Sunday, December 27, 2020

Yes - The Golden Age (1979)

Following the completion of their tour to promote 'Tormato', Yes decamped to Paris to record some material with producer Roy Thomas Baker. Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman had decided together that they wanted the band to move in a more New Age or pop direction, in keeping with the musical trends of the time, but the rest of the band were not so keen, and wanted to keep their classic, recognisable progressive rock sound. These tensions were evident in the music that was recorded in Paris, and it seemed like fate was intervening when Alan White broke his foot in a roller-skating accident, forcing the recording sessions to be abandoned. Howe, Squire and White returned to London, leaving Anderson and Wakeman to carry on working on their new ideas in Paris. When White's foot had healed and the band got back together, they set about recording what would become the 'Drama' album, and the Paris sessions were consigned to the vaults. What we have here, then, is an album that could have slotted in between 'Tormato' and 'Drama', if Anderson and Wakeman had got their way with a new direction for the group. Some of the songs were reworked later for member's solo albums, but most of these recordings have only ever been heard on bootlegs, and more recently on remastered re-issues of 'Tormato' and 'Drama'. 


Track listing

01 Golden Age
02 Tango
03 Everybody Loves You
04 In The Tower
05 Friend Of A Friend
06 Richard
07 Dancing Through The Night
08 Some Are Born
09 Picasso
10 You Can Be Saved
11 Countryside


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5 comments:

  1. BabingaJuly 14, 2018 at 9:08 AM

    FAB!

    ReplyDelete
  2. jay strangeJuly 16, 2018 at 1:27 AM

    Jon Anderson's original idea for the follow up to tormato was a concept album about richard the lionheart, i know this because he showed me the completed lyrics for the project... the rest of the band, besides wakeman, were not so keen with the idea especially since anderson's other idea was yes being reduced to a backing band for his songs. Golden age, richard and in the tower are from this project...i think this was as far as it got

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dr. ZoomSeptember 13, 2019 at 8:15 AM

    I just found your blog, and of all the treasures I've encountered, this is perhaps the crown jewel. I can't wait to give it a listen.

    ReplyDelete
  4. pjSeptember 13, 2019 at 9:54 AM

    I listened to this again myself only two days ago, and just wish I had a better copy of 'Everybody Loves You'.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Speculative SpectrusOctober 26, 2019 at 4:19 AM

    I once made a pretty similar playlist... "The Lost Yes Album" (comprised mainly of late-70s stuff in the classic lineup - I don't have the box set that the other snippets appeared on):

    Picasso
    Friend of a Friend
    Days (Demo)
    Money
    Dancing Through the Light
    Some Are Born
    Everybody's Song
    You Can Be Saved
    High
    Golden Age
    Countryside
    In the Tower

    Interesting that you also have "Dancing Through the Light" (not "Night") followed by "Some Are Born"!

    And I also did "The Other Yes Album":

    Abilene
    America (Single Version)
    Dear Father
    Something's Coming
    Make It Easy
    America (LP Version)
    It's Over

    ReplyDelete

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