I went along with my older brother to see Yes and when we came out he was raving about Chris Squire, he couldn't get over how good he was that night.
I concur wholeheartedly Sox, when I saw them play he was the best bassist I have seen in concert. And when you play a Yes album, the fact you can Hear his "Lead Bass Guitar"......tells you the rest of the band also knew he was special.(There is a lesson there for many other bands in my opinion...don't bury the bass in your band, it can add a whole new dimension to your sound Without taking away anything from the other instruments.)
The only time I've heard bass nearly as immersive as Squire's in all my prog listening is on an album you introduced me to LG, Transatlantic's The Whirlwind!
Chris Squire is extremely revered in the prog community and for good reason too
That must have been a while ago now Sal, but I like Transatlantic one of the better "Supergroups" of the last few years. No chance they will ever be a commercial success on a big scale, but they are keeping the prog flame burning and for that I thank them.
You got me onto it when I was new to the forum LG, I have an elephant's memory for things like these
And they do pretty well commerically, while not hitting the mainstream charts with the combined fanbases of Dream Theater, Marillion and Spock's Beard they can't exactly sink into obscurity either
Going For The One, on my fourth listen in the last couple of days is a wonderful album. Sadly, for some reason I put this Lp way up in the corner of the closet. "Turn of the Century" is a magical track with Steve Howe's beautful acoustic textures and Rick Wakeman's piano solos. "Wonderous Stories" is so uplifting, IMO, one of Jon Anderson's best moments. The church organ on "Parallels" and Chris Squire's bass line is just rocking. "Awaken" is absolutely majestic and is always been in my top 10 Yes songs. I would consider it one of the band's best epics, not too far from "Close To The Edge". What happened next, Tormato, I don't know. I think the album cover indicates what is to be found inside.
After two listens of Tormato, it doesn't even come close to Going For The One IMO. What stands out for me the most is the uncohesiveness and the musical direction of the album. From what I hear it seems that the members are going in thier own musical direction and sound like they're confused as looking at each other and saying,"what the hell are you doing". Some of the songs are at times irritating and downright ridiculous, like "Arriving UFO" and "Don't Kill the Whale". "Madrigal" is not a bad song though it might be thier attempt at replicating the hit "Wonderous Stories". Fantastic beginning to "On the Silent Wing's of Freedom" but some how fizzles out. To me, the best track on the album is "Onward". Wakeman's keyboards and Howe's guitar seem to almost contradict each other at times. Squire's bass and Alan White's drumming are but the only thing that sound some what in unison. Though Drama was a different line up and continued the prog/pop direction it does seem more mutual in harmony.
Sadly 1978 wasn't a good year for prog. Tormato from Yes, And Then There Were Three by Genesis, and the s/t debut from UK, though IMO the best release of the three. This was the beginning of the "poppy prog" direction and the AOR trend that would follow and influence the"neo-prog" bands of the early/mid 80's. The question has to be asked if these new prog. artists really did anything of note for progressive rock movement in general(?).
^^I respect your views Joe, but I disagree strongly about Tormato, it remains ahead of Going...on my list, for various reasons. As I said previously, most hard core Yes fans don't like it for a myriad of reasons, but I do for the ones I have already stated numerous times.
I'm glad you did stress that opinion as strongly as you did LG because if you hadn't I don't think I would have ever bothered to listen to it again and as Sox was saying earlier Chris Squire is just amazing on Tormato. After noticing that (something that really couldn't be heard on the old worn out vinyl I had )
the rest of it just grew on me BIGTIME. I have to agree with your opinion. I too like it better then Going For The One. Much more adventurous IMO.
I saw Yes in concert over in Vancouver on the Union tour in 91 or 92. Man, I can't even remember what year. Anyhow, it had most of the members from the 70's. Bill Bruford and Alan White on drums, Tony Kaye and Rick Wakeman on keyboards, Steve Howe and Trevor Rabin on guitar/vocals, Chris Squire on bass/vocals and vocalist Jon Anderson.
It was a fantastic show using thier stage "In The Round". I was impressed with all the musicians except that I was somewhat dissappointed with Steve Howe, being my favourite member. Geez, I couldn't believe how frail he looked. It almost seemed that he had a hard time handling his guitar, which looked so cumbersome compared to his small body. Trevor Rabin showed him up on that particular night. Funny, I still remember saying to my girlfriend, "Steve should start eating meat".
I loved their rotating circular stage when I saw them play. A great setup and let's you see the whole band effortlessly over the concert.
I remember a nick-name a mod in another forum used to describe Steve Howe, "The Grave Digger", because he looks like a corpse. He was involved in the latest Asia project, I have the CD but can't offer a proper opinion of it yet I only played it once.
Re: The Yes Thread 
...tells you the rest of the band also knew he was special.(There is a lesson there for many other bands in my opinion...don't bury the bass in your band, it can add a whole new dimension to your sound Without taking away anything from the other instruments.) 
Linear Mode
