstract grid flashing blue and white with the music. "Ebb Cast", the second Skin & Wire piece, followed and was much more successful. An evocative mood piece, it went beautifully with Simpson/McCorry's soothing yet bizarre 'tentacled' cows video. This showed cows slowly grazing in the early morning, or perhaps late evening, yet the video was heavily processed. In particular, there were multiple echoes of every movement, so as a cow lifted its head, a succession of superimposed cow heads went through the same action. As the cows ambled past, this gave the impression of a mass of tentacles flowing below.
Ending the first half was the world premiere of Riley's "Double Trio". For this piece, two pianocircus members played grand pianos, each with another member standing and reaching into the piano's innards. The remaining two were mostly on synths. The first movement saw the standing performers drumming away on the piano's bass strings, this percussive element working well against the keyboard play for a dynamic opening. In the second movement, the standing performers instead banged on the struts of the piano soundboards, which gave a change in sound compared to the first movement, but they struggled to achieve sufficient volume. The last movement was slower, with a range of manipulations of the piano strings, holding them to shorten the vibrating length when played, or plucking them directly. The visuals were lightly processed views, generally looking straight down into the piano. An interesting piece overall, visually exciting, but I felt we'd had a weaker second movement.
Part two of the evening saw the ensemble in its more familiar arrangement, six synths-as-pianos in a circle, facing inwards. The programme was drawn from Graham Fitkin's post-minimalist works of 1989-90. These fast, dynamic, interlocking piano pieces are what pianocircus are perhaps best known for. Well-performed, exciting and sometimes almost trance-like; a much enjoyed second set.
The evening opened with "Squiggle Zipper", a jarring, discordant piece from Skin & Wire and, I felt, the weakest performance of the evening. The timbral variation provided by the drums and more on the album version work better for me than the piano/synth-only version here. Visuals throughout the first half were supplied by William Simpson and Simon McCorry, with "Squiggle Zipper" being accompanied by an effective abstract grid flashing blue and white with the music. "Ebb Cast", the second Skin & Wire piece, followed and was much more successful. An evocative mood piece, it went beautifully with Simpson/McCorry's soothing yet bizarre 'tentacled' cows video. This showed cows slowly grazing in the early morning, or perhaps late evening, yet the video was heavily processed. In particular, there were multiple echoes of every movement, so as a cow lifted its head, a succession of superimposed cow heads went through the same action. As the cows ambled past, this gave the impression of a mass of tentacles flowing below.
Ending the first half was the world premiere of Riley's "Double Trio". For this piece, two pianocircus members played grand pianos, each with another member standing and reaching into the piano's innards. The remaining two were mostly on synths. The first movement saw the standing performers drumming away on the piano's bass strings, this percussive element working well against the keyboard play for a dynamic opening. In the second movement, the standing performers instead banged on the struts of the piano soundboards, which gave a change in sound compared to the first movement, but they struggled to achieve sufficient volume. The last movement was slower, with a range of manipulations of the piano strings, holding them to shorten the vibrating length when played, or plucking them directly. The visuals were lightly processed views, generally looking straight down into the piano. An interesting piece overall, visually exciting, but I felt we'd had a weaker second movement.
Part two of the evening saw the ensemble in its more familiar arrangement, six synths-as-pianos in a circle, facing inwards. The programme was drawn from Graham Fitkin's post-minimalist works of 1989-90. These fast, dynamic, interlocking piano pieces are what pianocircus are perhaps best known for. Well-performed, exciting and sometimes almost trance-like; a much enjoyed second set.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
What will 2011 bring?
Yes's calendar for the year is becoming clear. They're currently working on the new album, with a release in the second quarter expected (German magazine Eclipsed is saying April). After finishing the album, there's time off for other projects, including Asia touring in April/May, before Yes repeat their recent pattern of a summer North American tour with another act – Styx is reported to be the partner this year. [3 Feb: YesWorld have just announced some March dates for the US, so looks like Yes are squeezing an extra leg before Asia tour.]
Touring in South America may follow, before already confirmed Europe dates in the winter. Towards the end of the year, Asia may gather for studio sessions further to their next album being released in 2012, the 30th anniversary of the band's debut album.
But the current Yes line-up aren't the only game in town. Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin are working on a band project, which Wakeman says will happen this year, although Anderson recently said it would be this or next year. So, will 2011 be like 1989 all over, with two rival bands in competition? Unlike 1989, we may even have rival albums within months of each other, and rival tours at the same time. Fandom has already been polarised by the schism in Yes and Anderson's and R. Wakeman's continued absence. Will the online arguments heat up, or will the discussions calm down when there's actual output from both sides to compare? Some are already looking to the Anderson Wakeman Rabin project as the rightful Yes, and they stack up well against Squire, White and Howe:
Anderson v. Squire: Squire has been on every album released under the Yes name, but he wasn't on ABWH. Anderson has been on every album save Drama, but as the frontman and the main composer/lyricist, that could be round 1 to AWR.
Wakeman v. White: White has been on many more Yes albums than the in-again-out-again Wakeman, and he's contributed more to the songwriting, yet Wakeman is perhaps the best-known Yes member. Round 2 to AWR as well?
Rabin v. Howe: Rabin's three and a bit albums + "Owner of a Lonely Heart" against Howe's thirteen and a bit albums + "Roundabout"? Round 3 to HSW.
The current Yes do also have another former Yesman on board with Trevor Horn producing + Roger Dean doing the art + control of the name, but then Anderson Wakeman Rabin have yet to finalise the rest of their band. For me, the possible Achilles heel for Anderson Wakeman Rabin is that the three of them were never together in Yes (barring on the Union tour), which curtails the nostalgia factor. Anderson has hinted at a set list focusing on the YesWest period, but how does Wakeman being along fit in with that? (See previous blog post.)
To complicate matters further, Anderson and Wakeman as just a duo are also touring in 2011, while Anderson and Rabin (without Wakeman) appear to have done some film score work together.
And if the current Yes and Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin isn't enough for you, there's already a third 2011 project featuring three Yesmen. This is John Wetton's forthcoming new solo album, Raised in Captivity, produced, co-written and co-performed by Billy Sherwood, with guest appearances by Geoff Downes, Tony Kaye, very brief Yes member Eddie Jobson and others, including Steve Hackett. Expect release in the first half of the year.
Speaking of Hackett, another much anticipated release for 2011 is his album with Chris Squire. Now complete, we await release details, but again first half of the year seems likely. The album is already generating a buzz among those who have heard it.
Billy Sherwood, as ever, remains busy with plenty of other projects. A new CIRCA: album is expected, and he's been progressing with his own next solo album. A duo tour with Tony Kaye of Japan for April has been announced. New US prog band Mars Hollow made something of a splash with their debut album in 2010, produced by Ronan Chris Murphy, and they return in 2011 with a second album produced by Sherwood.
Other potential highlights of the year? We're still waiting for the Trevor Horn/The Producers concept album and for Trevor Rabin's new solo album. Jon Anderson's latest, Survival and Other Stories, is expected to get general release after having been available only on the Anderson Wakeman Project 360 tour in 2010. Rick Wakeman has floated possible projects with Keith Emerson and with Jon Lord, making his a busy year.
And there's still a few more Yesmen team-ups on the cards, with Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn back writing together and intriguing reports of a David Torn/Tony Levin/Alan White project (Alan there stepping into Bill Bruford's shoes).
What are you looking forward to most this year? Leave a comment below!
Touring in South America may follow, before already confirmed Europe dates in the winter. Towards the end of the year, Asia may gather for studio sessions further to their next album being released in 2012, the 30th anniversary of the band's debut album.
But the current Yes line-up aren't the only game in town. Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin are working on a band project, which Wakeman says will happen this year, although Anderson recently said it would be this or next year. So, will 2011 be like 1989 all over, with two rival bands in competition? Unlike 1989, we may even have rival albums within months of each other, and rival tours at the same time. Fandom has already been polarised by the schism in Yes and Anderson's and R. Wakeman's continued absence. Will the online arguments heat up, or will the discussions calm down when there's actual output from both sides to compare? Some are already looking to the Anderson Wakeman Rabin project as the rightful Yes, and they stack up well against Squire, White and Howe:
Anderson v. Squire: Squire has been on every album released under the Yes name, but he wasn't on ABWH. Anderson has been on every album save Drama, but as the frontman and the main composer/lyricist, that could be round 1 to AWR.
Wakeman v. White: White has been on many more Yes albums than the in-again-out-again Wakeman, and he's contributed more to the songwriting, yet Wakeman is perhaps the best-known Yes member. Round 2 to AWR as well?
Rabin v. Howe: Rabin's three and a bit albums + "Owner of a Lonely Heart" against Howe's thirteen and a bit albums + "Roundabout"? Round 3 to HSW.
The current Yes do also have another former Yesman on board with Trevor Horn producing + Roger Dean doing the art + control of the name, but then Anderson Wakeman Rabin have yet to finalise the rest of their band. For me, the possible Achilles heel for Anderson Wakeman Rabin is that the three of them were never together in Yes (barring on the Union tour), which curtails the nostalgia factor. Anderson has hinted at a set list focusing on the YesWest period, but how does Wakeman being along fit in with that? (See previous blog post.)
To complicate matters further, Anderson and Wakeman as just a duo are also touring in 2011, while Anderson and Rabin (without Wakeman) appear to have done some film score work together.
And if the current Yes and Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin isn't enough for you, there's already a third 2011 project featuring three Yesmen. This is John Wetton's forthcoming new solo album, Raised in Captivity, produced, co-written and co-performed by Billy Sherwood, with guest appearances by Geoff Downes, Tony Kaye, very brief Yes member Eddie Jobson and others, including Steve Hackett. Expect release in the first half of the year.
Speaking of Hackett, another much anticipated release for 2011 is his album with Chris Squire. Now complete, we await release details, but again first half of the year seems likely. The album is already generating a buzz among those who have heard it.
Billy Sherwood, as ever, remains busy with plenty of other projects. A new CIRCA: album is expected, and he's been progressing with his own next solo album. A duo tour with Tony Kaye of Japan for April has been announced. New US prog band Mars Hollow made something of a splash with their debut album in 2010, produced by Ronan Chris Murphy, and they return in 2011 with a second album produced by Sherwood.
Other potential highlights of the year? We're still waiting for the Trevor Horn/The Producers concept album and for Trevor Rabin's new solo album. Jon Anderson's latest, Survival and Other Stories, is expected to get general release after having been available only on the Anderson Wakeman Project 360 tour in 2010. Rick Wakeman has floated possible projects with Keith Emerson and with Jon Lord, making his a busy year.
And there's still a few more Yesmen team-ups on the cards, with Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn back writing together and intriguing reports of a David Torn/Tony Levin/Alan White project (Alan there stepping into Bill Bruford's shoes).
What are you looking forward to most this year? Leave a comment below!
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin - what might they play live?
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?
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?
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?
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