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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius
Another stellar (how topical) episode from Mark in Kevin’s absence! This week, he covers a wide variety of topics including the weather(!), his own latest Projekt Gemineye release, Jon Davison and the new Yes album and the main topic – the record pressings you must have if you count yourself as a fanatical Yes collector!
https://projektgemineye.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-days-of-yesterday
Mark recorded this episode shortly before the news broke that the Yes Fragile Tour has had to be postponed due to Steve Howe requiring an operation. Get well soon, Steve!
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Producers:
- Joseph Cottrell
- Wayne Hall
- Ken Fuller
- Jeffrey Crecelius
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| Douglas Caldwell |
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17 replies on “Must own Yes vinyl pressings, Yes news, and more!! – 715”
As a collector, allow me to add 1976’s “Yes Solos LP Sampler” to the list, not because it sounds good, but because it’s cool to have.
Greetings Ray,
Great to hear from you.
Absolutely!! The 1976 Solo album sampler is a highly collectable piece for Yes vinyl collectors. As you said…not really for it’s sonics…but for its historical reasons. Also since it’s a promo album that was sent mainly to radio stations and magazines…if you find them in the used record stores …they are used played to death. I was pretty lucky with my copy…it came from a former radio DJ’s collection…and he took pretty good care of it.
Thanks again for your comment.
Hope you are doing well.
Mark Anthony K
Hi Ray,
Great to hear from you. Absolutely!! The Yes Solos LP Sampler is a fantastic collector item. Maybe not sonically but it has a historic importance. I find they are difficult to find in good condition…mainly because they were sent to Radio stations..and they were probably spun quite a bit….well at least the Chris Squire stuff…I can’t imagine many radio stations finding anything from Olias to fit their radio format.
But I could be wrong. I was lucky …the copy I have came from a former radio DJ…and he took pretty good care of it.
Thanks again for your comment.
Mark Anthony K
Nice topic, Mark. As I’m old, I started collecting records in ’68, so have 1st US pressings of all Yes albums, most 45s & 12″ records, and many imports from England, Japan, Canada, Italy & elsewhere of many artists. As a radio dj in Ohio in the 70s & 80s, and guesting on shows from ’90 up to last October, I have many radio promo albums & 12″ records. My worst sounding (and looking) Yes album is my old Taiwan pressing of Fragile! At one point I had about 5000 records total including 45s. And that doesn’t count my audiotapes, 8-track tapes, cds, laser discs, dvds, blu-rays, and tons of programs, photos, press kits, magazines, books, etc.! I agree that the Record Store Day studio releases have generally been very good audio-wise, especially the 1st Yes album.
Hi Doug,
Thank you very much for your comment.
I’m glad you enjoyed this week’s episode. I didn’t realize that you were a radio DJ…your vinyl collection must be impressive. Haha…I had to laugh when I read that you have a Taiwan copy of Fragile….I wonder if it’s the same company that made my crappy Taiwan version of Close to the Edge.
Take care and have a great weekend.
Mark Anthony K
Hi, Mark. Yes, I was a radio dj starting in Jan. ’75. For anyone interested, here’s the link to read my long bio, see over 100 photos & see my credits at the Internet Movie Database, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7449087
Great episode Mark. I have to admit I’m not particularly up on pressings so it was good to get an insight and then to find which ones I had. My Yes records were mostly bought in the 1990s in England where my brother was at college. Amazing second hand shops.
I found my copy of Drama and did some research to find its the reissue – but hey it’s sounds good! Now I’m searching for the reissue!
Hi Geoff,
Great to hear from you.
Thank you for the kind words…I’m glad you enjoyed the episode.
Yes…record collecting can be an interesting topic…I find the stories fascinating…. especially hearing where people got their albums and when..
Buying Yes albums in the 90s must have been tricky…considering the vinyl had been replaced by CDs at that point. But at second hand shops it was probably a great spot to find them…and for much less then now.
The reissue (of Drama) shouldn’t be hard to find. I believe the one I mentioned is the newest version of it. Happy hunting.
All the best,
Mark Anthony K
G’Day Mark
Thanks again for keeping the podcast going while Kevin recovers! Let’s hope he enjoys his protracted break at returns to full health shortly.
I have just one comment to make. The planned title ‘Aurora’ sounds like an Asia album title, not a Yes album. I have often felt that the band currently playing as ‘Yes’ have more in common stylistically with Asia than the original Yes. Indeed, I believe four of the five members have played with Asia. So the current Yes line up is actually Asia plus one.
Steve is an amazing musician and I wish him a fast recovery from his operation. I will definitely give the forthcoming album a listen and hope that the team will be able to achieve the greatness of the classic band.
Hi Alan,
Great to hear from you. Hope all is well.
Interesting point, about the current Yes being closer to Asia, and I do remember seeing Asia on the Royal Affair tour where Geoff, Billy and Steve were in the group. To be fair…Steve only played the last few songs with them..for 80%of the show it was Ron “Bumblefoot” Thall on guitar. And while “Aurora” certainly sounds like an Asia album title…I wouldn’t be convinced of it sounding like an Asia album. Again…I have faith in Billy as a song writer…just listen to the Prog Collective album or even the Circa album “Valley of the Windmill”…very proggy…it’s this writing style that I sometimes feel is being denied by Steve…I could be wrong…but I have a strong feeling about that. Also I sometimes wonder if the current Yes would benefit from an outside writer….say Fernando Perdomo…who writes some very proggy material…and also has a great sense of melody.
Just food for thought.
I also am wishing Steve a speedy recovery…thanks for posting your kind words.
All the best.
Mark Anthony K
Dearest YMP Towers,
Thanks for another great episode. Hearing your passionate recollections of vinyl purchasing had me smiling, Mark; the story of the slovak version of the record your uncle picked up for you had me in stitches! Makes me wonder if your collection also includes any underground bootleg Soviet pressings of Union on x-ray stock?? (ahhhhhh!)
I wanted to bring something up on the forum relating to the excitement of the forthcoming Yes album. I’m soooo looking forward to that magical first listen once it arrives, but I must admit that over the last 3 releases, my expectations are low in the “wow” factor. The songwriters are who they are, and the band has given me countless joy throughout the discography, so all is forgiven; to a point. For me, the new record hinges upon one important X factor: the mix. Please do not let Curtis Schwarz mix the record. Please.
I understand he is Steve Howe’s main engineer and an important part of the Yes team, but giving him a job so important as album mixer is a mistake. After listening to the YMP episode regarding the fave albums since 1980, the one glaring aspect upon re-listening to the last 2 albums was of liking the overall approach but feeling as if the band is… tired. For instance, why are the drums so far back in the mix? WTF? I’m not a big Jay Schellen fan, no disrespect as he seems like a super nice human being — but where is his creative spark? I wonder if his parts suffer most due to the strange insistence upon sharing files vs. sharing the studio room for a few weeks together. Both Billy and Jay have said they would love to write and record as a band together instead of recording separately from each other. I get the sense from Steve Howe that it’s almost an imposition to ask the band to convene for the writing process…. which I cannot understand. At all.
But please do not let Curtis Schwarz mix the new Yes album. I feel his mixes take things to a baseline mix-in-progress state: just the facts, ma’am, no new techniques (90125), no interesting effects (CTTE), no personal “sound” (Fragile seems like they spent ages on getting complimentary sounds from the instruments, fresh sounding even today). Get someone from outside the immediate camp mix the record, maybe even someone under 40 years old…? :-O
Thanks for indulging me. I wonder if anyone else agrees with me on this. Maybe there’s still time for a call-back/re-mix before June….!
That said, cheers again for your great work, best wishes to Kevin and Projekt Gemineye!
All good points. I can see how Steve has got to where he has got to though. I remember an ABWH interview at the time of release when he stated he was unhappy what the mix had done to his guitar parts. Obviously he was unhappy about Union and Open Your Eyes plus also Asia Alpha. Add Tormato and Heaven & Earth and it looks like he has settled on what he has now as producing the best outcome. Like you I hope that the new album will bring a more dynamic mix, and more keyboard prominence as appropriate. Jon has also said it’s the one they’re spent most time on so hopefully these are all good pointers.
Hey Geoff,
Thanks again for commenting.
Interesting point…so you think that he has held a grudge for 40 years plus…because he didn’t like how low his guitars were in the ABWH album.
Seems a bit childish…but not impossible. Now as producer he has final say on everything…including the mix. Honestly..I agree with Taylor…give the songs to someone outside of the band to mix it. There are plenty of excellent mix engineers…the first that comes to mind is Bob Clearmountain. His mixes are incredible sounding and since he has worked on albums from all types of bands and eras …he seems like a great choice. Unfortunately I can’t see Steve give up the reins. But if your reading this Steve….think about it.
Mark Anthony K
Hello Taylor,
Thank you for your comment. I really do appreciate your support.
As for your comments…I agree with a lot of it. There are a lot of factors, I believe, to why the albums sound the way they do. While the mixing is a huge factor in that (I know that personally from mixing loads of albums…including my own), there is also the songwriting…which I feel is a major issue. If you write great songs …the mixing can be forgiven if it isn’t well done. But even the most incredible sounding mixes can’t help terribly written songs.
I’ve said it before… Billy is a fantastic song writer as is Geoff Downes. I feel that Steve has taken over the bulk of the songwriting as well as the production.
Now..the production end of it, I’m not too concerned about…but the songwriting..I am. Steve has a definite style of writing now…very AOR…very lots of acoustic and classical guitar….very mature.
Where as Yes music has always had a sense of adventure and exploration…which is somewhat missing of late.
Now what makes something adventurous…taking chances with sounds and arrangements…like making an interesting sound for the bass guitar…and a off the wall drum and bass rhythm…or some fantastic piano introduction. But I get a feeling that Steve doesn’t like the focus being taken off of him.
Now I know that this is probably a bad time with be critical of Steve… especially since he has just gone through a medical situation…but my comments come from a good place I feel. Usually long time fans make comments in hopes of helping guide them back to days of old.
But being in a band myself…that rarely works.
I think it goes without saying that the mixes are probably done now and we must now wait and see. I still have faith that this album will be as good as Mirror to the Sky….which I did enjoy.
Thanks again for your comment.
Mark Anthony K
Hi Mark and Kevin, so good to hear that Kevin is improving! We hope to hear from you soon.
Mark, I’ve preordered the vinyl of your latest, I have most of your albums on vinyl and really enjoy them!
Excellent topic! I’m a vinyl (and CD and DVD/BR) collector, always searching for the best sounding versions. I loved hearing your thoughts about the pressings you’ve heard.
I just did a shootout of some Relayer vinyl preasings that I have access to:
1974 Original German Porky, my own rip
2009 Friday Music, Patrick rip from 2020
2018 Rhino Steven Wilson remix, Patrick rip from 2021
2024 Rhino High Fidelity, Kevin Gray at Cohearant, pressed Optimal Media, my own rip
My least favorite was the Friday Music. Although the soundstage is pretty good, everything is pretty much at the same level, so that sometimes it’s hard to hear the vocals or the solos.
The German is probably similar to the UK, especially as it’s cut by Porky Pecko. The vocals, guitars and keyboards are really forward, sometimes a little shrill. It’s a little fatiguing after a while.
The Steven Wilson and Kevin Gray mixes are similar in that the soundstage is very wide and vocals, guitars and keys are spaced nicely. They’re both great listens! I’ll have to do a deeper dive to pick out particular elements that Wilson emphasizes.
Thanks for the great topic, let’s hear more!
Todd
Excellent review of various vinyl pressings. Please do more. All of the recent Atlantic 75 45RPM Yes releases have been excellent , particularly TYA and CTTE. Like you I have multiple different pressings per Album. But the real treasures in my vinyl collection are the Yes bootleg vinyl and various radio vinyl broadcast Transcription Discs numbering around 40 plus in number.
Dear Nigel,
I would love to hear an episode featuring an interview with you relating to the “around 40” bootlegs you own. Wow. The 5%ers need to know!