wow!!!
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(1 1/2 stars.) Given Welch's long experience in the UK music press, I was expecting a sparky read. Whatever you can say about rock writers who had their halcyon days in the 1970s, one thing you generally can't call them is pedestrian. Well, on this evidence Welch is the exception that proves the rule. A truly boring, irritating read that I hope those with an interest in discovering Yes will ignore. If you have any misconceptions about Yes this book will do little to disabuse you of them. The overviews of the albums are particulaly cringeworthy, with the kind of reviews a gushing sixth-former may be embarrassed by. The prose is workaday and banal (which, say what you will, Yes never were), and has the feel of deadlines looming. As another reviewer says, this book could've done with a major edit. Particularly irritating is the excessive use of exclamation marks. It feels like every quote ends this way, making the interviewees often appear imbecelic. There is some interesting stuff buried in here, but it's not worth the visit to find it.
On the whole then, a real disappointment. Yes fans have enough to contend with among their enemies in the press without this substandard stuff adding fuel to the naysayers' fire. The great Yes book is yet to be written. Oh for an Ian MacDonald (God rest his soul) to do a 'Revolution in the Head' on Yes. Now that WOULD be something...
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The definitive biography.
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Don't believe the previous reviewers who knocked this book! Chris Welch is a living legend amongst rock writers, and here he recounts the story of Yes as he observed it, which is a vital point. This is not the usual ill informed, fashion driven nonsense that you find in all too many rock biogs. Chris was there when it happened and can be regarded as THE authoritative source for many of the books he's written.
As to the tale itself: fabulous, written with loving detail, he casts insight and illumination on the ups and downs of the band without ever being judgemental. Overall, the sense of compassion for the band with all its quirks while striving to make some of the most challenging music in rock comes across beautifully. Of course, the 80s and 90s aren't covered in as great a depth, simply because the 70s was when Yes' most pivotal music was created (hence the 'Masterworks' tour mostly featuring classic tracks from 20-30 years ago).
I keep coming back to this book time and again, and am always absorbed and fascinated not only by the story, but the superbly detailed and objective way Chris sets it all down within the context of rock music. It's a refreshing change from the 'Yes are boring old farts' school of rock journalism -intriguingly enough, Yes have outlived all of the supposedly 'new and exciting' bands who were supposedly going to replace them (whither Graham Parker and the Rumour? Who, you ask? exactly). This book shows you why and how this has happened. Although it's been anything but sweetness and light along the way, most fans (including me) will overwhelmingly say that its been worth it.
And I'm including the usual disclaimer about the author; I just happen to think he's the best rock writer there is, and for me, Yes is the best rock band there has ever been.
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Disappointing is a Compliment
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As a passionate Yes fan this book left me with little more than when I started to read, other than a slight sun tan from falling asleep during a spring afternoon whilst reading it in the garden. There are indications in the book that Chris spent a lot of time with the band, but he never really gets into the nitty gritty and the story behind the music. His description of the story behind Tales from Topographic Oceans can be read by anyone prepared to look at the album cover, so why read the book? Fortunately for me I am in possession of a fine collection of the music of Yes. Perhaps this is the reason for my disappointment, and perhaps Chris should have left the story to be told by the music.
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Marginal at best
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While this book covers all the Yes history up until publication, it makes for poor reading. I think it could have done with a good edit to cut out a lot of the dross, errors and to make it more even - more than 120 pages (of about 270 of text) are about the band's first three years and only about 30 on the last 10. Then there is the proofreading (eg a photo of the ABWH group, clearly from the same session as the photo in their 1989 album, labelled as being taken in 1992, the song "The Messenger" being called "The Message") only little errors, but they are niggling, particularly when I was finding the overall book disappointing. I would have liked to have had more detail about the eighties and nineties and for it to be more cohesive - it jumps around a lot and I get the feeling the author used any quote he could from the band (or anyone every vaguely associated with them) that happened to maybe fit kind of with the point he was trying to allude to. There is something to it and think it will be a great book when they bring out the second draft. A good thing is the 'where are they now' section and a pretty full looking discography.
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A "must read" for all Yes fans, old and new.
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As a Yes fan from the early days, this was the first extensive history/background of the group that I'd read. For me, it filled-in many of the "black holes" behind their music, albums but especially, the members of the band over the years. More photographs of the band and especially their albums and the art work of Roger Dean, would have given this book by Chris Welch a resounding 5 stars!
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