In conversation with Paul K Joyce about his contributions to the new Yes album, Aurora - 718
Yes Music Podcast
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius This week we spoke to Paul K Joyce who has contributed orchestrations to the new Yes album, Aurora. This is the third Yes album he has been involved with after helping the band create the wonderful aural landscapes of The Quest and Mirror to the Sky. He tells us about how the decisions came about, how many of the songs on Aurora feature orchestra and how the Czech National Symphony Orchestra went about recording the tracks, with him in the recording booth. As always, it was a fascinating conversation with someone who...
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New Yes single ‘Aurora’ plus Oliver Wakeman live in Worcester and the new version of From A Page - 717
Yes Music Podcast
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius Kevin is back! He and Mark bang on at length about the recent Oliver Wakeman concert with his band at Worcester, the remastered and expanded From A Page album and the first single from the new Yes album, Aurora. My thanks to everyone who has wished me well, including Brian Breen, Chris Berry and Gary Betts and his wife and most importantly Mark, who has kept the wheels turning at YMP Towers brilliantly. There are also some thoughts from Daniel and Amanda about the new From A Page, especially the inclusion of the...
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Aurora News and my Top 5 Yes Live Albums - 716
Yes Music Podcast
Mark shares news about the forthcoming Yes album, Aurora, and runs down his own top 5 Yes live albums. Tune in and compare your own favourites!
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Must own Yes vinyl pressings, Yes news, and more!! - 715
Yes Music Podcast
Another stellar (how topical) episode from Mark in Kevin's absence! This week, he covers a wide variety of topics including the weather(!), his own latest Projekt Gemineye release, Jon Davison and the new Yes album and the main topic - the record pressings you must have if you count yourself as a fanatical Yes collector! Mark recorded this episode shortly before the news broke that the Yes Fragile Tour has had to be postponed due to Steve Howe requiring an operation. Get well soon, Steve!
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Top 5 Yes albums between 1980 and present day - 714
Yes Music Podcast
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius Continuing his sterling work in Kevin's absense, Mark considers his picks for the Top 5 Yes albums since 1980. I wonder how his list will compare with yours. Let us know in the comments, as always. What post-1980 album comes out top for Mark? How does his top 5 compare with yours? Do any of his picks seem odd to you?
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Yes Symphonic Live Comparison - The original vs the new reissue - 713
Yes Music Podcast
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius Mark considers the new version of Yes Symphonic Live, from the amazing combination of Anderson, White, Squire, Howe, Brislin and orchestra. Is the new version significantly different to the original? What are the added ingredients? Is it worth the purchase price?
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Yes albums and the memories they bring us - 712
Yes Music Podcast
Mark continues his solo episodes in Kevin's absence. This week, he thinks about his memories associated with three Yes albums. There's also time to reflect on the recent announcement of the deluxe and expanded version of the Oliver Wakeman-led Yes album, From a Page.
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My Top 5 70's albums by Rick Wakeman - 711
Yes Music Podcast
In his second solo episode, Mark talks about a very small section of his extensive Rick Wakeman collection.
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A Vinyl Collector compares and analyzes Time and a Word - 710
Yes Music Podcast
A Vinyl Collector compares and analyzes Time and a Word.
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In conversation with Jay Schellen - 709
Yes Music Podcast
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius This week we were delighted to welcome Yes drummer Jay Schellen back on the YMP. Just like last time, we had a lovely conversation and Jay shared his thoughts about the forthcoming UK and European Fragile Tour as well as the new Yes album that is now being prepared for release in July (hopefully). It’s clear from our interview that Jay is totally committed to the future development of the band and believes that the new album will be warmly received. We look forward to that, of course. What unexpected item does Jay...
info_outlineThis week Mark and I had all sorts of fun thinking about whether there are any short Yes epics - or if this idea is even possible. We set ourselves the restriction of only choosing Yes songs less than 6mins in duration so can you guess what we came up with and how we justified our choices?
It was sad to hear that Ozzy Osbourne died this week, only a few weeks after performing his last ever concert with his Black Sabbath bandmates. I can’t say I was a dedicated fan of Ozzy or Sabbath but my introduction to heavy metal was when a friend of mine took me up to his room in a slightly creepy Victorian mansion and played me the self-titled album by the Birmingham band. How appropriate the setting was. I also learned to play Paranoid on the drums when I was a teenager and my younger son taught my daughter, when she was a toddler, to sing the alphabet to the riff from War Pigs. My elder son was a true fan so he was upset when we heard the news.
As you know if you’ve read the new Tales book or get your information from many other sources like Matthew Paine on Facebook, Rick Wakeman was a huge fan of Ozzy who he met at Morgan Studios while Yes were recording Tales. He ended up playing keys on 2 songs on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath which was being recorded over the road in another Morgan studio at the time. Eventually, Ozzy returned the favour by singing on Rick’s "The Return to the Center of the Earth", as pointed out by Paul Graf also on Facebook.
Our own Doug Curran interviewed Ozzy for his radio show in 1981 so do make a point of reading his reflections on that on the YMP Facebook discussion group.
Rest in Peace Ozzy.