Yes (band)

Yes

Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968, generally regarded as one of the archetypal bands and pioneers of the genre. Despite many lineup changes, occasional splits within the group, and the ever-changing trends in popular music, the band has continued for more than 40 years and still retains a large following. They have sold over 30 million albums. The band's music blends symphonic and other classical structures with their own brand of rock music.

Although the band's sole consistent member has been bass player Chris Squire, Yes are also generally noted for the distinctive high-register vocals of former lead singer Jon Anderson and the eclectic musical stylings of a succession of guitarists (Steve Howe, Peter Banks, Trevor Rabin, Billy Sherwood), keyboard players (Rick Wakeman, Tony Kaye, Patrick Moraz, Geoff Downes, Igor Khoroshev, Oliver Wakeman), and drummers (Alan White and Bill Bruford). Several band members became celebrated musicians and/or bandleaders in their own right, and a 1980 lineup of the band was briefly fronted by Trevor Horn (before he became a well known record producer). The band's current lineup includes Squire, Howe, White, Oliver Wakeman (keyboards) and Benoît David (lead vocals).

History

Early years (1968–1971)

Formation

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, who recorded a couple of singles for Deram Records (one, "14-Hour Technicolour Dream," celebrating the "happening" held at Alexandra Palace on 29/30 April 1967). After the break-up 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, especially that of Simon & Garfunkel, and began working together soon afterwards.

At the time, Squire was in a band called Mabel Greer's Toyshop with guitarist Clive Bayley and drummer Bob Hagger, and he 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 had previously worked with Squire in The Syn, and who now returned to replace Bailey. Finally, the band 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 band name, Mabel Greer's Toyshop soon became Yes.

The newly rechristened Yes played their first show at East Mersea Youth Camp in England on 4 August 1968. Soon afterward, they opened for Cream at their 1968 Farewell Concert from The Royal Albert Hall. Chris Squire stated in an interview that both he and Jon Anderson were influenced by an album by The 5th Dimension called The Magic Garden. Early on, influenced by bands such as 1-2-3 (later Clouds), 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 performance, gained a residency at The Marquee club. Soon after that, they made their first radio appearance on John Peel's programme. 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).

The first two albums

Yes's eponymous debut album was released on 25 July 1969. The harmony vocals of Anderson, Banks, and Squire were an immediate trademark of the Yes sound. Tracks included cover versions of The Beatles' "Every Little Thing" and The Byrds' "I See You" as well as original material. Lester Bangs gave the album a favourable review in Rolling Stone magazine, describing the band as promising and the album as displaying a "sense of style, taste, and subtlety"

In 1970, the band released their second album, this time accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. In common with its predecessor, Time and a Word featured two cover versions in addition to the band-composed material — "Everydays" by Stephen Stills (originally recorded by Buffalo Springfield) and Richie Havens' "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (in a reworked version including excerpts from the theme song of the movie The Big Country).

Into the Yes style

Vocalist Jon Anderson performing in concert with Yes in 1977

Peter Banks had been particularly dissatisfied with Time and a Word, as well as with the sacking of Yes' first manager Roy Flynn later in the year. The consequent tensions resulted in Banks's ousting by Anderson and Squire before the release of Time and a Word. He would subsequently play briefly in Blodwyn Pig before launching his own progressive-rock band Flash. Former Tomorrow guitarist Steve Howe replaced Banks in Yes, and he was included in the front-cover photo of the American release of Time and a Word, despite not having played on it.

The band's next release, The Yes Album, was the first Yes record to be entirely made up of original compositions, which the band had written collectively in a rented house in the Devon countryside and were noticeably longer than the tracks on the two previous albums. Howe had quickly established himself as an integral part of the Yes sound, adding to compositions and expanding the band's guitar influences to include classical and country stylings as well as playing a wider variety of instruments, such as the 12-string Portuguese vihuela. The Yes Album also united Yes with their long-serving producer and engineer Eddie Offord.

Offord has recounted that album took about two months to record, and that each session was usually very long (12 hours or more) because much of the material was developed in the studio. Prior to The Yes Album, the band had come into the studio with well-formed ideas and songs that were more or less complete, but for this LP their working method was much more experimental. Each track was painstakingly assembled from very small sections—typically 30 seconds to a minute in length—which Offord eventually pieced together into a complete track. ("Any time there was a change in the music - when it would go from one feeling to another - they would then make that an edit"). According to his account, only after the final mixdown of each track would the band then learn to play the song right through so they could perform it live. This set the pattern for the recording most of the material on their next three albums.

Steve Howe, lead guitarist for Yes, in 1977

In mid-1971, on the eve of their first US tour, co-founder Tony Kaye was asked to leave the band, partly due to friction between him and Steve Howe and also because of his reported reluctance to use electronic keyboards such as the Mellotron and the newly developed MiniMoog synthesiser. He would later form the group Badger and rejoined Yes in the early 1980s. In between, he guested in Peter Banks's Flash.

Kaye was replaced by another classically trained keyboard player Rick Wakeman, who had just left Strawbs and was already a noted studio musician, with credits including work with T. Rex, David Bowie, and Lou Reed, as well as the piano part on the Cat Stevens hit "Morning Has Broken". As well as embracing the use of the Minimoog, Wakeman brought another addition to the group's instrumentation — the Mellotron, which provided Yes with the lush orchestral and choral textures that their new compositions demanded. Along with his trademark silver sequined cape and flowing blond hair, Wakeman's imposing keyboard array—dual Mellotrons and Minimoogs, ARP synthesiser, Hammond organ, RMI electric piano, harspichord and grand piano -- soon became a focal point of the band's concerts.

Arriving at symphonic rock (1971–1973)

Fragile and Close to the Edge

The first album released with the new lineup was 1971's Fragile (a Top 10 album in America). Musically, the album continued to develop Yes' growing interest in the sounds and structures of classical music, notably the work of Sibelius and Stravinsky. Wakeman also contributed an all-keyboard arrangement of the third movement of a Brahms symphony, as part of the album's presentation of the work of each member in a series of solo (or near-solo) showcases, including Howe's classical-guitar composition "Mood for a Day" and Squire's multiple-overdub bass-guitar piece "The Fish." Fragile also marked the beginning of the band's long collaboration with artist Roger Dean, who designed the group's logo and their album covers, as well as (along with brother Martin Dean) their stage sets.

In February 1972, Yes recorded a non-album track, their 10-minute interpretation of Paul Simon's "America" (which subsequently appeared on the 1972 album The New Age of Atlantic, a compilation with several acts from the roster of Atlantic Records). This song had been a staple of Yes gigs since the band's early days (a version featuring Kaye appears on the live box set The Word Is Live). While Wakeman played most of the keyboard parts on the recording, he was not particularly enthusiastic about it, and Bill Bruford played the Mellotron part at the end of the track.

The next Yes album, 1972's Close to the Edge was recorded following a lengthy studio stint and solidified the template for Yes music for the rest of the decade. It was by far the band's most ambitious effort to date, consisting of three lengthy compositions. The title track took up an entire side of the album and was constructed in classical sonata form, although it drew on combined elements of classical music, psychedelic rock, pop, jazz, and field recordings to create the final sound. Like its predecessor, Close To The Edge was a Top 10 record in the United States.

A growing live draw

The growing critical and commercial success of the band was not enough to retain Bill Bruford, who left Yes after the Close to the Edge sessions but before the album release, in order to join King Crimson. He was replaced by former Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White. A friend of Anderson's and Offord's, White had sat in with the band once during the weeks before Bruford's departure and was brought into Yes several months before the September 1972 release of Close to the Edge.

White learned the band's repertoire in a matter of three days before embarking on the tour. He has since remained with the band for more than 30 years and has maintained a reputation for having a collaborative and "down-to-earth attitude".

By this point, Yes were beginning to enjoy commercial and critical success around the world. They were also becoming one of the most popular concert attractions of the day, benefitting from the tremendous advancements in live music technology that were taking place at that time. Yes were particularly keen and quick to embrace and develop this technology and were renowned for the high quality of both their sound and lighting. After supporting Iron Butterfly on a European tour in 1971, they had, in fact, bought the headliner's entire PA system so they could take control of their own sound.

The band's early touring with White was featured on their next release, the three-record live collection Yessongs, primarily recorded on their U.S. and UK tours in November–December 1972. The album also included several earlier recordings with Bruford — the songs "Long Distance Runaround" and "Perpetual Change" (the latter with an extended Bruford drum solo), and an extended Bruford-backed Chris Squire solo on "The Fish." Yessongs was one of the first rock triple-album sets, featuring live versions of all-original material from the previous three studio albums. Roger Dean's artwork spread across a triple gatefold cover and continued the cosmic-organic design concepts of the two previous albums.

A video of the tour, released under the same name, featured concert footage intermixed with psychedelic visual effects.

Uncharted waters

Yes' next studio album, 1973's two-disc Tales from Topographic Oceans, marked a change in the band's fortunes and polarised fans and critics alike. Coming after extensive touring, the album was later described by Jon Anderson as "the meeting point of high ideals and low energy." Based on Anderson's interpretation of the Shastric scriptures (from a footnote within Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi), Tales from Topographic Oceans was Yes' most technically ambitious effort to date. Although extended compositions were by now a Yes hallmark, each of the four compositions on the new album lasted for roughly 20 minutes and took up an entire LP side.

"It is a fragmented masterpiece, assembled with loving care and long hours in the studio. Brilliant in patches, but often taking far too long to make its various points, and curiously lacking in warmth or personal expression. ... Ritual is a dance of celebration and brings the first enjoyable moments, where Alan's driving drums have something to grip on to and the lyrics of la la la speak volumes. But even this cannot last long and cohesion is lost once more to the gods of drab self indulgence."

—Melody Maker review of Tales from Topographic Oceans, 1973

Tales from Topographic Oceans earned mixed reviews. It was another chart success, becoming the band's fourth consecutive gold album, topping the UK album charts and reaching No. 6 in the U.S. (buoyed by enthusiastic fan pre-orders). More significantly, Rick Wakeman was not pleased with the album and to this day is critical of much of it. Fans have credited the elaborately staged tour that followed as the inspiration for the "mockumentary" film This Is Spinal Tap, which appears to imitate some incidents on the Tales tour with fairly minimal comedic alterations.

By this time, Rick Wakeman was also developing a burgeoning solo career on the strength of his Yes work and his status as "celebrity keyboard player." His skepticism over Tales from Topographic Oceans led him to quit Yes at the end of the Tales tour in 1974. Notably, he felt that certain sections of the album's composition were being "bled to death" and contained too much musical padding. Differences in politics, outlook, and lifestyle between him and the rest of the band reinforced his decision.

Wakeman has subsequently had a long, productive solo career that has included film scores, projects with his English Rock Ensemble, and collaborations with other artists. He has also rejoined Yes on several occasions.

In 1976, Wakeman was involved in an attempt to form a new trio called British Bulldog with his former Yes bandmate Bill Bruford and Bruford's fellow King Crimson alumnus John Wetton. The project failed to get off the ground, although Bruford, Wetton, Eddie Jobson and Alan Holdsworth subsequently formed the 'second-wave' progressive rock band UK.

The fusion period (1974–1976)

Looking for a keyboard player

Yes auditioned several musicians to take over from Wakeman, including Roxy Music's Eddie Jobson and former Atlantis/Cat Stevens keyboard player Jean Roussel. For several weeks, they rehearsed with multi-instrumentalist Vangelis Papathanassiou, previously of Aphrodite's Child and later to find fame under his own name as Vangelis. (Vangelis would keep in touch with Jon Anderson, tapping the latter's vocal talents for his 1976 album Heaven And Hell and later teaming with him in 1979 as Jon and Vangelis.) Wakeman's eventual replacement was Swiss keyboard player Patrick Moraz, a distinctive electric-jazz musician who'd previously been part of the trio Refugee, alongside two former members of The Nice.

Relayer and tours; break in activity

Moraz arrived in Yes fairly late during the sessions for the band's next album, Relayer, which was being recorded at Chris Squire's home studio. He initially fit in well with the jazz-fusion-influenced direction Yes were pursuing with the album, following time on the road during which Yes had crossed paths with fusion bands such as Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Released in 1974, Relayer continued certain traditions in featuring a side-long track: a cosmic battle epic initially inspired by Tolstoy's War and Peace and called "The Gates of Delirium," from which the closing "Soon" section was put out as a limited single release.

Following an extended tour through 1975–1976, the band took a break while each member of the group released his own solo album, none of which were commercially well received, though Chris Squire's Fish out of Water was well received among critics. At the same time, the compilation album Yesterdays was released, containing tracks from the first two albums as well as the 1972 Yes version of "America."

The first "classic" revival (1977–1979)

Wakeman returns; Going for the One

Late in 1976, Yes began working on sessions for a new album, to be titled Going for the One. During this period, Patrick Moraz was dismissed from the band, to be replaced by a returning Rick Wakeman.

Ultimately, Moraz ended up at the top of the ambiguous "thanks to ..." list on the album sleeve. Following his departure from Yes, Moraz embarked on a solo career and would later have additional success by joining The Moody Blues, as well as playing on some of Bill Bruford's solo recordings (Music For Piano and Drums in 1983, Flags in 1984, and Master Strokes in 1985).

Meanwhile, and after a considerable amount of negotiation, Wakeman had rejoined the band on a "session musician" basis. He became a permanent band member after hearing, and being impressed by, the new material, which he considered to be more energetic and interesting than Tales from Topographic Oceans.

Yes performing in concert in Oslo on 11 November 1977

Apart from the 15-minute track "Awaken", most of the songs on Going for the One were relatively short, including "Wonderous Stories" (which was released as a single in the UK in 1977 and reached the Top 10). Going for the One was also the first album not to feature Roger Dean's artwork since The Yes Album, although it does display the Yes logo that Dean designed. (Instead, design firm Hipgnosis handled the artwork.)

Going for the One and its follow-up, 1978's Tormato, were released at the height of the punk rock era in Britain, during which the music press often criticised Yes as representing the most bloated excesses of early-1970s progressive rock.

Uncertainty and upheaval

1978's Tormato album saw the band continuing their movement towards shorter songs, played with a tighter rock feel that at points approached New Wave styling. At this point, there was evidence that Yes were beginning to change aspects of their sound. Wakeman had replaced his Mellotrons with another tape-driven keyboard (the ill-fated Birotron) and Squire was experimenting with harmonisers and Mu-tron pedals. The band members themselves have subsequently said that they were not sure about some of the material on the album. This lack of focus extended to the production style, which was handled collectively by the band and saw disagreements at the mixing stage.

The album artwork would see large changes as well, as Hipgnosis took a turn once again with their combination of manipulated photography and graphical elements in lieu of the traditional Roger Dean approach. Despite internal and external criticisms of the album, it was the first Yes LP to go platinum, and the band enjoyed successful tours supporting it in 1978 and 1979, though only a few cuts (usually "Future Times/Rejoice", "Circus of Heaven", "Don't Kill the Whale," and "Madrigal/On the Silent Wings of Freedom") were played during the shows.

In October 1979, Yes convened in Paris with Queen/Cars producer Roy Thomas Baker.

More significantly, the band's diverse collective approach was now succumbing to division. On one side, Anderson and Wakeman favoured a more fantastical and delicate approach to Yes' music, while Howe, Squire, and White were on the other side, preferring a heavier rock sound. During 1980, Howe, Squire, and White would later state that none of the three of them had liked the music Anderson had been offering the band. They would also claim that it had been too lightweight and lacking in the heaviness that the guitarist, drummer, and bass player had been generating during their own writing sessions. Some of Anderson's lighter songs (such as "Everybody Loves You") were played by Yes on the tour supporting Tormato, but the band never recorded them. They would eventually appear on Anderson's 1980 solo album Song of Seven.

In December 1979, the Paris sessions ended when White broke his foot. When the band reconvened to consider their next move, their growing musical differences, combined with internal dissension, obstructed progress. The tensions were primarily between Anderson and the rest of the band (although Wakeman "abstained" from the conflicts). Claims and counterclaims followed. By May 1980, relations had deteriorated to the point that Anderson had left Yes. Wakeman immediately followed suit, thinking that Yes could not continue without their primary voice.

New-wave Yes (1980–1981)

Merger with the Buggles; Drama

At the suggestion of Yes manager Brian Lane, Squire invited the pop duo the Buggles (keyboardist Geoffrey Downes and singer (also bassist) Trevor Horn) to help out on a new Yes album. As the Buggles, Downes and Horn had recently enjoyed success of their own, including a worldwide hit with their single "Video Killed the Radio Star," and the initial idea was for them to help in writing new material. The duo already had a song called "We Can Fly From Here," which had been written with Yes in mind. To their surprise, they were invited to join Yes as full-time members. They accepted the invitation and appeared on the Drama album in 1980.

Drama clearly displayed a heavier, harder sound than the material Yes recorded with Anderson in 1979, opening with the lengthy hard rocker "Machine Messiah." While Drama was well received by many fans, and is often regarded as one of the finest moments for the trio of Squire, Howe, and White, many other Yes followers missed Anderson's unique lyrics and vocal style. The album's artwork raised eyebrows, as the inside cover also displayed a bit of a horror-house style in photo and graphic design, an anomaly that perplexed some fans.

The band undertook a North American tour in September 1980. When the band returned to England later in 1980, the English press heaped great criticism on the Horn/Downes version of Yes. Dismissively labelled the "Yuggles", they nevertheless acquitted themselves well on tour, especially in America, producing tightly performed shows with Horn dealing well vocally on the older material and proving that there was life for Yes after Anderson.

1981 — band split

After the Drama tour, Yes reconvened in England to decide the band’s next step. Their first significant action was to dismiss their long-term manager Brian Lane, but this did not solve the immediate problems within Yes itself. Ultimately, Trevor Horn chose to leave and pursue a career in music production, and the band then began to disintegrate in earnest. Alan White and Chris Squire were the next Yes members to depart, leaving Downes and Howe as the only remaining members of Yes. They opted not to continue with the group and went their separate ways. An announcement came from the group's management in late March 1981 confirming that Yes no longer existed. Two more albums were released: the live album Yesshows (covering the pre-Drama tours supporting Relayer, Going for the One, and Tormato) and the Classic Yes compilation.

Within the year, Downes and Howe had reunited as part of the new supergroup Asia, with former King Crimson and UK bassist/vocalist John Wetton and Carl Palmer from Emerson, Lake & Palmer on drums.

Squire and White also continued to work together, initially recording sessions with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page for a proposed band to be called XYZ (short for "ex-Yes-and-Zeppelin"). Page's former Led Zeppelin bandmate Robert Plant was also to be involved as the vocalist, but he ultimately lost enthusiasm for the project, citing his ongoing grieving for recently deceased Zeppelin drummer John Bonham). Minus an appropriate frontman, XYZ ground to a halt. The project did produce a few demo tracks, elements of which would appear in later Yes music — most notably "Mind Drive" from Keys to Ascension 2 and "Can You Imagine?" from Magnification.

Later in 1981, Squire and White released a Christmas single, "Run With the Fox," as a duo, (with Squire on lead vocals and with words by onetime King Crimson/ELP lyricist Peter Sinfield), which received heavy rock-radio airplay through the '80s and early '90s at Christmastime.

A new Yes for a new decade (1982–1988)

A band called Cinema

In 1982, more than a year after the breakup of Yes, Chris Squire and Alan White linked up with South African rock guitarist and singer Trevor Rabin (ex-Rabbitt) to form a new band called Cinema. Since leaving Rabbitt, Rabin had released three solo albums, developed a parallel career as a record producer (including work with Manfred Mann), and been briefly considered as a member of Asia; he was a prolific songwriter with an understanding of popular music. These factors fitted Squire's concept for the new band, which was not initially intended as a continuation of Yes, although Squire and White's personal musical styles did ensure that certain aspects of Yes' original style remained, particularly in terms of vocal harmonies and the roots of songwriting. Original Yes organist Tony Kaye was later invited to participate, as Squire felt that Kaye's textural approach to keyboards would suit the band.

Demos were recorded, and Cinema subsequently entered the studio to record a complete album. The initial material was promising and included a catchy riff-oriented song called "Owner of a Lonely Heart." At this point, Rabin played most of the keyboards during the recording of the album in the studio (Tony Kaye had departed after six or so months of rehearsing over friction with producer Trevor Horn) as well as playing guitar. Initially, Rabin and Squire shared the lead vocals, but there was concern about Rabin as the lead vocalist. Another former Yes member, Trevor Horn, was involved with the project as a potential replacement lead singer but eventually opted to produce the sessions instead. Cinema remained under pressure to find an acceptable frontman.

Yes revived

Meanwhile, Jon Anderson had been continuing with his solo career, having recorded two solo albums (Song of Seven and Animation) since leaving the band. He had achieved success with the "Jon and Vangelis" project, which reunited him with Vangelis Papathanassiou in 1979 to produce two albums — 1979's Short Stories (which generated the UK hit single "I Hear You Now") and 1981's The Friends of Mr Cairo (which in turn had produced the North American FM hit "Friends of Mr. Cairo" and another UK hit "I'll Find My Way Home"). Despite this success, Anderson later confessed that he had been "missing the band terribly."

In early 1983, Anderson encountered Chris Squire at a party in Los Angeles, and Squire took the opportunity to play him some of Cinema's demos. Seeing that Anderson was impressed with the band's new approach in songs such as "Leave It", Squire invited him to add his vocals to the new project. Anderson's involvement with Cinema was initially comparatively minor, involving re-singing vocals in the last few weeks of production. As he became integrated into the band, he also rewrote lyrics.

At this point, the record company decided it made more commercial sense to market the album under the name of Yes. Rabin initially objected, as he now found that he had inadvertently joined a reunited band with a history and expectations, rather than helping to launch a new one. At this point the band contained three of the previous band's founding members and their longest-serving drummer. The band agreed to go along with the plan, and Yes were formally relaunched.

"Yes West" (90125; 9012Live; Big Generator)

Rabin was now the main writer and processor of the band's material. As the album's primary producer, Trevor Horn had polished the songs with modern electronic effects and digital sampling tricks with the then-new Fairlight CMI, and he also played a prominent role in vocal arrangement, even contributing his own vocals at various points on the record, most notably on the predominantly a-cappella showcase "Leave It." Kaye's more streamlined playing style and the loss of Steve Howe's rawer electric-guitar approach also smoothed down the sound. The album's music varied from deftly arranged power pop ("Owner of a Lonely Heart") and hard rock ("City of Love" and "Hold On") to energetic minimalist riffs ("Changes") and a more classic Yes-styled finale ("Hearts").

90125 eventually became Yes's most commercially successful album by far, selling more than 6 million copies and securing a new lease on life for the band, who toured for more than a year to support it. The album's lead song, "Owner of a Lonely Heart," was a No. 1 hit on the main charts and even crossed over to become a top hit on the R&B and disco charts. The 90125 tour was the most lucrative in the band's history.

The video clip for "Owner of a Lonely Heart" also reveals a brief Yes personnel shuffle. During the promotional period for the song, Tony Kaye, who had continual conflicts with producer Trevor Horn during the recording sessions, had left the band after 90125 had been completed but was not yet released. His replacement was Eddie Jobson, who appeared briefly (though edited out as much as possible) in the original version of the song's video. Jobson has reported on his own website that he was first asked to replace Kaye and then, as relations were mended between Yes and Kaye, to share the keyboard duties. Jobson declined and left the band as Kaye returned.

Yes also had hit singles with "Leave It" and "It Can Happen" and garnered a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Cinema," a short, highly compressed, and complex track recorded live in the studio.

90125 also spawned a concert video (9012Live, directed by a fresh-out-of-film-school Steven Soderbergh) and a live mini-album (9012Live: The Solos). The latter featured full band performances of two 90125 songs ("Hold On" and "Changes") and a set of solo performances (Anderson performing "Soon" from "The Gates of Delirium," Squire performing a solo version of "Amazing Grace," and Rabin performing the acoustic-guitar piece "Solly's Beard"). The album also featured a lengthy drums-and-bass duet called "Whitefish," in which Squire and White performed a medley of music from "The Fish," "Tempus Fugit," and "Sound Chaser."

In 1986, Yes began recording the follow-up to 90125 — a record that would eventually be called Big Generator. Interpersonal problems between Rabin and initial producer Trevor Horn kept the album from timely completion. Eventually Rabin took over final production, and the album was released in 1987.

Although Big Generator did not fare as well as 90125, it still sold well over 2 million copies. Some Yes fans have considered Big Generator more faithful to the vintage Yes sound than its predecessor because of a concentrated effort to record longer songs such as "I'm Running" and "Shoot High, Aim Low" in addition to the more poppy tunes. Notably, the album fared less well than its predecessor as a launchpad for singles, with the radio-friendly, Rabin-written-and-sung "Love Will Find a Way" charting only moderately well, and "Rhythm of Love" barely scraping the US Top 40.

The 1988 tour ended with a gig at Madison Square Garden as part of Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary celebrations, but it left Yes members exhausted and frustrated with one another.

The years of two Yeses (1989–1992)

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe

By this point, Jon Anderson had grown tired of the musical direction of the "Yes West" lineup and wanted the band to return to their classic sound. He had also been feeling increasingly sidelined by Rabin and Squire. Following the 1988 tour, he took leave of the band, asserting that he would never stay in Yes purely for the money. Soon afterwards, he began working in Montserrat on what initially appeared to be a solo album but soon involved three other former Yes members from the band's "classic" 1970s period — Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, and Bill Bruford. Inevitably, this collaboration led to suggestions that there would be some kind of reformation of "classic" Yes, although from the start the project had included bass player Tony Levin, whom Bruford had worked with in King Crimson. As it turned out, the new project was contractually unable to use the Yes name, as Squire, White, Kaye, Rabin, and Anderson held the rights, dating back to the 90125 contract. Consequently, the new group called themselves "Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe," or simply ABWH, which suited some members of the project — particularly Bill Bruford, who wanted to distance himself from the "Yes" name.

The eponymous Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album of 1989 featured "Brother of Mine," which spawned a popular MTV video in its own right, and went gold in the United States. It later emerged that the four band members had not all recorded together (as they had in the early 1970s); instead, Anderson and producer Chris Kimsey slotted their parts into place. Howe has stated publicly that he was unhappy with the mix of his guitars on the album (a version of "Fist of Fire" with more of Howe's guitars left intact eventually appeared on the In a Word box set in 2002).

After the album's release, legal battles sparked by Atlantic Records soon followed over the title of ABWH's tour, An Evening of Yes Music Plus, the live recording of which featured Bruford colleague Jeff Berlin in Levin's bassist spot. (Levin had been forced to sit out for two weeks because of illness.) In addition, the live sessions were augmented by second keyboardist Julian Colbeck and guitarist Milton McDonald. The tour alternated between music from ABWH and vintage Yes songs, and each night opened with short solo stints from all four Yes members.

"Union" and reunion

Meanwhile the Anderson-less Yes in Los Angeles were working on their follow-up to Big Generator and had been shopping around for a new singer. Ex-Supertramp vocalist Roger Hodgson had already rejected the post: Although he enjoyed working and writing with the group, he thought it unwise to attempt to pass off the resulting music as "Yes." The band had also been working with songwriter Billy Sherwood of World Trade.

When presented with the initial mixes of the second ABWH album, which was to be called Dialogue, ABWH's new label, Arista, notified the band that they would not release it, as they felt the material was too weak. Instead they encouraged ABWH to seek outside songwriters, preferably ones who could help them deliver hit singles. Anderson approached Rabin about the situation, and Rabin sent Anderson a demo tape with four songs, indicating that ABWH could have one but had to send the others back. Anderson selected one, "Lift Me Up", for use, and contacted Arista, who listened to all four songs and wanted all of them, a request to which Rabin would not agree.

Arista sensed the commercial possibility of a Yes reunion and suggested that the "YesWest" group, with Jon Anderson on vocals, record the four songs to add to the new album, which would then be released under the Yes name. This arrangement would lead to the end of Yes's run on Atlantic Records after more than 20 years, dating to their initial recording contract. Throughout early 1991, phone calls were made, lawyers soothed, and agreements struck, with Yes West joining ABWH for the Union album. Each group did their own songs, with Anderson singing on all tracks. Squire sang background vocals on a few of the ABWH tracks, with Tony Levin doing all the bass on those songs. The album was clearly a somewhat forced combination of the music from the two lineups, since none of the songs on Union featured all eight members at once; two-thirds were actually ABWH compositions, while Rabin and Squire contributed four songs, including the Billy Sherwood collaboration "The More We Live."

The album itself fared well, with approximately 1.5 million sold worldwide. However, nearly the entire band have subsequently — and openly — stated their disliking for the finished product, predominantly because of producer Jonathan Elias and Jon Anderson's involvement of session musicians on the ABWH tracks after the initial sessions. Bruford has disowned the album entirely, and Wakeman was reportedly unable to recognise any of his keyboard work in the final edit and threw his copy of the album out of his limousine. He has gone on record as referring to the entire venture as "Onion," because it makes him cry when he thinks about it.

Elias later stated publicly in an interview that Anderson, as the associate producer, knew of the session musicians' involvement. He added that he and Anderson had even initiated their contributions, because of the hostility between some of the band members at the time (notably between Anderson and Howe and Wakeman), with the result that none of the work was getting done.

The Union world tour united all eight members on one stage in a short-lived "Mega-Yes" line-up of Anderson, Squire, Howe, Rabin, Kaye, Wakeman, Bruford, and White. The tour itself featured tracks spanning the band's entire career, and it was one of the highest-grossing concert tours of 1991 and 1992. Only a few songs from Union were performed live. "Shock to the System" and "Lift Me Up" were played at every show of the tour. "Take the Water to the Mountain" was played only at the first date in Pensacola, Florida. "Saving My Heart" was played at a handful of shows during the second North American leg. Howe would play "Masquerade" on later tours.

When the Union tour was over in 1992, Bruford and Howe recorded Symphonic Music of Yes, an album of Yes instrumental music reinterpreted by an orchestra for RCA Victor, featuring Anderson's vocals on two of the songs. String arrangements were done by David Palmer, and the record was produced by Alan Parsons.

The Talk era (1993–1995)

90125 lineup renewed

While the Union tour had been commercially successful, it had not healed the band's fractured personnel situation. Bruford chose not to remain involved with Yes, instead returning to his jazz project Earthworks. Anderson had begun to write with both Howe and Rabin separately, as the two guitarists had still not managed to achieve a good working relationship with each other.

As with Union, the next Yes project was masterminded by a record company rather than the band itself. Victory Music approached Rabin with a proposal to produce an album solely with the 90125 "YesWest" lineup. Rabin initially countered by requesting that Wakeman also be included. (Howe was not invited to participate.) Rabin began assembling the album at his home, using the then-pioneering concept of a digital home studio, and used material written predominantly by himself and Anderson.

By 1993, the new album was well into production, but Wakeman's involvement had finally been cancelled, as his refusal to leave his long-serving management created insuperable legal problems. (Rabin and Wakeman have both expressed regret that they never played together on a Yes album — although Rabin did guest on Wakeman's Return to the Centre of the Earth album in 1999.) With Howe and Bruford already out of the picture, Yes were back to their popular 1980s lineup of Anderson, Squire, Rabin, Kaye, and White, as Victory had desired.

Talk album; 1995 split

In 1994, Yes released the new album under the title of Talk. Entirely digitally recorded, it blended elements of "YesWest" radio-friendly rock with a more structurally ambitious approach taken from Yes' 1970s blueprint, even including the lengthy epic "Endless Dream" across most of the second half, as well as ingredients of contemporary electronic dance music, metal, and jazz. It also featured the more AOR-inclined song "Walls," which Rabin had written with Roger Hodgson for one of the latter's solo albums. Rabin's dominance over the album had extended beyond being producer, engineer, songwriter, and guitarist to include playing all of the album's keyboards (save for occasional Hammond organ work from Tony Kaye) and some of the bass guitar, and the response from fans was mixed.

Despite Victory Music's hopes, Talk ultimately proved to be one of Yes's poorest-selling releases, possibly affected by the sudden rise in the popularity of grunge music at the time. Although the first single from the album, "The Calling," was perhaps Yes' strongest single since "Owner of a Lonely Heart," neither the record label nor U.S. radio stations provided much promotion for it. However, David Letterman had heard one broadcast of the single while driving: impressed, and unaware of the source of the single, he had immediately taken steps to find out more about the "new band" that had performed it in order to have them appear on his show. Yes performed on the Late Show with David Letterman on 20 June 1994, just days into their 1994 Talk tour, performing the song "Walls."

For the tour, guitarist/vocalist Billy Sherwood was added, playing additional guitar and keyboards. The Talk tour featured an innovative sound system, through which fans at the concerts could listen on their portable FM radios turned to a specific frequency to hear greater dynamic range and stereo effects.

Following the tour, Rabin opted to leave the band to pursue other projects; he would go on to become a highly successful film-score composer. Kaye also left the band to retire, although he subsequently returned to performing, providing Hammond organ on several tracks on the Sherwood-produced Return to the Dark Side of the Moon in 2006 and then working on further Sherwood-led projects.

The second "classic" revival (1996–2003)

Keys to Ascension

With Rabin and Kaye now out of the picture, Anderson, Squire, and White opted to return to the classic 1970s style of Yes music. Repairing their working relationship with Howe and Wakeman, the remaining members of the core 1970s lineup, the band reunited for a three-night live performance near Anderson's home in the California town of San Luis Obispo in 1996. The shows sold out and were recorded, with the band's enthusiasm continuing into further studio sessions. The band formed a brief contract with CMC International Records, which released some of the live tracks from the show later in 1996 as Keys to Ascension, which also included two new studio tracks. A live DVD under the same name was also released.

With the revived lineup now established and enthusiastic, the band recorded new tracks, drawing in part on material written around the time of the band's initial split in 1980 and including material that Squire and White had demoed for the XYZ project. Although at one point the new material was to be released as a standalone studio album, with the working title of Know, commercial considerations meant that the new tracks were eventually packaged with the remainder of the 1996 live material on another hybrid live-and-studio album, Keys to Ascension 2. The studio material from these two albums was later combined and released on a single CD called Keystudio.

The initial "classic Yes" reunion was short-lived, because of disagreements with Wakeman. He was disgruntled at the way in which a full new Yes studio album had been sacrificed in favour of the two Keys to Ascension releases, as well as how a Yes tour was being arranged without his input or agreement. Wakeman left Yes for the fourth time, shortly before the release of Keys to Ascension 2, leaving the band without a key performer and undercutting the commercial potential of the "classic" reunion.

Bridging the styles

Yes live performance June 1998.

Now in need of material for a new Yes studio album that could reflect the change in circumstances, Squire turned to a project called Conspiracy, which he'd been working on with Sherwood (and which had included contributions from White). Squire and Sherwood reworked existing Conspiracy demos and recordings to turn them into Yes songs, and they added new material. Anderson and Howe were less involved with the writing and production at this stage and expressed dissatisfaction about the situation later. Sherwood's integral involvement with the writing, production, and performance of the music led to his formally joining Yes as a full member at the end of the sessions, taking on the role of keyboard player, harmony singer, and second guitarist. On tour, he would concentrate on backing vocals and guitar, playing backup parts to Steve Howe and performing the solos on Rabin-era songs. (Howe refused to do this himself, claiming that his style would not fit those solos.)

The new album, Open Your Eyes, was released in 1997. This album, and future releases, would come out on the Beyond Music label, which ensured that Yes would have more of a say in packaging and titling the albums. The title track and one other, "New State of Mind," received a fair amount of radio airplay. The well-attended tour that followed featured only a few pieces from the new album ("Open Your Eyes," "From The Balcony," and "No Way We Can Lose") and mostly concentrated on the revival of early Yes material, such as "Siberian Khatru." Yes also performed "Children of Light" from the album Keys to Ascension 2. Many fans considered the return of Howe to the touring Yes, along with a heavier emphasis on 1970s-era Yes music, an exciting development. The tour also featured keyboards from Russian keyboard player Igor Khoroshev, who had played on a few of the Open Your Eyes tracks.

Khoroshev continued to work with the band, becoming a full member by the time the band recorded their next album, The Ladder. This would be the last album that record producer Bruce Fairbairn would work on before his untimely death. Many fans were reminded of the band's 1970s sound — largely because of Khoroshev's classically oriented keyboard approach — although White also brought in a strong world-music influence (with the band experimenting with Latinesque arrangements, and with multi-instrumentalist Randy Raine-Reusch contributing to the album's textures). Sherwood's role continued to be limited to backup vocals and backup guitar.

"Homeworld (The Ladder)," a track from The Ladder, was written for Relic Entertainment's Homeworld real-time strategy computer game and was used as the credits and outro theme. It is interesting to note that the band stated that they wrote the song not because the game's developers asked them, but because they liked several aspects of the game itself.

The 1999 tour resulted in a live DVD of the performance at the Las Vegas House of Blues.

Sherwood, finding Yes's internal politics uncomfortable, left the band before the 2000 Masterworks tour, which featured a revival of the Moraz-period extended piece "The Gates of Delirium" (from the album Relayer). Shortly before the scheduled recording of Yes' next album, Khoroshev was fired amidst a cloud of controversy over his backstage conduct, which included a sexual-assault charge.

Orchestral Yes; Magnification

Yes' following studio album, 2001's Magnification, was recorded without a keyboard player in the band. Instead, Yes were backed by a 60-piece orchestra performing specific parts and arrangements written by notable film composer Larry Groupé. The band took an orchestra on tour with them to promote the album, although they also hired keyboardist Tom Brislin to reproduce some of the classic Yes keyboard material more faithfully.

Fourth return of Wakeman

Fans who felt they were short-changed in 1996 were delighted as Wakeman announced his return to the group on 20 April 2002, and a world tour for Yes followed, including a return to Australia after more than 30 years. The lineup enjoyed a somewhat revitalised presence in the public consciousness, especially during the celebration of their 35th anniversary in 2004. This revitalisation showed itself during a show in New York's Madison Square Garden. Near the end of the song "And You and I," where Howe finishes his steel-guitar part and before the last few acoustic notes, the band was overwhelmed with thunderous applause. It lasted so long that by the time it subsided, the roadies had already removed Howe's guitar. Wakeman then had to play the last bit, with Anderson singing.

Reacting to an online survey of popular Yes songs to play, the band added "South Side of the Sky" to the touring set list, a surprise given that it had rarely been played before, even on the tour for Fragile, the album from which it came. In later legs of the tour, the band performed some songs in acoustic style, after doing a live-via-satellite concert as part of the Yesspeak documentary premiere. The last concert of this Tour was performed in Monterrey, Mexico.

Hiatus, side projects, and health scares (2004–2008)

Following the 35th Anniversary tour, Yes went on hiatus. In lieu of releasing new albums, they formed deals with Image Entertainment and other video firms to release past concert performances, music videos, and interviews on DVD. Howe, Squire, Wakeman, and White had all expressed an interest in recording and touring, but Anderson had been firmly opposed, wondering aloud if Yes had a future in original recorded music and because of personal health concerns. Anderson's unwillingness to record seemed due to the disappointing sales of Magnification. During the hiatus, band members pursued a variety of solo projects.

In January 2004, Anderson embarked on a solo tour called the "Tour Of The Universe," while Squire joined a reformed version of The Syn, one of his pre-Yes groups from the 1960s. The reunited group also included original singer Steve Nardelli and original Syn/Yes guitarist Peter Banks, augmented by new musicians. Squire's involvement would last until 16 May 2006, when he announced that he had left the group. (Banks had previously departed the reformed group in the early stages of the reunion). The Syn would continue for a few more years around the nucleus of Nardelli, with a variety of musicians including Francis Dunnery and members of Echolyn.

On 11 November 2004, for one night only, Rabin, Howe, Squire, White, and Downes performed "Cinema" and "Owner of a Lonely Heart" at the Prince's Trust concert at Wembley Arena. The show was a tribute to former Yes vocalist/producer Trevor Horn. It remains somewhat unclear why Anderson did not perform that night, although since Horn was being honoured (the other acts that played that night were all produced by Horn), there may have been a desire to emphasise Horn's role rather than Anderson's. One report said that Anderson needed time to rest, under doctors' orders, and that Wakeman declined to join in because of Anderson's absence. Whatever the exact reason, fans of the 90125 era were delighted to see Rabin perform with the group for the first time in 10 years, and, as on the Union tour, the audience was treated to guitar solos by both Rabin and Howe.

Meanwhile, White had formed a new Seattle-based group, called simply White, featuring Downes. Their debut album, also called White, was released on 18 April 2006. Plans for a joint tour by White, The Syn, and Steve Howe (which would have included the Yes members, augmented by White singer Kevin Currie, performing songs from Drama) were cancelled. Instead, White toured separately in 2006.

On 16 May 2006, the original members of Asia — including Howe and Downes — announced that they would be reuniting for a 25th anniversary tour in September of that year. Anderson and Wakeman toured together in October 2006, and the setlist for most shows featured Yes material along with songs from both of their solo careers, and at least one ABWH song.

In March 2007, Sherwood, Kaye, White, and guitarist Jimmy Haun (a former bandmate of Sherwood's who'd played many of the guitar parts on Union) formally announced the formation of the Yes-related group called Circa, which had been rehearsing since the previous year. On 30 July 2007, the band self-released on the Internet their debut album, Circa 2007. Their debut live performance was held on 23 August 2007, at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, at which time the band performed their entire debut album, followed by an hour-long medley of Yes songs.

In November 2007, Anderson embarked on a one-month European solo tour. In the first half of 2008, he toured North America solo, extensively visiting Canada. Meanwhile, Howe continued to tour with Asia and White toured with Circa. Anderson also commented that he had also composed some new music with former Yes bandmate Trevor Rabin, although to date this music has not surfaced..

Yes themselves were due to return for a 2008 world tour in honour of the band's 40th anniversary, titled Close to the Edge and Back. This tour would have featured Oliver Wakeman sitting in on keyboards, in lieu of his father Rick, who had had to bow out on the advice of his doctors. At the time, Anderson claimed that the band had been preparing four new "lengthy, multi-movement compositions" for the tour which were "very, very different." (After the weak sales of Magnification, Anderson also suggested that "putting together an album really isn't logical anymore," and no announcement was made as to a release of recordings of the new material in any form.)

However, the tour was cancelled when Anderson was admitted to hospital in May 2008 following a severe asthma attack. He was diagnosed with acute respiratory failure, and doctors advised him not to work for at least six months in order to avoid suffering further health complications. On 4 June 2008, the band officially put their tour plans on hold.

A new lineup (2008–present)

In The Present tour

On stage in Columbus, Ohio on 12 November 2008

On 4 November 2008 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the band began a separate North American tour titled "In The Present" as "Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White of Yes", featuring Howe, Squire, and White, along with Oliver Wakeman on keyboards. Anderson had been replaced as lead vocalist by Canadian singer Benoît David, previously known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Mystery and for a Yes tribute band called Close to the Edge. David's position as lead singer on the tour led many to question Anderson's ongoing role in the band, and even whether Anderson remained a member of Yes. The issue was complicated by the fact that the shows were formally billed as "Howe, Squire, and White of Yes," (although many reports and outlets simply referred to the band as "Yes") and because the band did not provide a clear statement as to whether or not Anderson's absence was permanent.

Anderson's own public reaction was one of disappointment, with the singer stating on his website that he felt "disappointed" and "disrespected" by the move and by the lack of contact the other members had had with him since his illness. Later, this announcement was removed from his website, and Squire has since said that the tour had Anderson's "blessings." Subsequently, Anderson conducted solo tours in Europe and North America, and a tour with Rick Wakeman was held in 2010.

In February 2009, the "In the Present" tour was cut short (and the remaining shows, mostly in the Western USA, cancelled) due to Squire requiring emergency leg surgery (plus a month of recuperation). Howe took advantage of the cancellations to fit in some more work with Asia. Following Squire's recovery (and similarly taking advantage of the gap in Yes' tour schedule) Squire and White reunited with Rabin at a benefit reception on 18 April 2009 in Snoqualmie, Washington, playing the music of John Lennon.

The Perpetuation of Yes

The Yes tour resumed in the summer of 2009 and continued into 2010, with the same "In the Present" band. Now simply billed as "Yes," they played shows in Europe and North America. This tour featured Asia as an opening act, with Howe playing with both bands. Yes began further touring in June/July 2010 on a bill with Peter Frampton. On 9 July 2010, Rabin performed live with Yes onstage, for a one-time show at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, for the first time in nearly six years.

On 15 October 2009, Squire confirmed in a radio interview that Oliver Wakeman and Benoît David were official members of the band, stating "this is now Yes." It was also revealed that the new lineup had been working on new material and would enter the studio in autumn 2010. Allaying further speculation regarding the state of Yes personnel, Howe has gone on to state categorically that Jon Anderson will not be working with the band on the new studio album, asserting that "this is the lineup that actually ... does the work. We're the perpetuation, the continuation, and the saga of Yes."

On 29 October 2010, Yes announced the signing of a worldwide recording deal with the Italian-based record label Frontiers Records. The band commenced recording a new album in Los Angeles (with producer Trevor Horn) in October, 2010. Recording continued in November, and again January 2011. It will be the first new Yes album in a decade, anticipated for release before summer 2011. On 4 March 2011 (his 63rd birthday), Chris Squire revealed that the album will be called Fly from Here and will be released in July 2011. A joint tour with Styx will commence around the same time. Squire is open to Jon Anderson returning to the band.

Discography

Main article: Yes discography

Note: Only studio albums are listed below, including releases by ABWH.

• Yes (1969)
• Time and a Word (1970)
• The Yes Album (1971)
• Fragile (1971)
• Close to the Edge (1972)
• Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973)
• Relayer (1974)
• Going for the One (1977)
• Tormato (1978)
• Drama (1980)
• 90125 (1983)
• Big Generator (1987)
• Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (1989)
• Union (1991)
• Talk (1994)
• Keys to Ascension (studio & live) (1996)
• Keys to Ascension 2 (studio & live) (1997)
• Open Your Eyes (1997)
• The Ladder (1999)
• Magnification (2001)
• Fly from Here (2011)

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
1977	"Wonderous Stories"
1978	"Don't Kill The Whale"
1978	"Madrigal"
1980	"Tempus Fugit"
1980	"Into The Lens"
1983	"Owner Of A Lonely Heart"
1983	"Leave It"
1983	"It Can Happen"
1985	"Hold On (Live)"
1987	"Love Will Find A Way
1987	"Rhythm Of Love"

Tours

Main article: List of Yes concert tours

Personnel

Year	Lead vocals	Guitar	Keyboards	Bass	Drums
1968–1970	Jon Anderson	Peter Banks	Tony Kaye	Chris Squire	Bill Bruford
1970–1971		Steve Howe
1971–1972			Rick Wakeman
1972–1974					Alan White
1974–1976			Patrick Moraz
1976–1980			Rick Wakeman
1980–1981	Trevor Horn		Geoff Downes
1981–1983	Group disbanded
1983–1989	Jon Anderson	Trevor Rabin	Tony Kaye Trevor Rabin (studio only)	Chris Squire	Alan White
1990–1992		Trevor Rabin Steve Howe	Tony Kaye Rick Wakeman		Alan White Bill Bruford
1993–1994		Trevor Rabin	Tony Kaye Trevor Rabin		Alan White
1995–1997		Steve Howe	Rick Wakeman
1997		Steve Howe Billy Sherwood	Billy Sherwood (studio only)
1997–2000			Igor Khoroshev
2000		Steve Howe
2001–2002			Tom Brislin (touring only)
2002–2004			Rick Wakeman
2004–2008	Group on hiatus
2008–present	Benoît David	Steve Howe	Oliver Wakeman	Chris Squire	Alan White

Album Lineup Chart

Instrument

Yes

Time and a Word

The Yes Album

Fragile

Close to the Edge

Tales From Topographic Oceans

Relayer

Going for the One

Tormato

Drama

90125

Big Generator

Union

Talk

Keys to Ascension

Keys to Ascension 2

Open Your Eyes

The Ladder

Magnification

Fly from Here

Vocals

Jon Anderson

Trevor Horn

Jon Anderson

Benoît David

Guitar

Peter Banks

Steve Howe

Trevor Rabin

Steve Howe

Guitar 2

Steve Howe

Billy Sherwood

Keyboards

Tony Kaye

Rick Wakeman

Patrick Moraz

Rick Wakeman

Geoff Downes

Tony Kaye

Rick Wakeman

Igor Khoroshev

Geoff Downes

Keyboards 2

Trevor Rabin

Rick Wakeman

Trevor Rabin

Oliver Wakeman

Drums

Bill Bruford

Alan White

Drums 2

Bill Bruford

Bass

Chris Squire

Note that Trevor Rabin played many of the keyboards in the studio during his time in Yes.

Covers and remixes

In 2005, DJ Max Graham remixed Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart," credited to Max Graham Vs. Yes. The song reached the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart.

Two characters in the film The Break-Up sing "Owner of a Lonely Heart" a cappella at a dinner. The song is included on the soundtrack album of music from the film.

Bibliography

English

• Yes: The Authorized Biography, Dan Hedges, London, Sidgwick and Jackson Limited, 1981
• Yes: But What Does It Mean?, Thomas Mosbø, Milton, a Wyndstar Book, 1994
• Yesstories: Yes In Their Own Words, Tim Morse and Yes, St. Martin's Griffin Publishing, 15 May 1996
• Music of Yes: Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock, Bill Martin, Chicago e La Salle, Open Court, 1 November 1996
• Yes. Close To The Edge : The Story Of Yes, Chris Welch, 12 April 1999
• Yes, an endless dream of '70s, '80s and '90s rock music: an unauthorized interpretative history in three phases, Stuart Chambers, General Store Publishing House, jan. 2001
• Beyond and Before: The Formative Years of Yes, Peter Banks & Billy James, Bentonville, Golden Treasure Publishing, 2001
• Yes: Perpetual Change, David Watkinson and Rick Wakeman, Plexus Publishing, 1 November 2001
• Yes: An Endless Dream Of '70s, '80s And '90s Rock Music, Stuart Chambers, Burnstown, General Store Publishing House, 2002
• Yes Tales: An Unauthorized Biography Of Rock's Most Cosmic Band, Scott Robinson, in Limerick Form, Lincoln, Writers Club Press, iUniverse Inc., 2002
• The Extraordinary World Of Yes, Alan Farley, Paperback, 2004
• Bill Bruford: The Autobiography: Yes, King Crimson, Earthworks, and More, Bill Bruford, 6 March 2009, Jawbone Press, London
• Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock, Will Romano, 1 November 2010

Italian

• Yes , Paolo Battigelli; Armando Gallo, Roma, éd. Fratelli Gallo, 1985
• Progressive & Underground '67 - '76, Cesare Rizzi, Florence, Giunti Editore, 2003
• Fragile: La Storia Degli Yes, Chris Welch, traduction Stefano Pogelli, éd. Stampa alternativa, 2009

French

• Yes, Un Sentiment Océanique Dans Le Rock, Lionel Daloz, éd. Eä, 23 November 2009

German

• Yessongs: Round About Jutesack, Michael Rudolf, Hannover, Wehrhahn Verlag, 2001

Songbooks

• Yes: Back from the Edge, Mike Mettler, Guitar School 3, no. 5, September 1991
• Classic Yes - Selections from Yesyears, April 1993

External links

• YESFANS: The Official Fan Forums
• Yesworld: The Official Yes website
• 1983 audio interview with Trevor Rabin, Alan White, Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman
• Yes Live Photo Gallery