Customer Reviews

Symphonic Music of Yes

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a refreshing, but overlooked addition to the Yes catalogue. Some of the best moments of this album have to include the symphonic version of "Close to the Edge", which is nothing short of brilliant. The orchestra takes the place of the vocals and displays the song in a new light - which is nothing less than inspiring. "Wonderous Stories" also works surprisingly well complimented by Bruford's drumming. "Survival", "Soon", "Heart of the Sunrise" and "Roundabout" really hit the mark in a wonderfully melodic way. Howe & Bruford shine throughout the album but I think the best piece on the album may be Steve Howe's "Mood for a Day" which is actually better here than the original on the Yes Fragile CD. After the mess with the Union album this was very much appreciated.

In 1993 with the release of this recording, YES crossed the line of the regular minded and simplistic common sense's of some white collar chiefs of marketing; and against all expectations "SYMPHONIC MUSIC OF YES" appeared in the market acting as a giant step ahead, a revealing light to follow, for a lot of bands, devoted fans and unbelievers. Since then, every famous Rock band has tried to record a classical instrumented Hits collection material, but how many groups have achived something like this? probably very few! But when all this happened, who are going to imagine that years later; once again (2004), YES will take take again their music another step forward into the realms of Progressive Rock with the release of "MAGNIFICATION"? But that's another story...

SYMPHONIC MUSIC OF YES, is Featuring the physical presence of Steve Howe, Bill Bruford & Jon Anderson in the studio; the tracks were orchestraly recorded by former Pink Floyd's young engineer ALAN PARSON, reaching an excellent quality of orchestral arrangements for the Yes material, The great version of "Roundabout" is a fantastic example of this... but after all, haven't they tried to make their music more symphonic since 1970: Just before the transitional released of "The Yes Album", and the Kaye/Banks departure; YES worked out their initial experiments (remember that the musical YES'concept is into the Squire/Anderson minds) with the orchestral experiments since the TIME AND A WORD album. And now they have found another great way to get the job done... Remember that this decade was the playfull scene for groups of the Alternative Grunge ROCK!..... Good Luck!

I listened to this every day until it was stolen. I'm reording it now. It is a unique yet extremely cool translation of classic Yes music. Other feasts include Pink Floyd, The Who, and Led Zepplin. All are awesome!

For the old fan, this production represents the opportunity to listen to well known songs with a different layout. True, Yes had always been "symphonic", but here they made a much more extensive use of the orchestral apparatus, thus producing some interesting results. Not all of the songs are produced in the same fashion. "Close to the edge", "Wonderous stories", "Mood for a day (of course), "Owner of a lonely heart", "Heart of the sunrise", and "Starship trooper" are totally instrumental, whereas "Rundabout" and "I've seen all good people" feature full lyrics. The rest include partial performance of the original lyrics by a choir, and in "Soon" you can hear Steve Howe reciting.

There's another feature that deserves comment: the recording engineer was no less than Alan Parsons.

Symphonic Music of Yes isn't bad. I admit that I would have preferred it if these songs from Yes had been performed only by orchestral instruments (That's not meant to be a slight against Yes.). I just feel that Symphonic Music of Yes would have been much better as a total orchestral work. That aside, there's still some good stuff on this disc. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" sounds quite interesting. "Survival" and "Soon" are also good. The rest of the material isn't bad, either. Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, and Bill Bruford contribute to this album. Other musicians that haven't played with Yes help out, also. The two orchestras that perform on seperate songs are The London Philharmonic Orchestra and The English Chamber Orchestra. The London Community Gospel Choir also performs on a couple of tracks ("I've Seen All Good People" and "Survival"). This album is mixed in Dolby Surround Sound. It's worth a listen.

If you enjoy the melodies of Yes and the fantastic sounds only an orchestra (albeit aided by nondistorted electric guitars and keyboards) can produce, you will absolutely LOVE this CD. Also, check out "Symphonic Pink Floyd", it is similarly excellent.

It's difficult not to snicker at the thought of having a symphony orchestra "slumming it" by deigning to arrange rock music...even rock as intricate as Yes's. I'm a major Yes fan, and I purchased this CD a few years ago. Even though I respected Jon Anderson, Steve Howe and Bill Bruford as all great talents, I was skeptical that this album would be more than elevator music, and sure, about half of the album isn't very interesting.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by this album's version of "Survival." It's truly breathtaking. You would never have imagined how beautiful it sounds here from hearing the version the group did back in the '60s...the vocal choir sing like angels on this track. There are other songs on the album to recommend a purchase from committed fans, as well.

Symphonic arrangements of already symphonic-styled Yes music looks good on paper, but here these orchestrated versions of mostly "classic Yes" period songs comes off as elevator muzak. This has to do with the inclusion of Yes guests Howe, Anderson & Bruford, which would usually be a welcome thing, but here they tend to get in the way, and the music sounds as if they don't know whether to go for a symphonic album or a regular full fledged Yes/ABWH project. Howe's parts are decent- your usual classic Howe sound- but too many guest bits make this project more of a half almost-Yes/orchestrated Yes album. 'Roundabout' and 'Heart Of The Sunrise' appear in rushed, edited forms, and 'Starship Trooper' is a real snoozer. 'Wonderous Stories', 'Survival' and a criminally shortened 'Close To The Edge' are the best moments. 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' is included no doubt because of the fact that it was 'the hit' and something from the 'Rabin era' had to be included. This one is a real chunk of dentist-office drivel almost saved by a Howe solo at the end(he had the ball but didn't run with it). Sorry to say, but Yes are a lot more symphonic with a five or six piece rock group than with a symphony orchestra- this much is evident in their Time & A Word album. (Chris Squire, however, has more of a knack for orchestration, actually. His solo album, his track 'Onward' from 1978's 'Tormato' and his 1981 single 'Run With The Fox' display decent orchestrations). This collection of Yes muzak is for die-hards like me only. If you're new to Yes and wondering what to get next, pass this one by till much later.

Well. This is a fun but I largely don't like rock band+Ochestra format. I went to see YES + Symphony concert in this summer...Yes should be a rock band with a master keyboardist, nothing else. Anyway, the reason I gave 3 stars is because of the fact that this is the only chance we can hear Bruford playing owner of lonely heart. Listen to his humourous playing (I can see his smile) interpretation of this big hit they made without him. Ah, also Steve Howe plays owner of lonely heart together. Isn't it a fun enough?

The Symphonic Music of Yes highlights the collective musical expertise of Howe, Bruford, Wakeman, Anderson and Squire. Each of these musicians have a classical training, and using an orchestra to present their wares was appropriate and innovative. I have read some of the reviews, and its obvious the "boohs" are coming from folks who have a limited appreciation of music in all its glorious variety. Hey, I can't hang with disco, but it doesn't mean that the presentation and expertise of the writers, performers, producers, and musicians doesn't shine.

I would highly recommend this album to anyone who appreciates Yes' music, and has an appreciation for orchestras as well. What a great job Howe and Bruford did in organizing and presenting Yes music using another platform. Bravo, guys!