Product Description

Music of Yes examines the work of one of the most creative groups from the progressive rock period, Yes. Unlike most books on rock music, Music of Yes does not focus on personalities, but instead on musical structures, lyrical vision, and cultural and historical context. The author situates Yes within the utopian ideals of the sixties and the experimental trend in rock music initiated by the Beatles and also taken up by groups such as King Crimson. Martin demonstrates the power of Yes's romantic, utopian, "Blakean", ecological, multicultural, and feminist perspective, showing how this vision is developed through

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #584284 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

Customer Reviews

Over the Top but interesting.
Any book that recognises Yes' contrbution to modern music is a good thing. This book is a bit over the top though. Alot of things are eye openers and quite interesting, but in reality alot of Yes lyrics simply contribute to the big picture rather than have a direct thought-out meeting. That's part of their magic. This book gets over anaylitical, especially about song meanings. Kinda like trying to understand 2001:A Space Odessey. Perhaps the meaning is geared to be interpreted by the individual.

A good read for fans, but a little too deep for its own good.

A must for serious Yes fans.
Martin takes you by the hand behind the lines of the lyrics of the most influencial prog band of the 70's. Although some background on phylosophical concepts might be helpful, the essay goes quite well for us average mortals (specially non-English native speakers as me!). Cross references with other outstanding bands such as King Crimson and Genesis make the reading not only enjoyable but very enlightening. If someone wants to understand what Yes meant in their work, this is the book on your bedside table!

Ambitious but disappointing
Bill Martin's "Music of Yes" offers a lot of promise, with its Roger Dean artwork on the cover and a mouth-watering subtitle: "Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock." Clearly this is a book any serious Yes fan must have, right? Alas, while there are a good number of interesting musings here and there, the book disappoints in many ways.

The most serious drawback is the writing style. Mr. Martin could have used a good editor. He constantly gets sidetracked. Sometimes he jumps ahead to a subject that he hasn't covered yet, discusses it for a few sentences, then stops himself and assures the reader that there will be "more later" on the subject. Other times he makes tangential comments that have little direct connection with the book's subject at all, such as his lamentation over the death of vinyl. He usually employs parentheses to set off these tangents. Almost every paragraph is littered with such parentheses. Sometimes an entire paragraph is parenthetical. The overall effect is wearing on the reader.

The other main problem with this book is the technical nature of the writing. Mr. Martin is a professor of philosophy and a social theorist. Undoubtedly he is extremely bright and a credit to his field. However, his application of academic theories clutters up the book. The introduction, ominously titled "The ideologies of form," is enough to discourage most intelligent readers from reading the rest of the book. Martin is even aware of this, and occasionally apologizes for the heaviness of the writing. When he finally gets around to discussing Yes music, I for one did not feel as if the theoretical points helped me understand his discussion any better.

That discussion itself is a mixed bag. Like me, Martin clearly enjoys most Yes music, and his excitement about it is addictive. I found myself mentally listening along to songs as I read. However, I guess I was looking for more insight. Martin is selective about discussing lyrics. While he devotes a good deal of space to ! "Yours Is No Disgrace," for instance, "Awaken" seemed to get the short shrift. Early on, there is an entire technical discussion devoted to whether we should even try to analyze lyrics. He is also selective about songs. In discussing ABWH, he even admits that he's only going to go over the songs he likes!

All in all, an uneven book. If it were a Yes album, I would rate it like Tormato: some very good parts in places, but leaves you feeling somehow dissatisfied in the end.