Sunday, October 07, 2007

More top 100

This was junior year in high school encapsulated. I don't think I listened to much else. I was turned on to Wishbone by my cousin Bob, who had eclectic tastes in music to be sure. The first thing I heard by them was the debut "Wishbone Ash" with "Blind Eye" and such. When I first purchased this, I was always looking for the hidden meaning in songs. It was a very confusing time for me, Jesus was calling and I wanted to party. So, the song "The King Will Come" probably meant a lot more to me than it should've. While this relaese holds the classic "Blowin Free" it's "Leaf and Stream" and it's beauty that became my favorite from the album. Wishbone Ash is still going strong and coming to St. Louis. This is a top 25 album of all time for me.

Performance A- Twin guitars and an incredible drummer nails this
Songs and Songwriting B+ "Sometime World" "The Warrior" and the ones already mentioned
Sound B- One guitar in each headphone was very cool. Stereo done well.
Production B- A bit muddy but got cleaned up later
Staying Power C Not many of these songs stand the test of time but for 1972, they were beautiful
Continuity B One filler song. Not bad.

A comeback album that really wasn't. The band had broken up after "drama" and just pieces of the band (with Trevor Rabin leading) were around to form "Cinema". Jon Anderson heard what they were doing, wanted to be a part of it and "Cinema" became Yes (mach 8). the first song released was "Owner of A Lonely Heart" which gave Yes it's only number one song and made their way from progressive rock gods into pop music icons. The video for OALH blended in well with the others on MTV and Yes was back. While, I liked "Owner" what got me in this release was it's crisp production and great songwriting. "It Can Happen" "Leave It","Changes" "Hold On" are all great songs. This was one of the eighties' best releases.
Performance A The addition of Trevor Rabin was a great one for Yes
Songs and Songwriting B+ Great stuff here, a capsule of the eighties
Sound A Nice and crisp, very well done. Just sounded good
Production A One of the best sounding records ever
Staying Power B you don't hear anything other than Owner anymore
Continuity B A couple of fillers but overall a great effort

What a delight "Roundabout" was on the radio. All 3 minutes of it. The first time I heard Yes was on our old AM station in Davenport when they played "Your Move". I thought that was a great song, then "Roundabout" came on and dazzled me. This was one of my major influences and made me a real fan of the band. The album cover was trippy and the music inside was delicious. I loved "South Side of The Sky' because it was frightening . "Heart of The Sunrise" was what I visioned an acid trip to be (even though I had never had one). "Roundabout" sounds just as fresh now as it did then.
Performance A Never had I heard drumming or a performance like that
Songs and Songwriting A- "Roundabout" Long Distance Runaround" and others were just powerful for a sixteen year old under the headphones.
Production A These songs jumped off the vinyl.
Staying Power A Two of the songs are still played on album radio, there others are too long
Continuity A Each song was done well.

Honorable mention
Jesse Colin Young-Song for Juli
Yes-The Yes Album
Gary wright-The Dream Wever

4 comments:

dr sardonicus said...

I scrolled down to see the post on the Top 100 albums. Interesting idea, anyway...

Argus and Fragile are both decent albums I don't listen to much anymore - I associate both of those with my pot-smoking days. Today I usually put on The Yes Album when I want to hear Yes. That one sounds good at all times - Fragile was made for getting stoned.

Anonymous said...

I learned to play drums to FRAGILE.
It's like a young persons guide to fusion that album is. Squires Bass just KICKED on the album, you can hear the pick on the strings. No other bass player has duplicated that sound since. I've tried but to no avail. What a masterpiece!!!

Anonymous said...

Maybe good for getting stoned if your not a musician. To musicians it's much more than that.

Brian Holland said...

I never knew Darth Vader played for Wishbone Ash!

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