Best YMP Podcast Podcasts (2025)

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerWe had yet another lovely conversation with a relatively unsung hero of the Yes story this week. As you’ll hear, you have probably seen Jeff Cumins’ work, even if you don’t realise it. He has a long and distinguished career as an artist and illustrator and revealed fascinating insights th…

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Yes Album Listening Guides – Tales From Topographic Oceans Part 5 – Steve Howe’s guitars – 601 55:18

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerThis week Mark and I returned to Tales form topographic oceans to consider Steve Howe’s guitars, based on Mark’s expert knowledge and thanks to Geioff Bailie kindly sending us photos of the Steve Howe guitar collection book.After recording I also heard from Nick Kokoshis that he has assem…

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Episode 600 with Trevor Rabin 52:38

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerSupport the Fundraiser!After more than 12 years, we have reached episode 600! It was a delight to welcome Yes legend, Trevor Rabin, onto the show to help us celebrate the milestone. We spoke about Yes, Cinema, his new solo album, Rio, and more. Trevor was a generous and amusing guest and …

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Rolling with Brian Chatton – The Warriors, Jon Anderson, Patrick Moraz, Keith Emerson and other stories – 599 46:51

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerThanks to YMP Patron Doug Curran, we were able to speak to Brian Chatton this week. A friend of and collaborator with Jon Anderson since the 1960s, Brian has indeed 'Rolled with Rock Royalty' and our conversation shed light on a variety of eras of Yes and the other bands and artists Brian…

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Olias of Sunhillow inspires the making of this Indie-Prog album by Peter D’Amore – 598 50:40

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerThis week we spoke to the generous Peter D’Amore, the longtime Yes fan who spent 7 years making his own ‘Olias’ album, an indie/Prog 2-CD project. We talk about his music, his Yes influences and many aspects of the band including the latest album and the setlist that was played on the war…

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Yes Album Listening Guides – Tales From Topographic Oceans Part 4 – Sid Smith talks about the context – 597 33:22

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerThe hugely knowledgeable Sid Smith joined us again this week to chat about the context of Tales from Topographic Oceans. Sid wrote the sleeve notes for the Steven Wilson remix of Tales which was released by Panegyric in 2016.He also wrote the remarkable book, 'In the Court of King Crimson…

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Stephen Lambe on his updated book – Yes every album, every song – 596 28:40

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerStephen Lambe joins us in a moment to talk about his updated, comprehensive Yes book as well as touching on Tales and Trevor Rabin.https://burningshed.com/store/sonicbondWhat has Stephen added to his already great Yes book?What does he think of the current state of Yes?Where can you get h…

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Geoff Bailie discusses new old Yes releases – 595 41:42

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerThis week Mark and I were joined by YMP Patron and The Prog Report’s Geoff Bailie to talk about the two new old releases from Warner/Rhino - a box set of The Yes Album and the Yessingles collection. It’s a robust conversation so stand by for that.Geoff Bailie and some other blokehttps://p…

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Yes Album Listening Guides – Tales From Topographic Oceans Part 3 – Chris Dale talks about the keyboards on Tales – 594 32:00

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerThis week Mark and I welcomed the knowledgeable Chris Dale back onto the show for the third time. If you haven't listened to the episodes where Chris talks about the Birotron (the infamous rarest musical instrument in the world) and the other keyboards on Tormato, then you may want to cat…

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Geoff Downes in conversation about DBA’s new album, Celestial Songs – 593 21:46

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken FullerThis week we welcomed the ever-generous Geoff Downes onto the show. It was great to speak to the current Yes keyboard wizard about the new DBA album, Celestial Songs, as well as the recent John Wetton tribute concert and, of course, Tales from Topographic Oceans. Geoff also hinted at what…

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Yes Album Listening Guides – Tales From Topographic Oceans Part 2 – Simon Barrow helps us to conceptualise the concept – 592 53:06

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell and Ken FullerThis week we are joined by Yes book author, Simon Barrow, to talk about the concept behind Tales From Topographic Oceans. We get into a lot of detail as you would expect and explore some pretty fascinating areas of concept music - whatever that actually is!What is a concept album?Is Tales a concept album?Do…

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Yes Album Listening Guides – Tales From Topographic Oceans Part 1 – 591 38:27

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week we are starting a new project - The Yes Album Listening Guides. Eventually this will be a series of books and I explain more with Mark in this episode.What is this new book series going to be about?What is the first album?How can I be involved?Let us know if you agre…

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Why did Yes want Oliver Wakeman? Part 2 – 590 34:11

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusMark and I really enjoyed listening to/watching Oliver's album/DVD 'Coming To Town - Live In Katowice'. We were surprised by and delighted with the performances, the writing and the production. It's a great set from a band firing on all cylinders!Is this all progressive rock?D…

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Why did Yes want Oliver Wakeman? Part 1 – 589 31:08

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusContrary to what I said last week, we are going to continue with our Why did Yes want series this week as we turn back slightly in time to Oliver Wakeman after we inadvertently got Benoit David in the wrong order last time.It was one of the most confusing periods of the band i…

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Why did Yes want Benoit David? Part 2 – 588 28:32

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I return to the second part of our 'Why did Yes want...' series and it's time to consider Mystery's album, Beneath The Veil Of Winter's Face. HIs this Prog?How did Benoit sound?Why did Yes want him based on this record?Let us know if you agree with us!Availa…

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Why did Yes want Benoit David? – 587 23:50

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I return to our 'Why did Yes want...' series and it's time to consider Benoit David. Jon Anderson had been unwell and so the band needed to find what Chris Squire referred to as an 'understudy', presumably with the intention of Jon returning at some point.Ho…

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How does staging affect Yes music? – 586 50:31

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I talk about various different approaches Yes have had to their stage design over the decades. This was partly prompted by the rumour that the band are intending to change they way in which they set up from 2024 onwards.Do let us know what Yes stage setups h…

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Technological Musical Magician, Derek Dearden – 585 32:39

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusUnless you have already read my book, Yes The Tormato Story, you may not recognise the name Derek Dearden. However, you have certainly heard the results of his amazing technical wizardry. This is another deep dive episode but it also contains much of interest to any Yes fan. D…

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Why did Yes want Rick Wakeman…back…again? – Part 2 – 584 37:50

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I subjected ourselves to 2 sides of Yes by Rick Wakeman. As you’ll hear, it was a bit grim at times. See what you think of our responses and let us know what you think of this collection in the comments on this week’s show notes.What is this collection like?…

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Why did Yes want Rick Wakeman…back…again? – 583 21:14

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week, Mark and I return to our perennial favourite, the 'why did Yes want' series. Rick is back - again - after the orchestral diversion of Magnification and the Symphonic Tour just after the turn of the century (pun intended). He produced two albums of Yes-related music …

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Release, Release Day! (Yes album and my book) with Simon Barrow – 582 53:21

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusA momentous week in a number of ways. There have been so many positive reactions to the new Yes album Mirror to the Stars and it’s even doing really well in the charts. You’ll know from our reviews that Mark and I are very impressed with the record and we invited Simon Barrow …

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A conversation with Jon Davison about Mirror to the Sky – 581 28:38

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I had a lovely conversation with Yes lead singer, Jon Davison. We chatted about the new album, Mirror to the Sky and his contributions to it as well as the band’s live plans and the future. We also touched on Tormato (there’s a surprise), John Lodge and othe…

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The new Yes album and other hot topics with Henry Potts – 580 44:58

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week, Mark and I were joined by Henry Potts to talk about the new Yes album, Mirror to the Sky as well as some of the more controversial topics of the day. In case you are unaware, Henry is one of the most knowledgeable Yes historians anywhere and his amazing online resou…

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The New Yes Album – Mirror to the Sky – 579 53:07

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusMark and I listen to the new Yes album Mirror to the Skies this week and share our responses to it. Spoiler alert - it’s really good.Is the rest of the album like Cut From The Stars??How progressive is it?What is the epic title track like?https://youtu.be/4ZJaP9ThILITormatoBoo…

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Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks Live – 578 41:10

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusMark and I have been watching videos of Jon Anderson’s latest live project, this time with the fabulous Band Geeks. We discuss our reactions this week.How did the Band Geeks get on playing a whole concert of Yes music with Jon Anderson?How did Jon's voice hold up?Was it an enj…

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Why did Yes want Larry Groupé? – Part 2 – 577 44:04

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I spoke to the generous and talented composer, Larry Groupé, about his compositions for the 2001 Yes album, Magnification. We also talked about the orchestrations he did for the Symphonic Tour and his conducting. It was a wonderful, wide-ranging conversation…

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Why did Yes want Larry Groupé? – Part 1 – 576 26:23

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I continued to subtly subvert the format of our ‘Why Did Yes Want…?’ series by looking at Larry Groupé who provided orchestrations, arrangements and unique orchestral music for the 2001 album, Magnification. We learned some interesting things about the Profe…

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Why did Yes want Igor Khoroshev – Part 2 – finally – 575 36:50

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusMark and I finally got round to finishing off our examination of why Yes wanted Igor Khoroshev this week after listening to a very enjoyable bootleg recording from the Open Your Eyes Tour. We also had a chance to discuss in a two pence the recent news of the postponement of th…

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Paul K Joyce talks about his orchestrations for Mirror To The Sky – 574 42:45

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I had a lovely conversation with Paul K Joyce, the orchestrator on The Quest and Mirror To The Sky. He tells us some rather interesting things about the forthcoming album. Speaking of which, Simon Barrow returns this week to say a bit about the fan reaction …

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New Music From Yes! Cut From The Stars from the album, Mirror To The Sky – 573 36:06

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusIn a change to the advertised episode, Mark and I thought it was essential to give our thoughts on the new Yes single Cut From The Stars so most of this episode is devoted to the best new Yes music for many years.How does this new Yes music compare to The Quest?Does it sound p…

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Why did Yes want Igor Khoroshev? – 572 42:54

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week the redoubtable Geoff Bailie presents his feedback on two remarkable Rick Wakeman concerts at the London Palladium which, as you can imagine, contain a shedload of Yes connections. Then Mark and I start to consider why Yes wanted keyboardist Igor Khoroshev after the …

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Mark Anthony K flies solo – 571 12:12

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusWhile Kevin is on holiday with his family, Mark flies solo and brings us some of the most important talking points of the week including the news that Jay Schellen has been named as the permanent replacement in Yes for Alan White.Also, Mark mentions what's coming up for Yes fa…

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Win a copy of Yes – The Tormato Story – 570 10:09

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusIn celebration of Yes - The Tormato Story being made available for preorder from the wonderful people over at Burning Shed.com, I’ve decided to present a competition this week to win a copy of my book. All you need to do is send your answers to the 15 questions to show@yesmusi…

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Atlantic and Warner – what we’d like to see – 569 49:09

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I had a wide-ranging and engrossing chat about what we would like Warner Music to release now they had acquired the rights to the Atlantic Yes catalogue. (At least I found it engrossing, your mileage may vary.)I am also indebted to Simon Barrow for sending i…

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Why did Yes want Billy Sherwood? Part 2 – 568 37:45

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I listened to Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters by Paul Rodgers and produced by Billy Sherwood.In addition, we chatted about My Own TOURMATO which I went on with my son William and Dave Watkinson this week It was a blast and my spliced-together vi…

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Why did Yes want Billy Sherwood? Part 1 – 567 31:49

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I began to think about the next musician Yes wanted to sign up, this time as a live associate member of the band for the 1994 Talk Tour. We talk about Billy's connections to Yes members, his involvement with Union and lots of other topics. You'll also find o…

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Rerun – Olias of Sunhillow – 566 48:43

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Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusJon Anderson's conceptual epic, Olias of Sunhillow, is under the microscope this week.Does this album live up to its amazing reputation?How does Jon Anderson get on playing all the instruments?Does Olias feel like a complete work or a bit bolted together?Mark's and Kevin's cop…

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Joe Cass and Total Mass Retain – 565 41:44

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusAs I’m sure you know we lost another giant of the rock world this week. Jeff Beck was one of the most influential guitarists of all time and I’m sure Yes music would sound very different - or possibly wouldn’t exist without the influence of the great man. Rest in Peace.This week we had a great…

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2023 – A New Hope – 564 21:11

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusNew Year and time to look forward, rather than back. Join Mark and me talking about what's coming up based on two sources:http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/ - companion site to http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wnyesm.htm from the legendary Henry Pottshttps://www.facebook.com/reel/1255122348371376 from…

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Why Did Yes Want Trevor Horn – As Producer – Part 2 – 563 51:38

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusIt's time to enjoy listening to The Lexicon Of Love this week as we look for clues as to why Yes wanted Trevor Horn to return as producer for 90125. To be fair, that's not an especially difficult task as his fingerprints are all over this brilliant, era-defining work of pop genius. It's not pr…

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Why Did Yes Want Trevor Horn – As Producer – Part 1 – 562 26:40

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusAfter a couple of weeks of illness I’m delighted to say I’m now almost 100% and back to the YMP. I’d like to thank everyone who has sent kind wishes - they are very much appreciated.This week we delve into the reasons why Yes might have wanted Trevor Horn back in the fold for 90125.Who wanted …

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The epic album battle – Close To The Edge vs. Relayer – Part 2 – 561 1:03:38

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusMark and I spent a very enjoyable week listening to CTTE and Relayer - and why not? In time honoured fashion we have recorded our thoughts independently and then we meet up to criticise each other’s ideas. Not really. We do, however, indulge in the futile but nevertheless enjoyable process of …

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The epic album battle – Close To The Edge vs. Relayer – Part 1 – 560 47:46

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week Mark and I embark upon another inevitably unjustifiable escapade - the rating of two classic Yes albums against each other. If it wasn’t fun we wouldn’t do it but it keeps us off the streets at least. This time we have decided to pit Close To The Edge against Relayer and you can play…

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We talk about London in the 70s and Tormato with music Journalist and Yes book author, Chris Welch – 559 35:37

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week we met the delightful Chris Welch who wrote one of the most important books about Yes, Close To The Edge - The Yes Story. Journalist for Melody Maker, Kerrang and many other publications, Chris has known the band from its earliest days and we very much enjoyed talking to him about th…

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Yes 8-Track Tapes with Tim Durling – 558 49:18

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusThis week we are off into the weeds once again, this time with Tim Durling as our guide. As the originator of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, he is ideally placed to tell us more about the 8 track tapes that have been released over the years by Yes and we discover a wealth of interesting facts about …

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Why Did Yes Want…Eddie Jobson? – Part 2 – 557 39:46

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusLrheath / CC BY-SAThis week, Mark and I have been enjoying listening to Night After Night, the live album from UK in our quest to discover why Yes wanted Eddie Jobson. Hear our views in a few moments’ time and add your own to the comments in the show notes for this week’s episode.Did you see U…

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Why Did Yes Want…Eddie Jobson? – Part 1 – 556 38:31

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusLrheath / CC BY-SAThis week Mark and I have been considering why Yes wanted Eddie Jobson. He stayed with the band for about as long as a British Prime Minister but there must have been compelling musical reasons why he was asked to join in the first place. So that’s what we are beginning to ex…

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Why did Yes want…The Buggles – Part 2 – 555 43:56

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Produced by Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey CreceliusWe are finally back with part 2 of our look at the Buggles and why Yes might have wanted them. For this, we’ve been listening to the first album from the duo, The Age Of Plastic, seeing if we can pick up some pointers. As usual, it was a revealing and enjoyable experience and quite topical as …