Yes Top 40 countdown!! (please do not list spoilers/predictions)

I had Heart of the Sunrise at #6. A masterpiece from beginning to end!

I had Starship Trooper at #31. This is the song that introduced me to Yes, so there's a fondness there even though I've grown a bit tired of it over the years. I have not tired of Wurm though...Still love that bit!

 

Starship Trooper is my #1; I've always loved it.

Heart of the Sunrise is my #7; this is one that I like it more each time I hear it.

 

"Heart of the Sunrise" was my #20.

Should probably be higher than that, but maybe suffers from the "a bit too cold, clinical" issue that I have with the album in general. It's a fantastic piece. After the whirlwind opening, we go into the slow building section, in which Bruford truly dazzles. His little fills and paradiddles are a wonder to behold, and as always it all sounds so relaxed and effortless. The song sections are beautiful and the "sharp! distance!" repeats get more intense each time. In between, the return of the whirlwind riff and the seamless interchanges into the twiddly variations are amazing, with no apparent edits required. It's a great epic.

"Starship Trooper" was my #6.

An absolute masterpiece, right from the opening with Howe's beautiful circular jangly guitar riff. Anderson's vocals really shine during the song section. The "Disillusion" section sounds initially like we are reprising "Clap". The transition into "Wurm" is a little more clunky than it needs to be, and having the strumming guitar hard-panned takes away a little of its power, but this section just builds and builds to an epic crescendo, and again Bruford delivers in spades. A track that I never tire of.

Which of the two remaining tracks is going closer to the edge?

 

Fragile was probably the first Yes album I owned and Heart of the Sunrise was the mind-blowing closer. When I saw Yes on the Big Generator tour, for some reason the song struck me differently and even deeper - maybe it was the slowly rising lights representing the sunrise - or maybe the intensity that comes with a live performance - and since then it has been my #1 Yes song.

I had Starship Trooper at #4 also. Classic!

Thanks again to George for doing this and thanks to all for the incredible conversation. In addition to the great discussion about Yes songs, the countdown has made me revisit albums post-Big G that I never really dove into properly at the time.

 

Starship Trooper is #8 on my list. Always loved by me since discovering The Yes Album. My favorite version is their live rendition on Keys To Ascension -particularly the dueling between Howe and Wakeman during The Wurm section. I was really into reading science fiction at the time, so the subject matter of this song was timely for me.

Heart of the Sunrise is my #5 ranked song. Grandiose and epic, it captures all that I love about Yes. Oblique lyrics, delivered with heart and passion, really picks-up steam with Fragile. Sharp distance, indeed.

26 for 38

 

04 Heart of the Sunrise - #3 on my list. Just a monster of a song. Musically, Chris Squire leads the way with wonderful accents from Bruford, Wakeman and Howe. "Sharp! Distance!" Simply majestic.

03 Starship Trooper - #16 on my list. My favorite song on TYA. Honestly, though, it's Wurm that makes the song for me. When that spacey-sounding musical swirl starts up and just builds and builds, it's amazing. Bill Bruford's cymbal crashes, Tony Kaye's Hammond Organ and Chris Squire's sludgy bass with Steve Howe's guitar lines dancing on top of them is just sonic magic.

24 for 38 overall.

 

I've been casually following along and most of the placements approximately follow my thoughts, although Drama leaves me cold so none of those songs would be in my top 40 (I didn't have time to make a list or follow closely enough to comment meaningfully on most of the songs).

The only remaining question is the order of the top two (which would have been my top two too).

It's been a little while, I think Tales will get a listen this weekend. I've got to be in the mood for it, but when I am it's an amazing listen. That's once every year or two.

 

Oh, George, you have made my day!

Heart of the Sunrise - not ranked

Thank heavens this was not number one…

The best thing about the song is the title. Probably the greatest title in the catalog, in fact!

Believe me, I had very high hopes for Heart of the Sunrise when I put Fragile on for the first time… But it wasn’t to be and two decades later, like Supper’s Ready by Genesis, like Tom Sawyer by Rush, like Achilles Last Stand by Zep, this is the one biggie by Yes that I have never been able to like all that much.

Somebody once called this a practice run for what was to come. There are parts that I do like - the more atmospheric parts with Jon singing - but overall I’m just not onboard, the arrangement falls short and the song just doesn’t sound cohesive.

Perhaps one day it will all click - it happened with Roundabout after all. But for now, all I can do is leave the rest of you gushing about the song and try to understand where you are coming from…

Starship Trooper #12 for me - and really, I wish I could have included it in my top ten! As strange as it sounds, I love this much more than what my ranking shows. This is a song I love rallying for and I feel almost proud that it made it this high up. It's a song that was dead easy to fall in love with right from the start and over the years that love has never diminished. Also, the studio version is my absolute go-to for this one because Bruford's wonderful, exquisite drumming is a large part why I adore Starship Trooper - it's like he is the one accompanying Jon's vocals here. Listening to this on a sunny summer day with a smile on your face while outside walking, that's the way to go!

 

Like @George Co-Stanza , I've never found a live version of Starship Trooper that supplants the original studio version; there are a few other songs in the catalog like that, and from other artists ("Born to Run" comes to mind), where something in the studio, even from an otherwise better-live artist, just really locks in. And because it's on every single danged live album, I overlook it, but like "Roundabout", when I put it on, even thirty, forty years into my Yes career, its majesty can be shocking, and still new.

Heart of the Sunrise is just about everything you could want from Yes in ten minutes, and then some. The exuberance fills the whole album, the joy of discovery, of playing, of finding new sounds. I really don't think there's a bum note on Fragile, it's sequenced like they want to keep challenging themselves — "that, again, but more." Until they hit the conclusion. I may have put "South Side of the Sky" a wee bit higher, but that might be due to its kind of underdog status.

Both songs are clearly not just band-defining, but genre.

 

I had Heart at no. 6 and ST at no. 3 - another two absolute favourites with the band at its peak. I grew up listening to the Wembley 78 BBC broadcast so have an extra soft spot for those versions, though that’s taking nothing away from the originals.

There are still two songs left that I ranked outside the top 10, so my misalignment with the group over a certain LP will have to come out tomorrow!

 

OK, I am at 23/38 and I can bet that I'll get to 25/40.

Beyond and Before is the song that was highest on my list from those that have not finished in the general top40. It was my no. 9.

Survival was my no. 11, I See You was my no. 15, No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed was my no. 17. Yes, I love the early Yes.

 

Two songs from opposite ends of my rankings today.

I had "Heart of the Sunrise" at #36. It was originally much higher but kept dropping as I revised my list. For me the intro is just over-long and repetitive. I enjoy the rest of it very much though once they get on with it, so I'm sure my low ranking is a little harsh, but at least I had it in there. Stay tuned for another unpopular opinion tomorrow...

On the other hand, "Starship Trooper" is easily my favorite from 70's Yes, coming in at #5 overall.

 

Starship Trooper is my favorite Yes song,. It may not be the best, which is a subjective term, but it's my favorite.

Also noticing this list is very-top heavy.

 

I had Heart of the Sunrise at #2. And I'd go further and say this is the Yes song I find the most beautiful and probably the most appealing uses of large dynamic range in a tune within the rock idiom. I put it at #2 only due to the greater ambition and scope of the tune I placed at #1. But this is the one I love the best.

I had Starship Trooper as my #16, one below Don't Kill The Whale (my highest rated song that did not make the consensus list) - and I would say there is a chasm between these songs in terms of how much I enjoy them - a bigger gap than separates any two entries on my list.

1 am now at 20/38 and expect to finish at 22/40

40 Astral Traveller
39 Endless Dream
38 The Ancient
37 Love Will Find a Way
36 Fly from Here
35 The Fish (#31)
34 On the Silent Wings of Freedom
33 The Remembering
32 Hold On
31 Into the Lens
30 Leave It
29 Parallels (#32)
28 Time and a Word
27 Does It Really Happen? (#18)
26 It Can Happen (#40)
25 Changes
24 America (#11)
23 To Be Over
22 Turn of the Century
21 Sound Chaser (#17)
20 Owner of a Lonely Heart
19 Going For The One (#13)
18 Ritual
17 Machine Messiah
16 Tempus Fugit (#14)
15 Wonderous Stories (#27)
14 Revealing Science of God
13 Perpetual Change (#10)
12 Long Distance Runaround (#12!!!)
11 Gates of Delirium (#33)
9t South Side of the Sky (#3)
9t I've Seen All Good People (#9!!!)
8 Siberian Khatru (#4)
7 Awaken (#12)
6 Roundabout (#7)
5 Yours Is No Disgrace (#6)
4 Heart of The Sunrise (#3)
3 Starship Trooper (#16)

With the inevitability based on past reveals that the final pair will be from Close To The Edge, we will have included every song from
Close To The Edge (3)
Topographic Oceans (4)
Relayer (3)
Going For The One (5)

We also have particularly strong representation from
Fragile (5)
90125 (5)
The Yes Album (4)
Drama (4)

These 7 albums consecutive will have produced 33 of our 40 selections, and if you add in the albums on either end then a 9 consecutive album run will page produced 36 of our 40 selections.

We will wind up with the following average and total ratings for the albums represented.

37.33 = 112/3 Close To The Edge
22.67 = 68 / 5 Relayer
22.60 = 113/5 Going For The One
22.33 = 134 / 6 The Yes Album
20.67 = 186/9 Fragile
15.25 = 61 / 4 Tales of Topgraphic Oceans
12.17 = 73 / 6 Drama
08.00 = 72 / 9 90125
01.75 = 14 / 8 Time And A Word
00.88 = 07 / 8 Tormato
00.71 = 05 / 7 Fly From Here
00.50 = 04 / 8 Big Generator
00.29 = 02 / 7 Talk

What a slam dunk for CTTE finishing 65% higher than the runner up!

 

I had "Heart Of The Sunrise" at #14. The peaks of this song are brilliantly high.

"Starship Trooper" came in just ahead of it at #13. These two songs could easily make my top ten on another day.

 

I continue to think it would be cool to follow this up with a top 10 album count down, but I get that these things are a ton of work.

Albuns are enough of a thing for Yes, that if I were to rank my top 10 albums, I would include one that got no tracks on either the consensus top 40 or my own top 40 list: Magnification.

 

Alright then; about these “nearly made-its”

42 Survival - my number 17. Like some others, my gateway into Yes was a compilation, and mine was one called “Yesstory” (a cut down version of the “YesYears” boxset), that they happened to have at my local library. I was 15, I was massively into Genesis and somehow despite the internet not being a thing yet, I had worked out that if you liked Genesis you were meant to like Yes, so I got this out one week. Not all of it clicked immediately (and some I hated!) but this track was track 1 and I immediately loved it, so I knew it was worth persevering!

43 Rhythm of Love - my number 33 and my only pick from Big Generator. It was the sole pick from BG on that compilation and I absolutely loved the vocal harmonies of the intro and the choruses.

45 In the Presence Of - my number 12, another “peace and love” smash from “Magnification” which is genuinely one of my favourite Yes albums.

46 The Calling - my number 41, this was the first new single Yes released after I became a fan and I have fond memories of actually hearing it a few times on BBC Radio 1!

49 Don't Kill the Whale - my number 32, this is just a really really good tune (whatever you think about the lyrics!) , a good straightforward song, albeit one with a very radio-unfriendly but excellent keyboard solo in it

50 No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed - my number 18, I don’t think I realised for many years that this is a cover and I’ve never sought out the original, but I love the way they manage to mix together this funky song with interpolations from that film soundtrack, before samples were really a big thing. A really clever song.

55 Magnification - my number 36

56 Sweet Dreams - my number 29, if I recall rightly they started playing this again in the 2000’s and so I gave it a listen ahead of my Wembley Arena gig and just ended up playing it on a loop, such a great tune proving how good they were even if they weren’t composing massive epics.

58 Release, Release - my number 35 and my only other pick from Tormato other than the single. A couple of people said this song sums up everything that’s wrong with this album, however I would argue that it very much points the way to “Drama”, as I can definitely imagine Trevor Horn singing the verses and it slotting right in amongst the other tracks. (Ignore Wakeman’s plinky plonky solo though if you don’t want to break that spell )

 

South Side Of The Sky - My #8

This is undeniably awesome, classic, proggy prog of the highest order (as are pretty much all of the other tracks in the Top 10!)

I adore both the hard-rocking outer edges and the ethereal middle section featuring Rick's outstanding solo piano contribution.

I've Seen All Good People - not ranked

I really love the beautiful and delicate arrangement of the first half but find the second half, which dragged the song as a whole out of My Top 40, less interesting. Overall, it's still a top track though.

 

Yep, two obvious top dogs here. I had them at #7 and #4 respectively. First time in a while and me and @Fritha71 haven't been in sync. But, well, she's just wrong, isn't she.

Heart Of The Sunrise
Love that intro. Can imagine Beavis and Butthead loving it too. Although I've always thought that the guys must have just been listening to 21st Century Schizoid Man when they wrote it.

2:05 on here
King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man


But then we get the light of the song to the shade of the rockin' instrumental parts. Very nice. And some of the final payoff lines ("How can the wind with its arms all around me?"......"How can the wind with so many around me?") just reminded me of "the focus is sharp in the city" on The Camera Eye by Rush). Anyway, great track.

I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper

Oh sorry, different song......

 

Starship Trooper
Another stormer. Even though the main riff is on bass not guitar which annoys me more than it should. I kind of dig the folk bit in the middle. And then of course there's the fantastic closing part of Wurm (which trounces the closing part of the other side of this album). Love it, love it, love it!

Although to be honest, I probably play this version more often (from 3:35)

Joe Bonamassa - A New Day Yesterday / Starship Trooper (Wurm)

 

Fixing my math in bold
(And removing the false statement that they were consecutive)

With the inevitability based on past reveals that the final pair will be from Close To The Edge, we will have included every song from
Close To The Edge (3)
Topographic Oceans (4)
Relayer (3)
Going For The One (5)

We also have particularly strong representation from
Fragile (5)
90125 (5)
The Yes Album (4)
Drama (4)

These 8 albums will have produced 33 of our 40 selections.

 

Perhaps we could just comment our Top 10 Yes albums here once the countdown has finished and someone can add them up as we go along.

 

My favorite version of Starship Trooper:

 

Heart of the Sunrise was my #10. Absolute brilliance. Even if they did borrow from 21st Century Schizoid Man!

Starship Trooper was a bullseye for me at #3. What can I even say?

Not to worry. It was my #1 and I will write you in as an honorary member of the club.

I thought I was the only one! I've said that before - here and elsewhere - to much disagreement from people who think I'm crazy. I realize the song lends itself to stretching out in a live rendition so the band can go to town, but the studio version has a quiet sense of foreboding atmosphere and claustrophobia, with a smooth but relentless drive to the chords Howe plays. I've never liked the way he changes the rhythm of those chords live, and I've never liked the way the keyboard solo comes first. That being said, there are plenty of great live versions, but like you say none of them match the original. I still anticipate that explosion into the panning guitar solos at the end with the same sense of wonder I did upon first hearing it so many years ago.

 

Starship Trooper performed by ABWH is absolutely incredible. Squire is missed but that performance is my absolute favorite. Wakeman adds so much. I must have listened to this over 100 times. I use it to demonstrate the greatness of these musicians.