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185-563: In 1996, Falcone resurrected Spirits Burning. Spirits Burning was one of his first San Francisco bands, for which Falcone played bass and keyboards. Their first recording for a CD was a cover of the King Crimson song Red, on the tribute album “Schizoid Dimension,” released in 1997. Spirits Burning signed with French label Musea Records in 1998 and the group released their first album New Worlds By Design on Musea affiliate Gazul Records. Falcone set Spirits Burning on their continuing mission just as

370-410: A Simmons SDS-V electronic drum kit. The band's songs were shorter in comparison to previous King Crimson albums, and very much shaped by Belew's pop sensibilities and quirky approach to writing lyrics. Though the band's previous taste for improvisation was now tightly reined in, one instrumental ("The Sheltering Sky") emerged from group rehearsals; while the noisy, half-spoken/half-shouted "Indiscipline"

555-427: A "singing organist" to join a group they were forming. Fellow Dorset musician Robert Fripp  – a guitarist who neither played organ nor sang – responded, and Giles, Giles and Fripp was born. The trio recorded several quirky singles and one eclectic album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp . They hovered on the edge of success, and even made a television appearance, but were never able to make

740-403: A Duo or Group with Vocal award with 90125 . The band's 1984–1985 tour was the most lucrative in their history and spawned the home video release 9012Live , a concert film directed by Steven Soderbergh with added special effects from Charlex that cost $ 1 million. Issued in 1985, an accompanying live album also appeared that year, 9012Live: The Solos , which earned Yes a nomination for

925-453: A Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1992. Howe described the nomination for a track he had recorded solo at home as "pure justice", following the difficulties in making the album. Union sold approximately 1.5 million copies worldwide, and peaked at number 7 in the UK and number 15 in the U.S. charts. Two singles from the album were released. " Lift Me Up " topped

1110-583: A Lonely Heart" topped the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and went on to reach the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the only single from Yes to do so, for two weeks in January 1984. Kaye's short-term replacement on keyboards, Eddie Jobson , appeared briefly in the original video but was edited out as much as possible once Kaye had been persuaded to return to

1295-614: A Word (1970). A change of direction later in 1970 led to a series of successful progressive rock albums, with four consecutive U.S. platinum or multi-platinum sellers in The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972) and the live album Yessongs (1973). Further albums, Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), Going for the One (1977) and Tormato (1978), were also commercially successful. Yes toured as

1480-424: A Word , accompanied by a 20-piece youth orchestra. Banks left the group on 18 April 1970, just three months before the album's release. Having expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of recording with an orchestra as well as the sacking of Flynn earlier in the year, Banks later indicated that he was fired by Anderson and Squire, and that Kaye and Bruford had no prior knowledge that it would be happening. Similar to

1665-523: A career in music production, with White and Squire next to depart. Left as the sole remaining members, Downes and Howe opted not to continue with the group and went their own separate ways in December 1980. Yesshows , a live album recorded during 1976 to 1978, mixed in mid-1979 and originally intended for release in late 1979, was released in November 1980, peaking at number 22 in the UK charts and number 43 in

1850-415: A commercial breakthrough. Attempting to expand their sound, the three recruited Ian McDonald on keyboards, reeds and woodwinds. McDonald brought along two new participants: his then-girlfriend, former Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble , whose brief tenure with the group ended when the two split, and lyricist, roadie, and art strategist Peter Sinfield , with whom he had been writing songs –

2035-551: A compilation of the band's shows Live at the Shepherds Bush Empire (London, 3 July 2000) and Live in Japan (Tokyo, 16 April 2003). In November 2003, Gunn left the group to pursue solo projects and was replaced by the returning Tony Levin. The band reconvened in early 2004 for rehearsals, but nothing developed from these sessions. They went on another hiatus. At this point, Fripp was publicly reassessing his desire to work within

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2220-472: A creative peak on Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973), Starless and Bible Black (1974), and Red (1974). King Crimson disbanded at the end of 1974. After seven years of inactivity, King Crimson was recreated in 1981 with Fripp, Bruford and new members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin . Drawing influence from African music, gamelan , post-punk and New York minimalism , this band lasted three years, resulting in

2405-552: A drummer to replace McCulloch, Ian Wallace was secured. Fripp was re-energised by the addition of a new member, and he joined Collins and Wallace to audition singers and bassists. Vocalists who tried out included Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music and even one of the band's managers, John Gaydon . The position eventually went to Raymond "Boz" Burrell . John Wetton was invited to join on bass, but declined in order to join Family instead. Rick Kemp (later of Steeleye Span ) rehearsed with

2590-433: A follow-up to Big Generator and had been shopping around for a new singer, auditioning Roger Hodgson of Supertramp , Steve Walsh of Kansas , Robbie Nevil of " C'est la Vie " fame, and Billy Sherwood of World Trade . Walsh only spent one day with them, but Sherwood and the band worked well enough together and continued with writing sessions. Arista suggested that the "Yes-West" group, with Anderson on vocals, record

2775-548: A footnote within Paramahansa Yogananda 's book Autobiography of a Yogi . The album became the first LP in the UK to ship gold before the record arrived at retailers. It went on to top the UK charts for two weeks while reaching number 6 in the U.S., and became the band's fourth consecutive gold album. Wakeman was not pleased with the record and is critical of much of its material. He felt sections were "bled to death" and contained too much musical padding. Wakeman left

2960-456: A heavier, harder sound than the material Yes recorded with Anderson and Wakeman in 1979, opening with the lengthy hard rocker " Machine Messiah ". The album received substantial radio airplay in the late summer–fall of 1980, and peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 18 in the U.S., though it was the first Yes album to not be certified Gold by the RIAA since 1971. Their 1980 tour of North America and

3145-444: A high degree of free improvisation, with influences ranging from jazz, industrial, techno and drum'n'bass . These have been collectively described by music critic J. D. Considine as "frequently astonishing" but lacking in melody. After Bruford had played four dates with Projekct One in December 1997, he left King Crimson to resume working with his own jazz group Earthworks . In October 1999, King Crimson reconvened. Tony Levin

3330-559: A large cult following , especially in the 21st century. Founded by Fripp, Michael Giles , Greg Lake , Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield , the band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969), remains their most commercially successful and influential release. The next two albums, In the Wake of Poseidon and Lizard (both 1970), were recorded during a period of instability in

3515-429: A lot of material together and became close friends. Yes performed "Walls" on Late Show with David Letterman on 20 June 1994. The 1994 tour (for which the band included side man Billy Sherwood on additional guitar and keyboards) used a sound system developed by Rabin named Concertsonics which allowed the audience located in certain seating areas to tune portable FM radios to a specific frequency, so they could hear

3700-458: A major rock act that earned the band a reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album covers designed by Roger Dean . The success of " Roundabout ", the single from Fragile , cemented their popularity across the decade and beyond. The early 1970s saw lasting lineup changes, with Banks, Kaye, and Bruford being replaced by Howe, Rick Wakeman , and Alan White . In 1979, growing musical differences led Anderson and Wakeman to leave

3885-577: A more structurally ambitious approach taken from the band's progressive blueprint, with the fifteen-minute track " Endless Dream ". The album reached number 20 in the UK and number 33 in the U.S. The track " The Calling " reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and " Walls ", which Rabin had written with former Supertramp songwriter and co-founder Roger Hodgson , peaked at number 24. It also became Yes's second-last-charting single. Rabin and Hodgson wrote

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4070-471: A new second drummer, Gavin Harrison . In August 2008, after a period of rehearsals, the five completed the band's 40th Anniversary Tour. The setlists featured no new material, drawing instead from the existing mid '70s era/ Discipline -era/Double Trio/Double Duo repertoire. Additional shows were planned for 2009, but were cancelled due to scheduling clashes with Belew. King Crimson began another hiatus after

4255-485: A nomination for a second Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1988, and was also certified platinum (with 1 million-plus in sales) by the RIAA. The single " Love Will Find a Way " topped the Mainstream Rock chart, while " Rhythm of Love " reached number 2 and " Shoot High Aim Low " number 11. The 1987–1988 tour ended with an appearance at Madison Square Garden on 14 May 1988 as part of

4440-911: A partnership initiated when McDonald had said to Sinfield (regarding his band Creation), "Peter, I have to tell you that your band is hopeless, but you write some great words. Would you like to get together on a couple of songs?" Fripp, meanwhile, saw Clouds at the Marquee Club in London which spurred him to incorporate classically inspired melodies into his writing, and utilise improvisation to find new ideas. No longer interested in Peter Giles' more whimsical pop songs, Fripp recommended that his old friend, fellow guitarist and singer Greg Lake could join to replace either Peter or Fripp himself. Peter Giles later called it one of Fripp's "cute political moves". According to Michael Giles, his brother had become disillusioned with

4625-469: A quartet, called "The Double Duo", releasing The Construkction of Light (2000) and The Power to Believe (2003). After another hiatus, the band reformed for a 2008 tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of their 1968 formation, with Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree being added, and Levin returning in place of Gunn. Following another hiatus (2009–2012), during which Fripp was thought to be retired, King Crimson came together again in 2013, this time as

4810-433: A record producer and even briefly considered being a member of Asia . The three teamed up in a new band called Cinema , for which Squire also recruited the original Yes keyboard player Tony Kaye. Later in 1982, Cinema entered the studio to record their debut album. Although Rabin and Squire initially shared lead vocals for the project, Trevor Horn was briefly brought into Cinema as a potential singer, but soon opted to become

4995-497: A rented farmhouse in Devon to write and rehearse new songs for their following album. Howe established himself as an integral part of the group's sound with his Gibson ES-175 and variety of acoustic guitars. With producer and engineer Eddy Offord , recording sessions lasted as long as 12 hours with each track being assembled from small sections at a time, which were pieced together to form a complete track. The band would then learn to play

5180-489: A reunited band with a history and expectations, rather than help launch a new group. However, with four of the five members having been members of Yes (with three of them being original members, including the distinctive lead singer) it suggested that the name change was sound commercial strategy. The new album marked a significant change in style as the revived Yes had adopted more of a pop rock sound with few moments that recalled their progressive rock past. This incarnation of

5365-471: A second Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Squire's solo track, a rendition of " Amazing Grace ". Yes began recording for their twelfth album, Big Generator , in 1985, initially with Trevor Horn returning as producer. The sessions underwent many starts and stops due to the use of multiple recording locations in Italy, London and Los Angeles, with interpersonal problems leading to Horn leaving

5550-455: A second hiatus, Yes once again reformed in 2009, adding Trevor Horn and Downes (both having appeared on Drama ) and later, Davison as lead singer. Squire died in 2015, and White in 2022, leaving Howe as the only remaining member from the 1970s era. Former members Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman collaborated from 2016 to 2018, but did not release a studio album. Yes's latest album, Mirror to the Sky ,

5735-399: A self-modified drum kit, assorted toys, a bullroarer , mbira , gongs, balloons, thunder sheet and chains. On stage, Muir also employed unpredictable, manic movements, bizarre clothing, and fake blood capsules (occasionally spit or applied to the head), becoming the sole example of such theatrical stage activity in the band's long history. The album reached No. 20 in the UK and No. 61 in

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5920-526: A septet (and, later, octet) with an unusual three-drumkit frontline, and new singer and secondary guitarist Jakko Jakszyk . This version of King Crimson toured from 2014 to 2021. After the band's final show in 2021, Fripp commented that King Crimson had "moved from sound to silence." In August 1967, brothers Michael and Peter Giles , drummer and singer/bassist respectively and pro musicians in working bands since their mid-teens in Dorset , England, advertised for

6105-490: A serious band dispute over finance saw Anderson leave Yes, with a dispirited Wakeman departing at around the same time. In 1980, pop duo The Buggles (singer Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes ) secured the services of Brian Lane , who had managed Yes since 1970, as their manager. The Buggles were best known for their 1979 hit single " Video Killed the Radio Star " from their album The Age of Plastic . At this point,

6290-538: A set of lyrics before his involvement with Giles, Giles and Fripp. Sinfield insisted that the name wasn't Beelzebub , prince of demons, and that a "crimson king" was any ruler during whose reign there were "societal rumblings" and "sort of the dark forces of the world". According to Fripp, King Crimson is a synonym for Beelzebub , which is an anglicised form of the Arabic phrase "B'il Sabab", meaning "the man with an aim", to which he related. At this early point, McDonald

6475-512: A short tour supported by the Lounge Lizards . By October 1981, the band had opted to change their name to King Crimson. In 1981, King Crimson recorded Discipline with producer Rhett Davies who had previously worked with Belew on Talking Heads' Remain in Light and with Fripp on Brian Eno's Another Green World and Before and After Science . The album displayed a very different version of

6660-451: A single released under the name Spirits Burning & Daevid Allen). Robert Calvert 's Centigrade 232 tape recitation was first used with music on the second Spirits Burning album Reflections In A Radio Shower , released in 2001. Don Falcone took the original recording of Calvert reading his poem Centigrade 232 and integrated it into the track Drive-By Poetry . Lines from another Centigrade 232 poem ("Ode To A Crystal Set") appear on

6845-525: A softer approach, took lyrical inspiration from Homer 's Odyssey , musical inspiration from jazz players like Miles Davis and Ahmad Jamal , and a sun-drenched trip to Ibiza and Formentera . Islands featured the instrumental "Sailor's Tale", with a droning Mellotron and Fripp's banjo-inspired guitar solo; the raunchy blues-rocker "Ladies of the Road", a tribute to groupies which featured Wallace and Collins singing Beatles-esque backing vocals; and "Song of

7030-559: A studio record, with "The Great Deceiver", "Lament" and the second half of "The Night Watch" the only tracks recorded entirely in the studio. The album reached No. 28 in the UK and No. 64 in the US. Following the album's release, the band began to divide once more, this time over performance. Musically, Fripp found himself positioned between Bruford and Wetton, who played with such force and increasing volume that Fripp once compared them to "a flying brick wall", and Cross, whose amplified acoustic violin

7215-567: A suite which took up the entire second side, describing a medieval/mythological battle and its outcome. Released in December 1970, Lizard reached No. 29 in the UK and No. 113 in the US. Described retrospectively as an "outlier", the album had been made by a group in disagreement over method and taste. The more rhythm-and-blues-oriented Haskell and McCulloch both found the music difficult to relate to, and tedious and confusing to record. Collins disliked how his parts were composed, while both Fripp and Haskell detested Sinfield's lyrics. This lineup of

7400-505: A tour that Marotta didn't participate in, Fripp decided to ask the tour's drummer Pat Mastelotto , formerly of Mr. Mister , to join instead of Marotta. Bruford wound up being the last of the 1980s group to return to the band. Fripp explained that he had a vision of a "Double Trio" with two drummers while driving along the Chalke Valley one afternoon in 1992. Bruford later said he lobbied Fripp last minute because he believed that Crimson

7585-530: A voice changer under the pseudonym of "Hooter J. Johnson"), the songs were dense and complex. The album contains the fourth installment of "Larks' Tongues in Aspic". It received a negative reception for lacking new ideas. The band recorded an album of improvised instrumentals at the same time, and released them under the name ProjeKct X , on the CD Heaven and Earth . King Crimson toured to support both albums, including double bill shows with Tool . The tour

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7770-503: A while." For his part, Rabin felt that he had achieved his highest ambitions with Talk and lamented its disappointing reception, feeling that this was due to the fact that it "just wasn't what people wanted to hear at the time." Having remarked at the conclusion of the tour "I think I'm done", Rabin quit the band and returned to Los Angeles, where he shifted his focus to composing for films. Kaye also left Yes to pursue other projects. In November 1995, Anderson, Squire and White resurrected

7955-417: A wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical , jazz , folk , heavy metal , gamelan , blues , industrial , electronic , experimental music and new wave . They exerted a strong influence on the early 1970s progressive rock movement, including on contemporaries such as Yes and Genesis , and continue to inspire subsequent generations of artists across multiple genres. The band has earned

8140-440: Is a fragmented masterpiece, assembled with loving care and long hours in the studio. Brilliant in patches, but often taking far too long to make its various points, and curiously lacking in warmth or personal expression ..."Ritual" is a dance of celebration and brings the first enjoyable moments, where Alan's driving drums have something to grip on to and the lyrics of la la la speak volumes. But even this cannot last long and cohesion

8325-449: Is lost once more to the gods of drab self indulgence. — Melody Maker review of Tales from Topographic Oceans , 1973 Tales from Topographic Oceans was the band's sixth studio album, released on 7 December 1973. It marked a change in their fortunes and polarised fans and critics alike. The double vinyl set was based on Anderson's interpretation of the Shastric scriptures from

8510-590: Is the only album where Fripp had no involvement in the original mixing; Davies and Belew undertook production duties. The album had a linked theme of the Beat Generation and its writings, reflected in song titles such as "Neal and Jack and Me" (inspired by Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac ), " Heartbeat " (inspired by Carolyn Cassady 's "Heart Beat: My Life with Jack and Neal"), "The Howler" (inspired by Allen Ginsberg 's " Howl ") and "Waiting Man" (inspired by William Burroughs ). The album contained themes of life on

8695-543: The In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) box set. King Crimson spent 1970 in a state of flux with various lineup changes, thwarted tour plans, and difficulties in finding a satisfactory musical direction while Fripp was learning and developing as a songwriter during the writing process of the next three albums. As well as guitar, Fripp took on keyboard duties, while Sinfield expanded his creative role to operating synthesizers. Following McDonald and Giles' departure, Lake, unsure of

8880-573: The THRAK (1994–1997) box set in 2015. Writing rehearsals began in May 1997 in Nashville, Tennessee . Fripp was dissatisfied with the quality of the new music being developed by the band; Longstanding friction and disagreements between himself and Bruford led to the latter deciding to leave King Crimson for good. The resulting bad atmosphere and the lack of workable material almost broke the band up altogether. Instead,

9065-412: The 1997/1998 Open Your Eyes tour , Yes hired Russian keyboard player Igor Khoroshev , who had played on some of the album tracks. Significantly, the tour setlist featured only a few pieces from the new album, and mostly concentrated on earlier material. Anderson and Howe, who had been less involved with the writing and production on Open Your Eyes than they'd wished, would express dissatisfaction about

9250-614: The Alien Injection CD were from The Entropy Tango & Gloriana Demo Sessions . Falcone and Bridget Wishart (formerly of Hawkwind ) have collaborated in Spirits Burning (including releases under the name Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart). Falcone and Cyrille Verdeaux of Clearlight have collaborated in Spirits Burning (including releases under the name Spirits Burning & Clearlight). Falcone and Daevid Allen (of Gong ) have collaborated in Spirits Burning (including

9435-582: The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In February 1972, Yes recorded a cover version of " America " by Paul Simon and released it in July. The single reached number 46 on the U.S. singles chart. The track subsequently appeared on The New Age of Atlantic , a 1972 compilation album of several bands signed to Atlantic Records, and again in the 1975 compilation Yesterdays . Released in September 1972, Close to

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9620-772: The Jon and Vangelis project) at a Los Angeles party and, encouraged by Atlantic Records vice president Phil Carson , played Anderson the Cinema demo tracks. Anderson was then invited into the project as lead singer and joined in April 1983 during the last few weeks of the sessions, having comparatively little creative input beyond adding his lead vocals and re-writing some lyrics. At the suggestion of Carson and other Atlantic executives, Cinema then changed their name to Yes in June 1983. Rabin initially objected to this, as he now found that he had inadvertently joined

9805-597: The Mellotron and the Minimoog synthesizer, preferring to stick exclusively to piano and Hammond organ , led to the keyboardist being fired from the band in the summer of 1971. Anderson recalled in a 2019 interview: "Steve and Chris came over and said, 'Look, Tony Kaye... great guy.' But, you know, we'd just seen Rick Wakeman about a month earlier. And I said, 'There's that Rick Wakeman guy,' and we've got to get on with life and move on, you know, rather than keep going on, set in

9990-589: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . In late 1967, bassist Chris Squire and guitarist Peter Banks , both formerly of the Syn , joined the psychedelic rock band Mabel Greer's Toyshop , which had formed in 1966 by Clive Bayley and Robert Hagger. They played at the Marquee Club in Soho , London where Jack Barrie, owner of the nearby La Chasse club, saw them perform. "There was nothing outstanding about them", he recalled, "the musicianship

10175-593: The "classic" 1970s lineup of Yes by inviting Wakeman and Howe back to the band, recording two new lengthy tracks called "Be the One" and "That, That Is". In March 1996 Yes performed three live shows at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo , California which were recorded and released, along with the new studio tracks, that October on CMC International Records as the Keys to Ascension album, which peaked at number 48 in

10360-577: The "classic" Yes, although from the start the project had included bass player Tony Levin , whom Bruford had worked with in King Crimson. The project, rather than taking over or otherwise using the Yes name, was called Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH). Their eponymous album , released in June 1989, featured "Brother of Mine", which became an MTV hit and went gold in the United States. It later emerged that

10545-641: The 1984 tour, Fripp dissolved King Crimson for the second time, exactly ten years after dissolving the previous group. Bruford and Belew expressed some frustration over this; Belew recalled the first he had heard of the split was when he read about it in a report in Musician magazine. In the summer of 1991, Belew met with Fripp in England to express an interest in reviving King Crimson. One year later, Fripp established his Discipline Global Mobile (DGM) record label with producer David Singleton . Subsequently, DGM would be

10730-447: The 40th Anniversary Tour. Belew continued to lobby for reviving the band, and discussed it with Fripp several times in 2009 and 2010. Among Belew's suggestions was a temporary reunion of the 1980s line-up for a thirtieth anniversary tour: an idea declined by both Fripp and Bruford, the latter commenting "I would be highly unlikely to try to recreate the same thing, a mission I fear destined to failure." In December 2010, Fripp wrote that

10915-576: The Beatles , The 5th Dimension and Traffic . On 16 September, Yes performed at Blaise's club in London as a substitute for Sly and the Family Stone , who had failed to turn up. They were well received by the audience, including the host Roy Flynn , who became the band's manager that night. That month, Bruford decided to quit performing to study at the University of Leeds . His replacement, Tony O'Reilly of

11100-692: The CD's opening track Second Degree Soul Sparks . The liner notes for each Spirits Burning album include the crew members (a list of musicians or lyricists who contributed to the album) and some of their sightings (a list of some of the bands or artists that each crew member has played with or is associated with). This list includes crew members who have contributed to a Spirits Burning song or album. Notable associations are included. King Crimson King Crimson were an English-based progressive rock band formed in London in 1968. Led by guitarist Robert Fripp , they drew inspiration from

11285-424: The Edge , the band's fifth album, was their most ambitious work so far. At 19 minutes, the title track took up an entire side on the vinyl record and combined elements of classical music, psychedelic rock, pop and jazz. The album reached number 3 in the U.S. and number 4 on the UK charts. " And You and I " was released as a single that peaked at number 42 in the U.S. The growing critical and commercial success of

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11470-638: The Fox ", a Christmas single with Squire on vocals which received radio airplay through the 1980s and early 1990s during the Christmas periods. A second Yes compilation album, Classic Yes , was released in November 1981. At the beginning of 1982, Phil Carson of Atlantic Records introduced Squire and White to guitarist and singer Trevor Rabin , who had initially made his name with the South African supergroup Rabbitt , subsequently releasing three solo albums, working as

11655-450: The Gulls", which was developed from an earlier Fripp instrumental ("Suite No. 1" from Giles, Giles & Fripp's 1968 album ), and would be the only time the band would utilize an orchestra. Burrell disliked Sinfield's lyrics and one of the band members allegedly called Islands as "an airy-fairy piece of shit". Released in December 1971, Islands charted at No. 30 in the UK and No. 76 in

11840-616: The King Crimson "switch" had been set to "off" since October 2008, citing several reasons for this decision. In August 2012, Fripp announced his retirement from the music industry, leaving the future of King Crimson uncertain. Prior to Fripp's retirement announcement, a band called Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins (and subtitled "A King Crimson ProjeKct") had released an album called A Scarcity of Miracles in 2011. The band featured guitarist and singer Jakko Jakszyk (who'd previously performed King Crimson material with 21st Century Schizoid Band), Fripp and former Crimson saxophonist Mel Collins as

12025-568: The Koobas , struggled to perform with the rest of the group on stage and former Warriors and future King Crimson drummer Ian Wallace subbed for one gig on 5 November 1968. After Bruford was refused a year's sabbatical leave from Leeds, Anderson and Squire convinced him to return for Yes's supporting slot for Cream's farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 26 November. After seeing an early King Crimson gig in 1969, Yes realised that there

12210-546: The Mainstream Rock charts in May 1991 for six weeks, while " Saving My Heart " peaked at number 9. Almost the entire band have openly stated their dislike of Union . Bruford has disowned the album entirely, and Wakeman was reportedly unable to recognise any of his keyboard work in the final edit and threw his copy of the album out of his limousine. He has since referred to the album as "Onion" because it makes him cry when he thinks about it. Union co-producer Jonathan Elias later stated publicly in an interview that Anderson, as

12395-423: The One topped the UK album charts for two weeks and reached number 8 in the U.S. " Wonderous Stories " and "Going for the One" were released as singles in the UK and reached numbers 7 and 25, respectively. Although the album's cover was designed by Hipgnosis , it still features their Roger Dean "bubble" logotype . The band's 1977 tour spanned across six months. Tormato was released in September 1978 at

12580-460: The Road and in 2017 on the Sailors' Tales (1970–1972) box set. By this time, the musical rift between Fripp and the rest of the band had grown very wide. Wallace, Burrell and Collins favoured improvised blues and funk. Fripp would later describe the 1971–1972 lineup as more of a jam band than an "improvising" band, an opinion with which Wallace disagreed. Personal relations actually improved during

12765-583: The Spirits Burning banner throws up some surprising contributors (including Daevid Allen , Porcupine Tree ’s Steven Wilson , and High Tide ’s Simon House ). In 2017, Spirits Burning performed live twice in England. The line-up was Steve Bemand, Richard Chadwick , Kev Ellis, Don Falcone, Colin Kafka, Martin Plumley, and Bridget Wishart . Falcone, Albert Bouchard (formerly of Blue Öyster Cult ), and writer Michael Moorcock have collaborated in Spirits Burning (under

12950-523: The Thrush" ("The Power to Believe III"); tracks from their previous two EPs; and an extract from a Fripp Soundscape with added instrumentation and vocals. The Power to Believe reached No. 162 in the UK and No. 150 in the US. King Crimson toured in 2003 to support the album; recordings from it were used for the live album EleKtrik: Live in Japan . 2003 also saw the release of the DVD Eyes Wide Open ,

13135-777: The Thrush", followed by an unlisted track called "ProjeKct 12th and X" after one minute of silence. A second EP followed in October 2002, Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With . This featured eleven tracks (including a live version of "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part IV"). Half of the tracks were processed vocal snippets by Belew, and the songs themselves varied between Soundscapes, gamelan, heavy metal and blues. The double duo lineup released King Crimson's thirteenth album, The Power to Believe , in March 2003. Fripp described it as "the culmination of three years of Crimsonising". The album incorporated, reworked and retitled versions of "Deception of

13320-553: The UK and number 99 in the U.S. A same-titled live video of the shows was also released that year. Yes continued to record new tracks in the studio, drawing some material written around the time of the XYZ project. At one point the new songs were to be released as a studio album, but commercial considerations meant that the new tracks were eventually packaged with the remainder of the 1996 San Luis Obispo shows in November 1997 on Keys to Ascension 2 . The record managed to reach number 62 in

13505-472: The UK received a mixed reaction from audiences. They were well received in the United States and were awarded with a commemorative certificate after they performed a record 16 consecutive sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden since 1974. After the Drama tour, Yes reconvened in England to decide the band's next step, beginning by dismissing Lane as their manager. Horn was also dismissed, and went on to pursue

13690-541: The UK, but failed to chart in the U.S. Disgruntled at the way a potential studio album had been sacrificed in favour of the Keys to Ascension releases (as well as the way in which a Yes tour was being arranged without his input or agreement), Wakeman left the group again. (The studio material from both albums would eventually be compiled and re-released without the live tracks onto a single CD, 2001's Keystudio .) With Yes in disarray again, Squire turned to Billy Sherwood (by now

13875-443: The US. An announcement came from the group's management in March 1981 confirming that Yes no longer existed. Downes and Howe soon reunited to form Asia with former King Crimson bassist and vocalist John Wetton , and drummer Carl Palmer from Emerson, Lake & Palmer . Squire and White continued to work together, initially recording sessions with Jimmy Page for a proposed band called XYZ (short for "ex-Yes-and-Zeppelin") in

14060-400: The US. After a period of further touring, Muir departed in 1973, quitting the music industry altogether. Muir told King Crimson's management that he had decided a musician's life was not for him, and he had chosen to join a Scottish Buddhist monastery. He offered to serve a period of notice which the management declined. Instead of reiterating Muir's decision, the management informed the band and

14245-465: The US. Following a tour of the United States in December 1971, Fripp informed Sinfield that he could no longer work with him, and asked him to leave the band. In January 1972, the remaining band broke up acrimoniously in rehearsals, owing partially to Fripp's refusal to play a composition by Collins. He later cited this as "quality control", with the idea that King Crimson would perform the "right" kind of music. In order to fulfil touring contracts in

14430-529: The United States in 1972, King Crimson reformed with the intention of disbanding immediately after the tour. Recordings from various North American dates between January and February 1972 were released as Earthbound in June of that year. The album was noted for its playing style that occasionally veered towards funk , and Burrell's scat singing on the improvised pieces, but was criticised for its sub-par sound quality. Further, better-quality, live recordings from this era would be released in 2002 as Ladies of

14615-525: The album failed to break into the UK album charts, Rolling Stone critic Lester Bangs complimented the album's "sense of style, taste and subtlety". Melody Maker columnist Tony Wilson chose Yes and Led Zeppelin as the two bands "most likely to succeed". Following a tour of Scandinavia with Faces , Yes performed a solo concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 21 March 1970. The second half consisted of excerpts from their second album Time and

14800-447: The album included the "other side", a collection of remixes and improvisational out-takes plus Levin's humorous song, "The King Crimson Barbershop". Three of a Perfect Pair peaked at No. 30 in the UK and No. 58 in the US, with " Three of a Perfect Pair " and " Sleepless " being released as singles. A VHS document of the Three of a Perfect Pair tour, Three of a Perfect Pair: Live in Japan ,

14985-415: The album reached No. 129 in the UK. Most of the pieces were metallic, harsh and industrial in sound. They featured a distinct electronic texture, a heavily processed electric drum sound from Mastelotto, Gunn taking over the bass role on Warr Guitar, and a different take on the interlocking guitar sound that the band had pioneered in the 1980s. With the exception of an industrial blues (sung by Belew through

15170-468: The album. Released on 6 October 1974, Red went to No. 45 in the UK and No. 66 in the US. AllMusic called it "an impressive achievement" for a group about to disband, with "intensely dynamic" musical chemistry between the band members. Two months before the release of Red , King Crimson's future looked bright (with talks regarding founder member Ian McDonald rejoining the group). However, Fripp wished not to tour as he felt increasingly disenchanted by

15355-504: The associate producer, knew of the session musicians' involvement. He added that he and Anderson had even initiated their contributions, because hostility between some of the band members at the time was preventing work from being accomplished. The 1991–1992 Union tour united all eight members on a revolving circular stage. Following the tour's conclusion in 1992, Bruford chose not to remain involved with Yes and returned to his jazz project Earthworks . Howe also ceased his involvement with

15540-551: The audience). Their big breakthrough came on 5 July 1969 by playing as a support act at the Rolling Stones ' free concert in Hyde Park, London before an estimated 500,000 people. The debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King , was released in October 1969 on Island Records . Fripp would later describe it as having been "an instant smash" and "New York's acid album of 1970" (notwithstanding Fripp and Giles' assertion that

15725-516: The backgrounds. In late 1976, the band travelled to Switzerland and started recording for their album Going for the One at Mountain Studios , Montreux . It was then that Anderson sent early versions of "Going for the One" and " Wonderous Stories " to Wakeman, who felt he could contribute to such material better than the band's past releases. Moraz was let go, after Wakeman was booked on a session musician basis. Upon its release in July 1977, Going for

15910-585: The band Circus) and jazz pianist Keith Tippett . Upon its release in May 1970, In the Wake of Poseidon reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 31 in the US. It received some criticism from those who thought it sounded too similar to their first album. With no set band to perform the new material, Fripp and Sinfield brought Mel Collins and Gordon Haskell on board (with Haskell doubling as lead vocalist and bassist and Collins quadrupling as saxophonist, flautist, occasional keyboard player, and backing vocalist), and Andy McCulloch joined as drummer. Fripp and Sinfield wrote

16095-832: The band after the 1973–1974 tour ; his solo album Journey to the Centre of the Earth topped the UK charts in May 1974. The tour included five consecutive sold-out shows at the Rainbow Theatre, the first time a rock band achieved this. Several musicians were approached to replace Wakeman, including Vangelis Papathanassiou , Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music and former Atlantis/Cat Stevens keyboardist Jean Roussel . Howe says he also asked Keith Emerson , who did not want to leave Emerson, Lake & Palmer . Yes ultimately chose Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz of Refugee , who arrived in August 1974 during

16280-447: The band at this time. In August 1991, while the Union tour was underway, Atlantic released Yesyears , a four-CD box set anthology. Two accompanying home videos, Yesyears and Greatest Video Hits , were also released during 1991. In 1993, the album Symphonic Music of Yes was released, featuring orchestrated Yes tracks arranged by Dee Palmer . Howe, Bruford and Anderson perform on

16465-457: The band did not survive much longer than the Lizard recording sessions. Haskell quit the band acrimoniously during initial tour rehearsals after refusing to sing live with distortion and electronic effects on his voice, and McCulloch departed soon after. With Sinfield not being a musician and Fripp having seemingly given up on the band, Collins was left to search for new members. After a search for

16650-451: The band has consisted of guitarist Steve Howe , keyboardist Geoff Downes , bassist Billy Sherwood , singer Jon Davison , and drummer Jay Schellen . Yes have explored several musical styles over the years and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers. Yes began performing original songs and rearranged covers of rock, pop, blues and jazz songs, as showcased on their self-titled debut album (1969), and its follow-up, Time and

16835-529: The band has sometimes been informally referred to as "Yes-West", reflecting the band's new base in Los Angeles rather than London. Yes released their comeback album 90125 (named after its catalogue serial number on Atco Records ) in November 1983. It became their biggest-selling album, certified by the RIAA at triple-platinum (3 million copies) in sales in the U.S., and introduced the band to younger fans. "Owner of

17020-544: The band itself. Victory Music approached Rabin with a proposal to produce an album solely with the 90125 lineup. Rabin initially countered by requesting that Wakeman also be included. Rabin began assembling the album at his home, using the then-pioneering concept of a digital home studio, and used material written by himself and Anderson. The new album was well into production in 1993, but Wakeman's involvement had finally been cancelled, as his refusal to leave his long-serving management created insuperable legal problems. Talk

17205-501: The band never used psychedelic drugs). Who guitarist and composer Pete Townshend called the album "an uncanny masterpiece." The album contains Sinfield's gothic lyrics and its sound was described as having "dark and doom-laden visions". Its opening track " 21st Century Schizoid Man " was described as " proto-metal " and the song's lyrics criticise the military involvement of the United States in Southeast Asia . In contrast to

17390-510: The band released a solo album. Their subsequent 1976 tour of North America with Peter Frampton featured some of the band's most-attended shows. The show of 12 June, also supported by Gary Wright and Pousette-Dart Band at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, attracted over 100,000 people. Roger Dean's brother Martyn was the main designer behind the tour's "Crab Nebula" stage set, while Roger and fabric designer Felicity Youette provided

17575-476: The band toured the US with various pop and rock acts. Their first show was at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont . While the band found success and critical acclaim, creative tensions were already developing. Giles and McDonald, still striving to cope with King Crimson's rapid success and the realities of touring life, became uneasy with their musical direction. Although he was neither the dominant composer nor

17760-570: The band until Emerson had completed remaining commitments with the Nice, at which point he left to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer . On the resulting In the Wake of Poseidon album, Lake provided all the lead vocals except on "Cadence and Cascade", as he left before he was able to complete this track. Fripp's old school friend Gordon Haskell was brought in to provide the vocal on the song. The sessions also included Michael and Peter Giles on drums and bass respectively, saxophonist Mel Collins (formerly of

17945-487: The band was not enough to retain Bruford, who left Yes in the summer of 1972, before the album's release, to join King Crimson . The band considered several possible replacements, including Aynsley Dunbar (who was playing with Frank Zappa at the time), and decided on former Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White , a friend of Anderson and Offord who had once sat in with the band weeks before Bruford's departure. White learned

18130-417: The band's engineer) for help. Both men had been working on a side project called Conspiracy and reworked existing demos and recordings from there to turn them into Yes songs, and also worked on new material with Anderson and White. (Howe's involvement at this stage was minimal, mainly taking place towards the end of the sessions.) Sherwood's integral involvement with the writing, production, and performance of

18315-429: The band's future without them, began discussions with Keith Emerson of the Nice about possibly forming a new band together. With Fripp and Sinfield planning for recording the second King Crimson album, and Lake's position uncertain, the band's management booked Elton John to sing the material as a session musician, but Fripp decided against this idea after listening to his Empty Sky album. Lake agreed to stay with

18500-410: The band's lack of success and departed before Fripp suggested Lake to fill Peter Giles' position as bassist and singer. The first incarnation of King Crimson—Fripp, Michael Giles, Lake, McDonald and Sinfield—was formed on 30 November 1968 with rehearsals beginning on 13 January 1969. Sinfield coined the band's name in "a moment of pressured panic". Sinfield had already used the term "crimson king" in

18685-453: The band's line-up, before a settled line-up of Fripp, Sinfield, Mel Collins , Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace recorded Islands in 1971. In mid-1972, Fripp disbanded this line-up, recruited new members Bill Bruford (formerly of Yes ), John Wetton , David Cross and Jamie Muir , and changed the group's musical approach, drawing from European free improvisation and developing ever more complex compositions. The band reached what some saw as

18870-433: The band's poppier songs plus an instrumental – and the second half a "right side" – experimental work, improvisations that drew influence from industrial music, plus the third part of the "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" series of compositions. The stress during the writing process and the tension between the band members manifested in both lyrical content and music, and the result is a "nerve-racking" album. The 2001 remaster of

19055-468: The band's producer instead. Horn worked well with the band. However, his clashes with Tony Kaye (complicated by the fact that Rabin was playing most of the keyboards during the recording sessions) led to Kaye's departure during the recording, though some of his playing was kept on the final album and he had returned by the time it was released. Meanwhile, Squire encountered Jon Anderson (who, since leaving Yes, had released two solo albums and had success with

19240-552: The band's repertoire in three days before embarking on their 1972–1973 tour . By this point, Yes were beginning to enjoy worldwide commercial and critical success. Their early touring with White was featured on Yessongs , a triple live album released in May 1973 that documented shows from 1972. The album reached number 7 in the UK and number 12 in the U.S. A concert film of the same name premiered in 1975 that documented their shows at London's Rainbow Theatre in December 1972, with added psychedelic visual images and effects. It

19425-439: The band, but declined the final offer to formally join. Fripp decided to teach Boz to play bass rather than continue the labored auditions. Though he had not played bass before, Burrell had played enough acoustic guitar to assist him in learning the instrument quickly. Wallace was able to further instruct Burrell in functioning on the instrument in a rhythm section. With a lineup now complete, King Crimson began touring in May 1971,

19610-476: The band, with newer influences including post-punk , new wave , funk, minimalism , pointillism , world music and African percussion. With a sound described in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide as having a "jaw-dropping technique" of "knottily rhythmic, harmonically demanding workouts". The title track "Discipline" was described as a postminimalist rock song. Fripp intended to create

19795-420: The band. In 1984, two further singles from the album " Leave It " and " It Can Happen " reached number 24 and 57, respectively. Yes also earned their only Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1985 for the two-minute track " Cinema ". They were also nominated for an award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals with "Owner of a Lonely Heart", and a Best Rock Performance by

19980-507: The blues-based hard rock of the contemporary British and American scenes, King Crimson presented a more Europeanised approach that blended antiquity and modernity. The band's music drew on a wide range of influences provided by all five group members. These elements included classical music, the psychedelic rock spearheaded by Jimi Hendrix , folk , jazz , military music (partially inspired by McDonald's stint as an army musician) and free improvisation . After playing shows across England,

20165-588: The classically trained organist and pianist Tony Kaye , of Johnny Taylor's Star Combo and the Federals, became the keyboardist. This lineup rehearsed in the basement of The Lucky Horseshoe cafe on Shaftesbury Avenue between 10 June and 9 July 1968. Meanwhile, Banks had left Mabel Greer's Toyshop to join Neat Change, but he was dismissed by this group on 14 July 1968 and was finally recalled by Squire, replacing Bayley as guitarist. The last gig by Mabel Greer's Toyshop

20350-483: The concert with headphones. In early 1995, following the tour, disagreements and dissatisfactions forced another change in the band. 1990s Yes manager Jon Brewer has stated that Squire had not appreciated the Talk production process: "(he) didn't like that. He didn't think it was what Yes was all about; he was very much against a computerised, digital sound at that time. So Trevor and Chris moved away from one another for quite

20535-483: The departure of Anderson and Wakeman had been kept secret from everyone outside the Yes inner circle. Seeing an option of continuing the band with new creative input and expertise, Squire revealed the situation to Horn and Downes and suggested that they join Yes as full-time members. Horn and Downes accepted the invitation and the reconfigured band recorded the Drama album, which was released in August 1980. The record displayed

20720-474: The differing Yes styles of the 1970s and 1980s. (Sherwood: "My goal was to try to break down those partisan walls… For that, I am proud—to have aligned planets for a moment in time." ) However, Open Your Eyes was not a chart success; the record peaked at number 151 on the Billboard 200 but failed to enter the charts in the UK. The title single managed to reach number 33 on the mainstream rock chart. For

20905-533: The double live CD set B'Boom: Live in Argentina in 1995. "The meaning of THRAK ... the first one is: a sudden and precise impact moving from direction and commitment in service of an aim ... The second definition is: 117 guitars almost hitting the same chord simultaneously. So, the album THRAK , what is it? 56 minutes and 37 seconds of songs and music about love, dying, redemption and mature guys who get erections." —Robert Fripp's press release for THRAK and

21090-478: The first album, Time and a Word features original songs and two new covers–"Everydays" by Buffalo Springfield and "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" by Richie Havens . The album broke into the UK charts, peaking at number 45. Banks' replacement was Tomorrow guitarist Steve Howe , who appears in the photograph of the group on the American issue despite not having played on it. The band retreated to

21275-477: The first time Fripp would actively seek collaboration with another guitarist in a band and therefore indicative of Fripp's desire to create something unlike any of his previous work. After touring with Talking Heads , Belew agreed to join and also become the band's lyricist. Bruford's suggestion of his bassist Jeff Berlin was rejected as Fripp thought his playing was "too busy", so auditions were held in New York: on

21460-460: The first time they had played live since the original lineup's last show on 14 December 1969. The concerts were well received, but the musical differences between Fripp and the rest of the group, and the somewhat wilder lifestyles of Collins, Wallace and Burrell, alienated the drug-free Fripp, who began to withdraw socially from his bandmates, creating further tension. In 1971, the new King Crimson formation recorded Islands . Sinfield, who favoured

21645-693: The four band members had not all recorded together; Anderson and producer Chris Kimsey slotted their parts into place. Howe has stated publicly that he was unhappy with the mix of his guitars on the album, though a version of "Fist of Fire" with more of Howe's guitars left intact appeared on the In a Word: Yes box set in 2002. ABWH toured in 1989 and 1990 as "An Evening of Yes Music" which featured Levin, keyboardist Julian Colbeck , and guitarist Milton McDonald as support musicians. A live album and home video were recorded and released in 1993, both titled An Evening of Yes Music Plus that featured Jeff Berlin on bass due to Levin suffering from illness. The tour

21830-498: The four songs to add to the new album which would then be released under the Yes name. Union was released in April 1991 and is the thirteenth studio album from Yes. Each group played their own songs, with Anderson singing on all tracks. Squire sang background vocals on a few of the ABWH tracks, with Tony Levin playing all the bass on those songs. The album does not feature all eight members playing at once. The track "Masquerade" earned Yes

22015-443: The frontman, Fripp was very much the group's driving force and spokesman, leading them into progressively darker and more intense musical areas. McDonald and Giles, now favouring a lighter and more nuanced romantic style, became increasingly uncomfortable with their position and resigned after the conclusion of the US tour in January 1970. To keep the band together, Fripp offered to resign himself, but McDonald declared that King Crimson

22200-404: The group and the music industry. He also felt the world was going to drastically change by 1981 and that he had to prepare for it. Despite a band meeting while touring the US in which Fripp expressed a desire to end the band, the group did not formally disband until 25 September 1974 and later Fripp announced that King Crimson had "ceased to exist" and was "completely over for ever and ever". It

22385-412: The group to seek outside songwriters, preferably ones who could help them deliver hit singles. Anderson approached Rabin about the situation, and Rabin sent Anderson a demo tape with three songs, indicating that ABWH could have one but had to send the others back. Arista listened to them and wanted all of them, proposing to create a combined album with both Yes factions. The "Yes-West" group were working on

22570-433: The group; after Drama (1980) and its tour, Yes disbanded in 1981. In 1983, Squire and White reformed Yes with Anderson, Kaye, and guitarist Trevor Rabin . Rabin's songwriting helped move the band toward a more pop-oriented sound, the result of which was 90125 (1983), their highest-selling album, which featured the band's only U.S. number-one single, " Owner of a Lonely Heart ". Its follow-up, Big Generator (1987),

22755-480: The height of punk rock in England, during which the music press criticised Yes as representing the bloated excesses of early-1970s progressive rock. The album saw the band continuing their movement towards shorter songs; no track runs longer than eight minutes. Wakeman replaced his Mellotrons with the Birotron , a tape replay keyboard , and Squire experimented with harmonisers and Mu-tron pedals with his bass. Production

22940-453: The interlocking guitars of the 1980s mixed with the layered, heavier feel of the 1970s period. There was also a vague influence from the industrial music of that time. Many of the songs were written or finalised by Belew, and displayed stronger elements of 1960s pop than before; in particular, a Beatles influence. Bruford would refer to the band as sounding like "a dissonant Shadows on steroids". As with previous lineups, new technology

23125-406: The internet began to open up an index of collaborative possibilities that studio recordings and logistics previously precluded: the chance for content-creators to recruit musicians on an ad hoc basis across the ether; musicians they’d have scant hope of playing with face-to-face. In the space rock community, Falcone has done particularly well out of this approach. A survey of his first 10 years under

23310-488: The late autumn of 1980, having spent several years on spiritual pursuits and then gradually returning to music (playing guitar for David Bowie , Peter Gabriel and Daryl Hall , pursuing an experimental solo career, leading instrumental new wave band The League of Gentlemen ), Fripp decided to form a new "first division" rock group, but had no intentions of it being King Crimson. Having recruited Bill Bruford as drummer, Fripp asked singer and guitarist Adrian Belew to join,

23495-539: The live album THRaKaTTaK in May 1996, which is an hour of improvised music integrating sections from performances from the "THRAK" tour in the United States and Japan, mixed and arranged by Fripp's DGM partner, engineer David Singleton. A more conventional live recording from the period was later made available as the double CD release Vrooom Vrooom (2001), while a full 1995 concert was released on VHS in 1996 as Live in Japan and re-released on DVD in 1999 as Déjà Vrooom . The double trio would be further honored by

23680-559: The magus in the court of the Crimson King. This was going to be more than three chords and a pint of Guinness." —Bill Bruford. The next incarnation of King Crimson was radically different from the previous configurations. Fripp's four new recruits were free-improvising percussionist Jamie Muir , drummer Bill Bruford , who left Yes at a commercial peak in their career in favour of the "darker" Crimson, bassist and vocalist John Wetton (who left Family ), and violinist, keyboardist and flautist David Cross , whom Fripp had met when he

23865-669: The main players/composers, with Tony Levin playing bass and Gavin Harrison playing drums. At one point, Fripp referred to the band as "P7" (ProjeKct Seven). Unusually for a ProjeKct, it was based around "finely crafted" and "mid-paced" original songs derived from improvised sessions. Yes (band) Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by lead singer Jon Anderson , bassist Chris Squire , guitarist Peter Banks , keyboardist Tony Kaye , and drummer Bill Bruford . The band has undergone numerous lineup changes throughout their history, during which 20 musicians have been full-time members. Since February 2023,

24050-434: The music industry, often citing the unsympathetic aspects of the life of a touring musician, such as " the illusion of intimacy with celebrities ". On 21 September 2006, former King Crimson member Boz Burrell died of a heart attack, followed by another former member, Ian Wallace , who died of esophageal cancer on 22 February 2007. A new King Crimson formation was announced in 2007: Fripp, Belew, Levin, Mastelotto, and

24235-543: The music industry, turned his attention to the works of English mystic J.G. Bennett and had a spiritual experience in which "the top of my head blew off". Most of the album had been developed during live improvisations before Fripp retreated into himself and "withdrew his opinion", leaving Bruford and Wetton to direct the recording sessions. The album contains one live track, "Providence", recorded on 30 June 1974 with Cross playing violin. Several guest musicians (including former members Ian McDonald and Mel Collins) contributed to

24420-464: The music led to his finally joining Yes as a full member (taking on the role of harmony singer, keyboardist and second guitarist). The results of the sessions were released in November 1997 as the seventeenth Yes studio album, Open Your Eyes (on the Beyond Music label, who ensured that the group had greater control in packaging and naming). The music (mainly at Sherwood's urging) attempted to bridge

24605-436: The musicians remained professional on stage. "Robert broke up the group, again, for the umpteenth time, dwelling at length, I suppose, on our lack of imagination, ability, direction and a thousand other things we were doubtless missing. I suppose this only because I remember not listening to this litany of failures. Might as well quit while you're ahead, I thought." —Bill Bruford on the band's 1984 disbanding. Following

24790-491: The name Spirits Burning & Michael Moorcock) to adapt two of Moorcock's novels: An Alien Heat and The Hollow Lands . Moorcock also plays harmonica on three songs on the 2021 Spirits Burning album Evolution Ritual and appeared on five tracks on the Spirits Burning CD Alien Injection , released in 2008. He is credited with singing lead vocals and playing guitar and mandolin. The performances used on

24975-419: The offer, though the two collaborated as Sylvian/Fripp. In June 1993, Fripp began to assemble a larger version of the band, joined by Belew and Levin from the 1980s quartet, Chapman Stick player Trey Gunn (a veteran of Fripp's Guitar Craft courses ) and drummer Jerry Marotta , with whom Fripp had played with Peter Gabriel . After Sylvian/Fripp's closing concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in December 1993,

25160-409: The orchestral and choral textures that befitted their new material. Released on 12 November 1971, the band's fourth album Fragile showcased their growing interest in the structures of classical music, with an excerpt of The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky being played at the start of their concerts since the album's 1971–1972 tour . Each member performed a solo track on the album, and it marked

25345-524: The original Crimson thus: "If it sounded at all popular, it was out. So it had to be complicated, it had to be more expansive chords, it had to have strange influences. If it sounded, like, too simple, we'd make it more complicated, we'd play it in 7/8 or 5/8, just to show off". King Crimson's first live performance was at the Speakeasy Club in London on 9 April 1969 (with Yes guitarist Peter Banks among

25530-403: The primary home for Fripp's work, with larger album releases distributed to bigger record companies (initially Virgin records ), and smaller releases handled by DGM. This afforded Fripp and his associates greater creative freedom and more control over all aspects of their work. In late 1991, Fripp asked former Japan singer David Sylvian to join the new King Crimson band, but Sylvian declined

25715-414: The project, their growing musical differences, combined with internal dissension, obstructed progress. Journalist Chris Welch, after attending a rehearsal, noted that Anderson "was singing without his usual conviction and seemed disinclined to talk". By late March, Howe, Squire and White had begun demoing material as an instrumental trio, increasingly uncertain about Anderson's future involvement. Eventually,

25900-425: The public that Muir had sustained an onstage injury caused by a gong landing on his foot. With Muir gone, the remaining members reconvened in January 1974 to produce Starless and Bible Black , released in March 1974, which earned them a positive Rolling Stone review. Though most of the album was recorded live during the band's late 1973 tour, the recordings were carefully edited and overdubbed to sound like

26085-621: The record, joined by the London Philharmonic Orchestra , the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Community Gospel Choir . Howe and Bruford performed together on television (presented as "Yes") to promote the album, marking Bruford's final performance under the Yes name before retiring from performing. The next Yes studio album, as with Union , was masterminded by a record company, rather than by

26270-457: The recording sessions for Relayer , which took place at Squire's home in Virginia Water , Surrey. Released in November that year, Relayer showcased a jazz fusion -influenced direction the band were pursuing. The album features the 22-minute track titled " The Gates of Delirium ", which highlights a battle initially inspired by War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy . Its closing section, "Soon",

26455-569: The rest preferred a heavier rock sound. Howe, Squire and White liked none of the music Anderson was offering at the time as it was too lightweight and lacking in the heaviness that they were generating in their own writing sessions. The Paris sessions abruptly ended in December after White broke his foot while rollerskating in a roller disco. When the band, minus Wakeman (who had only committed to recording keyboard overdubs once new material would be ready to record), reconvened in February to resume work on

26640-452: The road, existential angst and romanticism. While Beat was more accessible, it had the improvised "Requiem", which featured Frippertronics , a guitar technique invented by Brian Eno and Robert Fripp using a tape loop system. Recording Beat was faced with tension with Belew suffering high stress levels over his duties as front man, lead singer, and principal songwriter. On one occasion, he clashed with Fripp and ordered him out of

26825-480: The round with a £50,000 revolving stage and a 360-degree sound system fitted above it. Their dates at Madison Square Gardens earned Yes a Golden Ticket Award for grossing over $ 1 million in box office receipts. In October 1979, the band convened in Paris with producer Roy Thomas Baker . Their diverse approach was now succumbing to division, as Anderson and Wakeman favoured the more fantastical and delicate approach while

27010-431: The same circle. And that's what happens with a band." Wakeman, a classically trained player who had left the folk rock group Strawbs earlier in the year, was already a noted studio musician, with credits including T. Rex , David Bowie , Cat Stevens and Elton John . Squire commented that he could play "a grand piano for three bars, a Mellotron for two bars and a Moog for the next one absolutely spot on", which gave Yes

27195-464: The same show was also released on VHS as The High Road ). The VHS was later re-released as part of the Neal and Jack and Me DVD in 2004. King Crimson's next album, Three of a Perfect Pair , was recorded in 1983 and released in March 1984. Having encountered difficulty in both writing and determining a direction for the album, the band chose to record and call the album's first half a "left side" – four of

27380-414: The sessions partway through, all of which kept the album from timely completion (the album was intended for a 1986 release, but by the end of that year it was still incomplete). Eventually Rabin took over final production. The album was released in September 1987, and immediately began receiving heavy radio airplay, with sales reaching number 17 in the UK and number 15 in the U.S. Big Generator earned Yes

27565-487: The six members opted to work in four smaller groups (or "fraKctalisations", as Fripp called them) known as ProjeKcts . This enabled the group to continue developing ideas and searching for a new direction without the practical difficulty (and expense) of convening all six musicians at once. From 1997 to 1999, the first four ProjeKcts played live in the United States and the United Kingdom, and released recordings that showed

27750-430: The sleeve notes to VROOOM VROOOM In October and December 1994, King Crimson recorded their eleventh studio album, THRAK . Formed mostly of revised versions of the tracks from Vrooom , plus new tracks, the album was described by Q magazine as having "jazz-scented rock structures, characterised by noisy, angular, exquisite guitar interplay" and an "athletic, ever-inventive rhythm section," while being in tune with

27935-701: The song through after the final mix was complete. Released in February 1971, The Yes Album peaked at number 4 in the UK and number 40 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts. Yes embarked on a 28-day tour of Europe with Iron Butterfly in January 1971. The band purchased Iron Butterfly's entire public address system , which improved their on-stage performance and sound. Their first date in North America followed on 24 June in Edmonton , Alberta, Canada, supporting Jethro Tull . Friction arose between Howe and Kaye on tour; this, along with Kaye's reported reluctance to play

28120-465: The sound of alternative rock of the mid-1990s. Examples of the band's efforts to integrate their multiple elements could be heard on the accessible (but complex) songs "Dinosaur" and " Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream ", the more straightforward ballad "One Time", as well as "Radio I" and "Radio II"- a pair of Fripp's Soundscapes instrumentals. King Crimson resumed touring in 1995 and into 1996; dates from October and November 1995 were recorded and released on

28305-580: The sound of a "rock gamelan ", with an interlocking rhythmic quality to the paired guitars that he found similar to Indonesian gamelan ensembles. Fripp concentrated on playing complex picked arpeggios, while Belew provided an arsenal of guitar sounds that "often mimic animal noises". In addition to bass guitar, Levin used the Chapman Stick , a ten-string two-handed tapping , hybrid guitar and bass instrument which he played in an "utterly original style". Bruford experimented with cymbal-less acoustic kits and

28490-519: The spring of 1981. Page's former bandmate Robert Plant was also to be involved as the vocalist but he lost enthusiasm, citing his ongoing grieving for recently deceased Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham . The short-lived group produced a few demo tracks, elements of which would appear in Page's band the Firm and on future Yes tracks "Mind Drive" and "Can You Imagine?". In late 1981, Squire and White released " Run with

28675-541: The star-studded Atlantic Records 40th anniversary concert . By the end of 1988, Anderson felt creatively sidelined by Rabin and Squire and had grown tired of the musical direction of the "Yes-West" lineup. He took leave of the band, asserting that he would never stay in Yes purely for the money, and started work in Montserrat on a solo project that eventually involved Wakeman, Howe and Bruford. This collaboration led to suggestions that there would be some kind of reformation of

28860-408: The start of their long collaboration with artist Roger Dean , who designed the group's logo , album art and stage sets. Fragile peaked at number 7 in the UK and number 4 in the U.S. after it was released there in January 1972, and was their first record to reach the top ten in North America. A shorter version of the opening track, " Roundabout ", was released as a single that peaked at number 13 on

29045-626: The studio. As Beat reached No. 39 in the UK and No. 52 in the US, King Crimson resumed touring. "Heartbeat" was released as a single which peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Around this time the band released the VHS The Noise: Live in Frejus , a document of a show played at the Arena, Frejus , France on 27 August 1982, co-headlining with Roxy Music (whose set from

29230-555: The tapes rendered some of Cross' playing inaudible, so Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music was hired to perform violin and keyboard overdubs in a studio; further edits were also made to allow the music to fit on a single LP. More live recordings from the 1972–1974 era would be issued as The Night Watch in 1997, and as part of the box sets The Great Deceiver (1992), Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1972–1973) (2012), The Road to Red (1974) , and Starless (1973–1974) (both 2014). Between 1975 and 1981, King Crimson were completely inactive. In

29415-646: The third album, Lizard , themselves – with Haskell, Collins and McCulloch having no say in the direction of the material. In addition to the core band, several session musicians contributed to the Lizard recording, including the returning Keith Tippett, who was offered to be a member of the new lineup, but due to other commitments preferred to continue working with the band as an occasional guest musician, and two members of Tippett's band, Mark Charig on cornet , and Nick Evans on trombone . Robin Miller (on oboe and cor anglais ) also appeared, while Jon Anderson of Yes

29600-657: The third day, Fripp left after roughly three auditions, only to return several hours later with Tony Levin (who got the job after playing a single chorus of "Red"). Fripp later confessed that, had he known that Levin (whom Fripp had played with in Peter Gabriel 's group) was available and interested, he would have selected him without holding auditions. Fripp named the new quartet Discipline, and they went to England to rehearse and write new material. They made their live debut at Moles Club in Bath, Somerset on 30 April 1981, and completed

29785-541: The tour to the point where most of the band decided to continue on, however Fripp opted to part company with the other three, restructuring King Crimson with new musicians, as he felt the other members wouldn't be fully engaged in the musical direction he had in mind. "It was going to be an interesting ride when ... I wasn't given a setlist when I joined the band, more a reading list. Ouspensky , J. G. Bennett , Gurdjieff and Castaneda were all hot. Wicca , personality changes, low-level magic, pyromancy – all this from

29970-410: The trio of albums Discipline (1981), Beat (1982) and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984). Following a decade-long hiatus, they reformed in 1994, adding Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn for a sextet line-up Fripp called "The Double Trio". The double trio participated in another three-year cycle of activity that included the album Thrak (1995). Fripp, Belew, Mastelotto and Gunn reunited in 2000 as

30155-577: Was "more (him) than them" and that he and Giles should therefore be the ones to leave. McDonald later said he "was probably not emotionally mature enough to handle it" and made a "rash decision to leave without consulting anyone". The original lineup played their last show at the Fillmore West in San Francisco on 14 December 1969, a little over one year after forming. Live recordings of the band from 1969 were released in 1997 on Epitaph and in 2010 on

30340-410: Was a partially written, part-improvised piece created in order to give Bruford a chance to escape from the strict rhythmic demands of the rest of the album. Released in September 1981, Discipline reached No. 41 in the UK and No. 45 in the US. In June 1982, King Crimson followed Discipline with Beat , the first King Crimson album recorded with the same band lineup as the album preceding it. Beat

30525-399: Was also dogged by legal battles sparked by Atlantic Records due to the band's references to Yes in promotional materials and the tour title. Following the tour, the group returned to the recording studio to produce their second album, tentatively called Dialogue . After hearing the tracks, Arista Records refused to release the album as they felt the initial mixes were weak. They encouraged

30710-410: Was also successful. In 1989, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe formed a separate group and released a self-titled album . At the suggestion of the record company, both groups merged into an eight-piece lineup for Union (1991) and its tour. The combined group was short-lived, and from 1994 to 2001, Yes regularly released studio albums with some lineup changes and varying levels of success. After

30895-412: Was brought in to sing a section of the album's title track, "Prince Rupert Awakes", which Fripp and Sinfield considered to be outside Haskell's natural range and style. Lizard featured stronger jazz and chamber-classical influences than previous albums. The album contains Sinfield's " phantasmagorical " lyrics, including "Happy Family" (an allegory of the break-up of the Beatles ), and the title track,

31080-457: Was busy working as a session musician and decided to take a hiatus from the group, so the remaining members (Fripp, Belew, Gunn and Mastelotto) formed the "Double Duo" to write and record The Construkction of Light in Belew's basement studio and garage near Nashville . Fripp was inspired by Tool's album Undertow during the writing process of The Construkction of Light . Released in May 2000,

31265-467: Was consistently being drowned out by the rhythm section, leading him to concentrate more on Mellotron and an overdriven electric piano. An increasingly frustrated Cross began to withdraw both musically and personally, with the result being that he was voted out of the group following the band's 1974 tour of Europe and America. In July 1974, Fripp, Bruford, and Wetton began recording Red . Before recording began, Fripp, now increasingly disillusioned with

31450-520: Was documented on the live album Heavy ConstruKction in 2000 and the Heaven & Earth (1997–2008) box set in 2019. Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and his band supported Crimson on some live shows. On 9 November 2001, King Crimson released a limited edition live EP called Level Five , featuring three new pieces: "Dangerous Curves", "Level Five" and "Virtuous Circle", plus versions of "The Construkction of Light" and ProjeKct's "The Deception of

31635-420: Was handled collectively by the band and saw disagreements at the mixing stage among the members. With heavy commercial rock-radio airplay, the album reached number 8 in the UK and number 10 in the U.S. charts, and was also certified platinum (1 million copies sold) by the RIAA . Despite internal and external criticisms of the album, the band's 1978–1979 tour was a commercial success. Concerts were performed in

31820-408: Was invited to a rehearsal of Waves, a band Cross was working in. Most of the musical compositions were collaborations between Fripp and Wetton, who each composed segments independently and fitted together those which they found compatible. With Sinfield gone, the band recruited Wetton's friend Richard Palmer-James (from the original Supertramp ) as their new lyricist. Unlike Sinfield, Palmer-James

32005-427: Was later revealed that Fripp had attempted to replace himself with McDonald and Steve Hackett of Genesis , but this idea was rejected by the managers. Following the band's disbanding, the live album USA was released in May 1975, formed of recordings from their 1974 North American tour. It received some positive reviews, including "a must" for fans of the band and "insanity you're better off having". Issues with

32190-699: Was not an official member of King Crimson, playing no part in artistic decisions, visual ideas, or sonic directions; his sole contributions to the group were his lyrics, sent via mail from his home in Germany. Following a period of rehearsals, King Crimson resumed touring on 13 October 1972 at the Zoom Club in Frankfurt , with the band's penchant for improvisation (and Muir's startling stage presence) gaining them renewed press attention. In January and February 1973, King Crimson recorded Larks' Tongues in Aspic in London which

32375-526: Was on 27 July, at Newmarket. Having considered the experience of Mabel Greer's Toyshop concluded, the group exchanged ideas for a new name. Anderson suggested Life and Squire thought of World, but the five agreed on Yes, which Banks had thought of a couple of years before. After rehearsals between 31 July and 2 August, the first gig as Yes followed at a youth camp in East Mersea , Essex on 3 August. Early sets were formed of cover songs from artists such as

32560-669: Was released in 2023. Yes are one of the most successful, influential, and longest-lasting progressive rock bands. With a discography spanning 23 studio albums, they have sold 13.5 million Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified albums in the U.S., as well as more than 30 million albums worldwide. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with " Cinema ", and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. They were ranked No. 94 on VH1 's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock . In April 2017, Yes—represented by Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Wakeman, White, and Rabin—were inducted into

32745-521: Was released in March 1994 and is the band's fourteenth studio release. Its cover was designed by pop artist Peter Max . The record was largely composed and performed by Rabin, with the other band members following Rabin's tracks for their respective instrumentation. It was digitally recorded and produced by Rabin with engineer Michael Jay, using 3.4 GB of hard disk storage split among four networked Apple Macintosh computers running Digital Performer . The album blended elements of radio-friendly rock with

32930-617: Was released later in 1984 (and later also included on the Neal and Jack and Me DVD). The last concert of the Three of a Perfect Pair tour, at the Spectrum in Montreal, Canada on 11 July 1984, was recorded and released in 1998 as Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal . Further live recordings of the 1980s band would be released in 2016 as part of the On (and off) The Road (1981–1984) box set. Despite their conflict,

33115-402: Was released that March. The band's new sound was exemplified by the album's two-part title track – a significant change from what King Crimson had done before, the piece emphasised the sharp instrumental interplay of the band, and drew influence from modern classical music, noisy free improv, and even heavy metal riffing. The record displayed Muir's unusual approach to percussion, which included

33300-497: Was subsequently released as a single. The album reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 5 in the U.S. Yes embarked on their 1974–1975 tour to support Relayer . The compilation album Yesterdays , released in 1975, contained tracks from Yes's first two albums, the B-side track from their "Sweet Dreams" single from 1970 titled "Dear Father", and the original ten-minute version of their cover of "America". Between 1975 and 1976, each member of

33485-410: Was suddenly stiff competition on the London gigging circuit, and they needed to be much more technically proficient, starting regular rehearsals. They subsequently signed a deal with Atlantic Records , and, that August, released their debut album Yes . Compiled of mostly original material, the record includes renditions of " Every Little Thing " by the Beatles and "I See You" by The Byrds . Although

33670-477: Was the primary composer, with vital contributions from Fripp and Lake, while Sinfield wrote all the lyrics on his own, and also designed and operated the band's unique stage lighting, being credited with "words and illumination" on the album sleeve. Inspired by the Moody Blues , McDonald suggested the group purchase a Mellotron keyboard, and this became a key component of the early Crimson sound. Sinfield described

33855-467: Was utilised, including MIDI (extensively used as an effects filter by Belew and Gunn, and which Fripp used to replace Frippertronics with an upgraded digital version of itself called "Soundscapes") and the versatile Warr tap guitar with which Gunn replaced his Stick in 1995. King Crimson toured the album from 28 September 1994 in Buenos Aires , Argentina ; portions of these concerts were released on

34040-651: Was very good but it was obvious they weren't going anywhere". Barrie introduced Squire to singer Jon Anderson , a worker at the bar in La Chasse, who found they shared interests in Simon & Garfunkel and harmony singing. That evening at Squire's house they wrote "Sweetness" which was included on the first Yes album, and Anderson subsequently joined as lead vocalist. In June 1968, Hagger was replaced by Bill Bruford , who had placed an advertisement in Melody Maker , while in July

34225-514: Was very much "his gig", and that Fripp had come up with a philosophical explanation for utilizing both Mastelotto and himself later. One of the conditions Fripp imposed upon Bruford if he were to return was to give up all creative control to Fripp. Following rehearsals in Woodstock, New York , the group released the EP Vrooom in October 1994. This revealed the new King Crimson sound, which featured

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