New Yes album "The Quest" out in October! (5.1 Blu-ray confirmed)

[IMachine]

I like Talk too- though it has the worst Yes cover ever! Another great tour- in surround!!! Sponsored by DTS.

Talk in surround?

 

[cbmmm3]

Talk in surround?

Ive been known to talk out of the side of my mouth, but never in surround. But seriously here - Talk - the Yes album - has always been in my top 10 ' wish it were in surround'

 

[DuncanS]

Ive been known to talk out of the side of my mouth, but never in surround. But seriously here - Talk - the Yes album - has always been in my top 10 ' wish it were in surround'

I do like Big Generator & Talk which are underrated I think (but they are not like the 'classic' Yes), 90125 is the better of the three from that era IMHO

 

[edisonbaggins]

Goodness. Listening to The Quest on Apple Music.

They should have categorized it as Soft Rock! Yacht Rock?

I mean... there is a time and a place for "laid back"!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Goodness. Listening to The Quest on Apple Music.

They should have categorized it as Soft Rock! Yacht Rock?

I mean... there is a time and a place for "laid back"!

Yep Rock

 

[LuvMyQuad]

They should have categorized it as Soft Rock! Yacht Rock?

Now I'm going to have to listen to this. Soft rock... OK But Yacht Rock??? OMG

 

[4-earredwonder]

Goodness. Listening to The Quest on Apple Music.

They should have categorized it as Soft Rock! Yacht Rock?

I mean... there is a time and a place for "laid back"!

Now I'm going to have to listen to this. Soft rock... OK But Yacht Rock??? OMG

YOU RANG, MATEYS?

 

[edisonbaggins]

YOU RANG, MATEYS?

Some Yacht Rock is pretty awesome!

 

[ProgRules]

Talk in surround?

The tour not the album. And it was not really impressive surround. Just some speakers in the rear with little if any discrete elements.

 

[fetchmybeer]

Goodness. Listening to The Quest on Apple Music.

They should have categorized it as Soft Rock! Yacht Rock?

I mean... there is a time and a place for "laid back"!

This was my impression exactly about midway through the album.

 

[srbjab]

I can't deny that it is low to mid tempo, and has a relaxed laid back feel. I'm a massive Yes fan, and they've been my favourite band for as long as I can remember. Yes I would prefer something with a bit more balls to it, but if you accept that its not Tool or Sabbath, or Close To The Edge or Relayer, then, in my opinion its still a fine album. There's more than enough great Steve Howe guitarwork on this to satisfy me. I wasn't expecting much with this new album, thinking that it would be Heaven and Earth Two. Now Heaven and Earth was so low tempo it was insipid, with barely anything to grab your attention. The really drab production of that album didn't help. Apparently Steve Howe didn't think much of Heaven and Earth and felt it was rushed. But with this new one they seemed to have taken more time, with Howe guiding and producing.

If you forget trying to compare it to the great Yes albums of the 70's, and listen with an open mind, then in summary I believe that this is a good relaxed rock album, with great guitar work, great production, and an excellent surround mix. Yes it may well be the case that the quality of the surround mix is improving this for me, but then so be it, we're all fans of surround music here, and I bet many of us have bought music outside our usual listening as a result of the surround mixes and not regretted it. The songs themselves are growing on me (often slow growers and patience are a good thing with music I think) and I listened in stereo on my morning commute and enjoyed the album.

This a tough one. Having skipped Heaven and Earth I really didn't expect much more from this iteration of the band. So far the reviews (including the surround mix) have generally been positive if a bit lukewarm - music is pleasant, production is good, surround mix is pretty good - but temper your expectations. Don't expect a rebirth of classic Yes or a Wilson style remix. I've listened a few times on Spotify and the only track that stays with me is The Ice Bridge. Best price seems to be at Importcds - just shy of $40 plus shipping. That still seems a bit pricey for what amounts to a single CD/Blu-Ray package of an OK album (still gotta feed the Yes machine I guess...). Maybe wait for a better deal, however unlikely that may be.

 

[4-earredwonder]

FILE UNDER E~Z LISTENING?

 

[Bill B]

Goodness. Listening to The Quest on Apple Music.

They should have categorized it as Soft Rock! Yacht Rock?

I mean... there is a time and a place for "laid back"!

That's exactly what I was afraid of. I don't mind soft rock if it's top 40 and catchy (Carpenters, Manilow, Denver, etc.). I doubt that's the case with a Yes album though. It will just be lame. Not saying I won't pick it up if the price drops a bit but it will be more just to add to the Yes collection and feed the completist in me knowing I will probably only listen to it once (my collection is filled with discs that I've only listened to once or twice).

 

[4-earredwonder]

Based on the frankly lackluster reviews of Quest, I just canceled my pre~order with ImportCD. Do I really need more RBCDs and a hard bound book when all I REALLY want is the stand alone BD~A.......Nay.

If YES decides to release a stand alone BD~A in the future ...then, why NOT?

But NOW, a BIG NO to YES!

 

[Petr Kropotkin]

I like a lot of Tormato ... Don't kill the Whale should have been a single.

It was, but didn't do very well: Don't Kill the Whale - Wikipedia

They also did a video to promote it, which is up on YouTube.

 

[colsky]

Goodness. Listening to The Quest on Apple Music.

They should have categorized it as Soft Rock! Yacht Rock?

I mean... there is a time and a place for "laid back"!

Yep there's a place for laid back, and you have to be in the right mood. I wasn't familiar with the term "yacht rock", but now googled it and it lists artists such as Chicago, Crosby Stills & Nash, Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Hall & Oates, Toto, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac - so there's some pretty good names there!

 

[César]

Well, I was hesitant to purchase this record, but it was 40 euros in Amazon Spain and I kind of liked the album after having streamed it in Apple Music.
After couple of listens of the surround Blu-ray I agree completely with Colsky's review. Is this a bland album, compared with Yes in the 70s? Of course it is, but what is to be expected from these guys at their age? Alan could hardly play a few months ago, Steve has become a much slower player than he was and well, Chris is not here any longer and is greatly missed.
Yet they have created a beautiful record (in my opinion) with some catchy tunes that were completely missing in H&E and without the cheesiness that again in my view killed Fly from here (yes, the bumpy segment of the suite, I can't help skipping it).
The 5.1 mix is super discreet, with some instruments isolated in certain speakers. And it's a superb mix, they only drawback I was able to identify is that the drums and bass are a bit too low in the mix to my liking.
Granny's music may not be for everyone's taste, but I'd suggest you should give a try to the surround mix, it does not disappoint. Another story is the price of the set...
BTW, I'm not a hardcore Yes fan, I don't like Relayer much (Soon can be the exception), the only track I really appreciate from Tormato is Onwards and Drama leaves me cold.

 

[colsky]

I love The Ladder- though part of my affection may be how thoroughly I enjoyed the tour- which I saw 3 shows of. Igor is my favorite Yes keysman after Rick. Too bad he couldn't handle his drink/stardom. I was actually at the show where his poor behavior spelled his doom. I'm also very fond of Magnification. Also loved that tour, though disappointed the songs they chose to play from the album were among it's weakest.

I think those two albums are only slightly below Yes at their peak- and surpass what can be expected of a band 30+ years old. I also think Keys studio cuts are very good- and would probably like it even better if they'd bothered to support it live. I think some of those songs could have come alive if presented on stage.

I also like Tormato, though it's the weakest of the 70's albums. Hurt by poor production and sub-par artwork. But it does have some gems. Love Silent Wings. I even like Circus of Heaven... And that was a killer tour. I enjoyed Yeswest, but consider that a different band- they're called Cinema in my mind.

I felt very lucky that Yes was still a well-functioning band after 30 years. Still thrilling in concert, coming around most every year and putting out good new music. It all fell apart in my mind when Jon was dumped, but still an amazing run of superior quality.

I'm actually considering buying this- mainly for the surround aspect and given some good reviews, esp. Colsky's. It will be my 1st Yes purchase since Jon left, but as some have said above I'll wait for a more price- around $25 seems reasonable.

I love The Ladder and much of Magnification. I can still listen to some of 90125 and Big Generator if I'm in the right mood, but I hate Talk with a passion for some reason! I got it on the day of release, hopefully expecting a return to epic Yes, and every once in a while I put it on and try it again, but it doesn't get any better for me. To me the songs are meh and the production is really horrible. I don't think even a decent surround mix would help me with that one.

 

[colsky]

I would say to people, forget that its Yes (how many aging bands are still making new music that sounds like their glory days anyway), and just enjoy it for what it is. If it was a new band, or a band with Steve Howe and others (which I suppose it essentially is!), that produced new music with a surround mix this good, then many on here might be raving about it.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Yep there's a place for laid back, and you have to be in the right mood. I wasn't familiar with the term "yacht rock", but now googled it and it lists artists such as Chicago, Crosby Stills & Nash, Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Hall & Oates, Toto, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac - so there's some pretty good names there!

Chicago - only the later Cetera stuff
CSN, Doobies, - I disagree, but they are played on the Sirius Yacht Rock station pretty regularly
Steely Dan - From Asia onward
H&O, Toto - yes, yes
Eagles - early laid back stuff
FM - maybe

Better examples are Gerry Rafferty, Christopher Cross, Boz Scaggs, Jimmie Buffet

There is a whole thread here
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