Chris Squire, of course, had little idea that Yes would still be together as the group was constructing the classic albums featured on their most recent tour.
But he knew one thing: “I guess we invented progressive rock, somehow.”
Yes has just completed a round of shows focusing on the 1970s projects The Yes Album, Close To The Edge and Going For the One. The next leg, focusing on Europe, follows in 2014 — beginning in April and continuing through June.
Yes will also be playing host to Cruise To The Edge 2014, which travels on April 7-12 to Honduras and Mexico with a bill that includes Genesis Revisited, Queensryche, UK, Tangerine Dream, Saga, Renaissance, former Yes member Patrick Moraz, Lifesigns and ex-members of Gentle Giant.
The event celebrates a style of music universally known as progressive rock, though in the heady days of Yes’ founding, there wasn’t a handy genre to fit everything into.
“I guess the real definition of progressive rock is when it’s a little bit more than three or four chords,” Squire says. “We had all kinds of intricate rhythms and melody lines that would interweave from different instruments. If anything deserves the name ‘progressive,’ I guess that style does.”
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I’ve always been a HUGE Yes fan, except for that unfortunate recent period where that miscast, Canadian trib singer, fond of wearing sequined vests on stage, attempted to bleat a truly pathetic, off-pitch imitation of Jon Anderson, and the wretched album that resulted, Fly From Here. Jon Davison has a wonderful voice, but its timbre lacks the wonderful childlike quality of Anderson’s…even though JonA is DECADES older.
Squire is not only a pioneering bass player, but the engineer of Yes’ great harmonic vocals…but I think he’s off the mark. Inventors of prog? No.
(Not the Moody Blues, either.)
IMO, The Zombies NEVER get enough credit for their contributions to progrock…Colin’s tenor voice…Rod’s two-fisted keyboard playing…and compositions that rivaled those guys from Liverpool. If only they’d stayed together longer…and had a better guitarist back in the day…