Sunday, March 8, 2015

Yes - Sweet Dreams (1970)


"Sweet Dreams"
Sweet dreams can solve the future,
Sweet dreams provide the past.
Sweet things within your makeup;
These things will always last,
These things will make

Sweet dreams of conversation,
Sweet dreams of love affection.
Sweet words within your makeup;
Sweet words of things to

Come on and write your letter,
You know it will be better anyhow.
You're gonna laugh again,
You're gonna smile again,
You're gonna love again.

Sweet dreams are born inside you,
Sweet dreams are born to last.
Sweet thoughts within your makeup;
These thoughts will always last,
These thoughts will always last.

Come on and write your letter,
You know it will be better anyhow.
You're gonna laugh again,
You're gonna smile again,
You're gonna love again.

Sweet dreams can solve the future,
Sweet dreams provide the past.
Sweet dreams can solve the future,
Sweet dreams provide the past.



Time and a Word

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Time and a Word
Studio album by Yes
Released24 July 1970
RecordedNovember 1969 – January 1970 atAdvision Studios, London, England
GenreProgressive rock
Length40:06
LabelAtlantic
ProducerTony Colton
Yes chronology
Yes
(1969)
Time and a Word
(1970)
The Yes Album
(1971)
Singles from Time and a Word
  1. "Time and a Word"
    Released: 5 May 1970
  2. "Sweet Dreams"
    Released: 21 September 1970
Alternative cover

US cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic2/5 stars[1]
Robert ChristgauC[2]
Sputnikmusic3/5 stars[3]
Time and a Word is the second album by progressive rock band Yes, released in mid-1970 in the UK and November 1970 in the US. This was the last Yes album to feature the group's original line-up, as Peter Banks was fired before the album's release.
Time and a Word (Atlantic 2400 006) reached No. 45 in the UK.[4] The North American release of the album (Atlantic SD 8273) did not chart.

The album[edit]

Jon Anderson's decision to use a live orchestra on most of the album's songs (as he reported in the Yesyears video) put him very much at odds with Peter Banks. Tensions within the band increased, and just after the album's recording was completed in early 1970, Banks was asked to leave. Steve Howe would join the line-up that March, replacing Banks. The album includes two songs Anderson wrote with David Foster, a former bandmate in The Warriors.
Time and a Word's use of a studio orchestra seemed intrusive to some critics, and the album was received in a lukewarm fashion (UK No. 45, Yes' first chart entry at home). The opening track contains an orchestral intro to Richie Havens' song "No Opportunity Needed, No Experience Necessary", featuring a main theme from the 1958 film The Big Country by Jerome Moross. Also, the track "The Prophet" borrows from Gustav Holst's "Jupiter" from the Planets Suite.
The album was recorded at Advision Studios in West London.

Track listing[edit]

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (Richie Havens)4:48
2."Then" (Jon Anderson)5:44
3."Everydays" (Stephen Stills)6:08
4."Sweet Dreams" (Anderson, David Foster)3:51
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."The Prophet" (Anderson, Chris Squire)6:34
6."Clear Days" (Anderson)2:06
7."Astral Traveller" (Anderson)5:53
8."Time and a Word" (Anderson, Foster)4:31
Tracks 9–11 first appeared on early West German pressing of Time and a Word, Atlantic/Teldec (GE) (24/4/70).

Album cover[edit]

The US and UK releases had different album artwork; the UK version used a black-and-white Dada-esque photo-montage of a nude woman with a butterfly, but this was deemed inappropriate in the US, so the cover there showed a picture of the band. Despite appearing on the US cover, Howe does not play on the album. The back cover of both versions features photographs of Anderson, Squire, Kaye, Bruford, and Banks.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Yes - Going For The One (1977)


Going for the One

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Going for the One
Studio album by Yes
Released7 July 1977
Recorded1976–77 at Mountain Studios
(MontreuxSwitzerland)
GenreProgressive rocksymphonic rock
Length38:49
LabelAtlantic
ProducerYes
Yes chronology
Relayer
(1974)
Going for the One
(1977)
Tormato
(1978)
Singles from Going for the One
  1. "Wonderous Stories"
    Released: 1977
  2. "Going for the One"
    Released: 1977
Going for the One is the eighth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 7 July 1977 on Atlantic Records. The album was recorded in Switzerland after their extended break for each member to release a solo album and their 1976 tour of North America. It marks the departure of keyboardist Patrick Moraz and the return of Rick Wakeman, who left over differences surrounding Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973) to pursue his solo career. Formed of five tracks with no unifying theme or concept, Going for the One saw Yes produce their shortest songs since Fragile (1971), except for the fifteen-minute track "Awaken."
Going for the One was a commercial success and received a mostly-positive critical response. It topped the UK album chart for two weeks and peaked at number 8 in the US. Two singles were released, "Wonderous Stories" and "Going for the One," the former peaking at number 7 in the UK. Going for the Onehas sold over one million copies worldwide, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. A remastered edition was released in 2003 that contains several previously unreleased tracks from the album's recording sessions.

Background[edit]

In August 1975, after touring in support of Relayer (1974), Yes took an extended break so that each member could record and produce a solo album. The band's lineup during this time consisted of singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, and keyboardist Patrick Moraz. Yes then regrouped and completed a 1976 tour of North America, after which they relocated to Switzerland on tax exile to produce a new album.
During the early recording sessions, Moraz was let go from the band unexpectedly.[1] Anderson thought he "just wasn't playing like he was involved" and that his sound was not "too good, and that affected his vibe ... it was obvious that he just wasn't getting off on what we were doing."[2] Moraz commented on his exit: "I had to leave because of the enormous psychological pressures at the time within the group ... I felt there were a few things going on that I didn't know ... Unfortunately some people did not play the game fair, although the final decision was taken by all members."[3] The decision was made after Rick Wakeman, who left Yes in 1974 over differences surrounding Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973) to pursue his solo career, was invited to contribute to the new album as asession musician by Alex Scott, a business partner of Brian Lane, the group's manager, who also met with Wakeman about the idea of his return.[4]
After Wakeman agreed to see the band in Switzerland, he was surprised how much the band had changed since his departure. "To my surprise ... I found that they had changed drastically ... the health-food kick had also changed ... we began relating to each other for the first time. I think we had all grown up and became much more mature. Maybe I had to grow up more than them."[5]

Production[edit]

Recording[edit]

Wakeman plays the organ at St. Martin's church in Veveyon Going for the One.
Recording took place at Mountain Studios in Montreux with engineers John Timperley and David Richards. In a departure from their previous four studio albums, engineer and producer Eddy Offord was absent for Going for the One.[6] The album's production duties were completed by the band itself. After constructing extended tracks since 1973, Yes decided to scale things back and record songs that critic and author Chris Welch described as "user friendly". As Anderson described the album's direction:
The album is a kind of celebration [...] Over the last two or three years we've been experimenting a lot and we're happy to have been given that chance. Any musician should be given the chance to extend his horizons and luckily we've been successful enough to do so. But generally we think of this as a more eventful album. We've come back to a happier medium. It's something we felt we wanted to do at this time. If we wanted another 'Tales' concept we would have gone in that direction, but we needed to relax for a while—a little more laughing and jive.[7]
Wakeman plays the pipe organ at St. Martin's church in Vevey, which was simultaneously recorded through high fidelity telephone lines while the rest of the band played in the studio in Montreux. Wakeman described the experience as "absolute magic."[7] "Awaken" features a choir performed by the Richard Williams Singers whose musical arrangement was directed by Wakeman.[nb 1] Wakeman changed his sound on the album with the use of a Polymoog, a polyphonic analogue synthesiser, which replaced his traditional use of the MellotronHammond organ, and RMI Electra Piano.

Composition[edit]

Side one begins with "Going for the One", a track written by Anderson. He explained the song's meaning derives from sport: "Part of the song is about horse racing and there's a little bit on a film I saw about going down the Grand Canyon river on one of those rubber dinghies and there's also a bit in there about the cosmic mind".[7] Howe plays a pedal steel guitarthroughout the entire song. "Turn of the Century" is the only track on the album that credits White as a writer. It was originally "a short song", but as rehearsals developed, Anderson "started thinking, 'Let's try to musically tell the story without me singing it,' and then when I do sing it, it'll sound even better."[7] "Parallels" was a track Squire originally wrote for his solo album Fish Out of Water (1975), but it was left out due to time constraints on a vinyl record and that it did not fit with the style of the other tracks.[8]
Side two opens with "Wonderous Stories", a track written by Anderson. The album closes with the fifteen-minute track "Awaken". Anderson gained inspiration for the song after reading The Singer: A Classic Retelling of Cosmic Conflict by Calvin Miller and a book about the life of Dutch painter Rembrandt, which he said affected him "quite significantly".[7]

Sleeve design[edit]

Century Plaza Towers, Los Angeles, USA
Going for the One marked a change in the band's style of artwork which was designed by Hipgnosis; they had commissioned artist Roger Dean for the role since Fragile(1971).[9] The front cover depicts a standing nude male figure, with the Century Plaza Towers in Los AngelesCalifornia positioned in the background. The band's "bubble" logo, designed by Dean, is still used.