DPRP 2013 poll

The results for the 2013 DPRP poll are out. As discussed before, there were not many high profile Yes-related releases in 2013, but let’s see how they did anyway with the 431 voters.

One might wish to count Steven Wilson as part of the Yes camp now he’s remixing the band’s back catalogue, and Wilson dominated the results. The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) won Best Album. Tracks from the album were 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th in the Best Track category! Wilson and band came top overall for concerts, although in terms of individual shows, they were only 2nd and 3rd equal, with Camel’s 26 October show in the Netherlands winning. Wilson’s album and tour was 3rd in Biggest Happening (topped by Camel’s return). The album also did well in terms of individual performances, topping the list for Best Guitarist (Guthrie Govan, with Wilson himself also 11th), Best Bassist (Nick Beggs) and Best Drummer (Marco Minnemann). Adam Holzman was 2nd Best Keyboardist (won by Andy Tillison for The Tangent’s Le Sacré du Travail) and Wilson was 5th Best Vocalist (won by David Longdon for Big Big Train’s English Electric (Part Two)). The Raven… was also second in the Best Artwork category (won by Fish’s A Feast of Consequences). Wilson’s DVD “Drive Home” made 7th in Best DVD; Anathema’s “Universal” won.

Otherwise, however, the Yesmen were little to be seen. Rick Wakeman made 11th in Best Keyboardist for his guest appearance on Ayreon’s The Theory of Everything. The album itself was 8th in the Best Album category and 9th in Biggest Happening, although it was also 3rd in the Biggest Disappointment category (won by Dream Theater’s eponymous release).

The rise of prog cruises made 10th in Biggest Happening, with Cruise to the Edge specifically at 14th. Also notable is Tony Levin at 9th for Best Bassist (for Levin Minnemann Rudess).

DPRP Poll 2012

The Dutch Progressive Rock Pages do an annual poll and their 2012 results were recently announced with a total of 723 votes. So I thought I'd review how Yes-related acts performed last year. While Yes etc. did well in 2011, Yes-related acts were less prominent this year, although The World is a Game by Mystery and I am Anonymous by Headspace (Adam Wakeman's new band) did well and there were some positive results by Squackett, Asia and daddy Wakeman.

In the Best Album category, the winner was Big Big Train's English Electric (Part One), with The World is a Game #11 and I am Anonymous, #20. Squackett's A Life Within a Day was the next highest album with a Yes connection at #37. The Flower Kings' "Numbers" won Best Track. Mystery came #23 with "Pride" and #24 with "Another Day". Headspace's "Fall of America" was 53rd equal.

That Flower Kings track is from an album entitled Banks of Eden, which won Best Artwork. Asia's XXX, with its Roger Dean cover, was the highest Yes-related entry at 12th equal, followed by I am Anonymous at #18. The World is a Game was tied with Focus X (another Dean cover) at #22.

Banks of Eden and The Flower Kings reunion also won Biggest Happening. Jon Davison joining Yes was 18th equal in this category, with Rick Wakeman's new Journey to the Centre of the Earth and King Crimson's 40th anniversary releases of Larks' Tongues in Aspic tieing with others at #28.

Steven Wilson's "Get All You Deserve" won Best DVD. King Crimson's "Live In Argentina 1994", with Bruford and Levin, made 20th equal. Asia's "Resonance" made 31st equal.

Best Newcomer was the Morse/Morse/Portnoy supergroup Flying Colors, with Headspace coming 5th and Squackett 14th equal.

The award no-one wants is Biggest Disappointment, which saw a tie this year between Marillion's Sounds That Can't be Made and Rush's Clockwork Angels (albums that were 3rd and 5th in the Best Album category). Squackett's A Life Within a Day came 4th, while 11th equal were Asia's XXX and Yes continuing without Anderson and (R) Wakeman. Indeed, if you combine several critiques of the current Yes, they would move up into 5th.

Finally, there are the best individual performances. Steves Hackett and Rothery tied for Best Guitarist for Genesis Revisited II and Sounds That Can't be Made respectively. Michel St-Père made #11 for The World is a Game and Hackett also made #12, this time for A Life Within a Day. Trevor Rabin was 28th equal for Jacaranda. Neal Morse won Best Keyboardist with his solo album Momentum. Rick Wakeman was #7 for Journey to the Centre of the Earth, while Adam Wakeman (I am Anonymous) and Fred Schendel (Glass Hammer's Perilous) were among those tied at #9.

Steve Hogarth won Best Vocalist for Sounds That Can't be Made. Damian Wilson was at #3 for I am Anonymous (and also at #5 for his work in Threshold). Benoît David made #10 for The World is a Game, while Jon Davison was 40th equal for Perilous. Jon Anderson received no votes, perhaps reflecting that he was only on comparably obscure releases in the eligible period.

Best Drummer was Neil Peart for Clockwork Angels. Nick D'Virgilio made #8 for The World is a Game (having also made #2 for his work in Big Big Train). Carl Palmer's performance on XXX was 23rd equal. There were no votes for White or Bruford, but then neither released any new material in 2012. Matching the Best Drummer category, Best Bassist was Geddy Lee, again for Clockwork Angels. Chris Squire came 5th here for A Life Within a Day, while Lee Pomeroy was 14th equal for I am Anonymous. Billy Sherwood for his solo album The Art Of Survival and John Wetton for XXX were among those tied at #23.

DPRP Poll 2011

The popular Dutch Progressive Rock Page website hold an annual poll; 581 voted in the latest. After a strong performance in the Prog poll, Yes have done well again. Fly from Here is 4th in Best Album, behind Steven Wilson's Grace for Drowning, Dream Theater's A Dramatic Turn of Events and Opeth's Heritage. Steve Hackett's Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (on which Chris Squire guests) came 8th.

Blackfield's Welcome to My DNA, with a track produced by Trevor Horn, was 16th. Cor Cordium, the latest album from Glass Hammer, with Jon Davison on vocals, was 17th. The next appearance by a Yes man is Mars Hollow's The World in Front of Me, produced by Billy Sherwood, at 57th, with nothing else Yes-related in the top 100.

DPRP have a category for Best Individual Track. "Fly from Here" came 4th after Dream Theater's "Breaking All Illusions", Steven Wilson's "Raider II" and Pendragon's "This Green and Pleasant Land". "Fly from Here Pt. 2 - Sad Night at the Airfield" then, on its own, came 23rd. Steve Hackett's "Turn This Island Earth", co-credited to Steve Howe and with Squire on bass, was 38th equal. No other Yes connections in the top 50. Amalgamating over multiple tracks, Yes was the 5th best performing in this category; with Steve Wilson top.

Fly from Here also won Best Artwork, with Cor Cordium 6th and Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, 13th. "Union Live" was 7th Best DVD; Rush's "Time Machine - Live in Cleveland 2011" won. For these categories and everything below, I'm listing anything Yes-related in the top 20, and there was nothing Yes-related in the top 20 Best Concerts. Levin Torn White were 9th equal in the Best Newcomer category.

Mirroring what happened in the Prog poll, Yes and the release of Fly from Here won both Best Happening and Biggest Disappointment. Also in the Biggest Disappointment category were Welcome to My DNA at 4th, and, in 11th equal, Anderson and/or R. Wakeman not rejoining Yes, and poor live performances by Yes.

In terms of individual performances (which had to be based on material released in 2011), Dream Theater were the clear winners, with John Petrucci Favourite Guitarist, Jordan Rudess Favourite Keyboard Player and Mike Mangini Favourite Drummer. Howe was 5th Favourite Guitarist, with Hackett 2nd. Downes was 10th equal for Favourite Keyboard Player, but not a single vote for Rick Wakeman! Alan White was equal 14th for Favourite Drummer.

As in the Prog poll, Benoît David beat Jon Anderson in the Favourite Vocalist category: David was 5th, new Yes vocalist Jon Davison was 14th equal, while Anderson was just 41st equal. Steven Wilson won. Chris Squire was 2nd for Favourite Bass Player, behind Karmakanic's Jones Reingold. Tony Levin was 12th equal in the category for his work on Levin Torn White, and then 17th equal for his work on A Scarcity of Miracles (by Jakszyk, Fripp & Collins).