I was off work suffering from a debilitating illness (some refer to these as 'colds') a couple of weeks ago and was idly flicking through a billion channels about pregnant teenagers, people building interesting houses and why fat people are fat, and I stumbled across a Yes concert from years ago. Vaguely knowing Owner of a Lonely Heart and Roundabout I thought I'd leave it on, and I'm over the arsing moon that I did so.
Rick Wakeman is a key-tinkering legend, that much everyone with any musical knowledge is aware, but I didn't realise quite how good the rest of the musicians in the band are. Bassist Chris Squire was absolutely epic and guitarist Steve Howe, despite looking at least 142 years old, did some widdly-widdly magic with his six-string. I don't know whether I'd been listening to too much guttural metal of late but sitting there in a dark room watching ten-minute soundscapes and listening to Jon Anderson's vocals was thoroughly enjoyable.
I got Yes's In the Present: Live from Lyon box set sent through a few days ago and I'm finding myself listening to it more and more. And this excites me, as it means I could now be getting into a whole new genre of music and uncovering a raft of bands that I've never listened to before. That's the beautiful thing about music - actual, proper music, not music made by Simon Cowell; you can trace it all back and discover bands that pioneered the sounds. Imagine picking up Black Stone Cherry and subsequently discovering Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Allman Brothers? Imagine listening to White Wizzard and tracing the line back to Iron Maiden? Hearing the classics for a first time is a wonderful thing and if I was a teenage metaller finding his feet in the genre, I'd be soiling my undergarments with excitement and anticipation at the wealth of astonishing bands that have existed over the years.
With that in mind, let's take a seat and enjoy.
M
\m/
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