Yes - Magnification


Year of Release: 2001
Label: Eagle Records
Catalog Number: EAGCD 189
Format: CD
Total Time: 00:00:00

If you're a Yes fan, one question about this album is probably foremost in your mind: Is it progressive? I'm happy to report that Magnification is most definitely a progressive work. However, it may not be progressive in the way Yes listeners expect. We're not talking about Close To The Edge here or even Fragile; we're talking about an entirely new direction for the band, one not only intriguing, but also entirely successful.

For sure, all the Yes trademarks are here. The tracks overflow with terrific vocal harmonies, wondrous guitar melodies, and soaring bass lines. But what is missing are keyboards. Except for a piano here and there (played by drummer Alan White, of all people), no keyboards appear on this album. Instead, a full orchestra plays all keyboard parts. Do you see what I mean by intriguing?

Magnification offers very little of the poppy sound that Yes has been dabbling with lately. Sure, plenty of pleasant melodies adorn the songs and a moment here and there borders on sentimentality (the closing track "Time Is Time" comes to mind). Echoes of the very commercial Trevor Rabin Yes even pop up here and there. Nothing on this album, however, has a remote chance of radio air play, which is great news (in a perverse sort of way) for progressive fans. This is Yes like we've never heard them before, yet somehow still familiar.

The original hype proclaimed that the album is a 60-minute composition divided into ten subtracks. The truth, however, is that, while each of the ten songs here segue one into the other, they are still distinct songs, with no musical ties between them (except the orchestra). So, if you were expecting a 60-minute opus, you're going to be disappointed. When you get over that, however, you won't be disappointed in the songs here. While the compositions on this album are not as complex as 70s-style Yes, they are magnificent, some of the best stuff Yes has turned out in a long time. Count me among the impressed.


Tracklisting:
Magnification (7:15) / Spirit Of Survival (6:01) / Don:t Go (4:26) / Give Love Each Day (7:43) / Can You Imagine (2:58) / We Agree (6:30) / Soft As A Dove (2:17) / Dreamtime (10:45) / In The Presence Of (10:24) / Time Is Time (2:08)

Musicians:
Jon Anderson - vocals, midi guitar, acoustic guitar
Chris Squire - bass, vocals
Steve Howe - acoustic and electric guitar, steel, mandolin, vocals
Alan White - drums, percussion, vocals, piano
Orchestra conducted by Larry Group

Discography:
Yes (1969)
Time And A Word (1970)
The Yes Album (1971)
Fragile (1972)
Close To The Edge (1972)
Yessongs (1973)
Tales From Topographic Oceans (1974)
Relayer (1975)
Going For The One (1977)
Tormato (1978)
Yesshows (1980)
Drama (1980)
Classic Yes (1982)
90125 (1983/2004)
90125 Live - The Solos (1985)
Big Generator (1987)
Union (1989)
Yesyears (1991)
Yesstory (1991)
Highlights: The Very Best Of Yes (1993)
Talk (1994)
Keys To Ascension I (1996)
Keys To Ascension II (1997)
Open Your Eyes (1997)
Yes, Friends And Relatives (1998)
Beyond And Before: BBC Recordings 1969-1970 (1998)
Something's Coming (1998)
Friends & Relatives (1998)
The Ladder (1999)
Millennium Collection (1999)
House Of Yes: Live From The House Of Blues (2000)
Yes, Friends and Relatives - Volume Two (2001)
YesSymphonic (ep) (2001)
Magnification (2001)
Keystudio (ep) (2001)
3 For 1 Box Set (2001)
Original Members Of Yes (2001)
Extended Versions (2002)
Friends And Relatives: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 (2002)
Yestoday (2002)
In A Word (2002)
Yes Remixes (2003)
Friends And Relatives: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 2 (2003)
Roundabout: Best Of Yes Live (2003)
The Yes Story Gold (2003)
The Ultimate Yes - 35th Anniverary Collection (2004)
(Re)Union (2004)
Topography: The Yes Anthology (2004)
Inside Yes 1968-1973: A Critical Review (2004)
The Word Is Live (2005)
Live And Solo: The Collection (2006)
Greatest Hits Live (2006)
An Evening Of Yes (2006)
Yesstories: Group & Solo Tales (2006)
Essentially Yes (2006)
The Definitive Rock Collection (2007)
Roundabout & Other Hits (2006)
Live At Montreux 2003 (2007)
Works (2007)
The Best Of Yes: 1970-1987 (2007)
Symphonic Live (2009)
The BBC Recordings 1969-1970 (2009)
Introducing Yes (2009)
Wonderous Stories: The Best Of Yes (2009)
Union Live (2011)
Fly From Here (2011)
In The Present - Live From Lyon (2011)
Heaven & Earth (2014)
Songs From Tsongas (2014)
Like It Is: Yes At The Bristol Hippodrome (2014)
Progeny: Seven Shows From Seventy-Two (boxset) (2015)
Like It Is: Yes At The Mesa Arts Center (2015)
Topographic Drama - Live Across America (2017)
Fly From Here - Return Trip (2018)
From A Page - Studio Tracks Plus In The Present Live From Lyon (2019) Yes50 Live (2019)

9012LIve (VHS/DVD) (1985/2005)
Greatest Hits Video (VHS/DVD) (1991/2001)
Yesyears: A Retrospective (VHS/DVD) (1991/2003)
Yes: Live - 1975 At Q.P.R. (VHS) (1993)
Live In Philadelphia 1979 (VHS/DVD) (1996/2003)
Keys To Ascension (VHS/DVD) (1997/2001/2009)
The Union Tour Live (DVD) (1999)
House Of Yes: Live From The House Of Blues (VHS/DVD) (2000)
The Best Of MusikLaden Live (VHS/DVD) (2000/2003)
Live In Amsterdam (VHS/DVD) (2002)
Symphonic Live (DVD+CD) (2003)
Yes: Special Edition EP (DVD) (2003)
YesSpeak (DVD) (2003)
YesAcoustic (DVD) (2004/2006)
35th Anniversary Concert: Songs From Tsongas (DVD) (2004)
YesSpeak - YesAcoustic - 35th Anniversary Edition (DVD) (2005)
Critical Review 1968-1973 (DVD) (2005)
Greatest Video Hits (DVD) (2005)
Inside Yes Plus Friends And Family (DVD) (2006)
Acoustic Live (DVD) (2006)
Total Rock Review (DVD) (2006)
Close To The Edge: Rock Milestones (DVD) (2007)
Live At Montreux (DVD/BR) (2007)
The Lost Broadcasts (DVD) (2009)
Rock Of The 70s (DVD) (2009)
Union Live (2011)
Live Hemel Hempstead Pavilion October 3rd 1971 (2014)

Genre: Symphonic Prog

Origin UK

Added: October 26th 2001
Reviewer: Clayton Walnum

Artist website: yesworld.com
Hits: 2951
Language: english

  

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