Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site dciem.UUCP Path: utzoo!dciem!jeff From: jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) Newsgroups: net.music Subject: Re: The destruction of Yes and comebacks in general Message-ID: <783@dciem.UUCP> Date: Wed, 14-Mar-84 14:22:30 EST Article-I.D.: dciem.783 Posted: Wed Mar 14 14:22:30 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 14-Mar-84 16:35:50 EST References: <5697@umcp-cs.UUCP> Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada Lines: 53 I agree with Tim that Genesis and Yes are not nearly as good as they used to be, but if I think of today's versions as different groups from the old versions (there have been significant personnel changes) I can get a lot of enjoyment from the new groups. I say to myself, "if this album was by a group I had never heard of before, would I like it?" The answer is usually yes. Genesis especially is doing new and different stuff which stands up well if you can avoid comparing it to the old stuff. I particularly like their new hard-pounding drum style in songs like "Mama". I'm glad they changed because even though it's one of my all-time favourite albums, I wouldn't want half a dozen Lamb Lies Down On Broadways. Sure they do a lot of filler and boring pop songs, but I still think they have a lot of talent and good new ideas, but they're spreading them too thinly by releasing 2 1/2 albums (group & solo) per year. As far as comebacks being useless, I have to disagree. Here are a few comebacks without which I would have enjoyed music a lot less in the last few years: 1. King Crimson was a pioneer in the field of progressive rock in the early 70's until they broke up around '74 or '75. Robert Fripp, the main force in the original group, reformed the group in 1981 with two members from the old group and two new ones. The result was "Discipline", one of the year's best albums and an excellent combination of 70's progressive rock and 80's progressive new wave (for lack of a better term). 2. Mike Oldfield made three albums between '73 and '75, two of them excellent. He then took a few years off and then made a comeback with a new, more rock oriented style that seems to have all the elements of his old style, plus a whole lot more. He's also branched out and there's a lot more variety in his albums now. His Five Miles Out album (1982) is one of my all-time favourite albums, and Crises, which has the most variety of any of his albums, was my favourite of last year. His 70's stuff seems empty by comparison. 3. Camel was a good progressive rock group in the mid-70's, but by 1979 they had evolved (devolved?) into a useless pop band and lost most of their following. In 1981, they came out with their next album, Nude. They went back to their old style but did it much better than they ever had before, and it was my favourite album of the year. I don't care if prog. rock was out of style by then, it's still great if it's done well and isn't just a rehash of old stuff. Nude is the last great progressive rock album I've heard. 4. I guess you can call Peter Gabriel's recent work a comeback, since he fell from popularity and from the public eye from the time he left Genesis until a couple of years ago. Security was second only to Five Miles Out on my list of top albums of 1982. I could name other comebacks that I wouldn't be better off without, but these are the ones I consider essential. Numbers 1 and 4 have probably influenced a lot of newer artists as well. Jeff Richardson DCIEM, Toronto