I have been a Yes fan for almost over 4 years now, and I have noticed that Circus Of Heaven is a decently hated and just not liked song among a lot of fans and some even consider it to be some type of strange anomaly in their catalog. But I honestly considered it one of their most beautiful songs that’s creates a sort of childhood nostalgia while listening. Even the lyrics that describe a very large parade in a midwestern town on the very last day with tons of people lining the streets for festivities and the large parade/Circus with wonderfully mythical creatures and folklore like elf’s and unicorns and thousands of golden angels, and beautiful scenery described as mountains of time and starlight dancing streets. There being even historical figures and events like Alexander the Great, the sack of Troy and more imagery to like the gardens of Babylon all in a positive way that seems to all be part of the parade and circus as thousands of people are on and some dancing to in the streets and in the circus as well all having fun and watching the downright incredible imagery and magic and everything else you can imagine. One of the lyrics also talking about above all the crowds and people’s heads with each of their visions being transported in literally multitudes inventing light in their minds which I like to imagine being honestly some type of literal metaphor for essentially every person in the crowds seeing visions they always wanted to see (and also maybe some of the crowd having been taken some fun drugs and drinking to) but overall I just don’t understand why this song is so hated and underrated when this songs has so much oddly beautiful wonderful and childhood and even teen like nostalgia.

I know some consider this song to be cringy or even cheesy and just not much liked among a lot of fans which I just simply never could understand at all.

Amazing that aside from a few exceptions, most of the original members of Yes crossed over in some fashion for Genesis on certain points of their careers and certain Genesis members crossed paths for members of Yes:

1. Phil Collins And Steve Hackett supplied guitar and drums for Peter Banks’s solo album Two Sides Of Peter Banks in 1973.
2. Bill Bruford joined the Seconds Out Tour in 1976 to play the kit while Phil sang. Actually performed a drum duet for Cinema Show
3. Chris Squire and Steve Hackett teamed up for the Squackett group project that only releases one album in May 28th 2012.
4. Steve Howe formed the short lived supergroup GTR with Steve Hackett that scored one hit in When The Heart Rules The Mind that charted up to #14 in the US In 1986.

That Leaves Peter Gabriel, Rick Wakeman, Mike Rutherford, Tony Kaye, Alan White, Chris Stewart, Tony Banks And Anthony Phillips as the only Genesis and Yes members of classic and original lineups that never crossed paths for any side projects and alternative supergroups.

Fans of each band amazed at the small crossovers we got over the years? Anyone think the members that never crossed paths might have performed some neat what if songs together?

Just look at the personnel for his solo album "citizen". LOOK AT IT.

3 of the most legendary yes keyboardists (sorry downes), Steve Hackett, ALAN PARSONS!!! I wouldn't be surprised if sherwood collaborated with King David himself.

not to mention that this was one of the last projects that squire worked on before his death.

NOW, I haven't actually listened to this album yet, so i've yet to find out whether or not it's actually good. I just wanted to point out this crazy lineup of artists

Of 14 songs on Union, only 4 of them were recorded by the Rabin/Squire/White/Kaye lineup of Yes (I think by now everyone on here knows which ones). Yet Arista could have actually done a much better job spacing them out across the album instead of bunching them all up in the middle third. The more years went on the more I realized how lopsided the order is. Masquerade is supposed to be a peaceful breather away from the rest of the noisy album yet it's only track 3...we haven't even introduced the other half on this album yet. Then you also realize the last five ABWH tracks are stacked up at the end tracks 10-14. That's more than half the ABWH tracks! And also you realize there are only TWO ABWH tracks in between the first Yes track (Lift Me Up) and the last one (The More We Live - Let Go). The other SEVEN are all outside that window. Having two Yes tracks back to back when there is already a massive shortage of them (Saving My Heart and Miracle Of Life) doesn't help either. You can make only 4 Yes tracks work if you simply spread it out better. Plus Jon Anderson did say himself he had his own sequencing in mind but Arista overrode it. We may never know what Jon's track list vision was but I have created three alternate sequences. You guys let me know which one you like best!

Alternate Track List #1
1. Dangerous
2. Holding On
3. Shock To The System
4. Lift Me Up
5. Without Hope You Cannot Start The Day
6. Saving My Heart
7. Masquerade
8. Silent Talking
9. Miracle Of Life
10. Angkor Wat
11. Evensong
12. Take The Water To The Mountain
13. The More We Live - Let Go
14. I Would Have Waited Forever (Howe outro extended with no fade out)

Alternate Track List #2
1. Shock To The System
2. Holding On
3. Evensong
4. Lift Me Up
5. Without Hope You Cannot Start The Day
6. Saving My Heart
7. Masquerade
8. Silent Talking
9. Dangerous
10. Miracle Of Life
11. Angkor Wat
12. Take The Water To The Mountain
13. The More We Live - Let Go
14. I Would Have Waited Forever (Howe outro extended with no fade out)

Alternate Track List #3
1. Shock To The System
2. I Would Have Waited Forever
3. Evensong
4. Lift Me Up
5. Without Hope You Cannot Start The Day
6. Saving My Heart
7. Masquerade
8. Silent Talking
9. Dangerous
10. Miracle Of Life
11. Angkor Wat
12. Take The Water To The Mountain
13. The More We Live - Let Go
14. Holding On

I personally loved it, especially lake of memories. All i gotta say is, Roger Dean and Geoffrey Downes both being on three albums this years is crazy!

Years ago at a New Year’s Eve party, there was a bet made that my buddy Nate could not nail every hit in that break near the end of Siberian Khatru (7:03 - 7:34).

THIS PART

I bet $50 against him.

And he sat there using his hands and knees and f\cking nailed it.*

(Once he nailed the part from 7:14 - 7:18…..I knew it was over)

Several of us lost money. Nate walked away with a nice fat stack.

But come on - what are the odds someone is going to nail that with NO warning - just out of the blue?

Any reason why Jon hasn’t performed this staple with the Band Geeks? It’s so good live.

https://a.co/d/0b2CSPO4

Amazon even gave me a coupon, so I ended up only paying $49 all in! But I think the coupon is account-dependent, not universal.

🔥ALBUM REVIEW🔥 My in-depth exploration of Return to The Red Planet by progressive rock legend Rick Wakeman.Review here

I just finished attending Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks. Absolutely fantastic show it was. However, I got very emotional right after, because I am Gen-Z and realized that I won't be able to listen to these legends for much longer. I still am very glad that I did get to see him (Jon), but I also feel like I missed out on so much by being born in the wrong era.

Anyone felt the same?

I was a huge Yes fan as a teenager and I remember feeling like I missed out not seeing them in 2004 or so when they were all alive and together. Since then I kind of drifted away from them but their early stuff was fundamental to my music education. To be honest, I haven’t thought of the state of Yes in over 20 years and I kind of forgot about them.

All of a sudden a random Reddit comment about a Jon Anderson concert got me curious when they said he still sounded great. I went down a small rabbit hole to get up to speed so to speak and I learned of Squire and White’s passing and I still feel pretty sad about that. But the craziest thing is that Jon is no longer the singer of the band. And this happened just a few years after they were all touring together and I was off at college and had moved onto following other bands I guess.

Watching some of Jon’s recent shows has reinvigorated my Yes fan status and I am obsessed all over again like I was when I was 16. It’s really miraculous how good he and his band sound.

I can’t help but think that Jon is lucky to not be in current Yes and have his new band. I think the fact that it isn’t Yes is their best advantage. It adds some fresh blood and ideas to the equation. For all of Yes’ talent, they really did put out some mediocre to straight bad music in the late 80s and 90s.

But it still really makes me feel crazy to hear what happened to one of my favorite bands of all time when I wasn’t watching. I tried to check out the Davison stuff but it’s just really hard as Jon is a huge part of the sound and his voice is very unique and distinct. I have an open mind but it just doesn’t sound good to me. Not trying to upset anyone.

For who was there, what actually went down when Jon got left behind? What was the fanbase’s reaction? What was it like to hear someone else try to do Jon’s job when the first album came out without him?

Please help get a bad Yes fan up to speed, it’s been 20 years.

Oh yeah, also— what happened with Rick Wakeman? I know I could google all of this but I want to hear from actual people who were part of the fan base.

One of the best concerts I've ever been to. Jon is such a force of nature, his voice hasn't aged at all. Did he make a pact with the devil? Hope he doesn't leave us anytime soon.

Did anybody notice the new "deluxe" edition of Aurora? I saw it pop up on Spotify, and I was surprised to see the extra content is just an instrumental version of the album. Which is good! I listened to it, and while certainly not the best playing from anyone involved, it was way more enjoyable without new Jon's unfortunate vocals. Not trying to be a hater, I listened to Aurora for the first time about a month ago and did not expect to listen to it again.

There is also an instrumental version of Fly From Here. I also enjoy that version much more. I love the vocals and lyrics on many classic Yes songs, but for me the vocals are almost always the most offensive parts of the Yes songs and albums I don't like. I wish they would release all of their albums in instrumental versions. They have done so for a couple classic albums like The Yes Album, and I thought it was fun to hear the instrumental versions, even though those songs have some of my favorite (OG) Jon moments in Yes history.

I also love jazz, and dabble in classical and electronic music. So as a big fan of instrumental music, I am calling for all the Yes albums to be released in instrumental versions. Especially the newer ones (YN) Jon sings on. What do you think? Did anyone enjoy the Aurora instrumental versions, or feel it's heresy to remove the vocals, or just don't care either way?

I use Mind Drive as my alarm on my phone because it starts off really quiet and soft, and gradually gets more intense over three minutes.

By the three minute mark, you're absolutely awake but you're not jolted out of sleep. It's how I know it will be a good day.

Selling a signed Patrick Moraz of Yes & Moodly Bles, vinyl sleeve (vinyl NOT INCLUDED). NOT A REPRINT! Includes a certificate of authenticity!

Asking $150 OBO. Make me an offer, no low ballers!

One of a kind!!!

Buyer pays S&H*tbh

I am on my 4th listen of Group Chat, the Pete Roth Trio ft Bill Bruford album. Good stuff. I was previously listening to the Downes Braide Association's Trauma on repeat, and the singles from Asia's Indigo have been good.

On top of Yes's Aurora, which I very much enjoy, I think we're enjoying a bumper year for Yes-related releases! Or do you disagree?

Other releases this year...

Rick Wakeman: Return to the Red Planet

Englebert Humperdinck: Faithfully (w/ Wakeman R)

Bloc Party: Anatomy of a Brief Romance (w/ Horn)

Trevor Rabin: Bad Boys II

Nuclear Messiah: Black Flame (w/ Wakeman R)

David Cross & Peter Banks: The Other Horizon (w/ Sherwood, Wakeman O, Schellen, Kaye)

Leon Alvarado: The Wicked Forest (w/ Sherwood, Davison)

Stirling Rock: Are You Coming to the Party? (w/ Downes)

Am I crazy? It’s such great art for such a milquetoast album. It feels more right to be connected to Jon’s amazing work. I can pretend…

Mine would be keys to ascension

So I was planning on seeing Yes live early next year, but I then started seeing people say that they don’t sound very good anymore and Steve Howe is the only original member left (and he technically isn’t even original, not to mention his age seems to have taken a toll on his playing). I watched some videos of them playing live last year, and I agree that they don’t sound good anymore. I then saw that whilst researching bands playing next year, Rick Wakeman was also doing some shows early next year, and I was wondering if he is a good alternative to Yes. (I know he mostly plays his own stuff and I was planning on listening to it at some point)