"Yes" Band (1968-)
A "Yes" Band (1968-) is a progressive rock band that pioneered complex musical arrangements and virtuosic instrumentation in rock music.
- AKA: "Yes", "Yes" (band).
- Context:
- It can typically perform Progressive Rock Music with extended compositions and complex time signatures.
- It can typically feature virtuosic instrumental performances with keyboard solos, guitar solos, and bass solos.
- It can often incorporate classical music influences and jazz fusion elements into rock music structures.
- It can typically have concept albums with thematic unity and narrative structures.
- It can typically be associated with "Yes" Songs and "Yes" Albums.
- It can range from being a Five-Member Rock Band to being an Eight-Member Rock Band, depending on its lineup configuration.
- It can typically feature multi-part vocal harmonys with high-pitched lead vocals.
- It can often utilize elaborate stage productions with Roger Dean artwork and laser light shows.
- It can typically have extended live performances with improvised sections and audience interaction.
- It can typically be led by creative masterminds like Jon Anderson (vocalist/lyricist) for conceptual visions and spiritual lyrics.
- It can often feature Chris Squire (bassist) as its musical anchor and only continuous member until 2015.
- It can typically showcase compositional masterminds like Steve Howe (guitarist) and Rick Wakeman (keyboardist) for instrumental arrangements.
- It can often have Trevor Rabin (guitarist/producer) as the commercial era mastermind behind 1980s hit singles.
- It can typically feature Bill Bruford (drummer) as the rhythmic innovator during early progressive eras.
- It can often rely on producer masterminds like Trevor Horn and Eddie Offord for sonic innovations.
- ...
- Example(s):
- "Yes" Band (1968) with Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, and Bill Bruford.
- "Yes" Band (1969) recording "Yes" (album) at Advision Studios.
- "Yes" Band (1970) recording Time and a Word with orchestra arrangements.
- "Yes" Band (1971) with Steve Howe replacing Peter Banks for The Yes Album.
- "Yes" Band (July 1971) with Rick Wakeman replacing Tony Kaye for Fragile recordings.
- "Yes" Band (1972) recording Close to the Edge at Advision Studios with Eddie Offord.
- "Yes" Band (1972) with Alan White replacing Bill Bruford for US tour.
- "Yes" Band (1973) recording Tales from Topographic Oceans at Morgan Studios.
- "Yes" Band (1974) with Patrick Moraz replacing Rick Wakeman for Relayer.
- "Yes" Band (1976) with Rick Wakeman returning for Going for the One sessions.
- "Yes" Band (1980) with Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes replacing Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman for Drama.
- "Yes" Band (1983) with Trevor Rabin, Tony Kaye, Chris Squire, Alan White, and Jon Anderson for 90125.
- "Yes" Band (November 1983) recording Owner of a Lonely Heart at Sarm West Studios.
- "Yes" Band (1991) as eight-member configuration for Union album and Union Tour.
- "Yes" Band (1999) recording The Ladder with Bruce Fairbairn in Vancouver.
- "Yes" Band (2015) after Chris Squire death with Billy Sherwood as replacement bassist.
- "Yes" Band (2022) after Alan White death with Jay Schellen as replacement drummer.
- "Yes" Band (2023) recording Mirror to the Sky with Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison, and Jay Schellen.
- ...
- Counter-Example(s):
- Genesis Band, which evolved toward pop rock music in the 1980s.
- Emerson Lake & Palmer, which disbanded permanently in 1979 and 2010.
- King Crimson, which featured more experimental rock and frequent hiatus periods.
- Jethro Tull, which incorporated more folk music elements.
- Pink Floyd, which focused more on psychedelic rock and concept album narratives.
- See: Progressive Rock Band, British Rock Band, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee (2017), Grammy Award Winner (1985), Roger Dean (artist), Atlantic Records Artist, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, Trevor Rabin, "Yes" Album, "Yes" Song.
References
2024
- (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_(band) Retrieved:2024-1-7.
- Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by lead singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Peter Banks, keyboardist Tony Kaye, and drummer Bill Bruford. The band has undergone numerous lineup changes throughout their history, during which 20 musicians have been full-time members. Since February 2023, the band has consisted of guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Geoff Downes, bassist Billy Sherwood, singer Jon Davison, and drummer Jay Schellen. Yes have explored several musical styles over the years and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers.
Yes began performing original songs and rearranged covers of rock, pop, blues and jazz songs, as evidenced on their self-titled first album from 1969, and its follow-up Time and a Word from 1970. A change of direction later in 1970 led to a series of successful progressive rock albums, with four consecutive U.S. platinum or multi-platinum sellers in The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972) and the live album Yessongs (1973). Further albums, Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), Going for the One (1977) and Tormato (1978), were also commercially successful. Yes toured as a major rock act that earned the band a reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album covers designed by Roger Dean. The success of "Roundabout", the single from Fragile, cemented their popularity across the decade and beyond. Jon Anderson and Chris Squire remained with the group throughout the 1970s, with Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, and Bill Bruford all departing across 1970 to 1972, and being replaced by Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Alan White, respectively. Wakeman left the group in 1974, but returned two years later, with Patrick Moraz taking his place in the interim. After a final album, Drama, and tour in 1980, both of which saw Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn replace Wakeman and Anderson, respectively, Yes disbanded in 1981.
In 1983, Squire and White reformed Yes, with Anderson and Kaye returning, and guitarist Trevor Rabin joining. Rabin's songwriting helped move the band towards mainstream rock, the result of which was 90125 (1983), their highest-selling album that featured the U.S. number-one single "Owner of a Lonely Heart". Its follow-up, Big Generator (1987), was also successful. In 1989, Anderson and former members Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe released the self-titled Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album, after which they and the other then-current Yes members–Squire, Kaye, White, and Rabin–unified into an eight-piece line-up of Yes for the 1991 Union album and its subsequent tour. From 1994 to 2001, Yes regularly released studio albums with varied levels of success. After a four-year hiatus, they resumed touring in 2008 and have continued to release new albums; their latest, Mirror to the Sky, was released in 2023. Former members Anderson, Wakeman, and Rabin collaborated as Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman from 2016 to 2018. Among the longest serving members of the band, Squire (the last original member) died in 2015, and White died in 2022. Yes are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands. They have sold 13.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the U.S., as well as more than 30 million albums worldwide. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema", and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. They were ranked No. 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Their discography spans 23 studio albums. In April 2017, Yes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which chose to induct current and former members Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Wakeman, White, and Rabin.
- Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by lead singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Peter Banks, keyboardist Tony Kaye, and drummer Bill Bruford. The band has undergone numerous lineup changes throughout their history, during which 20 musicians have been full-time members. Since February 2023, the band has consisted of guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Geoff Downes, bassist Billy Sherwood, singer Jon Davison, and drummer Jay Schellen. Yes have explored several musical styles over the years and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers.