Yes - Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil) (Part 2)

Track taken off 1974's "Tales from Topographic Oceans" Album

Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 and generally regarded as one of the archetypal bands of the genre. Despite many lineup changes, occasional splits within the group and the ever-changing trends in popular music, the band has continued on for over forty years and still retains a large following.[1]

The band's music blends symphonic and other 'classical' structures with their own brand of rock music, which is marked by sharp dynamic contrasts, long songs, abstract lyrics, and a general showcasing of instrumental prowess. Although the band's sole consistent member has been bass player Chris Squire (noted for his highly melodic and discursive playing as well as his early use of electronic effects), Yes is also generally noted for the distinctive high-register vocals of lead singer Jon Anderson and the eclectic musical stylings of a succession of guitarists (Peter Banks, Steve Howe, Trevor Rabin, Billy Sherwood), keyboard players (Tony Kaye, Rick Wakeman, Patrick Moraz, Geoff Downes, Igor Khoroshev) and drummers (Bill Bruford and Alan White). Several band members became celebrated musicians and/or bandleaders in their own right, and a 1980 lineup of the band was briefly fronted by future production star Trevor Horn.

Long-term band members Squire, Howe and White have most recently been touring (on the In The Present Tour of late 2008 and early 2009) with a Yes lineup featuring vocalist Benoît David and keyboardist Oliver Wakeman.

Yes was formed in 1968 by vocalist Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire. Anderson had already recorded a single in 1964 as a member of The Warriors, a beat band formed by his brother Tony, and later sang on a couple of 45s for Parlophone Records under the pseudonym Hans Christian. He was also briefly a member of the group The Gun. Squire had been a member of The Syn, a flower-pop outfit that recorded a couple of singles for Deram Records (one, "14-Hour Technicolour Dream", celebrating the "happening" held at Alexandra Palace on April 29/April 30, 1967). After the breakup of The Syn, Squire spent a year developing his bass-playing technique, strongly influenced by The Who's bassist, John Entwistle. In May 1968, he met Anderson in a Soho nightclub, La Chasse, where Anderson was working. The two had a common interest in vocal harmony and began working together soon afterwards.

At the time, Squire was in a band called Mabel Greer's Toyshop with guitarist Clive Bailey and drummer Bob Hagger, and invited Anderson to begin singing with the group. Hagger was soon replaced by Bill Bruford, a jazz aficionado who had played just three gigs with Blues revivalists Savoy Brown before leaving, and who was recruited from an ad he had placed in Melody Maker. An earlier lineup of Mabel Greer's Toyshop had featured guitarist Peter Banks who'd previously worked with Squire in The Syn and who now returned to replace Bailey. Finally, the band also expanded to include an organist and occasional piano player, Tony Kaye, a classically-trained musician who'd abandoned his studies to pursue rock and roll and had already been in a series of unsuccessful groups (Johnny Taylor's Star Combo, The Federals, and Jimmy Winston and His Reflections).

In search of a more commercially useful bandname, Mabel Greer's Toyshop soon became Yes.[5] Banks came up with the three letter name, with the rationale that it would stand out on posters.

The newly-rechristened Yes played their first show at East Mersea Youth Camp in England on August 4, 1968. Soon after this, they opened for Cream at their 1968 Farewell Concert from The Royal Albert Hall. Early on, influenced by bands like 1-2-3 (later Clouds),[6] the group earned a reputation for taking other people's songs and drastically changing them into expanded, progressive compositions.

In September 1968, Yes subbed for an absent Sly & the Family Stone at Blaise's and as a result of that appearance gained a residency at The Marquee club. Soon after that, they made their first radio appearance on John Peel's programme. When Melody Maker columnist Tony Wilson selected them and Led Zeppelin as the two bands "Most Likely To Succeed" (as he states on the liner notes of the band's debut LP), it appeared that their future was assured.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Yes
• Ritual
• Nous
• Sommes
• du
• Soleil
• Part
• 1974
• Tales
• from
• Topographic
• Oceans
• Progressive
• Rock

[subvert47]

this LP is gay

[astrophonix]

@MrMultijosefus Sorry, but no. The planets formed from the same protostellar nebula as the sun did, it didn't throw them out from itself, that is a disproved 19th century theory by Laplace. We are made of stardust from a pre-existing star. We are of the sun as we couldn't have evolved without it.

[discoverytime1]

Man do I ever miss this music! It seems that not many people try anymore.

This was one of the first concerts I attended. I will treasure it forever.

[Caswallen420]

i MUST get some headphones....!

[Caswallen420]

ok nvm. i was only saying....!

[cheeta14]

I was 15 years old when I got this album, 1973, a new era for progressive rock, and yes it is classical music as well, classical music does not mean just Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach and all those old ones, classical music is all that music that goes over the time as master pieces and a product of talent.

[zackjp]

my fav album by yes next to relayer ...next to that all the yes albums until after drama sorry if this makes no sense im baked

[ThePrion23]

The discord at 3:20 sets up the deliverance of 5:57. Truly one of the most emotionally compelling 'pop' records I ever heard. What is this music anyway? Rock and roll? Classical? It is what it is. I think it's beautiful.

[MrMultijosefus]

This was the first double vinyl album I bought "blind" no critique from Rolling Stone first. This part is the most beautiful in harmony as in melody. You are right at 3:20 the devil enters in the ancient struggle good/evil. Therefore the diabolical tone. The guitar partita are some of the best in the genre. Juxtaposition of ugly vs beautiful music. We are from the sun is right all other planets appeared as the sun spun faster and ejected matter. Again the symphonic structure appears popular at

[LanceHelmut]

monster genius prog...yes and king crimson absolutely rule!!!