* * * * * * * * * * ______ ______ ____________ _________ / \ | \ __/ \ __/ \__ _________ | \| \ / |/ _ \ _________ / | // _____ || / \_/ \ |NOTES \ // / \ \\_ \_ | |FROM \ || _____ ___\ \ \_ \_ | |THE \ || / ---/______| \ \_ | |EDGE ___\ || | | /______ __/ \ | |#44 ___/ \ \\ \_ \_ // | | \_____ / ___\ _/ \_ \ \_ _// | ______/ \__ \__/ ___/ \_ \____ | \_/ \__ ___/ \___ _/ \__ \__/ \ \_________/ \_____/ \_ \_____/ \ \_ | \_ | \__ __/ \_____________/ Notes From the Edge #44 July 18, 1992 * * * * * * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE... ================ Notes From the Editor - LOTS OF NEWS!!! The Latest Word - Lineup and label changes Sheet Music For Sale - Myths & Legends Beginnings of a FAQ - Quote source needed Asia - Live in London - Concert review (a surprise!) Asia and Drama - Opinions and Commentary * * * * * * * * * * NOTES FROM THE EDITOR: ====================== Due to the immense amount of news about Yes surfacing in the last few days (an entire shitload!) I'm sending out this issue a bit early... It seems that Yes's future and lineup is up in the air as usual. Hopefully the articles in this issue will help clear the air a little. If you have any confirmed news about the lineup, please write me. Also, I'll be sending Anil Prasad's interview with Bill Bruford either later on tonite or tomorrow. Due to its length I'll be sending it as NFTE #45. I found it very interesting and I think it was very generous of Anil to share it with us. -Mike Borella Editor of Notes From the Edge borella@snowball.cs.ucdavis.edu * * * * * * * * * * THE LATEST WORD: ================ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 92 09:58:16 PDT From: jeffmelt@resumix.portal.com (Jeff Melton) According to Bay Area Progressive Know-it-all, (and snob) Greg Stone (of San Jose's 98.5 KOME: Stone Trek: Sundays 9- Midnight), Yes has now signed with a new label (Victory) and is now officially pared down to 6 (Bruford and Howe out). Trevor Rabin is going to produce the new album. Greg has been somewhat unreliable in his Yes information in the past, so this may be a false alarm. However, with Steve playing in Asia's tour and Bill back on the road with Earthworks, this makes some sense!!! My sources at Wonderous Stories say this is not yet substantiated. ?!? Jeff Melton. +++ +++ +++ +++ From: wcsanil@ccs.carleton.ca (Anil Prasad) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 92 2:44:12 EDT I have answers to some questions that will be explained more throughly when I post my Bruford interview transcription (hopefully by next week): 1. Yes was *DROPPED* by Arista, with Arista losing *millions* in the deal. 2. Yes has been signed to Victory. 3. The current Yes line-up is *not* stable whatsoever. Bruford said he'd be involved. However, he's totally unsure who will be in the next line-up. As he put it "the line-up seems to be changing daily these days." Regarding Steve Howe's commitment to the band, Bruford was totally unsure about this. 4. There will not be a new Yes album until 1993. Bruford was very emphatic about this. Earthworks will be touring until the end of the year, with their new live album coming out by october at the latest (this should be a phenomenal album). Anil Prasad +++ +++ +++ +++ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 92 09:47:21 PDT From: John.McCartney@EBay.Sun.COM ( The Lion of Symmetry ) This past Sunday night, on the infamous Stone Trek show, it was stated that Yes is in the studio working on their new album. Ok, this we knew. Then he said that they'd signed to a new label - this we've heard rumours of before. Then he said that the line-up in the studio was 90125 + Wakeman! What happened to Howe and Bruford? Any clues? scorch * * * * * * * * * * SHEET MUSIC FOR SALE: ===================== Date: Tue, 14 Jul 92 12:47:50 -0400 From: kuznick@meglos.mdcorp.ksc.nasa.gov (david kuznick) I have something which I think is quite a find for sale: Sheet music for Rick Wakeman's Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. All the music, lyrics, a poster and some pictures (there might even be an interview with Wakeman; I'll have to check). I found two copies, one for me and one for the net. I would like $20 for it, but if I receive more than one offer the week or so after this appears in Notes from the Edge and Gibraltar Digest, it will be resolved by auction among those expressing an interest. David Kuznick (NOTE THE NEW ADDRESS!) kuznick@meglos.mdcorp.ksc.nasa.gov * * * * * * * * * * THE BEGINNINGS OF A FAQ: ======================== Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1992 21:08 EST From: SZ2@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU While reading through back issues in order to create a FAQ file, I ran across a commentary that I found quite interesting. It is said "The song 'Awaken' was based on a Christian book called 'The Singer' which tells the story of Christ's life except that Christ is a singer trying to teach everyone a particular song (I read the book quite a long time ago, so this might not be quite right)." Does anyone want to claim this quote? Or more importantly to me, would anyone like to provide more information. I'd really like to know the author of this book, or if anyone's seen it. Since Awaken is one of my favourites (as it seems to be for many), it'd be really interesting to see the source material. By the bye, no promises on the FAQ file, as you probably may have guessed, we have over 2 meg. of NFTE material that I'm sorting through! Jeff Johannes SZ2@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU * * * * * * * * * * ASIA - LIVE IN LONDON: ====================== From: dro@dsbc.icl.co.uk (David Owen) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 92 17:52:37 BST Firstly, I just can't believe Scott McMahan's opinions on "Awaken", and "And You And I". They are far and away my favourite Yes pieces ever, and I was delighted to see on the Union tour that each closed a segment of the show. Musical intricacy (or, if you will, "rambling"), is why I *like* Yes, as opposed to certain other progressive bands' more simplified recent output. Also, "Tormato" is IMHO such a great album *because* of the amount of "rambling" on it. Still, each to his/her own, and in the words of Robert Plant, "Ramble On....." :-) The main point of this posting is a band with Yes connections who usually get to the point more quickly than Yes.... ASIA LIVE IN LONDON Thursday 2nd July 1992 After 10 years, I was finally going to see Asia, and best of all, not in some cavernous, soulless, enourmo-dome, but in the sweaty, smoky intimacy of the Town and Country Club in Kentish Town, north London. To my intense relief, I had actually liked the album "Aqua", so my anticipation was at an all time high since the previous summer's reUNION tour. Commenting to my friend Andy, that if the band brought Steve Howe on half-way through, they'd be able to play some songs from "Astra", their third album, and only studio effort without Steve beforehand, seemed to be enough to bring the house lights down. On strode Geoff Downes, clad in headband and throat-mike, and three complete strangers on drums, bass/vocals, and lead guitar. My speculation was ended as Geoff laid down the opening chords to "Go", and they did just that. The drummer *wasn't* Carl Palner, and the guitarist *wasn't* Al Pitrelli, who's credited with most of the guitar work on "Aqua", but the bassist/vocalist *was* John Payne, who seems to be Geoff's new partner in writing catchy tunes with trite couplets for lyrics. (I *love* Asia - but that doesn't mean I think they're any good!). John is a more than adequate replacement for John Wetton, and has a much more sincere and outgoing manner, so after the first announcement from Geoff, he became the frontman. We were treated to a variety of "Aqua" tracks, interspersed with "Rock and Roll Dream" from "Astra", and Geoff's keyboard solo, featuring "Cutting It Fine", and of course "Video Killed the Radio Star". This was performed on a grand piano (with MIDIed strings on top), which was then wheeled off. About 40 minutes in John announced the evening's special guest, Steve Howe, everyone went mental, and on gambolled the oddest man in rock looking about 6 and a half stone, balder and greyer than ever, clad in fractal T-shirt and top-knot, and clutching his acoustic. Geoff accompanied him through "Aqua - part 1", and the band got on with playing some more of the "Aqua" songs. Steve took great delight in resorting to the pedal steel guitar whenever possible. The rest of the band looked really chuffed that he was there, and the atmosphere between the band and the crowd was fantastic. Steve looks odd enough next to such ordinary, everyday people as Jon Anderson, Chris Squire and Rick Wakeman, (:-)), but next to the shaggy-permed, spandex-trousered young men who now comprise most of Asia, you realise just what a unique treasure he is to the rock world. The "Aqua" songs were interspersed with "Wildest Dreams", "Don't Cry", and Steve's acoustic solo - just "Clap", and "Ram", from "Beginnings". *Everyone* recognised the first, but I think it was just a few of us die-hards who knew "Ram". Nobody shouted for "Australia" :-) For the home stretch, the band played "Only Time Will Tell", "The Heat Goes On", featuring Geoff diving across the stage to his old Hammond to play the solo at the end, (Keith who ????), and finally "Sole Survivor". The encores were (surprise) "Heat of the Moment" ("so now you find yourself in '92"), and a very loud "Open Your Eyes". It was worth the wait. In John Payne's words "Asia are back - and we're not going to piss off to America and desert England this time". I almost believe him. I'm still waiting for a GTR reunion in '96, though! Only Time Will Tell, Dave. * * * * * * * * * * ASIA AND DRAMA: =============== From: rawdon@cs.wisc.edu (Michael Rawdon) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 92 12:56:55 CDT >From: edju%phakt.usc.edu@usc.edu (Dr. Hannibal Lecter) >I just bought Asia's "Then & Now" and honestly, it wasn't any good! >How can Steve Howe waste his gift of music on stuff like that! Oh, come now, it's not THAT bad. If you look past the lyrics (Yes fans, of all people, should be able to look past the lyrics, right? :-) there's some good stuff there. I quite enjoy Asia's first album (especially, lately, "Sole Survivor" and "Here Comes The Feeling"), and _Then_And_Now_ has some good stuff ("Voice Of America has be interested in listening to _Astra_, and I like "Days Like These" a lot). Incidentally, I recently found a copy of U.K.'s self-titled album, and was really struck as what an obvious transitional phase it was for John Wetton between King Crimson and Asia. His prog-rock roots were well represented (with Eddie Jobson and Bill Bruford it's hard for them not to be :-) but the album in many ways "feels" just like Asia (lots of keyboards, lots of songwriting collaborations between Wetton and the keyboardist, an ostentatious-yet-strong drummer, guitars mostly mixed to the background; the biggest aberration is that the bass isn't sent into never-never land with the guitars, as happened in the '80s). Pretty eerie. >From: mcmahan@cs.unca.edu (Scott McMahan -- Genesis mailing list owner) > Tormato >Talk about rambling...in a progressive rock poll, I nominated this >best rip-off of Yes. It has all the solos, guitar, keyboard, and >flash, but no memorable musical themes or new ideas. No wonder they >broke up! I haven't heard _Tormato_ (or _Going_For_The_One_ either), but after listening to _Drama_ I had to wonder why they broke up. I find _Drama_ to be an incredibly strong album, one of Yes' best, with plenty of "memorable musical themes and new ideas" (Chris Squire was really amazing on that album, and every other member had a chance to shine through; I like Geoff Downes better than Wakeman, and Trevor Horn is actually quite a good vocalist, though admittedly not quite in Anderson's class). The songwriting is impeccable. I guess the group dynamics were just getting too weird at the time or something. * * * * * * * * * * THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT ADDRESSES: ============================== New subscribers, contributions, questions/comments/criticism, and additions/corrections to the discography: Mike Borella (Editor) borella@snowball.cs.ucdavis.edu NFTE Server (lyrics, backissues, discography, rarities, surveys, GIFs): Automated. For help send mail with subject line yes-archive@meiko.com "send main help" to NFTE Server problems, additions/corrections to the lyrics & GIFs, and additions/corrections to the rarities list: Mike Stok mike@meiko.com NFTE backissues and lyrics via anonymous FTP from cs.uwp.edu (131.210.1.4): Directory: /pub/music/lists/yes Contact for helping out with transcriptions: Greg Utas utas@bnr.ca For Import CD's (last resort): Joe Pizzirusso joep@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com ******************************************************************************** --< END OF NOTES FROM THE EDGE #44 >-- ********************************************************************************